hamstercaster

Background 6'1'' 264 pounds (and counting... down lol) Using Nike Ignite intermediate skates with T-Blades. Using the Medium Rockers with 13 Blades so it goes like this: 280 M-13. Have used CCM Tacks with stock blades before and my Nike Ignite with their stock Tuuk blades for a few years before switching to T-Blades. I switched to T-Blades because I broke the plastic on one of the skates and decided to give T-Blades a try Feel I was told by the store clerk that I would need a couple of games to adjust to the blades because of the different angle. It took me 2 seconds really. For me, this what the doctor had ordered. I had never felt as confortable on skates as with T-Blades. With my Tacks I always felt as if I could fall forward at any time. With my Tuuks, I had a hard time keeping balance standing still as I rocked back and forth because of the "rounder blades" With the T-Blades I actually felt more confortable and stable and it has actually made me a better player. 10/10 Steel These blades have met my expectations. I was told that they would give me around 20 hours of ice time which would be the equivalent of about for or 5 skate sharpenings. This would then make the blades cost the exact same has sharpening my skates which was find by me. I have just purchased my third pair yesterday. First pair lasted 33 hours of ice time on hard ice. Ice is much harder in the winter in my local rink. The second pair has lasted me about 45 hours of spring ice which is usually a bit softer. I tryed on my 3rd pair yesterday and it bit to much so I'm gonna put my second pair back on for today's game since the ice is very soft at our local indoor's rink. So far it's been a great investment for me. 10/10 Variations They offer different angles and blade cuts from 9 to 15. At 9 I figure a very light player playing on extremely hard ice could use them as my 13's bite the ice really hard. I honnestly think anyone can find the angle and bite he needs for his game and should also be able to find the right blade angle to suit him 10/10 Durability So far so good. I play defense and get hit by shots quite often on my shins, toes, ankle and blades and so far the stabilizers have held up quite fine. I do have skate markes on my rockers and expect one or both to break in a not so distant future. They should be cheap enough to replace though so I'm not worried. The blades themselves last long enough to give me my money's worth though. The steel is extra hard and doesn't show much wear and hold up their original cut quite good. I would say that it takes about 10 hours of ice time before they start feeling like conventinal blades feel after 2 games after a fresh sharpening. But because of the stabilizers I'll have to take out a point 9/10 Performance these blades are sharp!! my 13's were much sharper than any sharpening jobs I ever got done on my conventional Tuuks or Tacks. The only sharpening that came close was the laser sharpening offered at one of the shops I used to go too. The biggest advange of T-Blades is that you always get a consistant blade. A blade that is always as sharp as the previous pair you bought. A blade that keeps the exact same angle game after game or when buying a new pair. I've been to three or four different shops around town to have my conventional blades sharpened and I never was 100% satisfied. There's always a Joe Shmoe that will say: Hmm the last guy sure did a terrible job last time you got them sharpend.. I'll fix that for you... only to make them worse and make you fall everytime you try to turn left or right. With T-blades, no more of this. Consitant cut, consistant angle and no need to go to the shop after every 4-5 hours of playing and since I play 2 to 3 times a week at an hour and a half of ice time, that would mean that I would have to go to the shop every week. With the T-blades I go at least a month in between purchases. Anyway, I usually buy an extra pair so I have a spare one in case something happens. They are also lighter but can't really tell if they have made me a faster player or not since I have lost a total of 74 pounds in the last 9 months, probably 30-40 of those pounds since I started using T-blades.. so I presume that I got faster cause I'm lighter :D 9/10 Conclusion To me, the T-Blades were just what the doctor ordered. It gave me a bit more agility as I was fortunate enough to get the proper combination for me on the first try. It has given me more confidence in my play and provided me with uniformity in performance. No more relying on the ol' shop guy to sharpen my skates hoping he'll do it right. Perhaps our guys suck and my evaluation would be different if we had competent shop guys around.. who knows. The thing is that it takes one guy to screw up once and then you are pretty much done for for the life span of your blades as many sharpening errors are hard to correct without taking out a serious amount of blade on your conventional blades. T-Blades are a complete charm, they are easy to change and they take only 5 minutes to do so. They are very consistant from blade to blade and are usually easy to find at shops as they have now started to stock them more... they may come a bit more difficult to come buy during summer time though but shouldn't be too bad as I have quite a few shops in a 10 to 60 minute drive radius from home. I am very pleased with the results and recommend the blades to any player out there wether he's a recreational player like me or a league player. I have actually seen a couple NHL'ers wear T-Blades. There was one in Anaheim and I think it was Selanne.. but not sure. I know that they are very popular in Europe and are starting to catch on here in Canada and the States. Overall rating 9.5/10