NB 8500 cage vs 5500 cage

[thefelixculpa 0]

I was just in my LHS today and they were selling Bauer 5500 helmets with the 5500 cage on them and I noticed these 5500 cages had the oval wires and "true vision" that the 8500 cage has. I've never seen the 8500 cage in person, just read on here that people love it and it helps vision a lot.

I have strange vision, I have one near sight eye and one far sight eye and w/o any corrective lenses I can see pretty well..I go slightly blurry occasionally but I just blink and my vision goes back to being okay. I can't wear contacts b/c they irritate my eyes so I just go lenseless when I play.

When I wear wire cages however, they mess with my eyes and I have trouble focusing. Would the 8500 cage be a significant upgrade from the 5500?

[TBLfan 25]

the only difference is the chin cup. Also look at the 8000, because it's the same true-vision color but the bars are lined up differently. I hear a lot of people complain that the second bar goes right across their eyes in the 8500/5500 and this won't be the case with the 8000. The color itself is really nice, the cage bars literally appear to disappear.

[CapsFan 5]

the only difference is the chin cup. Also look at the 8000, because it's the same true-vision color but the bars are lined up differently. I hear a lot of people complain that the second bar goes right across their eyes in the 8500/5500 and this won't be the case with the 8000. The color itself is really nice, the cage bars literally appear to disappear.

I notice the bars across my eyes during faceoffs and when I'm sitting on the bench, I've never noticed it when I'm playing. (8500) I thought it was just me.

[TBLfan 25]

nah, I remember DR Hook and I talking about it. I've also heard a few other people talk about it. With the way I wear my helmet it sits just above my line of sight. The 8000s bars leave my line of sight perfectly inbetween the bars... Both of them just disappear when I hit the ice.

[thefelixculpa 0]

the only difference is the chin cup. Also look at the 8000, because it's the same true-vision color but the bars are lined up differently. I hear a lot of people complain that the second bar goes right across their eyes in the 8500/5500 and this won't be the case with the 8000. The color itself is really nice, the cage bars literally appear to disappear.

does the 8000 have the oval bars?

http://www.iceprossports.com/Detail.bok?no=162

looking at the 8000 on that page...it looks to me like the bars are lined up more like a regular cage. It looks like they have that tiny space between the two middle bars, whereas the 8500 does not appear to have that. The 8500 to me looks like the bars are evenly spaced all accross the cage.

on second thought...maybe it is just the angle of that photo?

[TBLfan 25]

no, it's just a regular cage with the true-vision color.

[Doctor Hook 0]

If possible, you should try to make it to your LHS and check out both of the cages in person and put them in front of your face to simulate using them on the ice. Some cages fit certain faces differently. This is why I rock FM480s because they work well with my mug.

[TBLfan 25]

I can back the 480(mine is CCM and I believe his is Jofa) as well, although it's not talked about as much they are very lightweight. In fact, they weight less than my 8500 or 8000.

Dr Hook was looking into an 8500 as well(we were both on a quest to find one in size large), but he ran across a cheap cage on ebay before he could find one... Later he went into his LHS and told me that the cage just didn't work for him. I still bit the bullet and I love my 8500, but I loved my 480 too. I'll probably be on here in another 3 months talking about how I love my HS22 pro wave but I just haven't bitten the bullet to use it yet.