Warrior Dynasty AX1LT - mojo122

[mojo122 530]

DyNasty AX1LT
Flex: 85
Curve: Granlund (W05)

Reviewer’s Background
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 180
Position: Defensemen/Center

Skating a minimum of four times a week. Playing in two leagues that are comprised of a lot of former college hockey players. Been using pro stock Yzerman Pro and Roenick Pro sticks for the longest time so the AX1LT will be a good test for me.

Initial Impressions

Graphics:

Silver painted shaft with the silver continuing straight through to the blade with flipped Warrior DyNasty AX1LT print on both sides of the shaft, cleverly mirrored so that the very noticeable WARRIOR is visible on both the fore and aft side of the shaft. Distinctive circled W on the backside of the blade at the heel.

Construction/Weight

I’ll leave all the technical information as well as any tech questions to Miseaujeu.

My preference is for no grip, but the combination of the velvet touch finish and focused textured grip is winning me over. The grip is so subtle you really don’t notice it, yet effective in accomplishing what grip finishes are intended to do.

Weight is light and despite having one of the biggest retail blade patterns with the Granlund (Drury clone), the stick is well balanced.

Skates, gloves, and sticks are the 3 pieces of equipment most important to my game. Really looking to get this Dynasty stick in action and see what it has. Thanks to JR, MSH, and Miseaujeu for the opportunity to carry out a long-term-review on the AX1LT.

[mojo122 530]

Really impressed with the AX1LT after my first full week of using it. Transitioning from the Styles curve to the Granlund pattern was effortless as I felt very comfortable with it from the very beginning.

The stick itself is very light and well balanced. Puck feel is right up there with the V9E. I felt right at ease when stick-handling and passing was crisp and accurate.

As for shooting, wrist shots were easy to load and release while snap-shots and slap-shots were above average for me. Accuracy was excellent for all shots.

I tend to play aggressively with an active stick, constantly poke-checking and using the blade (and sometimes the shaft) to block shots. No durability issues after week one. One small chip on the bottom of the blade to go along with a vertical blade scratch from a skate. At first I though there were areas of paint abrasion/scraping along the edges of the shaft. Upon further inspection they were just black stick and puck marks that were easily removed using a household all purpose cleaner.

Not once during the week did I have the urge to reach for my normal Pro Stock OPS, which speaks volumes to the performance capabilities of the AX1LT. Looking forward to week two and beyond.

Thoughts from teammates in the locker room so far have been positive. Passing the stick around the room the most common comment is about how light the stick is, and most if not all of these players are using high end OPS or 2-piece setups. That and the Warrior graphics have made it easy for them to notice I had changed sticks.

If anyone has specific questions regarding this OPS please ask them in the Dynasty AX1LT thread and I’ll do my best to answer them.

[mojo122 530]

Absolutely no complaints with the Dynasty AX1LT after ten sessions of play.

I have an 85 flex and the sticks plays and feels like an 85 flex OPS. Neither stiffer nor softer than the advertised flex and no change after two and one-half weeks of use.

This stick continues to impress me with weight, balance, feel, and performance. While the original Dynasty AX1 was a good stick, so far everything is adding up to the AX1LT being a great stick. I can see why the Warrior stick guy is so excited about this offering. This OPS is one of Warrior’s top tiered sticks. So far my opinion is that the AX1LT is better performing than many of the other top end sticks available on the retail market. Bottom line is that I would be very satisfied purchasing this stick.

No additional chipping or marring about the blade. No chipping, flaking, or peeling of the grip. Normally I prefer clear shafts, but the characteristics of this grip have given me second thoughts.

The real test for me and the AX1LT will be that of durability. Not one to baby sticks, coupled with my style of play, I consider myself the right guy to assess just how durable this OPS will be. This stick is going to be hacked, slashed, stepped on, leaned on, and stressed to the max. I’ll continue to use this as my main stick with the next update to come at the one month mark.

[mojo122 530]

Recovered updated post from April 18, 2014

I have just surpassed the one-month mark of using the Dynasty AX1LT.

No softening of the flex has occurred while puck feel, stick-handling, passing, and shooting with this stick continue to be impressive. Continue to be on the ice four-to-five times a week.

The blade continues to take a lot of abuse and remains stiff and intact despite a lot of skate blade scars. No chipping of the blade, particularly of the toe so far.

The only negative I found is that I’ve experienced some peeling of the grip about the shaft. I’m not sure if this is just the result of so many hours of use, or whether the APC (all purpose cleaner) that I used early on to remove some puck and tape marks might have affected the grip coating itself. Waiting to hear whether or not others using the AX1LT experience any peeling of the grip. If they don’t then that would point to the cleaner I used as causing the problem.

Bottom line is this is another impressive stick offering from Warrior. I normally get about 2 months out of a stick being used as part of a two stick rotation, so the only question left is to see how long this stick will go considering there’s no rotation for it…

Recovered updated post from May 10, 2014

This particular Dynasty AX1LT OPS has now surpassed the two-month mark while seeing use 4 to 5 times a week.

Stick has taken a beating (as you can see in the above picture) without any loss in performance. Solid offering from Warrior. More than happy to answer specific questions not already answered in the Warrior AX1LT/AX1ST Stick Lineup topic.

http://www.modsquadhockey.com/forums/index.php/topic/65581-warrior-dynasty-ax1stlt-stick-lineup/

I’ll reserve any future updates for if the performance should falter or if it should break, which as of right now doesn’t seem as if that will ever happen.