Sick of breaking OPS's

[rebel96 0]

Just broke my 2nd XXX-lite in less than 2 months. And before that a few Z-bubbles and before that a few synergys. Now I'm thinkin about going back to woods and buying a good few as backups. Has anyone else tried going back to wood after using composites. What was the transition like, how did they feel? Was there a major drop in performance?

[PH_Hockey2 4]

Well Z-Bubbles and XXX Lites seem to be very brittle sticks. what you might want to do is buy a durable tapered shaft and replace the blades.

[Cheesehead 0]

i have a friend that has a z carbon and wanted to try my stealth. i let him use it, while i used his z carb for awhile(at a stick and puck). his z carb was a senior while my stealth is an intermeadiate. it was actually a pretty good stick, a little heavier, but a good blade.

thats my experience with switching

[rebel96 0]

Well Z-Bubbles and XXX Lites seem to be very brittle sticks. what you might want to do is buy a durable tapered shaft and replace the blades.

I was all about the performance until my wallet got thin. At the same time I have used more durable sticks like the ultra lite and broken them just the same. I was thinkin about the mission L-2, I've heard they're pretty durable, but I just can't decide if the same thing is gonna happen.

I tend to break the shaft of sticks so a tapered shaft with replacement blades would be useless.

[All Torhs Team 0]

After i broke my respons plus, response and hex i was left with a woodie for about a month.

It was awsome. Prob. just becuase i loved the flex and the curve on it but it was not overly heavy and I was not afraid to break it at anypoint. It was a bauer 1000.

If you are looking for a durable one piece then you should defidently buy the TPS adrenaline. It is the best one piece ive ever used and its really durable.

except it is on the most expensive tps stick

[forsberg91 0]

Amen on the Adrenaline. Amazing stick.

[twiztidwrista10 3]

Maybe try a synergy 350, or any price point ops. There cheaper but still have good preformace. Or go 2 piece (tapered or standard) even if you break the shaft u can still keep the blade. Otherwise just try wood. My nike zero-g's are light and were pretty cheap. I just dont like the feel of wood.

[TCsnipes9 0]

for me, trying to go back to wood would hardly be possible. i found so much torque on the blades because they are so less stiff. one touch passes and one timers are bruital. i couldnt do it, but if you can im sure it could save some coin. good luck

[Langenbrunner15 0]

I tried a wood and the torque was crqazy, Im gunna do a wood blade with a 6K RBK shaft adnteh nduring the summer try some wood sticks...

[prenny207 1]

I tend to break the shaft of sticks so a tapered shaft with replacement blades would be useless.

no it wouldn't... you can replace the shaft rather then an entire stick.

as for your previous choices... lighter isnt always better. in order to make a stick lighter, chances are they take "something" out of the stick. creating easier breakage.

[donkey87 0]

I went back to Sherwood 9950s after using composite sticks. However, I would tear up the blades of the 9950s very quickly. So I switched to a two piece composite shaft/blade combo. It has worked out well for me. You should seriously look at some shafts. I've heard good things about the L2 and the Rbk 6k. Like prenny207 said even if you break the shaft you still have the blade.

[boomer 0]

i went from the st and xxx to bauer 6000 woodies, and i love them, IMO they are the best wood stick i have tried yet, i like them better then one pieces

[jjtt99 0]

If your heart is set on woodies go for it.

If you want a more durable composite, CCM Vectors seem to be holding up. I use an Ultra Light shaft that has taken a lickin' and keeps on tickin.

Good luck!

[hyprlte 0]

im using the synergy sl. As soon as it breakes im going to have to switch back to wood.

[jbyun04 7]

since i'll probably never be able to shell out the beacoup bucks for another XXX Lite i'm probably going to go crazy over the NBH One60's as soon as they hit my store. Wheelbarrow handle, double concave, 4carbon.. I couldn't ask for anything else in a woodstick

unfortunate for your XXX Lites... Mines been going strong since december

[TBLfan 25]

i think a quality two-piece would be a good solution, but that's just my opinion.

[Svatos37 0]

I would recommend the ST to you.

