caveman27

Well, you've made a lot of assumptions that I don't agree with. And, I'm not a Boomer so that would add to your list of assumptions. Secondly, you weren't able to intelligently respond to any of my comments. You turn to insulting me and sarcasm. That's your reputation now.

Yeah. Sorry about that. I've basically come to the conclusion that hockey equipment is among the most predatory marketing schemes in sports equipment. Maybe because there is so much of it, but nothing else comes close unless we're talking about really expensive sports like golf. Most gear is just cosmetically different stuff that has gone fundamentally unchanged for 15-20 years, but is always marketed as "revolutionary." Downhill skiing and snowboarding is pretty expensive with models catering to world cup-level skiers to beginners. High-level equipment touting better grip, performance, speed, or whatever other attribute. It's very performance based or "predatory marketing scheme" based. Is the gear just cosmetically different year-to-year? Pretty much. The last big revolutionary change was shorter but wider skis. Every year is just different colors. The problem I see is that most guys just eat this up. Adult rec league players legitimately believe that $200 shin pads or $160 elbow pads actually make them a better player. Because CCM and Bauer told them so. Which, to clarify, if you do in fact believe that, you have brain problems. Well, the lowest division beginner wearing $900 Bauer skates but uses the stick as a balancing crutch is a joke. But, part of it, if someone has the money, they can buy whatever they want. If he really thinks it makes him a better player, well, he may be deceiving himself. Most guys have played for years. Some played at a very elite level. These guys want certain equipment at the pro level because they push it to the limit, like skates. The mid to beginner level skates don't cut it in terms of support and performance. Yeah, they could wear beginner skates, but they will wear out early or nor provide adequate support. Not to mention the quality of the gear has gone down if anything. Fancy foams with trademarked names doesn't really mean much when your expensive gear starts falling apart in a few years. Not necessarily. D30 foam is pretty modern in how it reacts to impact. It's expensive too. In terms of modern HD and LD foams, they are a step up from foams used in the 1980s. I don't think anyone is using Rubatex anymore, if you wore Cooper stuff back in the day, it was used in the helmets like the SK2000. Sorry if this feels like an unfocused post, but this just really bothers me. I wouldn't be on this site if I also wasn't particular about my gear, but there generally does seem like there is something uniquely wrong with hockey players in this regard. Anyone have any thoughts? Well, it sounds like you are complaining about the marketing schemes of hockey equipment manufacturers. And, there's nothing wrong with hockey players. If you want to buy a better product, you have the "option" to do so. If you want to buy an intermediate or beginner model, you also have that option. I think you are "focused" on how people in your sphere of hockey behave. Where I am, yes, there are guys who like to buy the latest and greatest or pro stock gear. Then, there are guys with vintage equipment and don't always buy the latest and greatest. Some guys wear their roller hockey gear on the ice, like Mission-brand gloves... how dare they! Marketing of the latest and greatest to improve one's performance doesn't make everyone buy the top of the line.

Well, the pricing has been like this for decades. You have actual professionals who need highly protective gear and you have beginners who don't need as much protection and everything in between. Manufacturers build gear for various levels of players and price them accordingly. Your adult rec league player could wear high end shin pads or could wear beginner shin pads. Everyone has the free choice to buy the low end gear, the high end gear or something in between. Even playing ice hockey is an option. As someone who has played goalie and as a player, it's nice to have options. I really don't care if gear claims to make me a better player. If it doesn't fit well, I don't care if it's made with carbon fiber and weighs one ounce, I'll get the gear the fits right and weighs a pound. STX is going in an interesting direction with direct-to-customer sales approach. If you play forward, they are worth checking out if you want something that isn't $200+. As for quality of gear, when it comes to goalie gear, it seems like pads and gloves are made with a "it's going to be trash in a couple years" mentality. Back when gear was made with real leather, it could be used for quite a long time and patched if necessary. Artificial leather seems to wear down much faster than leather at high-abrasion areas. I guess you can patch it with a pad wrap material. Now, the internals of leg pads are made with nice lightweight foams, which break down. If the foams in the pads are gone, they are gone. Of course, foam leg pads are much lighter than animal hair-packed leg pads, I wouldn't suggest going back. If you really want to play a cheaper sport, go ahead. You will see marketing of some sort where pro-level equipment is highly expensive and mid to beginner level equipment is cheaper.

