marka

Howdy, Hey, got this rig in today (I swapped to that Frontier blade, btw). Cut/taped it came in at almost exactly 500 grams. More importantly, it doesn't feel terrible. Gave it a little bit of a stick handle out on the asphalt driveway with a green biscuit and I think it'll be good. edit, I did tape the blade too. Tape on the bottom of course got shredded almost immediately, but I figured having it on the face would help with "normal puck feel" (if that is such a thing with a green biscuit... :). Is that was people do? Appreciate the help! Mark

Howdy, I used Tacki Mac before I switched to my current super gigantic pyramid knob in an effort to keep my wrist happy. Nothing bad at all to say about Tacki-Mac (I used the Pro/Kane one primarily) and I wish I could still use them. My solution to glove palm wear has been to buy lots of gloves. 🙂 Though I think that the gloves don't wear as badly with a bigger knob either, since there's more surface area and the tape squishes/moves around a little more (as compared to a normal / small / no knob). Mark

Howdy, Well, fuck. The local outdoor dek/roller hockey rink was supposed to open tomorrow. They just extended their closure through August. There goes my plan to go up and get some inline / whatever practicing in for most of the summer. I was attracted to it because it doesn't seem to get much use, plus being outside its got good airflow, etc. so shouldn't have been as bad as an indoor ice rink. Guess its going to be inlines in the driveway with a green biscuit only. Mark

Howdy, Yeah. OT and all, but this article's mention of curling doesn't have me very excited to be at a hockey rink any time soon. https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them I think I'll be working on outdoor roller stuff this summer regardless of what rinks do. But we'll see. Hopefully there will be a treatment or vaccine breakthrough. Mark

Howdy, Ok, I ordered a True A6.0SBP shaft with a Sherwood T20 ABS PP26 blade from IW. $102 total If this is stupid, someone tell me and I'll call them and change it. 🙂 Mark

Howdy, Where are you guys getting shafts and blades? Are all shafts the same across manufacturers (or at least... The same in terms of straight vs. tapered)? I looked through my sticks... I'd forgotten that I bought a wood stick back when I very first started. Its an Easton, 95 flex, Yzerman, and says "ABS" on the side. It weighs about 900 lbs and feels like it never has flexed in its life. 🙂 Still, maybe that would work for the asphalt driveway? Can I heat the blade up with a heat gun or something to open the toe up to be a little more like a Sakic curve? Mark

Howdy, So... Its kinda looking like if we play hockey this summer, it'll be outdoor. I think I have a general handle on gear, but I'm wondering how sticks for outdoor use work? There'd be two main places I'd be using it... One is just in our asphalt driveway. The other surface is a sport court type thing at a local-ish outdoor roller rink. I assume that the asphalt surface would destroy a regular CF stick quite quickly. No real clue about the sport court-y think at the local roller rink. What do folks do for sticks? I've only ever played ice and always with a modern one piece stick to this point. Mark

Howdy, I wear my girdle as a wrap (Tacks 7092), so I don't keep the shell attached. I do exactly what you describe... Put on the girdle, then pull up the shell and cinch up the belt. Its not attached to the girdle at all. Haven't been pantsed on the ice yet. 🙂 Mark

Howdy, Anyone got any new info about the True retail / non-custom skates? That was a thing, right? Mark

Howdy, Dang, I wish your feet were a little shorter! Mark

Howdy, I'll be interested to see what they've come up with. Mark

Howdy, I ordered the O1+boot in 7.5. Now I guess I get to wait until July to see if I guessed right between that and the 8.0. 🙂 Mark

Howdy, Right, but "wide" differs in meaning between boot models even within the same manufacturer. I'm hoping to get some idea what these particular boots are like. I can't even figure out if they're heat moldable, from the website? Given the cost, even at full retail, I've got to expect that these aren't anything too advanced but ?? Mark

Howdy, So... For the Marsblade O1 + boot combo... What's the sizing of the boot like? I wear a 7.5 D Mako for ice. The volume and forefoot width are both arguable too small, but the combination of the heat moldability plus the metatarsal guard spreading out the lace load I think makes them work. But they do work and I have no issues being in them for say five hours at a go when I ref. I don't brush the endcaps with my toes, but it doesn't seem like there's a ton of room in there either. The Bauer scanner thinks I should be in a 7.5EE Supreme. I've got an older pair of 8D Ribcores that I could convert, but I'm thinking of just getting the boot / holder combo, particularly at the $280 price vs. $200 for the holder itself. The Ribcores also feel a little sloppy compared to the Makos, so its not like they're at all perfect either. edit: Standing on a ruler, my right foot seems to be ~26.8cm and left is ~26.5cm Mark

