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Hills

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Everything posted by Hills

  1. Rinks here are public, and the leagues rent out the time. The rink won't really do anything or have any say in the matter. The league doesn't care, and they have lost about 20 teams to a new league forming up. If we withhold payment we simply lose our games. The only thing that would make a difference would be getting a lawyer involved and the players this has happened to do not want to do that, if this happened to me a couple of this video and others would have been handed over to the police and a lawyer as well as being sent out to any hockey blog or news site I could think of. But remember this is a hockey setting, so doing anything besides letting it happen on the ice is the "pussy" way out.
  2. I agree 1000%. But the player didn't want to go forward with it. This crap is the reason my girl friend and I won't play in it anymore. As a goalie I don't have to really worry about this stuff happening to me. There is only 1 other league in this area with the talent level close to this and it is much better run and the hockey is faster and cleaner. 99% of the teams in this league would get absolutely destroyed in the other one, and until they make another lower division we can't really go anywhere else.
  3. I've shown video to the league in other situations, where a ridiculous team that we and other teams complained about sucker punched a girl. Later that season the same team broke my teammates leg in 3 places when 2 guys hit him after the whistle from different directions. Leagues response: "sue us"
  4. It wasn't, he was in considerable pain and couldn't really put any weight on his leg right after. Also, this is what the same player did the last time we played them. Now I understand doing something with the cross check, but this is to a complete bystander, and he was also throwing body checks all game in a no-contact league. https://youtu.be/GkTAktvBdqk?t=2m46s
  5. This garbage has no place in hockey let alone a recreation league. This is the second time this player has attacked one of mine and both times he went after someone who didn't do anything. He was high sticked (by accident by a not very good player) when he was tying up another players stick it rode up his arms into his face, then he goes full lumberjack mode. End result is being kicked out of this game... he'll be back next time. Players like this is why my girl friend and I had to leave a league where we actually fit in skill wise to one of a much lower level (which still has it's issues). Adults need to grow up. https://youtu.be/qgYp-bmXXPw?t=2m57s
  6. Try and see if Simmons can make a smaller boot for you? If you are fitting a 34 with as loose bootstrap that is what you want.
  7. You're issue is that you have to deal with terrible LHS in Niagara. I am glad you found Hockey Supremacy like I did.
  8. For the amount you pay on the skates I do not think it is asking to much to have better fit and finish (that tendon guard foam looks like someone just cut out a piece of foam and glued it on there) and to be made to your specifications when they say they can. The double eyelet is interesting to say the least.
  9. Even in higher leagues you can still get no defense. I totally understand your pain... backdoor passes you are completely screwed as seen here:
  10. Personal Details Male 6'3” 210 lbs Forward/Defence B-D level hockey Shin Pad History: Fury 17inch Graf 700 17inch Easton Eq50 16inch Easton RS 17inch CCM Ultra Tacks 17inch STX Stallion 16inch Initial Impressions: I was ridiculously excited and happy when I pulled these shins out of the box and slide them on for the first time. The fit and finish of these as well as the materials used give the impression of a really high end and innovative pair of shin pads. The plastics STX uses feel solid and have a very nice look aesthetically. The foams used on the outer calf protection feel futuristic and really high end. The velcro used has shorter hooks so it doesn’t catch on materials as easy but it still holds onto the attachment points really well. I like the outer knee foam flap showing the size and what leg the shin goes on (it is a nice aesthetic touch). I really like the idea of the Kevlar sleeve built into the shin for added protection (I always wear Kevlar socks when I play anyways, having more of it on me is always a bonus). I was disappointed that the shins only came in 16 inch fashion as I found 17 inch is the best fit for me (see my Tacks review). Fit: Right away these Stallion pads are at a disadvantage since they aren’t as long as I like and I feel they leave part of my skate exposed. The kevlar sleeve keeps your leg set in a certain area but the outer calf protection doesn’t really hold your leg in like the CCM Ultra Tacks do. The knee in the Stallions is also pretty shallow and I found that when putting these on they always