Shaft Questions....

[GeeZa32 0]

Sorry, if these questions have been asked before...and I know "most will vary" but I just want a concensus...

1.What is the most DURABLE shaft out there today? I don't take many slapshots, but when I do, I try to put all the mustard I have on the shots.

2.What is the BEST BUY shaft out there? A cheap shaft that is worth every penny...

3. Does HEAVY = Less flex? (I dont need the lightest shaft out there, I'm only 5'3 145 but I'm extremely well built and my first skater stick I ever used was a Titan ASD...so I know heavy sticks lol)

4.Anyone use the Easton Octane? Epuck reviewers gave it mixed reviews. It's only $20 at my local hockey shop...is it junk or should I pick one up?

5.Most blades are inserted by glue correct? How easily are they replaced/inserted?

[Guest 2048]

Louisville rubber on epuck is your best buy. Still 50 bucks and a great shaft.

[Hiub 0]

1. I have never seen a TPS Rubber break, EVER. That would have to be my pick on the most durable shaft, and at $50 it is a steal and you can get it in a variety of flexes.

2. Again, the Rubber or the Typhoon if you are being economical. For the money, any of the new Vapor shafts have gotten good reviews from everybody I know.

3. That is not necessarily true, but you need to buy a performance shaft, not one of those steel tube feeling sticks that don't budge at all. The rubber and the typhoon both have a wide variety of flexes.

4. No clue about it, maybe someone else could help you here.

5. Changing blades is a breeze, use a heat gun, if not just use your stove oven and heat the stick up like that. If you ever need more glue, bust out the hot glue gun sticks.

[Guest 2048]

One other thing, if the octane is the same as the e-flex, it'll crack on you when you change blades, or in the middle of a shot, or while you're flexing it or while you're getting slashed. It's a real piece of crap and you'll wish you'd spent the 20 bucks to get a better stick. Also, the typhoon only comes in an 80 flex, I think.

[GeeZa32 0]

I believe the shop up the street has TPS Rubber for $60...is that still a good buy?

Edit: If I buy a one piece composite stick and I snap it(at the blade), can I bring it in to a shop and have it made into a shaft? Or do shafts have something that sets them apart?

[PH_Hockey2 4]

About the Easton Octane, stay away from it. When I went to drop in a kid my age(16) had one. Anyway, he took a slap shot with it and the bottom of the shaft broke and the blade went flying out of it. To me, the Octane is not worth 20$.

[Perry94 0]

what flex range do you like? The Cyclone is pretty good. It comes in 70 and 95 flex. It's also fairly light, and the shaft is actually quite thin.

[Miserable 6]

I believe the shop up the street has TPS Rubber for $60...is that still a good buy?

Edit: If I buy a one piece composite stick and I snap it(at the blade), can I bring it in to a shop and have it made into a shaft? Or do shafts have something that sets them apart?

Considering that Epuck has it for 50.00 and it will cost you about 6 or so bucks to ship it, you're paying 4 extra dollars to have it right away so it's still a pretty good deal.

Some pro shops will do it for you but if your LHS won't, there are enough people here that have done it who can walk you through it pretty much pain free.

[sgazi76 0]

ePuck has them as long as you're only looking for a Pro Radius model in either Stiff or X-stiff. They're out of the blue ones in Regular flex with a standard grip.

[GeeZa32 0]

I believe the shop up the street has TPS Rubber for $60...is that still a good buy?

Edit: If I buy a one piece composite stick and I snap it(at the blade), can I bring it in to a shop and have it made into a shaft? Or do shafts have something that sets them apart?

Considering that Epuck has it for 50.00 and it will cost you about 6 or so bucks to ship it, you're paying 4 extra dollars to have it right away so it's still a pretty good deal.

Some pro shops will do it for you but if your LHS won't, there are enough people here that have done it who can walk you through it pretty much pain free.

So if I buy a synergy and snap it at the blade, I can basically have it cut into a synthesis shaft? Is that basically what a synergy is(molded synthesis with blade?)? What types of blades would a broken synergy accept? Only synthesis'?

[Briggy 0]

If you break any one piece composite stick you can make it into a standard or tapered shaft. As for a synergy yes, it is just a shaft and blade molded into one.

