Mission HEX-1

[JR Boucicaut 3760]

Open

[EBondo 232]

Mission Hex-1

75 Flex

Hull Curve

Player-5'3", 125 pounds. Midget Minor Travel Hockey.

Use before review- 5 games, 6 practices.

Blade

This is definitely a strong point in the stick. Passes come to the blade very cleanly, and with less of a bounce. The Hex-Core blade has proven itself worthy to me. Shots come firing off of it.

9.5-10

Shaft/Flex

I've said before, Mission IMO has the best flex system. The 75 flex is perfect for me, a little less than Easton's old 75, but a little more than the 65. Around 70. Shaft is a tank. Taken nasty slashes, and only a bit of paint chipping. Love the white color. Mission has the best looking sticks IMO.

10/10

Stickhandling/receiving passes

Definitely the strongest point in the stick. My stickhandling is very very good with this stick, and I can recieve passes very well. No vibrations. It could be the curve too. But I love my stickhandling with this stick.

10/10

Shooting

My shots come firing off the blade. The Flex is perfect. The release is amazing. This is one reason why Mission has completely won me over. I love their equipment, it always feels the stuff I use is made just for me. Couldn't be better. 10/10

Weight and balance

Mission does not make the lightest sticks out there, but for me, weight is not an issue. I've been using Mission sticks (M-1 x2, L-2, now Hex-1), for a few years now, and I love them. The balance is very very good, and it accels in almost every aspect.

10/10

Durability

Like I said before, the shaft is a tank. Many nasty slashes to the shaft, but the stick just eats them for breakfast. Mission sticks are always like this, at least to me. They don't have the paint chipping problem, like Easton does.

10/10

Intangibles

The white paint job of the Hex-1 is very eye-catching. Mission has odd, but cool colors for their sticks. Beemer Blue, Bright Red, now white, I love the red white and blue thing they had going.

9/10

Conclusion

Amazing stick. I have always been impressed with Mission products, and coming from an M-1, this once again proves Mission accels in every aspect of hockey equipment. I could never back away from Mission sticks, and now with my matching 10000 gloves, I look to make a statement on the ice, as I already have with the Hex-1.

9.8/10

Two Thumbs WAY up Mission Hockey!!!

***EDITED REVIEW, MUCH DIFFERENT THAN BEFORE***

Well, after a few months more of using the Hex-1...I became very disappointed with the stick. The blade started going soft after every time I used it, and kept getting softer and softer to the point where I retired it after about four months of use. I went back and bought another M-1, because I liked that a lot more than my Hex-1. I still use the shaft, for roller hockey, but the blade definitely could have used some improvement. If I had to give it a grade now, I would probably give it a 2/10. I was very disappointed and now I know I won't buy another Hex-1. Hopefully the Pulse is better than this. :(

Edited June 14, 2006 by EBondo

[Elwood 0]

***Updated 12/24/2006***

Mission Hex-1

102 Flex

Elias Curve

Player-6'1", 180 pounds. Adult Beer League

Use before review- 7 games, 3 clinics, a few practices.

Blade

The bade is thin and light feeling. Once you adjust, the puck feels nice on it. I play D and hammer it from the point, and the bade is showing no signs of sponge. The glass around the top and bottom edges and the toe is chipping like crazy, however that didn't affect the feel, and its just the glass, not the fiber weave thats exposed (so far)

9/10 (for the Ponch and Jon action on the blade see Durability below)

***updated score: 6/10 *** - more CHiPs, although I have not seen any flex issues (yet)

Shaft/Flex

Also light weight, feels great. Not using the Grip model so I can't comment on how that works and feels. The 102 flex is really stiff, but it still retains a very good feel. Unfortunately, the shaft broke in half around 12" from the butt on another players shoulder pad (!)... Looks like I'm gonna warranty this one...

8/10 - (might go up if the replacement fares better)

Shooting

It took a few sessions to transition from an older Easton shaft to this one, however after that the difference was night and day. Point shots were, in my opinion, a bit harder and I felt it had a quicker wind-up and release. Might be from the light weight or in my head. But it shoots nice.

9/10

Durability

The blade edges chipped within 2 games, and kept chipping. There are 5 separate small chips and one big one where the blade and the shaft meet. Didn't impact the performance though. The shaft broke (see above) in a bizarre place. We'll see how the replacement fares. Noticed on both mine and my teammates sticks that the joint where the shaft and blade meet has cracked all around the shaft in a straight line. Looks like a crack in the glass where the union might be flexing a bit, however this happening with 2 of 2 new sticks is not a positive sign. Mission decals come off pretty easy also, however thats cosmetic only.

5/10 - (Blade chips, Busted shaft, crack at the blade/shaft joint)

***updated sore 4/10*** - now a teammate's blade is starting to chip. Ugh.

Intangibles

Even with the chipping and cracks in the glass, the stick still shot and played great. Until it broke that is.

8/10 (maybe more or less depending on stick #2)

Conclusion

Mission has a great stick with the HEX-1. If they can iron out the glass chipping and cracking I think they have a real winner. I'll treat the broken shaft as a defect and see how the replacement holds up. All in all a real nice stick. Interesting note on the shaft, there appear to be two different layers of composite material used to make the shaft. The inner layer of carbon fiber reminds me of oriented strand board (plywood) and does not appear to be a woven fabric (like that of the blade). The outer layer is a very pale green/white color that appears to be a fiberglass weave.

6/10

Edited December 24, 2006 by Elwood

[shnuggs 0]

6'2 -- 195 Pounds

85 Flex, Hull Curve

Shaft-Flex:

Coming from an M1 - i found the the shaft to be slightly to boxy for me. It felt like an M1 on a small amounts of steriods. The flex was there -- smooth and consistent like the M1 was but overall no improvements on this stick. 6/10

Shooting:

Again no upgrade here on the M1. Nice release-- good pop. But expected something more coming from M1. 6/10

Blade:

Here where this stick goes downhill. Although there were many complaints about the M1 blade -- i luved it -- luved the feel --- the durabilty -- the soft blade. The hexblade was terrible -- it felt fragile from the first time i used it. After only a hour -2 hours of ice time the blade cracked on me. One of the worst blades out there. 1/10

Balance:

Overall balance was good --- slightly better then the M1. Although i actualy dont have a problem with this- i actualy prefer the stick to be slightly blade heavy -- as opposed to blade light (XN0 etc.). But to someone else it will feel slightly blade heavy. It seems something Mission just cant avoid doing. 8/10

Conclusion:

Overall i have been exptremely disappointed with this stick. I have never in 4 years of using OPS come across a stick that had some many problems-- seemingly for a number of players. To me the HEX 1 is a sligtly bulkier repainted M1 with a supposedly enhanced blade and a higher price tag. All in all the stick fails -- and has made me question my loyalty to Mission products. 2/10