seemed to flare outwards and didn’t sit straight on my leg. I found I could fix this a little bit but putting the sleeve on my leg first and then velcroing in the knee part very precisely to try and keep the pad to sit completely straight. When playing I felt these pads shift and start facing outwards and not straight on my leg, which I would attempt to remedy by hitting on the outside knee with my gloves to straighten them out. The 360 strap does a good job of tightening the knee area of the shins and like the Ultra Tacks Lock Strap resulted in me not having to worry about taping my socks anymore. I felt the calf strap didn’t have enough velcro (it doesn’t go onto the front of the face, and is not flush with the face so if you have extra strap for tightening it sits off of the shin and gets caught up on socks) so I couldn’t get this part as tight as I wanted. 6/10 Protection: These Stallion shin pads started off great with the Kevlar calf wrap built into the shins and thus I had high expectations for these. The first shot I took to the front of these shins I could feel a relatively weak shot but it didn’t really hurt… and then I took a hard wrist shot and had to get off the ice because of the pain that was on my lower leg. I hoped this result was just an unlucky hit but any shot that hit the lower plastic resulted in pain. I took a snapshot (not a ridiculously hard one either) which left a mark on the pad and a soft spot on the bone in my shin, which still hurt immensely over a month later. For a few weeks after this shot even while wearing the CCM Ultra Tacks shins any time a puck or stick hit near where I got hit in the Stallions pain shot through my leg. Unlike the STX Surgeons there isn’t a second layer of foam padding on the front of the pad, and only a small amount of foam separates your shin from the outer plastic. Not only is the front of the shin extremely disappointing the back of the legs are also left very exposed. On the outside of your leg there is a thicker foam that does a decent job of protection but it doesn’t cover nearly enough of the back of your leg. The inside protection is basically just a high end feeling nylon with no padding or protection at all. Every time a puck would slip through my legs while on a 1-on-1 I could feel the puck hit the inside of my leg and it felt like it was hitting my bare leg, pucks deflection off (not direct hits) felt worse than head on shots from previous shins I have worn. I stopped wearing these shins since I felt unsafe and wondered if they were actually defective… 3/10 Comfort: While these shin pads never really sat straight on my leg I never had any issues with comfort (besides the pain from whenever a puck hit them). There isn’t a tonne of padding in these so they aren’t super soft but they also do not have any pressure points or felt uncomfortable in anyway. 8/10 Mobility: These are pretty slim and mobile shin. 10/10 Weight: With the lack of protection and padding on the inside of the shin I figured these shins would weigh in at much less than the CCM Ultra Tacks. With that said these are not very heavy at all and it would never affect performance. 8/10 Durability: I am not sure how the wrap around strap will last as the velcro takes a lot of effort to pull apart and I almost feel like I am pulling the material apart. With that said I can’t see these shins breaking down in anyway but since I shelved these pretty quickly I can’t really rate the durability. N/A Intangibles: The Kevlar sleeve is a brilliant idea… but it is also REALLY annoying to get on and off especially with my setup which is where I put my shin pads last and over my skates. I wish the Kevlar sleeve had a magnet attach point that would all act like those magnetic screen doors. This would allow you to undo the sleeve and put the shins on like a normal pair of shin pads. The materials and design of these shins is really well done. The materials all feel really high end and the design is very aesthetically pleasing. I live the wrap around strap and the futuristic velcro on the calf wrap feels extremely high end and made of quality. One of my issues with these shin pads is that they are labeled as the “POWER FIT: Targeted zones of protection provide increased coverage to the power player” and yet these are considerably skinnier and and have less padding on the inside compared to the Surgeons that are labeled as the “PRECISION FIT: Designed with a sleeker fit profile to minimize weight and bulk.” 7/10 Conclusion: These shin pads have so much potential. The materials used and the Kevlar sleeve show great ideas that unfortunately just fall absolutely flat. This is the most disappointed piece of hockey equipment I have ever had. The horrible protection issues I have had with these mean I can’t recommend them at all and I won’t wear them again for fear of more unnecessary pain. 3/10 Comparison in sizes in inches: 17, 14, 16, 16 Comparison in sizes in inches: 17, 14, 16, 16 