What happened to titanium cages?

[Leafsrule16 5]

9500 cages may be strong but they are also very weak, I've broke two. I wear white ccm 480's, i find white cages are the best for vision.

[wrangler 157]

9500 cages may be strong but they are also very weak, I've broke two. I wear white ccm 480's, i find white cages are the best for vision.

"strong . . . also very weak"

How does that work?

[shoeshine boy 242]

maybe he meant "light" rather than strong?

how exactly are you breaking cages? I've never broken a cage. the closest I've even seen was when a friend took a slapshot off the cage and bent it in.

[wrangler 157]

maybe he meant "light" rather than strong?

how exactly are you breaking cages? I've never broken a cage. the closest I've even seen was when a friend took a slapshot off the cage and bent it in.

I'm wondering, too, since I use a 9500 myself.

[niXon 4]

Not sure how old this post is, but as mentioned Sport Chek has em for $39.99. Me and my brother just picked up Larges here in Calgary.

[Dupes 1]

PHL has them for 99$

http://prohockeylife.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_20_77&products_id=5514

[wrangler 157]

Not sure how old this post is, but as mentioned Sport Chek has em for $39.99. Me and my brother just picked up Larges here in Calgary.

Not on the web site, I'd order, so no way to get one here in Chicago. Definitely the titanium version?

http://www.hockeydawgz.com/servlet/the-39163/Itech-Cage-For-Helmet/Detail

[the_sock 1]

Cost was pretty high for a cage and the cost to benefit for the consumer wasn't good enough. When Bauer bought Itech they just shaved off products that weren't selling well and focusing on the big sellers. Titanium cost is expensive compared to carbon steel and stainless steel.

The Titanium cage is a great deal to buy right now since it's less than a quarter of the original value. If you can find one at Sport Chek, great deal.

Oh, and the S19 cage from Easton was cancelled because of a patent issue. Most likely from the similar oval construction as the Bauer 9900.

[ZurichLions 0]

It is a shame Bauer discontinued them. I have had one for several years and absolutely love it. It is amazingly light and the vision is great. For my part, it was one of my best hockey purchases ever and definitely worth the money.

[TeamHonda401 54]

A titanium cage will last longer than any other piece of hockey gear out there. Ti doesn't oxidize, even under 100% humidity for prolonged periods of time. The strength is unmatched by any material commonly used in hockey gear. If they used some form of titanium alloy on skate blades, pry would only have to get your skates sharpened a handful of times a year.

[Drewhunz 3]

Titanium has poor edge retention but can be added to an alloy or coating like the old Bauer steel with titanium nitride coating (to protect the edge surface), but wouldn't work by itself. NiTinol steel is an option, but it makes Fusion steel look cheap

[rachael7 1]

A titanium cage will last longer than any other piece of hockey gear out there. Ti doesn't oxidize, even under 100% humidity for prolonged periods of time. The strength is unmatched by any material commonly used in hockey gear. If they used some form of titanium alloy on skate blades, pry would only have to get your skates sharpened a handful of times a year.

Actually, I believe this is incorrect. Titanium has a good strength to weight ratio, but I don't think it has the hardness to hold an edge well. There's a reason high end chef's knives are made of stainless steel and not titanium alloy.

[Spikewhtbread 0]

Actually, I believe this is incorrect. Titanium has a good strength to weight ratio, but I don't think it has the hardness to hold an edge well. There's a reason high end chef's knives are made of stainless steel and not titanium alloy.

Actually the reason why blades aren't made to Ti is that it is extremely hard on tooling to sharpen and it doesn't hold an edge long enough to make it worth the cost. Skates need sharpened for a variety of reasons including nicks and dings which titanium isn't hard enough to resist entirely. I can't even imagine the cost of materials to sharpen them...it would be staggering, plus the cost of making them in the first place makes it un-economic for companies; that's why you don't see blades or for that matter, anything in hockey made from titanium.

[hunterphfr 12]

Did a search on ebay to see if there was any there. I guess there's gear whores in baseball as well. Plenty of catchers masks made out of titanium at prices that make iTech's look reasonable.

I have a titanium cup kicking around the house somewhere.

[number21 3]

Not saying they aren't strong, but here is some evidence that the Titanium cages were not perfect.

Show it Off thread

I am partial to the defunct itech fantom cage myself.