Best and Worst bang for your buck

[rinkrat94 1]

Best for me would have to be my current bauer flak shoulder pads. Bought them 15 years ago and I am still wearing them. Worst would be the Vapor 20 skate. Paid top dollar for them and they lasted me 4 months.

[TBLfan 25]

My jock.

Worst: Shock Doctor shin guards. Replaced before they were used, not because they sucked but because they didn't fit my calves well.

[sickwilly 37]

Best - CCM 1052 Skates,

Worst - CCM Vector 110 and 120 OPS.

[tips09 0]

Best: Nike v10 elbows have used them for around 6 years now

Worst: Flexlite 4.0 used them for about 3 weeks, had to get them repaired because bauer said it was my fault the boot ripped (so no warranty). Now they are just collecting dust

[Hawkeye 0]

Best:

Warrior MacDaddy stick: bought on closeout. I've used this thing for over a year and got every last $ out of it.

Tackla Pants: going on 6 years and they are holding up great.

CCM Supra 951 shin pads: 12 years old and they still are going strong.

Custom mouth gaurd

Jofa elbow pads

Worst:

NikeBauer One90 skates: felt good in store and after I baked them. Hurt me ever since

NikeBauer One90 stick: never could get used to the kick point

[crazy4gear 0]

Best:

My one95 skates...got them for $200 when I friend of mine bought them online, wore them for awhile, and got stuck with them when they were the wrong size for him. They fit great on my feet.

Bauer 5000 pants-bought them new I think in 2000. Still comfortable, protective and going strong. Love them.

Worst:

Bauer XX vapor skates- The fit was great, but they didn't last very long.

Gear backbag- A cheap bag that I thought was worth a try...It wasn't. It lasted a week. Not even worth the $20 I paid for it.

[Dolom1te 0]

Best:

My First Warrior Dolomite: best stick i ever used and it lasted me a full season and a half.

Sherwood 5030 featherlite (wood stick): exceptional stick for only 30-40 dollars.

Worst:

NikeBauer One90 Stick: couldn't get used to it for some reason. had a similar curve, flex, and length to all my other sticks, but for some reason i just couldn't do anything with it.

[fastbrother7 0]

Best: Vic Air-Tec Shins. As cheap as they were, and even after I cut them down to fit me because they dont make them anymore, they still are going strong after 4 years. Also my laurin bag.

Worst: Old bauer 4000 helmets. As we all know, they would crack at the screws on the regular. Ive been using that style since high school so Ive been through at least 12 of them just playing mens league for the last 10 years.

[Scotty 8]

Best: Itech elbow pads or shin guards. Been using them for 14 years now and the only thing wrong is some of the sitching on the velcro of the shin guards is ripping loose.

Worst: Bauer One95 shaft (standard): Broke right in the middle of the shaft after 5-6 uses, 3 of which were easy screw around practices. Happened about week after the warranty and Bauer told me tough luck. Sucked, but the shaft has a great reputation and i'll be trying the tapered version soon.

[acollette49 0]

best: easton air 4000 pants. 10+ years of use before they fell apart. i still havent found pants that fit like they did.

worst: sande maxx pro gloves. granted, they were only $40 but i hated the way they felt. never actually got on the ice with them and ended up giving them away.

[nick1310 0]

Best-20 bucks for a pair of 17' Pro Stock JOFA Shin Guards at a Stars Sale in Dallas

Worst-Easton Synergy ST Lidstrom Curve-It lasted 2 games and the blade basically fell apart

[crazylegs_9 0]

Best-V110 Shaft that is still living to this day, 4+ yrs.

Worst-Warrior Kronik.

[wetwilly17 6]

my best and worst are both easton sticks

best: picked up a bunch of stealth CNT grip sticks for $100 each brand new (best combination of performance and durability from any sticks i've ever owned)

worst: picked up a bunch of synerly sl grip sticks for $100 each brand new (good performing stick, absolutely horrible blade durability)

[Jarick 5]

Best:

Christian Torch (old Harrow) composite blade, got it on clearance for cheap and it lasted six months of HEAVY use

Warrior Dolomite one piece, used it for two teams in winter, the next summer, and lots of other times, was still strong when I sold it

Harrow 300 2-piece, flex is a bit stiff but stick has a great shot and amazing feel, great bargain with 50% off

Worst:

Easton SE16 blade, spent WAY too much money on it at a LHS and it started going soft after a few games

TPS R8 gloves, broken in and went from about 13 to 15" size then started coming apart

Pretty much any wood stick, they're all either too stiff or too flimsy at the blade

[GuitarAwesome 1]

Best: +1 Easton Stealth CNT. I am consistently on the prowl for these, so I can stock up before the fade into mediocrity. They last a really long time (i average one every 8 months or so, playing 7+ times a week), and the performance is amazing!