Looking down at my least favourite shins (Stx Stallion) and most favourite (CCM Ultra Tacks) The 360 strap works well but CCM's non-elastic Lock Strap works better to hold the shins in place. Lots of velcro for customization for liner placement, but it is not deep enough to really hold your knee well. Pureform foam as liner is nice and feels high quality. Thigh protection here is the best I have seen on a pair of shin pads. Knee liner needs a donut or deeper knee placement to keep the knee part of the shin pad in place. Inner leg padding seems useless. Kevlar sleeve is a great idea but a pain to put the shins on depending on your dressing order. Pureform foam feels high end but needs to be thicker here as getting hit with pucks here was uncomfortable. Shin pad had a nice aesthetics design, getting hit up high here resulted in no pain or issues. This puck park happened when I couldn't close my legs fast enough to get in the way of a shot, the inner calf protection is extremely lacking and shots here were very uncomfortable to the point of painful. This park mark was off of a decent snap shot. I had to leave the ice in pain and I never wore the shins after that for fear of my safety. A month later my shin was still in pain from this shot and it felt like there was a small dent in the shin pad where the puck hit. The sizing detail on the outer knee protection feels really high quality and looks great. Showing the width differences between the Surgeon and Stallion shins. Shows the massive size difference (and difference in protection) between the Stx Stallion and CCM Ultra Tacks Showing the difference between the Stx Stallion and Stx Surgeon. Surgeon is the "sleek" line for mobility and is considerably thicker. One piece of padding in the CCM Ultra Tacks is thicker than the entire Stx Stallion shins. Stx Surgeon is considerably thicker and more protective on the calf wrap than on the Stallions. Stx Surgeon calf wrap is decent in thickness, needs a larger velcro landing area though as it was too small to actually fit correctly. Showing the other side of the Surgeon calf wrap. Pureform foam used as the liner on the Surgeons as well. Thicker liner and knee donut on the Surgeon than on the Stallion. Stallion should use this knee style. Again inner liner and padding more adequate on the Surgeon than the Stallion.
  11. Interesting that their stiff will be curved like that.
  12. They did the entire Messiah line and the Fortress line (well at least the pads for the Fortress). Or, why did you get a stiff and medium with no outer breaks at the top?
  13. Hills

    Verbero Vara Pro Stick

    Verber Vara Pro 87 Flex PM44 Stick History: Sherwood 9950 Wood Coffey, Bauer Supreme (Sport Chek SMU) Kane, Sherwood T70 Stastny, Winwell GX8, Easton RS Parise, Warrior AK27 , Warrior DT1LT Pavelski, Warrior DT1ST Grandlund, Verbero PM44, Sherwood Rekker EK60 PP26 Stick Info: Height: uncut Weight: 438 Grams used (paint chips) Grip: No Shaft: Glossy Blade Length: Usage: 6 Months Personal Details: Male, 6'3", 210lbs, 24 years old. Adult B-level. About me: I played hockey my life as a goalie and about 4 years ago I decided I wanted more ice time and that I wanted to skate out as a player. I had no idea what kind of stick I liked as well as what curve I liked and what flex, this was all new to me and my shot was terrible to begin with as expected. Since then I have obviously gotten better and stronger but I am still figuring out what curve/length/flex that I prefer. Review Details: I have used this stick for about 4 months as my primary stick but would end up switching to a longer or different stick here and there. It has about 4 months of 2-3 times a week use. Preface: I got this stick free just like the Vara Pro gloves in my earlier review. I was given these to use and create a review for these products. The reason this review took so long to come out is I wasn’t sure if I wasn’t used to midkick sticks and wanted to ensure the review wasn’t hampered by an issue with my playing style. I told Verbero to send me an 87 flex in an curve with non-grip shaft as I really don’t love grip sticks. I’ve found 87 flex to be a sweet spot for me for certain brands but too flexible in others (eg Warrior) so I figured I’d give 87 a shot here. Grip: While I don’t like grip sticks I have found that I like matte finished sticks. My EK60, Mako and RS sticks all have a matte non-grip finish, which to me gives the stick a high quality feeling and gives a little bit of grip compared to a glossy shaft. Verbero states this stick is offered in a Matte non-grip finish, but I would argue that it is a glossy non-grip. Of my previous sticks the low end Bauer supreme is the only thing similar to the glossy finish that this stick has. To me this feels extremely cheap, which is completely personal preference but the matte painted sticks just have a higher quality feel to them. While the glossy feel doesn’t hinder my performance, I would hesitate to buy the stick if it was next to a stick that uses a matte finish. 