Warrior Dynasty AX1 - lampliter87

[JR Boucicaut 3799]

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[lampliter87 8]

lampliter87 Warrior Dynasty AX1 Long-Term Review

Hey all, lampliter87 back at it again to take on a LTR of the Warrior Dynasty AX1. As always, huge shout-out to both Warrior and the great guys at MSH who keep this thing going (and thanks for the new lumber!).

On to the stick itself:

Stick Specs:

Kopitar (formerly Draper) curve, 85 flex, grip

Reviewer Stats:

6’2” 200 lbs ACHA D-I Defenseman. I’ve previously been using pro stock Reebok 8.0.8’s, but have used Warrior Dolomites and AK27’s in the past. I’ll be sure to include comparisons to my old Warrior sticks for reference.

Intial Highs:

Great graphics package, 63” shaft length (I’m a tall guy and

hate putting plugs in sticks), very stiff blade, velvet-smooth grip that should
give me hands like Datsyuk.

Initial Lows:

High retail price.

First Impressions:

Some initial thoughts about the stick in no particular order- at immediate unwrapping of the AX1, I was thoroughly impressed with what Warrior is bringing to the table with this stick. The graphics package is decidedly Warrior but manages to forgo some of the companies past sophomoric monikers and graphics featuring dragons and flames. This is a pretty-sharp looking stick.

When I first held the AX1, several thoughts came to mind. Warrior uses their “Slick Grip” and “Velvet Touch” technology on the grip edition. Having received mine late Saturday, I haven’t been on the ice yet to test it yet, but in bare palms it certainly feels nice, adding touch to the shaft while not making it impossible to shift in the hands. I usually use grip sticks, but

don’t like the hard “locked down” feel of some of the stickier rubber grips, so I suspect I’ll like this one.

The stick seems to be very well balanced, albeit maybe a touch blade heavy, although I again suspect that balance to improve once I put my standard fairly large knob on. The blade is incredibly stiff (a major plus), as stiff as any retail stick I can remember buying recently. The AX1 also seems quite light- I don’t believe Warrior has published a weight yet, but I would guess low-400 g.

Some of my favorite sticks in terms of performance have been Dolomite Pro Stocks. However, they were also some of my shortest-lasting sticks. Whether the lack of durability was due to the fact that they were indeed pro-stock or was just true to that model, they left somewhat of a bad taste in my mouth. I’m cautiously optimistic about the AX1.

I will be first using it tonight for practice, and will update after that.

More to come.

LL87