Easton Synergy Shinpads

[Dave 1]

Open for review.

[clboy 0]

Easton Synergy Shin Pads

Protection

These pads are Easton’s 2004 high end pad and thus are pretty heavy for a shin pad; they feature a removable/adjustable calf protector and make good use of foam, plastic, and air pockets to provide additional reinforcement and feel really solid all around. Although the calf protector probably won’t save you from a hard slap shot it certainly offers better protection than the wrap-around wings style of shin pad. I’ve taken many shots off them so far front/side/back and have no complaints so far. Slash protection is vastly superior to any of the wrap around shin pads I have tried. 9/10

Comfort/Fit

With removable straps and the removable calf guard, these pads are adjustable to fit many different leg shapes. Even with the calf guard on these pads were quick and easy to break in. Once the pads are on they don’t shift on you in the middle of a game and you don’t need tape or any other straps to make sure they are secure. Due to the added bulk of the pad you probably won’t be able to fit them under your skate tongue, but I wear mine overtop so this isn’t an issue. The one concern I do have is that if you have big calves like I do sometimes it will be pinched by the calf guard squeezing against the rest of the pad. These shin pads breathe very well and I don’t have any discomfort from sweat while using them during a game (Note: I play exclusively inline hockey, and the rest of my gear (coolmax lined) gets all wet and icky) Also the added stiffness and weight might affect the skating stride of some players. 7/10

Durability/Quality

I’ve had these shin pads for about 2 months playing an average of about 2 games + 1 practice a week. I block a lot of shot out there and do fall quite a bit, the only wear and tear so far is the wearing out of part of the exterior logo, and the wearing out of the interior logo located at the bottom of the shin pad. I also make sure to air out my kit after each usage, sometimes I have 2 games in 2 nights and I have found that the shin pads do dry out within a couple of hours. So far I haven’t had to wash them, but you are able to remove the foam liner from the plastic shell and wash that if you want, as well you can replace the straps should they get worn out, which to me was one the pre-requisites for any shin pad I was looking at.9/10

Conclusion

I would say that these pads area good investment for anyone who wants a pad that protects well, before purchasing these I tried out some Bauer Vapour 9’s, CCM 852 Tacks, Bauer Supreme 3000’s among other pads and would have to say that these felt the most comfortable from the get-go. There are two issues I do have with this pad. First, I’ve been using shin pads since I was playing ball hockey on foot and thus am use to the feel of shin pads and have no trouble skating with them at all, for someone who is as an absolute novice they might find the weight and stiffness to be overwhelming and difficult to skate with. The second issue I have is the high cost, at $150 cdn, ($110 US) these are really pricy and for a bit more you could get an equivalent shin pad from Jofa. Overall I would say I am happy with these shin pads and have no regrets about them at all. 8/10