5/10 Aesthetics: Aesthetics are completely personal preference, and I have heard some negative things about Verbero’s design directly related to the glove’s plaid looking liner and that has been translated onto this stick albeit with a neutral grey/black design. I think this design looks both unique and really nice, it is understated enough to not be gaudy while also having a distinct look to it across both stick lines. I actually prefered the more white Latigo stick but the black Vara looks really nice as well. The logo is on the lower portion of the shaft and is a silver/chrome design, I actually wish this stood out more and think if it was green like it is on the blade it would make the logo stand out more while still be attractive. Like most sticks I wish manufacturers made it easier to see the curve/flex of the stick, too many times it is too high and covered by tape or too tiny and I wish Verbero made this bigger as well. I think Verbero did a great job with how the sticks look here. 9.5/10 Blade/Curve: Since I got this stick Verbero has revamped their curve chart on a couple of times and I believe this is now the V19 curve on their website. This curve is a big departure from my DT1LT and is much more neutral. My shots were no longer always going high and passing was much easier to control. The Vara Pro blade feels and plays fairly stiff, I’d say it is slightly softer than a new DT1LT but harder than my DT1LT is now, and for my time using it I haven’t noticed the blade get softer whereas my RS blade was already starting to get soft with similar time of use. With the stiff blade I can feel exactly where I receive passes and where you shoot the puck off of. Compared to the EK60 this blade is softer and feels more dampened. One of the issues I found with this blade is the length of it, it feels shorter compared to other sticks with a similar curve. In fact I handed it off to other players and I had multiple people come back to me and say “blade is not long enough” and I agree with their assessment. Too many times I ended up shooting off the toe and flubbing shots, even after 6 months I couldn’t get adjusted to it and really wished the blade was longer. Overall I liked the curve for passing and the stiffness felt great, but the blade length was too short for my liking. 7/10 Stick Handling: Since this stick is a few inches shorter than the Warrior DT1LT I had been using I was right to assume that my stick handling would improve because of the decrease in length. But one thing that was detrimental to my stick handling was the shorter blade. I would simply lose the puck off the toe because I was expecting more blade to be there. This stick is very lightweight coming in at 438 grams at the time of writing this, and that helps the stick feel very mobile in your hands when stick handling. 8/10 Shooting: Since the kick point of this kick is different than my DT1LT I figured there would be an adjustment period like it was when I used the Warrior for the first time, but I was wrong in that. I have real issues with shooting this stick, whether it be snap shots, slap shots or wrist shots the majority of shots I took felt like I could not find the sweet spot. About 1 in 10 shots felt like they exploded off the stick in the matter I was expecting with a “Performance” hockey stick, and even when I made the perfect shot everything felt slower with less pop than when I had a brand new DT1LT. At first I contributed this to not being used to the mid kick flex, then over the summer I got to try a number of mid flex sticks and instantly noticed the majority of shots coming off those being much harder with a faster release. I tested the Warrior HD1, CCM Ultra Tacks, True XCore, True 6.0 and my shots off those sticks felt ridiculously explosive next to the Vara Pro. I find it difficult where I’d equate this stick to in terms of performance/price since it is better than my low end Bauer Supreme and Sherwood T70 but my Warrior AK27 and Winwell GX8 are both too stiff for me and I haven’t used another stick around the $180 price point. With that said all of my high end sticks were considerably less than the $180 this Vara Pro sells for and a quick look around lists the Easton V9/V9E for $140 locally (both of which I feel shoot MUCH harder and better than this). When Verbero releases videos of ex-pros saying it shoots as good as the high end stick I fully expected it, but that is simply not the case here and to say I am disappointed in the shooting performance of this stick is an understatement. 