swede

Instructions in the box said 6-8 minutes at 83-92C° (180-200f°).. I baked them for 8 minutes at 90°C, but still could not get them wide enough. The conditions for returning skates are a little more restrictive in europe, so i didn’t want to risk not being able to return them. Rebaked my punched Vapor 3X for 6 mins at 90°C yesterday and did the shrink wrap thing really hard on them.. I did actually get even better heel lock and fit around the heel and ankle. Hopefully the heel sunk a little more into the heel cup, which would give me some clearence up front where the toe cap meets the boot.

I baked them acording the instructions that came in the box. The heel and ankle molded nicely, but the forefoot would not. So, i dont know.. I returned them while i still could! I can still use my Vapor 3X skates, but i need some extra silicone pads between the big toe joints. Vapor Fit3, with old Vapor EE forefoot and Old toe cap would be perfect.

I had to return the Cats.. They are not for wide feet even tough the size was 7.5 wide.. Even after baking they squeeze my forefoot way to much. Not even punching the entire forefoot out would be able to fix the width issue. Back to tweeking my 3X instead..

I guess so.. well, the True 30-day money back fit warranty applies also in Europe, so i guess i don’t have anything to loose baking them.. interresting to see if they can expand that much width wise in the forefoot and how it will effect the toecap since the toecap is glued on the outside.

No, actually the Cats are one size up.. I’m a size 7 Fit3 in vapors, and the Cats are 7.5 Wide.. Fit3 and EE Bauers are longer than Fit1, Fit2 and D width Bauers. my toes are jammed against the toecap, so they are not to long. Will be perfect lengthwise after baking, the question is, if they will widen enough to fit my forefoot after baking. my only issue with the Bauers is that the toecap are to narrow and dig in between the first and second joint on my big toes. The Bauers are punched right behind the toecap, to accomodate bunions i have on my big toe joint.

How much can one expect the newer Catalyst line of skates will expand or widen with baking? reason for asking is cause i ordered a pair of Catalyst 5x4 for myself in Wide, (Fit3 vapors now) and the Cats are really crushing my forefoot, especially behind the big toe where i have bunions.. Do the cats widen that much with baking, or will i probably need to punch them aswell like i had to with the vapors??

Have you ever tried Tackla pants? It will have a similar fit with very tight waist and around the kidneys, but will also fit quite tight around the legs.. If you liked a Vapor girdle, you’ll probably like the Tackla one aswell. The difference is going to be the amount of protection. The tackla girdle is padded all around where the old Vapor girdle har more weak spots. The only place the Tackla girdle lack protection is the belly.

Hi all! Any opinions about this stick yet? I ordered one for my son as his beloved Warrior alpha Lx Pro really is on its last leg.. He tried a teammates Lx2 pro but didn’t like the feeling of that stick. He wants to stay with Warrior sticks, but want to try a true mid-kick stick, så this time we go with Novium. I could not find any reviews on the new Novium 2 pro stick (other than the ones from IW), and kinda made the order based on the reviews on the ”old” novium pro stick… anyone on here have the new Novium 2 pro and can give a short review?

FYI, The Bauer ACP PRO girdle is one of the most used pants/girdles in Swedish SHL together with Bauer Pro Series/Nexus pants. Talked to a Bauer representative at a summer skills camp my son went to this summer, and discussed gear with him. He said that, at PRO level in Sweden (SHL, Hockeyallsvenskan) it’s a 50/50 split between the ACP Pro girdle and the Pro Series pant. Younger players seem to prefer girdles over the pants he said..

Today we actually tried on a pair of 13” Jetspeed ft680’s.. And they are actually even narrower than Warrior alpha shins. So going with Jetspeed shins might be a very good suggestion if not the Sr sizes are much wider. The store we were at did not have any 14” shins in stock at all, so..

My 11y old son needs new shin guards.. The thing is, he’s only 5’1” but he has really long shins! He has now outgrown his Warrior Alpha DX 13” shin guards and need 14” instead.. The problem is that all shin guards in 14” are either Sr or Int and much wider than his 13” Warrior alpha’s.. So, i’m looking for the narrowest 14” shins on the market! Does anyone here know how Warrior’s 14” alpha shins fit width-wise compared to say Bauer vapor 14” int shins? We tried Supreme M3 int shins in both 13” and 14”, both to wide for his liking.. Thanks!

Warrior Franchise or Warrior Bonafide X.. not a big difference in those two. Both are great gloves. To bad they are impossible to find in Europe nowdays.

