Leif

oldtrainerguy28: Thank you for the response, you clearly have an informd viewpoint. Are the CSA test methodologies for hockey helmets online?

A helmet will protect you from concussion due to a puck, or even a stick, hitting your helmet. I’ve had a slap shot bounce off my helmet, and barely noticed it. Without the helmet I would have sustained a nasty head wound and possibly brain damage. I’ve also gone into the boards, and my helmet has protected my head from concussion. What you perhaps mean is that a major cause of concussion is due to the deceleration associated with the head coming to a sudden stop, as seen often in contact hockey, but rarely in the hockey I participate in. I am sure we can agree that a helmet will not prevent concussion in such circumstances, but I don’t think you have scientific data to prove that a helmet cannot mitigate concussion ie reduce the severity. And neither do I, but I suspect it can reduce the deceleration, and absorb some of the shock waves from the impact. I suspect brain damage can result from shock waves moving through the brain. For my part I know from experience that the Reakt 200 is more protective than the 4500. Maybe not always, but enough to know that I won’t wear a 4500 again. Don’t Bauer argue with the VT results, and say that they perform their own rigorous testing? Sadly, a lot of this thread is “I think that” rather than “Studies show that ... “. You’d think governments would sponsor such testing on public health grounds.

I had a tech mesh boot, a Bauer s160, which fitted well. But I got occasioal lace bite. I now have Bauer Custom S2 Pros whch are much stiffer, with a much closer fit round the toes, and elsewhere. I now skate better as I feel more in control, they are more precise. A friend once said that his top end boots went where he pointed them, and that sums it up. If I mess up, it’s my fault, not the skates. I was playing hockey for two hours this evening, and it felt like the boots had wrapped my feet perfectly, not tight, but no empty space. I didn’t need to tighten the laces between scrimmages. And the huge tongue wrapped my foot ensuring no lace bite. However it took three months to break them in, with some discomfort around my toes. I have flipper shaped feet. In practice they probably make little difference to my playing, which depends more on game play, and hand eye coordination, but I certainly would not go back to lower spec. boots. A coach I know who has played at the semi pro level bought some Bauer s190 skates and told me he regretted not getting the Bauer 1s skates instead.

Sounds reasonable, a satisfaction guaranteed promise is a marketing tool, so you should take advantage of it. I returned Superfeet for a refund as I hated them. My Bauer 2s Pros are wearing well, but my friends Trues are built like tanks.

I had the basic Bauer bag with two handles, lasted two years. Corners split, fabric split. I have a higher end Bauer bag with wheels, after six months the corners show noticeable wear. Not a fan.

I certainly would not transport mine on a regular basis without a solid case and the Pelican with foam is ideal. The original box is okay for rare use such as moving home. However the Sparx is heavy, easy to drop, so the ProSharp Home might be a better choice as a mobile machine. But the made in Sweden aspect makes it very expensive, and it lacks automation.

The UK and European price is unreasonable IMO. The Sparx is also much more expensive here, but still worth it.

The EU price is about £600 whereas a new or nearly new 1650 (no foam) can be had for ~£200. I could take mine to training sessions and charge for sharpens, but it’s a heavy machine, and all too easy to drop and/or bang against something.

Is there any advantage to black steels if you do a one pass sharpen before every session? From what I have read, the key advantage is keeping an edge longer. Also does anyone know if any particular blades are more or less prone to being tapered? My previous Step Steel blades were tapered so usng a BAT gauge was a bit tough. My Bauer LS5 blades are not tapered. However a sample of one set of each does not tell me much.

Swap the blades, and if the same skate has a bent blade, the cause is the holder, presumably badly riveted. Or just examine the blade when removed.

I picked up my Bauer 1N stick at half price, buying the last season’s stick might be better than most cheap alternatives. That said, I’d probably play just as well/badly with a mid range stick.

6 clicks is quite a bit, I found the optical alignment tool got close (good enough to be honest) and 2 more clicks got it perfect according to my gauge. One pass is perhaps not enough as suggested.

I find the responses to smu odd. Self inflicted wounds? How so? Yes his posts could be very repetitive and they became boring, and uninformative, but he seems to have had an appalling time.

I tried SF, hated them. They raised my feet up, reducing skate volume leading to lace bite. And they have a fixed curve, which was not a good fit for my arches. I then tried Speed Plates which I love. I went through two pairs of the originals, which crack after six months or so. The current ones seem much more durable, and they have slight padding too so they don’t feel so hard. Oh, and I have fairly high arches.

The cynic might conclude that the extra cost, and selling price, don’t make up for the longer lifetime and consequent reduced sales.

By durability do you mean resistance to breaking under a load, or the resistance to abrasion from skate blades?

Blimey, what a pile of non scientific techno balls.

I bought kit in store to make sure it fitted. IMO it’s worth getting a high end helmet, and shorts. Low end shorts have almost no coccyx protection. Mine have thick padding. However, you might not feel bum impacts as much as I do.

Last year I went from a Bauer 4500 to a Bauer Reakt 200. Whilst my views are subjective, and unscientific, I’m pretty damned sure that the 200 is far more protective. As an example I took a slap shot to the head, above the cage, and felt nothing. The helmet was able to absorb the impact and dissipate the force. I’ve hit the boards a couple weeks of times, and felt little. I’m sure the 4500 would not have absorbed the shock based on knocks I experienced when wearing it as the foam is pretty hard and dense. I don’t know if the 200 offers more protection from rapid deceleration were I to slam my head at high speed into the boards for example, but my experience is that it does offer significantly more protection against impacts. However, I suspect it does offer protection against deceleration, but only partially for obvious reasons. As for the suggestion that a poor helmet is best as it makes you more alert, I had a headache for several days when a big player going at high speed skated directly into me head on whilst I was nowhere near the puck, and not expecting to be floored. I recently went over when chasing someone with the puck, and he deliberately stopped in a brace for impact stance, not a lot I could do about that.

Plenty of d3o pads on eBay for anyone who prefers DIY.

People here are reasonable, and it looks like a useful tool. I can imagine someone being away from home, and preferring to use this gadget rather than risk entrusting their edges to an untried sharpener who could screw them up. I suspect it is much better than competing products such as the Sweet Stick (which once ruined my edges).

I used to sharpen one pair of skates every two weeks with a 50 mile round trip. It will pay back in 3-4 years. Throw in that I get sharp blades EVERY session, with perfect edges EVERY time, and no wasted mornings, and IMO it’s good value even at the sky high European price that we pay.

He certainly does sound like a good candidate. The issue of longevity is an interesting question. The Wissota and other manual sharpeners have AFAIK only one component that can go wrong in normal use namely the motor. The Sparx has I assume two motors (one to rotate the cutting wheel, one to drive the wheel horizontally) and an electronic module. I have electronic goods that have lasted decades without issue, and electric motors can last yonks, so in principle a unit that is not abused could last decades. It also has some electronic switches to detect when the door and latches are closed, and some lights which I assume are LEDs. An LED should out last the owner and switches should be durable. That said, my well cared for Nikon D200 failed after 8 years due to an electronic module blowing.

I don't see how you can ensure level edges without using a BAT gauge.

Seriously? That’s pretty much the default hollow for hockey skates in this country. Go to a LHS and ask for a sharpening, and you’ll get that or 5/8”, unless they are knowledgeable then they might match it to your weight. I know plenty of people on 3/8”, a few on 7/16” including me, lots on 1/2” and some on 5/8”. I’ve never met someone on shallower than 5/8”.