5/10. Passing: With the firm blade and curve I had good experiences with passing with this stick but for long stretch passes I could feel the stick flex a bit too much for my liking. On some sticks with a lot of kick the flexing on the passing helps release the puck quicker, but with this since I never felt a strong kick the flexing of the stick never added to the pass power. Since that is always a tradeoff for sticks that aren’t extremely stiff I can’t really bring that as too much of a negative besides that it didn’t add power like my other sticks did. I did find it slightly harder to give saucer passes with this than it was in my RS or DT1ST but I was able to adjust fairly quickly. The firm blade really helps in regards to passing. 8/10 Durability: This stick has Verbero’s Durotec Resin Coating which is supposed to “High Impact DuroTec Resin Coating that produces a tougher blend for added durability.” Now I am not sure if that coating is below or above the paint but this stick has been chipping pretty significantly, more so than other high end sticks I have used for a similar period of time. The toe is a bit cracked as to be expected with pucks, skates and boards being jammed up against it, but the bottom of the blade itself is where the durability of this stick really shows. The top layer of the blade is cracked and can be pulled completely off, the crack also goes deeper than the paint and I feel the structural integrity of the carbon fibre is mostly gone. With that said the blade hasn’t felt softer when I use it but the results so far have not been promising or give me confidence in this stick. I can’t comment on the stick losing its kick like my DT1LT since this stick never felt like it had a kick to begin with. 6/10 Feel: This stick is advertised as being extremely lightweight and that is one of the first comments everyone has with it, Verbero did make a stick that feels almost featherless and when you put it in your hands it feels lighter or very close to sticks that actually weigh less. The reason being is the balance of this stick where the blade feels like it is non-existent. With other lightweight sticks (EK60) I can always tell where my blade is because the stick feels like it is heavier at the blade. With the Verbero the blade feels so light that when skating it really felt I was using a stick with no blade at all, which takes some getting used to and personally I like how the EK60 feels compared to this (my Easton RS also felt like the Vara Pro in where the blade feels basically non-existent). Now puck handling the stick feels good since I don’t feel the blade is very dampened and you always know where the puck when stick handling or shooting. 7.5/10 Closing: I tried to use this stick as my goto for many months and frankly was really happy when I finally put it away for good. I honestly can’t remember scoring a goal because of an absolutely perfect shot or even creating an opportunity for a goal on a perfect shot. Now I am no goal scorer but I am pretty good at getting fast and low shots off from the point that either make it to the net or are very easily tipped by a forward in front. With the Vara Pro 9/10 times I felt like I didn’t get all of the shot and I wished I was back to using my used and abused DT1LT. In fact during my leagues playoffs I ended up retiring this stick for good as I didn’t want to feel like I could’ve done something better with a different piece of equipment that was sitting on the bench. Now to be 100% transparent I did not pay for this stick, with that said at $179.99 USD I cannot even come close to recommending this stick. The only sticks I have used that this out performed are $60 price point sticks. Needless to say I am extremely disappointed with the performance in this stick. Overall Score: Price I paid ($0): 6/10. Retail ($179.99) 4/10
  14. Pickup is perfect time to try everything besides playing with actual defense. Goals don't matter so you can specifically work on things.
  15. How long have you had the skates for?
  16. JSK let's be real. With those gloves you can't look bad haha. I am jumping on the SJ photo bandwagon. Some foreigners invading the the US. Being useless on defense. I am really good at pulling pucks out of the net!
  17. I will never forget the time I told a grown man with kids to grow up when I was 20 after he punched me in the face because he thought I high sticked him... Hockey brings the worst out in people and all a bunch of us want to do is skate and have fun not be competitive. I am tempted to bring out a sign next week that says "Due to delays at the border, there are no scouts in the stands this week"
  18. Today I got called a pussy because I told a guy to calm down after either being elbowed or cross checked to the chest in a very very low level (like a bunch of the players can't skate) and very uncompetitive league. The same player proceeded to slash my stick afterwards for no reason. Every single league it is the same thing over and over, the scouts are long gone guys it is time to calm down.
  19. I used the Tacks 6052 at SummerJam and I liked them. They were comfortable and very mobile. I am not sure about protection as I couldn't run my normal tests on them but I enjoyed my time with them a lot to the point that I went back to them during the event over my normal gloves.
