Olie MA2000 Mask, or other rec?

[DaveROR 0]

My brother is looking to start playing goalie in our beer league and was looking at getting on of the painted Olie MA2000's, but was wondering what everyone here thought of the MA2000 mask (he doesn't have an account here), or if there are other masks to look for that offer good protection and are durable. He's looking to spend no more than $450 or so.

The main thing I don't like about the Olie is the complete lack of dealers from what we've found around here (Tampa, FL) and since it's a custom order you can't return it from an online retailer.

Any suggestions? I know there's an eddy mask dealer about 1.5-2 hours away, Itech's everywhere of course, according to Sportmask's site one of their two US dealers is actually the proshop of the rink we play at (although I've never seen a single sportmask helmet there, then again I'm not a goalie so I don't pay too much attention..), no Hackva dealers around here that I know of and they don't have a real dealer lookup page.

Any info on masks in general, or specific models compared to the MA2000 would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

-Dave

[srv2miker 0]

In my mask research, most people recommended the 2000 as a good "entry level" mask. By that I mean it's a good model for people who don't have the dollars for full kevlar, but love their brain enough to avoid the plastic widowmakers.

I recently purchased an Eddy GT, which would fall into the similar category as the MA2000 (won't break the bank, won't break your head).

[Law Goalie 147]

He can do a lot better than that for $450... keep an eye out on eBay and he might get an Itech 960 or a Warwick for that.

You can find white/black Hackva's on eBay from reputable sellers for about $225 USD - full kevlar layer and superbly well-crafted. If you're worried about sizing, your buddy can send measurements and headshots to the company, and they'll figure it out for him.

[samson35 0]

I use the MA2000 and its been holding up pretty good. However, at 450, you can get a lot of better masks out there. As mentioned before, if you are lucky, you can often times find a 960 going for 450 on ebay