Howdy, So, Marsblades... I guess specifically the original O1's... Everything seems to say that they "feel like ice skates." I'm trying to understand that a bit. I've never played roller hockey. I do have a pair of inlines, but they're super cheap Vapors that don't fit that great. They use a hilo chassis setup with 76 fronts and 80 backs. When I skated with them, it felt like my feet were on skis or something. Unless my foot was in the air, I couldn't rotate/turn my foot at all. I got some extra 72mm wheels and put them on to rocker the "contact patch" a bit and that helped some. It felt a little more like skating on ice, where if your weight is over the balls of your feet, you can rotate your foot essentially without resistance. But still not great. Then I tried the extra 76 front in the back position, so that my wheels (front to back) were 72, 76, 80, 76. That felt the most like being on ice. But I noticed I didn't have much 'rear stability'. It frequently felt like I was going to fall backwards if I didn't concentrate on keeping my weight on the balls of my feet. Which all brings me to my question about Marsblades... It seems like the point of the system is to let your foot rock back and forth longitudinally on top of the chassis... But all four wheels are pressing down into the skating surface equally still, right? So does your foot still feel locked in one direction when there's weight on it? I guess I'm wondering if the feel is different enough to what I have with my "regular' inline skates to be way more like ice skating. With all the rinks shut down and my guess that they're either not coming back soon or that I won't be willing to be in them if there are two teams worth of people in there, I'm considering getting a little more serious about using inlines for off ice stuff. Most of the reviews I see are from people that already do a lot of roller hockey. I'm curious about the perspectives on this stuff from folks that have never really skated inline very much. Mark

Howdy, Got email today announcing that Verbero was back. Apparently now owned by Andy Sutton? Anyone know anything about the new version of them? The email was pushing 350g sticks at 50% off the $300 retail price... https://www.verbero.com/collections/sticks/products/mercury-v350-composite-stick-leftt-hand?variant=31922578358344 Mark

Howdy, I wouldn't expect good results with paint. Many (most?) of the floor tiles can be driven on, etc. etc. Not sure what else you want to do there, but I'd have said that the floor tiles would hold up better than paint would to many / most "other activities". As a possible alternative.... Pucks won't slide that great on it, but it might protect your stick blade some... How about typical vinyl flooring / linoleum? You can get it pretty cheap (like $1/ft^2 or less). I don't think it would hold up anything like as well as a real hockey tile, but it seems like it'd be a lot better than paint... Mark

Howdy, If you don't want to just say "no", then give them two options... One where prices are such that you're comfortable taking the risk that folks will bail on what they've ordered / whatever. And the 2nd one where the situation is "normal" and they give you a lump sum payment for a big order. Mark

Howdy, So how does it work if you're an NHL team? Is it all a one off thing to get them to source fabrics that match your colors? Like it seems like there are very specific shades of red or blue or yellow or whatever that don't necessarily match up to what I see being available on their retail stuff. Nothing but idle curiosity really. Though it would be fun to be able to get a good quality Neon Pink or whatever shell and gloves... Mark

Howdy, Anyone know why Warrior's hockey customizer doesn't let you do things like customize the 'real' Covert glove with the flex cuff? Or build their girdle shell? Heck I don't see any covert gloves on the customizer at all now, even with the crappy fixed cuff. Is there another one available for NHL teams or something? Certainly I've seen pro stock version of all of that, in the various team colors. Mark

Howdy, Well, one of my local rinks has ice again, but its not for us... https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/04/16/bradys-run-park-ice-arena-refrozen-coronavirus-bodies/ Mark

Howdy, Yeah, I've not seen anything consistent as to how number sizing works. Seems like older jerseys are wider but ?? For me, jerseys in the 24" to 25" pit to pit size range are good, but that seems to have wildly different number sizing from different jersey manufacturers or even models within the same manufacturer. Mark

Howdy, I'll be interested to hear what you think about the fit. I do think there's a difference in fit expectations for a girdle vs. regular pants. I want the girdle basically skin tight, with no gaps. The wrap style probably helps with that as you don't have to pull it up over anything. For me, the girdle moves with me, with basically no slipping, while regular hockey pants had a LOT more "me moving inside the pants". It may also be that the sizing is different between the Super Tacks and the 7092. I've never tried on a Super Tacks girdle. Mark

Howdy, I have a Tacks 7092. I really like the hip and tailbone protection. Its maybe a small step down from the Easton Pro 15 pants (total tanks!) I was wearing prior, but its also literally half the weight. Both options were selected with hip and tailbone protection in mind. I'm 5'10", 190 lbs (now. ugh), 34" waist in jeans. I use a Medium. I can't imagine you'd want a large given what you've said, though I do think I'm on the upper end of the Medium range. 7092 is also a true wrap style girdle vs. the Super Tacks which you'd have to modify to do that. I like that a lot better in terms of putting on gear. I don't leave the shell attached to the girdle. Mark

Howdy, Have you played with any flat bottom stuff? To me, it sounds like it might work for you. Like the literal marketing pitch is that you get the glide from a shallower hollow and the bite from a deeper one. I do the Sparx stuff and I'd say to give a 5/8 Fire a go if that's available to you. Someone else might be able to recommend an FBV hollow to try. Mark (who, it should be said, is not much of a hockey player. 🙂 So take what I'm saying with lots of salt)