  20. Hills

    Verbero Dextra Pro

    Special thanks to Verbero for sending me a pair of these gloves and the Vara Pro stick to test out and review. Personal Details Male 6'3” 210 lbs Forward/Defence B-D level hockey Verbero Dextra Pro 14inch Usage time: 3 months Price: $130 Glove History: Mission Fuel, MF2 4 Rolls, Warrior Retro Remix Prototypes, Reebok Sty2, Sherwood N10, Verbero Dextra Pro Initial Thoughts: I saw these advertised online and was really interested. I really like when companies try new things (example Warrior Ritual goalie equipment) and I am always for smaller manufacturers entering the market. I watched the online videos and looked at the pictures and the Dextra Pro gloves looked like a tighter fitting glove than what I am used to wearing with my primary gloves (Reebok Sty2). The mentioned mobility was something I was really excited to try and if the people in the videos work in the NHL or play pro hockey said it was protective enough I figured it was good enough for me. I contacted Verbero asking to do a review for them and then were kind enough to send me a pair and a stick to try out. During my conversations with them sizing came up and it was suggested that I go down a size to 14 inches instead of my usual 15 inch gloves as these run a bit wide and big. When I received the gloves their width and the roominess was immediately noticeable as well as the comfort and mobility right out of the box. Needless to say the anticipation to try them on was killing me. Fit: Verbero was completely correct in saying that these gloves fit larger than most gloves. My 14 inch Sherwoods are really snug on my hand while both of my 15 inch 4 roll style gloves require me to violently shake my hands in order for them to fall off. It feels like I have to fight to keep these gloves on while playing. The fingers aren’t extremely loose but after that the gloves feel like they open up a fair bit. I feel as if I could’ve probably gone with a 13 inch glove but then I fear the cuff will be far too low for my liking. In the 14 inch Dextra Pro my fingers fit nicely lengthwise in the finger stalls and I can feel the tips of the gloves fingers but by no means am I stretching them out like I do in 13 inch Bauer 4 rolls. The odd thing about the fit is that there is no mention on the Verbero site about how loose and big these gloves fit compared to other manufacturers and if it wasn’t for my discussion with a Verbero employee I might have been wearing 15 inch gloves that would probably fall off my hands on the ice. Now some people like a really loose fitting glove but I don’t like ever feeling like I have to fight keeping a glove on while playing, and with these I have to think about it too much. 6/10 Comfort: Here is where I feel these gloves shine. The materials Verbero uses in these gloves are very unique. The plaid liner is extremely comfortable on the wrist while the entire inside of the glove is made up of an extremely soft and welcoming spandex like material that Verbero calls microfiber silk. The fingertips and stick contact points are overlaid with a “felt” material creating a thicker barrier between your stick and your fingers/palm. These gloves are absolutely the most comfortable glove I have ever worn, the only thing close is Pro Stock Easton gloves I tried on from the Buffalo Sabres. My only issue with these gloves is the felt pads and microfiber silk is so thin you can feel some vibrations to your stick, and after a long (2+ hour) ice session my fingers started to tire from the lack of dampening along the palm and fingers. 8.5/10 Weight: Thanks to my recently purchased scale I can actually give numbers to backup my opinion on the weight of equipment. These gloves come in at a respectable 318 grams (per glove). My second lightest pair behind my MF2 gloves coming in at 294 grams. With that said the minute I picked these gloves up and when I pass them around the first thing you notice is how light they are. The weight helps make you forget these gloves are even on, if it wasn’t the feeling of them sliding off during gameplay. 9/10 Mobility: This is what these gloves were made for and dexterity is in the name of them. Out of the box these are the most broken in and flexible gloves I have ever worn. They are more broken in than my gloves with years of use on them. Anyone can pick up a brand new pair of these and go out and play with confidence immediately. When I get new gloves I find I have a bit of difficulty getting my hand back onto the stick during play as unbroken in gloves are more difficult to fully open, but this was never an issue with this glove at all. The floating cuff makes wrist mobility in this glove fantastic “without” sacrificing protection. It is a great idea and I like that my wrists are always covered at all angles. The finger loops, triple break fingers, and the angled padding make the fingers flex like no other glove I have tried on. The glove really does feel like an extension of your hand in terms of finger, hand and wrist mobility. 