I had a big decrease in skate boot weight when I went from mid-2000 Bauer Supremes to mid-2010 CCM Jetspeed. Sprinting forward and doing cross overs, I felt mildly faster. Stopping wasn't any faster nor was pivoting. On flipside, on my Bauer Supremes, I bought some Step Steel blades which were taller and heavier to get some height. I did feel the extra weight, but it didn't slow me down that much in the beginning of a game. It was felt more later on in the game when I was physically tired and I was coasting more north-south and hardly doing east-west skating. Side note, I don't know why some people don't show up to games and we have a roster of 15 guys but only 7 plus the goalie show up. Side note rant... over. So, with the CCM Jetspeeds, I felt fast. Much like the Supremes in games where we had 2 or 3 guys on the bench to sub, decreased skate weight didn't make much of a difference since I had run out of energy.

There is aluminum and titanium. Aluminum would be cheaper but they would need to make it thicker to be as stiff as steel. Titanium would be way too expensive just to provide 1/3 the weight of steel.

The surgery was successful and I'm in the recovery phase. Doing physical therapy and walking. My post-op check-up is later this week. One thing I wasn't expecting was being very tired all the time. That lasted for over a week. I'm off pain meds now which is great. The thing that worried me the most was having to be off a blood thinner for a week before the surgery, because I had a heart attack over a year ago. The procedure was out patient so I was home the same day. I bought a walker but hardly used it. That was a waste of money. Also got out my crutches as back up, but never used those either. It will be awhile before I get on the ice to skate.

I had that done 3 years ago on my right side but the doctor ended up not shaving any bone down since it was looking like I would be due for a hip replacement soon.

I hate slipping or losing an edge while trying to sprint, turn or stop hard. That sounds like smaller ROH might fix the grip issue. No balance. That might be the pitch and/or radius. Do you feel like your skates are pushing you back on your heels while doing deep cross overs (going with positive or aggressive pitch would help)? Or do you feel like your skates make it like you are tripping on the tip of your toes (negative pitch would help)? Sometimes, skates and blade holders have built in aggressive pitch which may or may not work with you. A larger radius profile may make the skates feel like you've lost agility, like ability to pivot quickly going backwards to forwards and vice versa, or you cannot turn in deep and hard, like you are skating on cross-country skis. A smaller profile would help, or if you go with a multi-radius profile, a smaller front radius would help. If you still have your old Reeboks, one thing would be to ask the sharpener to find out the radius and ROH on your old skates and put that on your new skates. Just read the post before this... sounds like I just regurgitated what was written. LOL. Good luck.

Yes, Interesting that the steel hasn't separated from the carbon fiber though. Sounds like all problems are related to the carbon fiber part breaking down in some way.

Thanks. I got anterior approach total hip replacement (today) for left side. I don't know if he put in a ceramic ball or other. I'll ask in my follow-up visit. The anesthesiologist did a good job and I wasn't nauseous post surgery. I had ACL reconstruction decades ago and I was totally nauseous afterwards. I was given ginger ale and nausea medicine and I threw it up. I have prescribed physical therapy which I'm going to on Wednesday. I'll do that until I really don't need to go and can things on my own. I've been to this same physical therapy office a bunch of times through the years for other surgeries... I should get frequent flier miles. The post-op surgery nurse gave me a bunch of exercises to do at home until then. My doctor does have BHR training/experience but he didn't provide that option. My right hip was worked on three years ago and got scoped. Same orthopedic surgeon who worked on me today. He said it was looking worn and I will probably get total hip replacement for that in the future. Did your doctor give you the "okay" to go back to work, to drive, to exercise/run/lift/play hockey? If so, when did that happen.

Forward/depth (i.e. padding is thicker) or sideways (wider leg channels)?

Well, I'll be getting this surgery pretty soon, like this week. Got some questions for guys here who have had it. Anyone else get this procedure done? How long did recovery take before you were able to skate? Play hockey? Do you play forward/defense or goalie? Any complications in playing hockey?

Hmm, the latest Vapor 2X Pro are nothing similar in appearance to my Vapor X100 shin pads. They don't have the segmented lower shin section. It seemed gimmicky anyway. I wore the Vapor shin guards under the tongue and got a shin pad that was an inch shorter than my previous Rbk/CCM pads.

There are some online tips to use bleach and water. Not sure if there are any metal parts molded into the blade holder that would get ruined by the bleach.

Not surprising. AHL teams already have advertising on their team jerseys.