Worst: RBK 7V SicKick. I love the performance on this stick, but it just keep snapping too easily. I got a bunch on the cheap, last year, and have broken 6 I think already. One I was using, and broke in the middle when I got hit into the boards! I cant help it though, they are incredible for ball hockey.

[Gefiltefish 9]

Best: Shock Doctor cup. I buy new equipment left and right and this is the only thing I have not replaced since I started playing again...

Worst: Some stupid CCM V04 skates I bought. I ripped the holders off and installed some inline chassis. Used them twice and hated the feel of them. Sold the holders for $20.00 and the boots eventually went for ~$15... I paid $140 for them new.... $100.00 for two games = errrr.

[lampliter87 8]

Going to echo a couple here:

Best: Shock Doctor cup... not just because of the great job its carbon fiber does in protecting my future kids but how long it's lasted.

Worst: Gear wheeled bag... lasted literally two weeks before the wheels were broken and the zipper had ripped. First and last wheeled bag I've ever had.

[uclahockey707 1]

Best: One95 p91a hockey sticks (couldn't do without them)

CCM V08 Shin Pads

Worst: Reebok 808 sticks

[Machinehead2k5 32]

BEST: Pro stock Nike Qwest 1's for $55 on Ebay. And found new RBK 8k helmet (did post up a flyer if anyone lost, nobody claimed within a week).

MIDDLE: RBK 9ks for $60 but broke my ankle in them. :/ (edit)

WORST: Warrior Syko blade crapped out within a couple of months (maybe 10 games). Pretty good stick otherwise.

[Steve_v3 276]

Best: Easton CNT OPS

Worst: CCM pump tacks

Easton air Donzis shin pads

[AIREAYE 248]

Best: Mission AmpFly skates I bought used at a Play it Again, used them myself for 4-5 yrs, dunno how used they were before though :P

Worst: CCM V04 wood stick, snapped after I speared some kid by accident on the first game, though prob not the stick's fault :P

[NextBobbyOrr 0]

Best: Bauer Supreme One 95 (I'm REALLY good friends with everyone at my lhs) purchased two weeks after release for $200.

Reebok 10k Skates-$425.

Mission Fuel 110 gloves-$25.

Worst:

Reebok Mouth Guard(Hated it)

Hoping to get some more "best bang" purchases. I'll be hitting up the Canucks End-of-year sale soon.

[Aussie Joe 0]

Best: My Bauer Supreme 3000 (or something) shin pads. Been rocking for 13 years. They get tinea/excema in them if I don't wash them once every 2 months. But they are still awesome.

Worst: Kor Shift 1 skates. The most horrible feeling skates I have worn. They felt like goalie skates with those chassis weights attached. Clogs on ice.

[The ORB 0]

Based on purchases for my kids, which accounts for 95% of my hockey purchases these days.

Best:

1) Graf skates. My daughter started with 301s in a youth size and has now moved onto 735s in a junior. For her they just fit better than anything else out there and I think we tried on almost everything. The 301s lasted a full season and a half of rep hockey and if she hadn't of outgrown them would probably last many more years. The 735s are new, but they fit her like a glove and she loves them. After making a couple of mistakes with skates when she was younger, I truly appreciate how well these fit her.

2) Tackla Advantage 951 pants, great quality, solid, well made pants, with plenty of protection.

3) Custom mouth guard. Don't know the brand but her whole team was custom fitted for mouthguards by a couple of ladies at a practice preseason and got them in team colours with their numbers on for $40 each. I was a little sceptical, but they have been great. Even after a full season (on the ice 5-7 times a week) she is still using it and it still fits pretty well, although I will probably need to replace for next year as her teeth are gowing/moving. Prior to that she was on a steady diet of the boil to fit Shock Doctor ones, which cost $20 each and lasted a few weeks before falling apart.

Worst:

1) Bauer Vapor XVI pants. Seemed decent when we bought them, but literally fell apart within less than half a rep season. Utter garbage!

[Brian Harte 1]

best - Bauer 5000 helmet and Mission matrix shinguards have been my best, since they haven' been replaced yet and it's been a decade at least.

worst - Kobasew ONE90 and retail XXXX sticks. used them once. hated them. Got rid of them.