Bauer Vapor X:40 Stick

[AIREAYE 248]

Stick: Bauer Vapor X:40

Flex: 77

Curve: P106 'Gagne'

Player: 5'10" 130 lbs

Left Winger

House League player

Mixed level summer hockey (House league to AAA)

used stick for 1 house league season

Shaft/Flex: Love the Micro Feel II dimensions and the rounded concave walls of the shaft, it just felt natural in my hands. The 77 flex feels exactly that, neither too stiff nor too whippy for me at least. Stick'Um grip was also 'just right', and its tackiness was particularly enhanced by the synthetic leather palms on my gloves.

10/10

Blade/Puck Feel: The puck feel is where this stick falters, the Vapor's infamous 'dead' feel is here as well. It just wasn't responsive enough for me and being an inexperienced player, learning to feel the puck while keeping my head up is quite important. Catching passes seemed to be quite easy however, as pucks didn't bounce off the blade and were more cushioned.

7/10

Weight/Balance: Being a price point stick at only $100, I was very surprised by the weight and balance of this stick. Although slightly blade-heavy, this stick still feels well balanced at around 513g. Since I'm a rather weaker player without as much upper body strength, having a light stick when working on drills definitely reduces the muscle soreness.

9/10

Shooting: Simply a great shooting stick. The stars seemed to align for me when I got this in the correct flex and curve. Combined with improved shooting skills, shots mostly went where I aimed them, going top shelf or 5-hole was easier and more controlled than when i used the P92 previously.

9/10

Durability: Unfortunately, this stick snapped when I was hit into the boards, nearly impaling me, but I'm lucky it broke or else it would've been my ribs instead. This experience cannot fairly judge the X:40 on durability as any stick would've broke like that.However, when it was whole, the stick merely suffered a few paint chips.

7.5/10

Overall: One, if not the, best valued price point stick. Graphics package looks very clean, especially the black version I used. Available in a variety of curves and flexes.

8.5/10

[pmedow 2]

Stick: Bauer Vapor X:40 Stickum

Flex: 87

Curve: P92 Backstrom

Player: 6'0, 210 lbs, pickup games 3~4 times a week versus players ranging from house league to former Junior A/OHL

Shaft/Flex: I consider myself fairly strong, but the flex of the shaft feels just about right, not too much give and not too much stiffness either. This is one of two sticks that I have my collection that has a grippy shaft, which I enjoy but I don't might the non-grip either.

9/10

Blade/Puck Feel: As mentioned in the above review, the puck does feel a little dead sometimes, but I find it helps me receive hard passes pretty well still.

7/10

Weight/Balance: The weight and balance feels great! I play primarily defense, and most of my other sticks are heavier so it's always nice to be able to swing a quick poke check. After warming up/playing a little with a heavier (and longer) stick, switching to this mid-game REALLY helps me utilize it alot better.

9/10

Shooting: I'm not a huge shooter, but the flex feels good for wristers, definitely get enough whip. As far as slappers and one timers, I don't find it too hard to hit the sweet spot, and it still feels good irregardless.

8/10

Durability: I haven't really had any issues with the stick (all of mine go through severe beatings), although it is chipping a bit on the shaft where the graphics are, that doesn't really bug me.

8/10

Overall: 8.2/10

[Xion 0]

Stick: Bauer Vapor X:40 Stickum

Flex: 77 (cut down)

Curve: PM9

Player: 5'9" 165 lbs, pickup once a week.

Shaft/Flex: Easy to grip, flexy enough even though it's cut down that I can get a good wrister off, no problems here.

9/10

Blade/Puck Feel: Receiving a pass is hit or miss (ha). Sometimes I have to look down and see if the puck is still on my stick, which is no bueno.

7/10

Weight/Balance: Really light stick. I have a CCM U+ CL right now, and it doesn't feel a WHOLE lot lighter than the x40, so that should say something.

9/10

Shooting: Seems alright to me, but passes aren't as precise as I'd like them. Could be the curve, probably me, but either way that's what it is.

8/10

Durability: I bought mine used from a play-it-again, and after whatever it went through there, plus all the crap I put it through now (including street use) it's still just fine. Then again, I play pick-up, so I'm not getting slashed very much.

9/10

Overall: I would totally use this stick again if handed to me, and would recommend it to others. Great price for a great stick.

8.5/10

[Crossen463 8]

Stick: Bauer Vapor X:40

Flex: 77 cut to about 110 (I cut it too short, admittedly)

Curve: P88 Kane

Player: 5'11" 165lbs pickup games 1-3 times a week

Shaft/Flex: The shaft has double concave walls with rounded corners and it feels very comfortable in my hands. The flex was initially very whippy before I cut it down, but now is much stiffer. It feels true to its flex rating, but the shaft seemed to have lost a very considerable amount of pop after maybe two months of use, and those first two months were during a time when I used the stick more often and more competitively than I do now. The stick feels very "noodle-like" if you will. The variable flex point is a bit odd for my taste, but it performs as advertised, with the flex varying on where your hands are.

6/10

Blade/Puck Feel: The blade does a good job of keeping its rigidity in most situations, which helps when taking harder shots like snap and slap shots. The puck feel is very good when stick handling, but the pucks seem to jump of the stick oddly when receiving passes. For the most part, it is a good blade that I can't complain too much about.

8/10

Weight/Balance: I would have to say I was not very impressed with the weight of the stick. Its comes in a 513 grams, and feels like a lot of the weight is in the blade, so it's pretty blade heavy. I would entirely disagree that the stick doesn't weight too much more than a U+ CL. The stick is not extremely heavy, but I would not characterize it as "lightweight" unless I was comparing it to a wood stick. The balance is thrown off by how blade heavy the stick is. The heavier blade does help a bit if your slap shot uses more of a pendulum motion.

6/10

Shooting: Wrist shots with this are really the high point, they absolutely fly off the stick. I was entirely unimpressed with the snap and slap shots with this stick however. My snap shot has suffered since using this stick, lower velocity and not a lot of pop to provide any sort of quick release. My slap shots are noticeably better with my other stick as opposed to this one. My other stick is by no means a good stick, and at the price this was I expected a little bit better shooting performance from it.

7/10

Durability: As far as wear and tear is concerned, this stick has held up fairly well. I've had it for over a year so there are the inevitable chips in the paint and around the heel of the blade, but it hasn't broken after much vigorous use. I have to refer back to my comments on the shaft however because the stick completely loses its pop after two months or so. I count that as a durability issue. Just because the stick hasn't broken, doesn't mean its super durable. The performance has not held up over time.

6/10

Overall: This was an okay stick, but I bought it because I didn't have a lot of money at the time. I got pretty much what I expected, maybe a little less than expected actually. I know wouldn't buy this stick again. It's a decent stick for its price point. I bought it when it retailed for about $100 bucks, and now it goes for about $70 or so. For $70 it's good, but the market right now has much, much better sticks for $100 dollars. I'd recommend either buying a different stick at the same price point, or spending the extra money to get a stick that is a lot more worth while.

6.6/10