10/10 Break-in: There really is no break-in time, they feel unbelievable out of the box. 10/10 Protection: Here is where my praise for this glove comes to a crashing halt. The really strange part is that half of the glove feels extremely protective to the point where I believe the fingers and backhand are among as protective as my tank (with shot blockers) Reebok Sty2 gloves… and yet the thumb and cuff protection is severely lacking to the point that I would not feel comfortable wearing these gloves in anything but the lowest and less serious levels of hockey.There are plastic inserts all along the backhand, fingers and outside of the index finger (minus the last piece of foam on the outside tip of the index finger). The unique angled cut of the finger breaks means the protection blocks line up perfectly when straight but still leave protection when bent without sacrificing mobility. I believe this is a fantastic design and would like to see it on more gloves. The angled finger tips also allow the fingertip protection to protrude more than straight cut blocks and is a feature on pro gloves like Alex Burrows Warriors… but with how the fingers on the Dextra Pro gloves are made the finger tips stick out farther than any glove I have worn as the finger loops just stretch outwards. This actually leaves more of my fingertip exposed when I close my hand over my stick. Another protection issue is on the outside of the pinkie where there is no foam or plastics covering the outside of your hand from a stick or puck riding up your stick. All of my other gloves have plastic inserts on that area and the Verbero has nothing. The thumb piece itself is made of foam and solid plastic and does an okay job of protecting it from slashes or pucks, but there is no hyperextension protection on the thumb which is something I would prefer. Moving up the thumb is severely lacking in protection. With a closed fist I can smash the thumb and feel noticeable discomfort and pain on the gloved thumb. When I did the ministick test this issue became even more prevalent. How the fingers can be so protective and the thumb so lacking is really strange. Next we go up to the cuff which is even worse than the thumb. The floating cuff has no plastics or modern foams (like PoronXD) and is a made up of a relatively thin layer of foam which I can easily bend in half. There are a few places behind the cuff where the only thing between your wrist and a puck or stick is about 1.5 inches of soft flexible foams. Even with upper cuff and more layers of soft foams the fist test was very noticeable painful and the ministick test was something I didn’t want to have to do in the video. Even with the floating cuff the protection is just soft thin foam without any plastics. Doing these tests actually brought physical pain to my wrist and hand and I would fear for broken bones if I actually received a 2 handed slash or blocked a hard shot there. While I like the idea of the secondary floating cuff it is so lacking in protection it is basically useless. The reason I give this glove a 5 is because half of it is very good, and the other half is just horribly bad in the protection department. 5/10 **Note**: I contacted Verbero in terms of my worries of protection issues and I was told a more protective glove line will be coming in the future. Durability: Here is also where I believe this glove has some issues. I have used this glove for about 3 months and the liner is already ripping apart and showing noticeable wear spots. I like the wear patches on the palm of the glove and I don’t think that will be an issue durability wise. But I noticed the liner ripping after about a weeks of use of just wearing it around the house and a few skates. The liner material seems to pull apart anywhere there are stitches and with little force you can pull it apart and tear the liner with your thumbs. I tried this on all of my other gloves and applied as much force as I physically could and all the stitching and liner stayed in tact with no visible signs of damage… that is not the case with the Verbero and the above video shows my issues. When I noticed this damage I decided to inspect the interior of the gloves more closely and found more wear spots and noticed one spot where the liner has ripped apart exposing the foams constructing the glove underneath. A picture of that is below and I never attempted to rip this apart and this wear happened though minimal usage. I do not believe this liner is strong enough for this application (which is a shame as I really like the look and the feel of it). I have found one more wear area (besides the liner) on the glove and that is with the outer nylon. Now this is to be expected eventually but I am just making note of it and in this case it is nothing major. Now while the liner might not be the biggest and most important part of the glove, after such little usage this amount of wear and tear is unacceptable. Especially when dropping $130. 