[Cavs019 710]

I've also never seen a rubber break, if you can find one in a whip flex, by all means go for it.

[Whip 0]

The Octane/E-Flex is junk they are heavy, extremely boxy break very easily and arnt worth the price. You get what you pay for. I cant find the topic I started but I remember posting about a problem I had with the E-Flex.

Rubbers are good but will eat up your palms maybe try Ultra Lite, Tri Core, Red Lite or even an XN10 Red Lite. All great shafts but the Rubber is very good buy but you will proabbly have to get new palms sonner, I would look into a Tri Core its really expensive but really durable.

[Cavs019 710]

Definately consider the first 3, but you dont a need a $120 RLxn10. ULs, Tricores, and Red lites can all be had for good prices now, especially on ebay. Also take a look at the vapor 10 shaft or Tri Flex gold shaft. Both are tanks and are on closeout at most places.

[GeeZa32 0]

I have Bauer XV gloves which I consider to be my favs on the market(I also have M-1s and TPS Bionics). They appear to be double palmed, would the rubber still wear out the glove?

Edit: Are the older Ultra Lites as good as the newer ones? I know I can get an older Ultra Lite for $50...

[Cavs019 710]

They are better IMO, the paint job chips badly on the newer ones. Only difference is the newer ones are offered in an 85 flex, and they are 10 grams lighter. The ultralite is a great all around shaft, and its durable as hell.

[GeeZa32 0]

The paintjob has nothing to do with the sticks performance right? I dont care how the stick looks as long as it gets me goals lol...

[Chris_H 0]

I though the older Ultra Lites were better then the newer ones.

[Guest 2048]

In my experience, the rubber hasn't worn the palm of the glove at all. All it's done is turn the palms a nice smurfy blue.

[Kobe 0]

You might want to stay away from any shafts that are 85 flex or higher (i.e. older model ultralites). At 5'3, you're going to have to cut a lot off of the shaft and a 100 flex shaft will feel like a 105 after the cut. Flex is all personal preference so you might like a super stiff shaft but i've found a fairly flexible shaft helps a lot with your wrist/snap shots.

If durability is your absolute first priority then an 85 easton ultralite or whip tps redlight would be good choices. If you like a grip coating then a whip tps rubber would be a good buy as everyone else has said.

[GeeZa32 0]

What do you mean "cut off" of the shaft? As in size? If that is waht you mean...then yea..I know lol. I can still realistically, use "junior" sticks as some(I love bauer supreme woods) go right under my chin lol. I personally like intermediate sticks tho, they are a little taller, but I have a "longer" reach than most people my height. I have always been extremely interested in the ultra lite's even the last few years. I picked one up at the local DICK's sporting goods and loved the feel from just picking it up when I was like 14 lol.

[Kobe 0]

Yes, by "cut off" I mean how much you'll need to cut off of the butt-end of the shaft. Don't worry about the height of the stick though. You can always cut to fit your size. You should just make sure that the flex suits your game or it could really hurt your performance.

[GeeZa32 0]

I picked up an Easton Octane and CCM Catapult(it was marked $60, but he gave it to me for $25...is that a terrible shaft too? lol) at the shop. I'm gonna give them a whirl later on in the week.

I have 2 broken M-1s that I used my last season of roller. M-1s can be cut and basically used as M-2/L-2 shafts correct?(I'm not new to composite sticks. Just new to Shaft+blade combos...)

[LetsGoWings13 0]

sence your about my size i think you should go for an intermediate stick. it would have better flex and you probly would just need to take out the extention. Rubbers are a very nive stick and the only thing it did to my gloves was make the palms black.

[GeeZa32 0]

sence your about my size i think you should go for an intermediate stick. it would have better flex and you probly would just need to take out the extention. Rubbers are a very nive stick and the only thing it did to my gloves was make the palms black.

My M-1 OPS were Intermediate. My taste for sticks weird. I like some JUNIOR WOOD sticks. Of course im not going to use these in games, but playing pickup with a few buddies, I love the shots I can release with junior sticks. So I decided to pick up the JUNIOR CCM Catapult to see how I like the shaft+blade JUNIOR combo opposed to a junior wood. Overall, I'm gonna probly be spending $1000 experiementing with shafts and new OPS within the next couple months.