I did understand you, but i thought it was kinda funny when @Sprungdownunder came and said something completly different 😄 I will try to punch the 3X skates one more time, and this time I’m gonna use the big ball on the punch pliers. I might succeed, but i might also ruin the skates when trying.. IF i do not succeed, i will order a pair of Hzrdus 7x, 5x or a pair of Catalyst 5x4… I’m only coaching at the moment, but i still want comfortable skates.

Ok.. Now se have 2 persons saying against each other. One says 9 are prone to breakage while the 5/7 are good, and the other says 7/9 are the ones that break 😄.. Safe to say, i should not buy a first gen Catalyst skate at all, and look at Hzrdus or 2nd gen Catalyst instead. The reason i’m asking is i have problem with bunions behind the big toe on both feet, and even though iv’e punched out that spot (alot) on my 3X it’s still painful and i need skates that can be molded better around that area of the feet.

No cracked Hzrdus skates yet?

Which True models are known for cracking? Is it all models or just the Cat9?

Looks like a True version of the Tackla Breeze X1 ProZone Hockey Pants Tackla is the distributor of True Hockey in Finland, so there is your connection.

Wow!! I really hope that TPS will resurrect! I really miss their sticks. The R8 was my favourite. Here in Europe we had it in #61 curve at retail which were a bit different from the regular Nash curve. My favourite curve along with Warriors Vanek/Weight curve..

Hejduk sport is still around atleast here in Europe. Check out hps-sport-shop.de They ship overseas aswell..

Uppdating my gear list… And my sons gear aswell.. Skates: Bauer Vapor 3X with Easton CXN holders and regular Step steel. Shins: New Old stock Reebok 6K shins. Cup: CCM Core shorts with Shock Doctor Titan alloy cup. Pants: Bauer Supreme 2s Shoulders: CCM Quicklite 270 Elbows: Bauer Vapor x900 lite. Neck guard: Tackla. Helmet: Reebok 6K (Found a new old stock on a sports store closeout sale) Son’s gear (11yrs old) Skates: Bauer Vapor 3x pro sz 5 Fit2 Shins: Warrior Alpha DX 13” Pants: Bauer Vapor X900. Jr M +1” / Tackla Expp 55 Jr sz 160. Cup: Bauer Core shorts with Shock doctor Titan alloy Cup. Shoulders: CCM jetspeed ft4 pro Jr L Elbows: CCM tacks 580 Jr M Neck guard: Tackla. Helmet: Bauer Reakt 75 w Bauer profile 3 cage. Small.

Your kid must have huge calves, or at least a very wide shin, cuz i have 16,5” calves and see the Jetspeed Ft shins as my next pair of shin guards once my Nexus 1000 shins give up.. I really like the fit of the Ft4 and Ft6 shin guards. You should check out Warrior’s alpha series shins. My son has the older Alpha Dx shin guards and love them. He blocks shots quite frequently since he plays D, and i havent heard anything negative yet. Newer Vapor shins on the other hand fit really wierd and lack protection on the sides down towards the ankle..

When my son was 9 he skated in Bauer Nexus n7000, from there we went to CCM tacks 9370, and now when he is 11 he skates in Bauer Supreme 190’s.. I was a little bit unsure if the supremes would be too stiff, but when we skipped the second eyelet from the top he had no problem flexing his ankels and so on… My son does most of his dryland stickhandling exercises standing on a balance board so he has developed quite strong ankles allready.

There are no shoulder pads that fit a bigger than average ”frame”, so if you have broad shoulders or a bigger chest or just have more muscle or fat than the ”normal” hockey player, all shoulder pads will fit wrong or look wrong on you.. I like lifting weights, and have been hitting the iron for over 25 years so yeah, all shoulder pads have a wierd fit on me and make me look like a linebacker when the jersey goes on. Not even customizing of the pads will change that.. When you get past the whole look thing, or how you think or want the pads to make you look its all about fit and protection. CCM have always fitted me better, Bauer shoulders are a no go for me. My top picks are Ccm Rbz 130 or Ccm Qlt 270. Enough protection for my style and level of the game.

I still use the grey ones! 😂 iv’e tried the yellow ones but for me the grey ones worked better.. Found a swedish retailer a few years ago who still had a few grey pairs (size E) in stock.. So i bought them all.. I have like 8 pairs left, so i think i never have to buy skate insoles again 😄

Yeah, but still no way near the stiffness of the Easton CXN holder.. Which means i still have to search eBay weekly to grow my stock of sz 7 CXN holders and steel..