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TeamHonda401

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Posts posted by TeamHonda401

  2. Posted · Report reply

    That's the main thing I don't get. None of this would even come up in discussion if they would have put their own graphics on their own sticks. Shoot even just paint the stick all black and put a little tron logo on it. I may even buy one of those. But an almost exact copy of the RS paint job....c'mon.

  3. Posted · Edited by TeamHonda401 · Report reply

    Bauer Vapor APX

    Flex: 77

    Pattern: P88 Lie 6 Grip-Tac

    Previous sticks: Bauer Vapor X:50, XXXX

    Skill level: A/B beer league, pickup 2-3 times a week

    Timeframe of use: February 2012

    Aesthetics: I'm a big fan of the graphic package on the grip version of this stick. Sharp lines, aggressive lettering, and good color contrast with black, red and white being the main colors. It's not too flashy, but there's a lot of subtle details in the paint job. There's a good amount of carbon weave exposed between and underneath the graphics on the stick, so it has a nice layered look. 10/10

    Weight and Balance: The APX is very light, weighing in at just 417 grams. With no tape on the stick, it feels slightly blade light. After taping/waxing and such, for me it balanced out perfectly. It's balance point was roughly a couple inches towards the blade from center. When the stick is in my hands on the ice it feels perfect, not too light that you have doubts catching hard passes. 10/10

    Blade: This is one area I was anxious to see how the new blade core differed from my X:50. The X:50 blade had a really pingy/ceramic feel to it, which at times made hard passes a handfull. The APX blade is lightyears better than the X:50 blade. Bauer kept the top half of the blade core the same as the X:60, so that the blade still maintains a rigid profile during shots/passes, but they used the same core as the totalOne for the bottom half. For me this equated to the perfect balance of feel and rigidity. You can feel exactly where the puck is on your stick, and also have minimal worries about the blade whipping open on you. One thing I have noticed about my stick, is that if you have hard hands when catching passes, occasionally my stick will whip out and the puck will go under the blade. This issue is mostly due to the flex I use, and can be negated by cradling harder passes. 9/10

    Shaft/Flex: Anyone that has used Vapors in the past will be right at home with this stick. The shaft has a slight concave on all four sides, with rounded corners. It sits very naturally in my hands. The grip used on this stick is the same as the grip-tac used on my X:50, with a slightly rubbery feel. I can still slide my bottom hand without issue when I want to, but it stays put when I want it to as well. The flex of the stick is quite impressive. Bauer has kept the intellisense shot technology with this stick, which I am a big fan of. For those unfamiliar with this, the stick has two kick points basically. The first being in the lower 12" of the stick, and the second being in the top 12". The area that your lower hand is will remain flat during a shot, but the lower 12" will flex, as well as the top 12". The result of this is almost no feeling of flex for the shooter, but if you look at a still picture right at the point of shot release, the top and bottom ends of the stick are both flexing for you. This will give the APX a feeling of being stiffer than rated. I have used 85/87 flex sticks in the past, but I felt right at home with a 77 flex. For most players I'd recommend dropping down one flex rating for this stick. 9.5/10 (due to the difference of feel with the flex rating)

    Stickhandling & Passing: As far as stickhandling goes, the APX is as good as any Vapor I have used. With the X:50 I'd have to occasionally have to look down to see where on the blade the puck was, but with the APX I can tell just from feel. The lower half of the blade core really transmits puck feel directly to the player. Puck feel went from being a big downside to the Vapor line, to being a real strength with the APX. From a passing standpoint, the APX is stellar as well. The P88 is the curve for me, so from day one I had no issues with passing accuracy. The rigidity of the top half of the blade helps out in this area as well, especially on those long break out passes. The puck comes off true and accurate. Receiving passes is a little bit tougher, as the 77 flex makes catching hard passes a little more of a chore. As stated above however, if you soften your hands up a little before the puck gets to you, you'll have no issues catching even the hardest passes. 9/10

    Shooting: This is my favorite part of the stick. With the dual kickpoints, any player that has quick hands and gets the puck off their stick in a hurry will love shooting with this stick. My wrist shot has never been as good as it has been since I got this stick. There's no lag whatsoever when releasing a shot, as the taper doesn't flex as much as with other low kickpoint sticks. The result is a lightning quick, pinpoint accurate shot every time, as long as your shot mechanics are consistent. Snappers are stellar as well, as I feel like it doesn't take nearly the force to get a good shot off as the XXXX or X:50. Slappers take a little adjusting to if you are used to a mid-kick stick, as the APX doesn't require nearly the amount of loading. The stick is still extremely accurate with slappers, as the blade remains very true throughout the shot. 10/10

