xstartxtodayx

This is great to know I have someone local to repair gloves (I have a couple pairs that I wouldn't mind getting re-palmed in the near future). Last I knew of someone on LI that did this was back in college when we had a legend named Milty Papps who'd do this stuff for our team, he was retired from working on pros stuff by that time and sadly passed away a few years later... his work was incredible though.

and GM's as well... I wouldn't be surprised if Lou Lamoriello had/has a ban on yellow laces, I heard he even told what players what kind of tape they could use on their socks.

As flip12 mentioned, they're aimed at the roller derby/roller skate crowd (since that's where the owners appear to come from) but they make a variety of lengths and widths including many that are ice skate appropriate (I'm guessing the 10mm is the correct width without measuring and then length is all preference, I think I usually go 96 or 108 since I don't like them too long and have a 7.5 skate size). As for their thickness and durability, they're as nice as any other laces I've had (Howies, A&R, Elite, etc).

When both of my kids wanted fancy/funky colors and patterns I did some searching and found a company that not only made a huge array of colors/patterns, but also made some really nice quality laces (and waxed too!)... check them out, they def have what you're looking for: https://derbylaces.com/

Have you tried your local pro shop? Seems like you'd also need someone to install them (assuming you mean the ones that go between the boot and blade). I know there's a guy/shop out in Cali that sells them, he's on S2K under goldengatesharpening so you could always contact him.

No more pics for you! Or if/when I do make another Lightning game I'll photosh p yellow laces on you 😝 I still wear them, have worn them since the mid 90's. I dabbled with black when that was all the rage but it just wasn't for me, and white is too boring, so yellow it is. I do see a lot of other colors now a days though, pink, blue, green, orange, red, basically any color you can think of I've seen out there (both beer league and young kids). So yea, people still wear yellow or any color they want so wear whatever you like.

Is Kevin Lowe behind that design? 🤣

I had that S190 girdle for about a season, the shell didn't seem much different than other shells, the padding on the front thigh was just a layer of soft padding and I swapped the shell out for a couple PP9K shells that I preferred more (the girdle itself still had the thicker pad and plastic insert). I don't know if I'd call it a 2 piece pant, I thought 2 piece pants had upper and lowers that were able to detach from each other? If you prefer that girdle/not a girdle idea you can just attach a shell to most girdles with the velcro loops, that way it's more of a one piece set up rather than putting on the girdle then the shell, but I don't think you'll find many shells with more than a thin layer of foam in the thigh area (some have more padding in the kidney area which is why I like the PP9K/PP90 shells).

I have a top loader without the agitator thing so I just toss mine in the washing machine. I use Sport Wash (amazon has it, like $20 for a bottle that'll last 6 months) which doesn't have any additives (phosphates, UV enhancers, fabric softeners, fragrance, etc.) and will clean out years of gunk blocking the pores of materials, I use it on all of my athletic clothing and also on my gear from time to time, works awesome.

There's a topic somewhere about girdles but only a brief mention of the Jetspeed one since it was new/announced at the time. I wear a Tacks girdle (had a couple 9K's for a while before) and really love the Tacks one, I've only help the Jetspeed in the store and it was a little lighter and slightly less bulky which I'm guessing is just thinner padding. The Tacks is light in my opinion and very mobile so I don't see much realistic advantage to the Jetspeed, also the Tacks offers the adjustable spine protector which was one of the features I liked most coming from the 9K with practically zero spine protection (the Jetspeed has spine protection but it's not adjustable and slightly smaller from what I could tell).

Those images reminded me of the buckle system on the Tacks shell, I didn't care for that b/c it was a couple inches too high and made me aware of my belly fat any time I clipped it shut 🤣 I just double checked my shells and the 3 I thought were PP90's are actually PP9K's (which are nearly identical I thought), turns out those don't have belts at all, just the velcro flap up front which has always worked out fine. I also looked at the Warrior pro stock shells I have and those seem to be thinner material all around (just don't feel as nice and less padding) but they do have a combination belt/velcro closure up front which sits nicer than the Tacks one.

I picked up the RX3 shoulder pads last year during a covid sale (when I thought it would just be a short time before I played again🤣), after them sitting around for almost a year I tried them 3 or 4 times and just didn't care for them... they were plenty protective, light weight and relatively low profile but they just didn't stay in place at all. I found myself constantly re-adjusting them no matter how tight or loose I made the chest straps. Not sure if it was the design with the shoulder caps/bicep pads that would pull the chest section or what but I couldn't stand it. I went back to my old RBZ130's and then found a deal on a pair of NOS CL's which I have since swapped the shoulder caps on in favor of the RBZ130 caps from my old ones (the CL caps felt huge).