3/10 **Note**: I contacted Verbero about this liner wear and showed them the 2 liner videos linked above and they said it must have been bad stitching and that they haven’t see this issue before. Well just before I wrote this review I noticed they put up pictures of a new black and red colourway for sale on their website and that glove shows the liner wear I am talking about in the production photos. Palm: While I think this palm is extremely comfortable there are a few issues that arose while using it. I mentioned earlier of hand fatigue because of the super thin palm materials not absorbing any vibrations that go through the stick. The other issue I found was that sometimes when gripping the stick during play the felt fingertip pads ended up not being set flat on the stick and I could feel the edges of them. Something that feels unnatural to me and is a by product of using fingertip pads instead of lining all of the fingers with the felt material. The stick I used mostly with these gloves did not have grip and some of the less tacky grip sticks I didn’t have big issues with, but when using my Warrior DT1LT with their Diamond grip (which has raise silicon like ridges) I found the fingertip pads getting stuck on the ridges and getting left behind when I moved my hand up and down the shaft of the stick. When I set my hands for a shot I often found that the tips felt like they were behind my fingers since they would get caught up in the silicon ridges. This is an issue that occurs on only one type of grip I have ever used but is still an issue I feel I need to report on. While it is extremely comfortable I felt too many issues with the felt pads where I feel full finger length layer of felt would be a better solution. 6/10 Intangibles:I said I loved innovation and these gloves certainly try new things. I really like the angled finger protection and the added wear spots on the palm is a good idea. I feel like the fingertip pads aren’t the best solution but the finger loops for every finger really add to the mobility of the glove. I really like the look of the outer nylon having a shiny sparkling look and I like the rubberized Verbero text on the cuff. The fit and finish is unfortunately lacking with loose threads everywhere on the glove and the exposed foams on the cuff after the liner breaking is really unfortunate. 5/10 Conclusion: I feel that these gloves are REALLY ambitious and with that I have to give Verbero credit for trying something new and trying to break into the tough hockey equipment market. With that said I truly believe these gloves fall short on too many aspects to really be considered. I understand that the $130 price point is undercutting the big manufacturers best but frankly these gloves do not stack up to the top of the line pieces. Just for a comparison, at the time of writing these gloves are all listed at the same price or lower than the Dextra Pro gloves on the Total Hockey Website: Bauer X100, Warrior AXLT, Warrior QR Pro, Bauer APX Pro, Bauer Nexus 800, Warrior AX2, Bauer TotalOne NXG, CCM 4R Pro, Bauer Vapor Pro, Reebok HG9000, Bauer APX, Easton Pro, Warrior DT1, Easton Mako. All of these gloves offer better protection than these Verbero Dextra Pro gloves do and I would recommend them to anyone before this pair. As you can tell I am extremely disappointed in these gloves and they have been quickly relegated to extreme low level shinny gloves or street hockey gloves. I cannot recommend these gloves. 4/10 I like the innovative palm and the micro silk is extremely comfortable and soft. The "leather" pads are good for keeping wear in check but the finger pads' edges get caught up on grippy sticks and don't always lie flat on your stick. The thinness of the palm really translates vibrations from your stick and after 1.5hour+ ice sessions my hands felt really fatigued because of it. I really like the angled finger protection that helps seal gaps when the fingers are bent. No outer pinkie protection. Decently thick foam protecting the outside of your hand but it could use a plastic insert. Flex cuff is a good idea to allow lots of wrist movement without exposing your wrist. But the foams are so thin they might as well not be there, just punching your hand here leaves with immense discomfort. Decent view of the plaid liner which I was fond of aesthetically. The wear on the liner is inexcusable. After only a few months of light use the liner is ripping apart exposing inner foams. Verbero said this was probably from a bad stitching job but the wear appears on both gloves and in numerous places. In other glove the wear isn't this bad but you can easily see the material stretching out to the point of ripping apart. Same spot as above but on the other glove. More bad stitching and liner damage. First sign of wear showed up within a week of use where my wrist was making contact with the cuff. You can see other spots of the liner ripping and the seems falling out. Another view. Another view. More loose ends of threads Finally the new gloves on the Verbero website which show the liner wear. The inside cuff on the right glove you can see the liner wearing down at the seam from the get go.
  21. Those are some Back to the Future Wheels on there haa. I know they are just wheel protectors. Nice car, I always liked the new Escape designs.
  22. When things aren't covered underwarranty it isn't convenient.
  23. I bought a new car because I thought it'd have less issues than a used one with 100K kilometers and I have never been so wrong. I know all cars have issues and it is a moving multi-thousand pound vehicle but I am so sick of this. I used to recommend people buying Hyundai/Kia but I never will again. Thing I learned is every issue you have take to the dealer immediately. I really wish I bought a used Subaru.
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