    Durability: This is one area that I thought the APX was going to come up short on. The first time I used it, the stick made a kind of weird sound when catching passes. It didn't sound broken or anything, it just sounded different than any stick I've ever heard. Two months later the stick hasn't changed in the slightest. The blade has no chips, cuts or scrapes at all, and is still as stiff as it was when I got it. The grip is much more durable than the grip used on the X:50, as in my experience my X:50 lost most of the grip coating after a couple months of use. The shaft is still as stiff and responsive as it was on day one. No issues thus far but I'll update if anything happens to it. 10/10 (so far) EDIT: Well it finally broke. The blade got stuck on the back of the net, butt end got wedged into my stomach, snapped about half a foot from the hosel. No fault with the stick however, as I can imagine any stick would have cracked had it been put into that strange situation. It was showing no signs of wearing down before that however.

    Conclusion: Hands down the best stick I've had the pleasure of using thus far in my life. In every aspect of the game the stick performs almost flawlessly for me. Any player that likes a low kick stick (and can afford the price tag), don't hesitate on giving this one a go. Stellar on all fronts, and I'd have a hard time thinking of another stick that has this combination of puck feel as well as the shooting characteristics it possesses. Overall 57.5 out of 60

  4. Posted · Report reply

    I've worked in retail for over 5 years and I've never seen an exchange get that personal and insulting. I've dealt with numerous customers that would insult me, insult my family, insult the company over something that we have no control over (such as our return policy mainly). At no point has anything gotten half as bad as the emails above, but there's no way that any company (if they did in fact write the above emails) should deal with anything with that kind of language. We've gotten threats to watch our backs when we walk to our cars after work, but for a COMPANY to say that they will find you and say "come over here so we can kick your fuckin ass", that's incredible.

    This whole scenario is incredible :popcorn:

  5. Posted · Edited by TeamHonda401 · Report reply

    Model-14" Black, In use since May 11th 2011

    Background-5'10" 145, B league/Club Level 2-3 times per week

    Fit- I was coming from using 15" warrior dolomites, which were wayy too big for me. I had always heard that Vapor gloves fit pretty snug around the fingers, and open up a little bit around the top of the hand/cuff. I dropped down to the 14", and loved the fit from day one. The dexterity in the fingers was stellar for a price point glove. I could have played the piano with them on right out of the box. The thumb can fully articulate in the forward direction, and doesn't extend past vertical backwards. After three months of use, they haven't changed a bit in the fit category. The glove fits me perfectly. 10/10

    Protection- After the fit, protection is the most important factor for my gloves. I knew coming in that they had full plastic inserts, as well as dual density foams. The first thing that I did when I got the gloves was put one of them on and hit my hand as hard as I could with a stick. I felt the force of the hit, but no pain came with it. Since then, I have been hit with shots, slashes, and had my hand stepped on. You will know when you get hit, but no damage or lasting pain will come with it, as long as you don't get hit on or above the cuff roll. The upper cuff doesn't have the inserts, so the same protective properties don't go for that area. It's only the inch or so of foam that extends above the cuff roll, but it's definately a notch in the armor. 9/10

    Weight- This is an area where the XPro's shine. One of the lightest gloves I have ever held in my hands. Once I put them on for my first skate, I forgot I was wearing gloves. They don't seem to gain any water weight during games either. I played 2 hours of pickup followed by a league game, and they felt the same at the end of the day as they did when I started. 10/10

    Durability- This is one area where the glove isn't going to stand up to it's higher priced competators. The exterior of the glove is all nylon, with synthetic leather for the cuff roll and thumb area. The gussets are mesh, and the palms are nash leather, with an additional overlay in the palm. While the nylon and synthetic leather are still holding up really well, the stitching isn't doing as well. There are a couple of strands of nylon string hanging off of the backhand, and one on the cuff. Although it's not a big problem, and is a quick and easy fix, it definately is something you won't see on a more expensive glove. The palms have held their own so far, but have some signs of wear, mostly discoloration and the upper most layer has begun to fray slightly. Cloth tape will do a number on the palms, so sponge tape is highly suggested with these. The palms haven't started getting crusty, nor have they lost any of their softness however. 7/10

    Intangibles- The glove has a pretty simple look; all black, with a white cuff roll with black lettering. No flash all with these, which is my preferance with gloves. 8/10

    Conclusion- Overall these gloves do everything I ask them to do. They are light, protective, breathable, and most importantly for me, great for the price of good. For $60 bucks, you aren't going to find a better glove. As long as you don't expect them to be X:60 pro's, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Overall 44/50

  6. Posted · Report reply

    Just got the X:60s earlier this month, I thought the XXXX were the perfect glove and then I came across these, I'm officially set on Vapour

    Kinda sad to see the Warriors sold, but this was a group picture

    Those warriors wouldn't happen to once be the pink/black ones from hockey monkey would they?? If so you are a jedi with the fabric marker.