I own both and prefer the PP90 style for the added kidney protection and it just seems to fit better (plus I didn't need the added zip length than Tacks offered). Either shell will fit either girdle (as well as any girdle ever made since you just tighten a belt to keep them on). They might have velcro to more permanently attach to the girdle but I've never looked, seems to defeat the purpose of using s girdle that you can quickly/easily swap shells if you play for different teams with different colors. Also, Warrior makes a shell that's sort of between the two, I personally don't like it as much as the PP90 but they have a lot to choose from and are readily available in pro stock from various sites.

I bring 2 of the same stick to every game, I have different colored grip/medical tape on the butt ends to tell them apart. I generally switch halfway through the game or once the tape is getting too soaked with ice (even with wax it can only take so much lol).

I feel like SherWood and CCM are swapping designs... that new SW looks like they took a page from the Tacks book while the new Jetspeed stick looks like the old T100 with bare CF and red lettering. I'm not complkaining, I like all of the designs.

Just throwing this out there but I had previously tried a Resistance Helmet (I think it was a 300) was was essentially the same as the Tacks 310, just an earlier generation. I wore it for maybe half a season but it was too square up front and would cause pain about 15 mins into playing (felt fine when I'd put it on). I ditched it and stuck with my V08 until this year when I switched to a Tacks 910 and the 910 has more of the oval shape like the V08 and fits me great. I know this thread was started before the 910 was ever released so I figured I'd throw it out there as another option, I picked mine up brand new for about $120 from SLS (pro stock leftover). The only issue I found with the 910 is where the ear guards slide in by the temples created a very hard spot which caused pain once I started bringing the heart rate up, I ended up removing the ear guards and the issue went away.

I've seen Jamm stuff in local pro shops and I thought it all looked like Tackla as well, both shells and girdles. No idea the quality or anything but I wouldn't be surprised if they're connected. I've been a girdle guy since the mid 90's back when I had a plain grey basic Bauer one. I've tried a bunch over the years and currently use a CCM Tacks that I love. I couldn't stand the Bauer wrap styles (always felt like it was lacking protection and was awkward getting on/off), had an old Easton one that I liked but no longer exists, used a 9K pro for a while that I really liked but now switched to the Tacks since it's lighter than the 9K, more protective and more adjustable. The Jetspeed is similar to the Tacks from what I remember, maybe just slightly less adjustable and a touch lighter, looks nice in the pics.

If you're a center a lesser flex is not as good on faceoffs from what I hear, a stiffer stick works better to outmuscle the opponent (I'm a D-man 99% of the time so I'm in no way an expert on faceoffs, just what I heard).

I agree with the above... blade construction can play a part in that feel, also there's going to be a transition period where you'll have to adjust and get used to the different feel. When I went from 85 flex to 75 flex there was a bit of a transition but after a while I got used to it and it felt great. Also, I've never heard that "recommended flex" formula before, I grew up with stiff wood sticks and then even stiffer aluminum shafts, no wonder we couldn't shoot worth a damn. It wasn't until the Z Bubble came out while I was in college that I paid attention to flex and found an 85 was better than a 100 for me.

It reminds me of a setup a guy in my league wears... he has a bubble but the whole front shield part is gone, so basically just the bottom vented part, then he has a half shield. It has a larger gap between the visor and the bottom than this Wargate contraption but looks a lot better. I think I've seen guys in the NHL with jaw injuries wear a similar setup, this particular player played some ECHL iirc, so maybe he got the idea from playing there? Here's his setup:

The only time you'll have issues with helmets/cages is with the bubbles... CCM and Bauer have different front screw widths, the CCM is a little wider, so if you use a Bauer bubble on a CCM you have to modifiy the top clips or get special ones (I tried a Bauer bubble for a bit on my CCM helmet and had to notch the plastic clips). I normally wear a Bauer Profile 3 cage on a CCM helmet (a V08 for years and currently a 910) and my son has a Reakt150 which we have had both a CCM cage on and now a Profile cage, no issues with fit on any of them.

For elbows, check out the CCM Tacks line, they use a lot of the old Jofa tech so they're similar. Also try on other stuff, the 3 piece styles are pretty comfy too and a few companies make them.

Tron... the Harbor Freight of hockey equipment.

same here, read it years back and has worked great, have a large spray bottle in the garage near my rack and spray everything down before laying it out to dry after playing. Once a year I wash my gear (everything except skates, gloves and helmets) with a detergent from amazon called Sport Wash and it freshens everything up like new (I use Sport Wash on all of my base layer stuff and any tech fabrics, it doesn't add any scent and it clears out fabric softener residue if you've ever used that on your stuff which is pretty bad, the stuff is awesome).

I usually have the opposite issue since I have skinny arrns, I normally end up sewing the strap to shorten it. Oddly enough, I tried Vapor elbow pads a few years ago (whatever the top model was at the time, white/red colors is all I remember) and I had to return them because the forearm was way too tight and almost as if the pad part was very flat and not shaped for a forearm at all, was really weird. I have since switched to a Tacks model which has a nicely shaped forearm pad and straps that only needed minor modification for my arms lol