Nike Bauer Vapor XVI shaft

[Hooah4 12]

Stick reviewer:40yr old beer league player.

Play in 2 leagues: one general men's league, one over 35. Play D and Wing.

Player specs: height 6ft, weight 218.

Experience level: 8 yrs of moderately competitive hockey.

Used for 20-30 open hockey sessions throughout the last 2 years. Why buy a non performance price point shaft? My wife was looking to get me something for christmas that wouldn't bust our budget. I showed her this becuase I really didn't want to subject my "game" sticks to the abuse open hockey can bring. Paired this up with an old Nike apollo PM9 blade and out we went

Shaft shape and flex: NB Vapor XVI standard shaft, 87 flex cut to 95. Stick'um grip with the vapor Micro feel :slight concave w/rounded corners. Overall clean shaft white w/yellow accents. Not bad feeling but not like the AK that this was replacing. Flex was a tight 95 once cut down and I'll attribute that to having much more fiberglas than carbon in the makeup. It never did feel right to me and the kick was not very smooth and it felt unyielding and forced. 5/10.

Weight and balance: listed @ 360 grams. Meh. Not a feather nor a club. Paired with a decent composite blade it rounds out and balances OK but when you buy this it's not for performance or weight. 6/10.

Stick handling and passing: It's pricepoint so there's nothing to write home for this one. I will say that the stick'um was too much grip for my liking and I believe it's one of the reasons I've never really liked this shaft. The shaft just never felt right to me. 4/10.

Shooting: Very harsh when you could get it to kick. Supposedly there is a "low" kickpoint on this thing. I never found it. 2/10.

Durability: Very durable. Even the paint was durable. Not many chips or scuffs and it neve felt fragile. These are the tradeoffs with a more fiberglas based construction. 8/10.

Intangibles: It is what it is. An affordable shaft akin to an Easton Octane, etc...Now the thing is that the graphics are made for a RH shooter as the NB logo is on the L side of the shaft. The R side is the Vapor one. If you're picky this may bother you. 8/10.

Overall: If I had to do it again I wouldn't but this shaft. I would reccomend it to someone who is on a tight budget or just getting into the game as it should last you a long time. You won't get the performance but you'll get longevity and take it easy on your budget. 33/60=55%. Coming from an AK may have clouded my judgement. This same shaft is now offered as the Bauer Vapor X20. They may have changed it but @ this price my bet is that it's a repaint.