Bauer Vapor APX2

[Davetronz 109]

Background:

31 years old / 5’11 / 215lbs / left-handed

Men's div B/C and shinny hockey (former minor league rep team player)

On ice ~5 hours a week

Previous sticks (2yrs):

• True Hockey A6.0 (TC2, 85 flex)
• Bauer Vapor x6.0 (P14, 87 flex)
• Sherwood T90 (Ryan, 85 flex)
• Bauer Vapor APX2 (P14, 95 flex)
• Bauer Nexus 600 (P14, 102 flex) *current*
• Easton RS (E7, 85 flex) *current*

Stick being reviewed:

• Bauer Vapor APX2 (P14, 95 flex)

Blade 9/10

I'm a huge fan of the P14 (Toews) curve, and I actually had a bit of difficulty finding this stick in the P14 in my area. The blade has a slight tactile coating on it. I found that it was super easy to tape, held the tape and that the tape job seemed more durable. The blade itself has pretty good puck feel. When I first started using the stick, it was a bit "pingy" and a bit too reactive for my liking, but I got used to it over time. The entire length of the blade seems fairly responsive. Shots come off any part of the blade with not much issue. The blade itself held up well, and I didn't have any problems.

Shaft/Flex 7/10

I went with a 95-flex in this stick, mainly because I wasn't able to find an 87-flex. I found the stick to be a bit stiffer than I'd expect a 95-flex, but not to detriment. The stick kept this flex/stiffness until it snapped, on the shaft. The grip was a bit "grippy" for my liking, but decreased over usage.

Stickhandling/receiving passes 9/10

As mentioned in the blade category, the stick felt a bit "pingy" when stickhandling and passing. It was something I had to get used to. The stick is definitely "lively" in your hands. Overall, I felt that my passes were on the money, and my stickhandling was no better nor worse than when using other sticks.

Shooting 9/10

When I first got the stick, I struggled a bit with the 95-flex. I found wrist shots a bit hard to get high and on-target. This quickly faded as I got a feel for the stick and the flex-point. The slapshots were great right out of the gate. Shooting remained crisp and lively right until the end. There was no degredation in performance (which may not be fair to say in context of this review as this stick snapped quite fast for me).

Weight and balance 10/10

A light and well-balanced stick. Nothing to fault here, only praise. This stick feels amazing in your hands. You can tell they put some extra thought and design into ensuring it was a performer in this category. I don't think I've used a stick that's felt quite this light.

Durability 2/10

In my opinion, this is where this stick fell completely flat. I received my True A6.0 for a LTR shortly after getting this stick, so my APX2 was used only as a back-up for the 2-3 months while I used my LTR stick exclusively. I'd say that I maybe used the APX2 for a maximum of 10 hours on ice, it was only taped once, and it showed no signs of abuse, damage, or war-wounds. The stick broke/exploded on the lower shaft during a shot. There was no incident, slash or event leading up to the explosion, it just went. Disappointing indeed when considered with the intangibles below.
Intangibles N/A

I struggled with where to put this information, because while it doesn't really affect the performance of the stick, people buy grip sticks for a reason. The red graphics (and grip coating over these areas) all over the shaft of this stick started peeling off immediately and continued until every bit of red (and grip over these areas) was gone from the stick, which I found weird. The rep said that there were some production issues with the paint that led to this problem, but that it wasn't a warranty issue because it wasn't structural. I found this fairly unacceptable for a $300 top-of-the-line stick.

Conclusion (46/60 = 77%)

Maybe I got a defective twig, but the rep didn't agree, and in the end I think there's far better sticks in this price-range. A $300 stick that loses all of its red graphics and blows up after less than 10 hours on the ice is not acceptable, especially from Bauer. In all other areas I felt this stick was a major competitor, but durability is a big factor. This stick fell flat here. Had the stick lasted more than a handful of games, perhaps I would have rated it much better. In the end, this one didn't sit well with me and has led me to explore other brands.