shoot_the_goalie

I agree. If even there was white trim around the letters and maybe the cuff.

I find the T-Guard tongues way too stiff for my liking too.

Ok all. Getting a little off topic here. I wasn't asking whether people should wear neck protection or not. I have made a conscious choice to wear it (I owe it to my family), and I was asking what was the most comfortable. Happy to have a debate on products. Thanks all.

Of course, it now looks like everything is sold out everywhere, and if you can find something, the price has dramatically gone up. But could be a good sign too; more people deciding to wear neck protection after this tragedy.

I think it's dumb, but Thomas Plekanec was constantly chirped for wearing a base layer integrated neck guard. There's that stupid, if I wear uncommon protection, then I'm "soft" mentality. Happened previously with visors, until NHL mandated them. Happened in baseball, when David Wright wore that "gazoo" helmet, got made fun of, and then stopped wearing it. It does happen in the pros as well as your everyday beer league. Regardless, I could care less about the chirps. I just want something comfortable, and it looks like the integrated neck guard shirts are worth a try.

Terrible tragedy concerning Adam Johnson. I've never worn any sort of neck protection in all my years of playing, but I recently have had my kids wear them (before the unfortunate incident), and thankful that I did. Now I'm considering wearing one. Why take a chance, even though I'll be the first to tell anyone that these type of injuries are very rare. For those who use them, which do you find most comfortable? I'm assuming the integrated shirts would be? I could care less about getting chirped and all that silly stuff, but I know I can't wear one of the "brace" type ones...those are just too uncomfortable. There needs to be a balance. I don't care about impact protection....just cut protection. Thanks

It should be noted that the retail X, at first, the nest tech can feel hard and pretty stiff, but once it "warms up" it becomes much more pliable. In the end, I did get fitted for a custom version. Should take about 2 months to get it. Fitting process was simple and quick. Helmet shells seem same as retail, it's the nest tech that's significantly different.

Sure. I'm not trying to find out if you can travel with it. I'm asking more if any consumer users travel with it a lot, especially gen 2 & 3. Or if any users are like, traveling with it is more of a hassle, so let me just bring extra sets of sharpened steel instead....

I'm more curious about real world experience in traveling on planes with a Sparx. Do people do it with frequency, or find that they only do it when they know they're going to be sharpening for a team, etc. I know even if I had a case for my gen 1, I doubt I would actually travel with it that much. Wondering if the smaller form factor on the gen 2 & 3 makes those who own it more apt to fly with it.

I concur with what others said. CCM Tacks will be your best bet, but the CCM Jetspeed line is also very good and a minor step down in protection from the Tacks line.

For better context, I got the retail version for $200. That's why total custom would be a big jump for me.

A side question for Sparx owners. How many of you actually travel with a Sparx on the road (via airplane)? And if you do, do you use the soft case or the hard case? As a personal consumer, I imagine it's way easier to travel with a couple sets of sharpened backup steel than lugging the machine around. (I do have an ES100 - which I imagine is not nearly as portable as the newer gen machines)

So if you like it a lot, we get some sort of kickback, no? lol.

I assume even though helmet is custom molded, there are still adjustments one can make fore/aft, yes? I ask cause sometimes my hair is shorter/longer and sometimes I like my helmet snug and other times a touch looser than snug.

I have a Super Tacks X retail helmet that I got heavily discounted (more than 50% off) and I love it. Pretty happy with it thus far. However, I was in the LHS the other day and they had the Total Custom versions on display, and I was intrigued, so I tried the display model on and it felt even better than the retail version. Similar to the retail version, but with a much more snug and conformed fit (so I assume a custom model would feel even better). Then I saw the price....$580, not including tax and shipping (I guess they ship it to you directly once made). Also takes 8-12 weeks. The display custom did feel noticeably better, but not sure it felt $400 better. My question is that for those who have the Total Custom version. Is it that much better than the retail version to justify the price? If it was a game-changer, I could possibly consider it, but for what I personally felt with the display model, not sure the worth is there. Thoughts?

IIRC, the rare instances of fires occurred with a combo of the high volume sharpening with cross-grinding rings and dirty filters.

Tips: 1) use a convection oven if you can. Traditional ovens - the heat source is too uneven. 2) whatever is your goal temp, when the oven reaches that temp, TURN OFF the oven, then put the skate in. 3) Place skate (one at a time) in oven on a baking sheet lined with a dish towel. 4) only bake with cloth laces - never waxed for obvious reasons. 5) for my convection oven, since the fan is in the back, I always put the skate in blade side closest to the oven door. 6) do one skate a time and don't try to rush both skates.

I think they reduced the price $100, but don't quote me on that.

Beam sounds pretty cool, but not sure the value is there for $250 as a stand alone. A manual edge checker is pretty easy to use, and pretty precise for what's needed. The big play here is that good edge checkers are usually around $100 or more on their own due to economies of scale. However, now with 3D printing, one can print their own edge checker for relatively cheap.

I cut up my kids’ old gloves. 🙂

Barge cement is great stuff, but isn't it a risk for skin toxicity? I'm asking cause I know it uses pretty powerful solvents.

I use Loctite gel superglue. It works pretty well and adheres very well to typical glove palm materials. You do have to be careful not to use too much or you run the risk of making the fabric stiff. I find the gel easier to control in that respect. Works for me, but I am sure there's another type of adhesive that works much better out there. (i.e. fabric glue, etc)

Not OP, but I would say the thickness is similar to the thickness of the original palm material. The material is pretty durable (it's really meant to repair technical clothing). It's not as soft as hockey palm material, and yes, I would recommend adding a little more adhesive so the edges don't curl/roll. The other option, vs using these that I've done in the past, is to take old gloves, cut out their palm material, and use to patch with adhesive. Not as neat looking, but does the trick.

I use these too. They work great for minor repairs on palms.

What's the continued point? I thought the general consensus was that 1) hand sharpening by a skilled sharpener will be a better quality sharpening than a Sparx, and 2) the Sparx advantage is the convenience, speed, and consistency at the sacrifice of quality. These two things can coexist...and one is not better than the other depending on your circumstances and needs.