I need all new hockey gear.

[chippa13 1844]

Or you could go with Muskokas and save $60-$70.

[eric42434224 1]

If you need to save money, you can get the TPS R8 Pro Lites at cyclone taylor for $87 US shipped I think (with the US-Can currency exchange rate)

Cant beat that for a very nice glove, with a nice conservative 4 roll look.

[Jarick 5]

There's also the Bauer 4-Roll for under $100 too. Plus you can find Vapor XX gloves all day long for well under $100 lightly used. Lots of good deals on lightly used gloves if you know they fit.

[mickz 107]

I got back into hockey about 3 years ago so I had to buy quite a bit of stuff new (and secondhand) and I also had a limited budget. Here's what I did:

1. Read reviews on the stuff that I liked (there's quite a bit of them on this site alone)

2. Went out to the local LHS and tried on stuff.

3. Marked down the price and went home and compared price on hockeygiant.com (and other internet wholesalers), ebay, kijiji.com, and craiglist

4. Buy from whichever place is cheapest.

Depending on what pair of skates you are getting, it might run you up to 30-60% of your budget already. That only leaves you about 40-70% to work with for the rest of your equipment. There are always the odds and ends such as hockey tape, bag etc that you have to pay for as well. Have a search on ebay, kijiji or craiglist will lessen the strain on your budget.

As for prostock stuff, it really depends on which piece of item you are getting. Correct me if I am wrong but pro stock sticks might not have the 30 days warranty but might have some different curves, flex, special modifications than retail. You might want to ask some of the experts on this forum before buying a certain pro-stock piece of equipment to get an idea of what you are expecting.

You can get prostock stuff online, ebay, and sometimes at your LHS.

It's frowned upon to try stuff on in-store just to go online and buy from a competitor.

[#44wannabe 4]

My gear was all pretty inexpensive and i play "semi-pro"

Helmet: RBK 4K w/ Oakley Straight Small Visor

Shouldies: Sherwood 5030 (broke my coopers and ebay seller won't respond to me questions RE shipping on a new set! <_< )

Elbows: 5030's again

Pants: Sherwood X8

Gloves: Crappy Itechs, soon to be upgraded

Shins: RBK 6K ($50 cdn at CT)

Jock: Normal CCM

Skates: Graf super G70's (£200 at my LHS)

[Vathsdrop 0]

Not always very clever to get high end skates...they won't make you go faster and mid-end skates are sometimes more confortable..

Especially now there's no hot skates at the moment

And if you have to just wait for the clearance, you'll save a lot of money

[duch 0]

My advice is as follows for a beer league.

Don't skimp on the most important protective. Go only one or two categories below high end.

Helmet, Shoulder Pads, , Shin Pads , Skates

The rest you can go middle of the line.

Elbow Pads, Gloves, Pants, Sticks, Jock

[Doctor Hook 0]

My advice is as follows for a beer league.

Don't skimp on the most important protective. Go only one or two categories below high end.

Helmet, Shoulder Pads, , Shin Pads , Skates

The rest you can go middle of the line.

Elbow Pads, Gloves, Pants, Sticks, Jock

Interesting. I'm almost opposite; I say go mid-to-high end on skates and bucket. Everything else you can go cheapie. But this is only if you're the skate once a week kind of cat who doesn't post on a hockey equipment message board.

[eric42434224 1]

I have found that the one piece of equipment that can truly affect how you perform is skates. Get the right pair for you, with the features adequate for your level of play, and be willing to spend more on them than other pieces. Dont need to do $650 for one95's, but I would say go in the 3 bill range, and you can get some pretty nice skates.

The other piece of equipment that wont make you perform better, but will prevent you from being a drooling vegetable that cant even wipe yourself, is of course, a helmet. Dont go cheap there. You dont need to pay $130-$150 for an s17 or 9500, but $60 for an s9 or 4500 will do you great. And for beer league, get a cage. I know that the vision may be better with a visor..... but for beer league? There is no beer league in the world worth losing teeth or eyesight for.

Skates and Helmet.

In general, I wouldnt go high end on much, until you are sure you will be in the game for sure. I wasnt sure and was all in for $500 in the beginning. I slowly replaced all my gear with top end stuff. It is easier to justify it to yourself and the wife when you are replacing cheaper gear because it "isnt as safe" ;)

Still looking for a way to justify buying more gear just because it looks cool. maybe we can start a thread with stories and techniques to justify gear whoring to our significant others.

[duch 0]

I totally agree that skates and helmet are two of the most important items. You can usually get a decent skate with durability for around $250.00 to $300.00 and a good helmet for about $100. (CDN Prices ) All I'm saying is don't go buy a pair of skates at $70 to $125 and expect decent support or protection or a helmet for $45 and expect it to protect your melon from a major impact. Even in a beer league you could fall awkwardly into the boards or on the ice so you still need decent protective for the important areas. And since skating is important you need good support and protection that will last a while, bad skates can be brutal on ankle and knee joints.