  9. Posted · Report reply

    So who is going to sue who for the 4 Roll glove and blade curve designs? The market is too vast to really consider any brand 'unique' or original even.

    There would only be a couple of patented products that would warrant legal action, but all the knock off company would have to do is make minute changes that would skate around the terms of the other company's patent.

  14. Posted · Report reply

    My Thrilla in Vanilla stout just placed 4th (honorable mention) in the Spirit of Free Beer homebrew competition. I am very fucking chuffed with this. There were 506 entries across all categories of beer. Still waiting on scores but they posted the results and there I be.

    The SOFB homebrew competition is one of the biggest homebrew competitions in the area here (as evidenced by the over 500 entries). So to have my beer finish high in it's style category was a pretty big deal for me.

    This is what it looks like.

    That's pretty badass not gonna lie. You're pretty much livin the dream lol keep up the good work.

  16. Posted · Report reply

    I'm 5'10" 150 lbs, rely mostly on speed and skating during games. B League/College Club Level 2-3 times a week.

    Paid $230 usd for the 2011 RBK 7k skate

    First Impressions/Technology--Out of the box, these skates are really flashy. The white graphics package as well as the surface finish on the boot make for a good lookin' skate. The skates are relatively light, with a good mix of style and function. The lace-lock feature has been refined over the last couple of years, as it seems like they have prefected the amount of force necessary to close and open the lock. The pump feature seemed kind of gimmicky at first, but when trying them on for the first time, you could definately notice the air bladders surrounding your ankle. They also use two different materials for the liner of the boot. They use a traditional material for the top/sides of the boot liner, but also use a slightly tackier material in the heel/achilles area. Overall I was pretty impressed with the quality so far.

    Baking/First Skate--I have relatively large ankle bones, so baking skates is a must for me. I had my concerns that the pro shop at my local rink didn't put them in the oven long enough to loosen the skate up, as the boot didn't mold quite as much as I anticipated. The resulting first skate was pretty painful. There was a lot of pressure on my ankles, which led to some substantial blistering. At this point I was really worried that I had picked the wrong skates.

    Second Baking/Fit--I had them baked for a second time, which produced the results I had expected from the first trip to the pro shop. I also began wearing them around the house to help with the break-in period. This really did the trick. The next time I was on the ice they felt like completely different skates. The fit was exceptional. One thing that impressed me the most was how locked down my heel was. With the tacky material along the achilles area, combined with the pump system, as well as the forward pitch of the back of the skate/achilles guard, these skates feel as stable as any I have used. The toe box provides ample room for most skaters, with only the widest foot being the exception. The instep area molds really well after baking, so most skaters should be just fine with the fit. 9/10 for fit

    Protection--I have had these skates for three months so far, and have taken quite a few shots off several areas of the skate. The toe cap isn't the best I have seen, but for a $230 skate, they are more than sufficient. I was really impressed with the protection the boot offers, as even the hardest shots I come across don't phase me. The tongue has ample padding at this price point, as it has dual denisty foam as well as the felt liner. 9/10 for protection

    Functionality/Performance--For the skill level I play, these skates are just about perfect. The upper has excellent forward flex, which when added to the forward pitch of the skate gives me some pretty impressive jump. The runners used on these skates are pretty solid, usually requiring sharpening after about 10-15 games. I am able to make a lot sharper cuts than I was with my last pair of skates (CCM V6). 10/10 for performance (relative to my skill level)

    Durability--These skates have held up exceptionally well so far. The boot material has no signs of wear whatsoever, as pucks and sticks seem to just bounce off with no structural or cosmetic effect. The E-Pro holder is has done pretty good so far, with only puck marks to show for it. One concern I had with the lace-lock system was that it would fray non-wax laces. That has not been the case. There seems to be ample space between the c-ring and the plastic base for the lace to fit without damaging it. The pump has been redesigned this year to be more streamlined, which keeps the pump and the release mechanism almost flush with the skate. No ill effects on the pump system so far. 9/10 for durability

    Overall--These skates are perfect for me and my playing style. I can't bring myself to pay more than 300 bucks for a pair of skates, and these only further reinforce that. I can get two pairs of these for less than the price of the 11k, and from how good these have been so far, I don't see the point of paying more. 9/10 overall

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