[Jason Harris 31]

I'm curious what's causing most of your sticks to break. Just using my own experience as an example, I'm coming to the conclusion that giving and taking slashes cuts a lot of life off a stick.

For instance, I had a Fontaine (?) shaft for about 3+ years before it slid from the wall in the garage and was run over by the car. Then I had a Nike shaft for about another 3 years before it broke in half when someone checked me unexpectedly. (The blades would generally last about a year.) I've had my G1 for seventeen months now, the TF1 for fourteen months and the TF Evolution for three months. The only stick that didn't last a long time was a prototype TF1 that somehow stuck in the crack of the zamboni door as I was skating by.

What I'm trying to figure is why are all of my sticks lasting a long time while so many of you get two months if you are lucky? I don't play checking hockey, but I'd say I'm aggressive, reaching my stick in to try to win the puck when some might back away. I'll take slapshots, but I tend to be a Chatty Cathy -- -- in the locker room, so I'm always one of the last ones on the ice, which means I take less warmup shots.

But what I think is the main difference is I never slash people and, consequently, tend not be slashed in return. I'm beginning to think slashing is what decreases the stick's durability.

[stickfixchaska 0]

Since this subject falls into a category that I deal with every day, (Composite Stick Repair) here is my 2 cents.

Salming is right on the money here. Slashes kill your composite sticks. A slash across the top of your shaft in the lower 1/4 of your stick could do enough damage to cause your stick to break on your next shot.

Each brand and style has a "weakness" where most of their breaks occur.

A Stealth, for example, will break most often in the shaft between your hands. The Eastson SL's will often break right above the heal of the blade. The Koho 4460 Revolution shaft ('05 Model) breaks in the 1'-1.5' above the inserted blade. A lot of the Vector OPS blades will delaminate at the toe.

There isn't a lot that you can do to re-enforce the sticks. They will always break, just a matter of how long.

[asdfa 0]

when i play, i get slashed a lot by people who have one peices, stealths, SL's, vapor XX's, synergy grips etc instead of getting hit or being played by the body so i'm not surprised when people say that they're synergy broke after 2 months or whatever. sticks were designed to shoot the puck, not chop down other sticks.

[Jason Harris 31]

stickfix, can you tell whether giving the slash is as damaging as receiving it? I ask this because the TF Armour this coming year will have a slash guard on the top but, at the tradeshow, guys were joking they need the guard on the bottom for when they slash.

When I realized they were partially serious, I started thinking maybe slashing is shortening the life of the stick. Then I wondered why would it matter who does the slashing?

[Shagel 0]

i change everyone once in a while back to wood just for a breath of fresh air but then i always come back to one peice..its a hard transition your shots will have barely any relase and i always have to tamper with my sticks till they felt alright. I go through about 2 woodies a practise soo i cant afford to do that at 30 bucks a pop. My suggestions for woodies are the sherwood line depending on your flex and Bauer

[Chadd 916]

stickfix, can you tell whether giving the slash is as damaging as receiving it? I ask this because the TF Armour this coming year will have a slash guard on the top but, at the tradeshow, guys were joking they need the guard on the bottom for when they slash.

When I realized they were partially serious, I started thinking maybe slashing is shortening the life of the stick. Then I wondered why would it matter who does the slashing?

Slashing is by far the single biggest reason for stick breakage. I don't carry the puck a lot, so I don't get slashed. I also tend to use body position a lot more than my stick when I play defense. Because of those things, my shafts tend to last forever and my blades wear out.

In a shop, you get to know who is breaking a lot of sticks. Then you go out and watch them for a few minutes and you see how those guys play and you realize that 90% (or more) of the warranty claims out there are for abuse and not a defect.

[jjtt99 0]

Each brand and style has a "weakness" where most of their breaks occur.

The Easton SL's will often break right above the heal of the blade. 

A lot of the Vector OPS blades will delaminate at the toe. 

Yup, both of those things happened to me!

[hockeyherb 1]

Do you think manufacturers COULD do something to increase the longevity of the sticks but don't because it wouldn't really be in their best interest?

It's either they like the recurring revenue of the people that break their sticks a lot, or the cost to make the sticks really durable would increase the retail cost of sticks beyond what most people would think it reasonable.