Warrior Dolomite

[JR Boucicaut 3795]

Open

[jsmart 0]

Background: 6'2" 275 lbs.

Shaft: Dolomite Pro Stock 260 (90-95) flex (4+ of them - one polorfibre even)

Blades: Pro Stock Hecht, Hartnell and Gonchar Dolomite Blades (from HM)

Stickhandling/receiving passes: Feels pretty good with all the different blades I've tried. It is light compared to the old school shafts I had been using. It has a little pop to it when stickhandling with it -- I've had to adjust a bit. Very easy to send and receive passes with it. Overall very nice handling shaft with the blades I've tried and even when compared to the OPS version.

Shooting: This is where I find this shaft shines. It has great pop! It has a low kick point and the puck shoots off the blade even when I have been experimenting with blades I'm not used to using. I would opt for a little stiffer flex if I can find it, but it has been great so far.

Weight and balance: Perfect when using the Pro Stock blades I have tried. It is light compared to what I was used to so I love it.

Durability: I broke one over the goal post but other than that they have held up well, and I'm a big dude that's pretty tough on sticks. I've had one for about six weeks now and I skate at least 3 times per week.

Intangibles: Love being able to use lots of blade combos with it especially the inexpensive pro stock blades out there. The shafts are also very easy to find and a good price can be had if you keep your eyes peeled.

Conclusion: I have gone to strictly Warrior/Inno shafts from NBH and I love them. Could never quite find the perfect combination on the NBH side. I love the PM9 but it felt horrible in the shafts I tried. Overall these are a nice value and fun to use especially with all the blade combos. 9.5/10

Not sure if there is a 10/10 out there but I have to leave the door open.

[srv2miker 0]

Background: 6'2", 225

Type of Play: all ice

Frequency: 2x per week

Blades Used (in order):

- Dolomite II

- Mission L-2 (just for a couple of games)

Details

Shaft reviewed is a pro-stock Dolo II purchased from HM in Jan. 2008. It's at 240 flex (roughly 105 on the Easton scale), and has PolarFiber grip on it.

Aesthetics/Construction

Really like the look of the Warrior stuff, some of this space-age crap by other companies is starting to wear on me. I don't necessarily like the street thug graphics, but I do like the fact that it's different from everything else that's out there. The Polarfiber was really, really cool, and I wish they provided it on retail models - I much prefer it to the stick or nipple grips they've used. It paired excellently with the Dolo blade (duh) but the Mission fit pretty well too (although I needed to add a butt end to get the length right).

10/10

Flex:

I originally bought an 85 flex nipple grip shaft, but had to sell it after using it for a couple sessions and finding it too whippy (side note: when I took the blade out to sell it, found a sticker that said it was 75 flex, which was obviously the problem). I decided that since I was playing more defense, I'd step up to a stiffer flex, to help the slappers from the point. The flex ended up being really nice, although it broke in really fast and lost the stiffness I liked a little to quickly. If the nice stiff flex had hung around a little longer, I'd give it a better grade.

7/10

Weight:

Not the lightest shaft out there, but light enough for me. Definitely well balanced when paired with the Dolo blade, which really helps the feel.

9/10

Shooting:

Hoo boy, the first time I stepped on the ice I was drilling slappers like never before. Shooting in warm ups my goalie was literally stunned when he couldn't catch up to my shots. Wristers and snappers were good, but I didn't notice the difference on them like I noticed on my slap shot. Accuracy was quite good, and release was adequate.

Unfortunately, this Chara-like feeling only lasted for maybe the first 6-10 sessions, at which point the shaft broke in and I seemed to lose some of the zip on the shots. Don't get me wrong, they weren't fluttering in there or anything, they just didn't have the boom boom they used to. Wristers and snappers were unaffected and were still satisfactory, but the power and the accuracy of the slap shots degraded noticeably. A real shame, as the shaft was really great when right out of the wrapper.

8/10 (would've been 9.5 if it hadn't lost that pop so quick)

Passing:

Passing was decent, I would say this has more to do with the blade than the shaft. No complaints.

9/10

Durability:

This sucker was a bleeping tank. Yes it broke in and lost some pop, but in terms of durability the Dolo shaft blows everything else I've used out of the water. Not only does it look almost as good as the day I bought, there isn't a single crack, dent, fracture, or any other potential breakage points. The shaft is going to lose all of it's pop long before it breaks, which I think is a good thing. Granted I'm not that tough on sticks (not a lot of hacking and wacking) but it's still exceeded all of my expectations.

10/10

Overall:

I've been extremely pleased with this shaft, and I wish HM would get more of the pro-stocks in so I could order two or three more. If I knew then what I know now I definitely would've picked up more than one. If the pop remained in the shaft a little longer it would be a legendary shaft, but as is it's just a really solid shaft that will last, which for a lot of us beer leaguers is the most we can hope for.

Final Score: 8.8/10