3 piece Free Flex vs. Lock Thumb (Hockey Gloves)

[Cosmic 178]

Is there any advantage to a lock thumb, protection wise, such as with the Dynasty AX1 Pro Stock? I just bought a pair from PSH- nice gloves, I just think that my already hands-of-stone will be made even more stoney by this lock thumb on the gloves. So, I am thinking about trying a 3 piece free flex thumb instead, such as that in the Bauer Vapor APX2 Pro.

Is there any disadvantage protection wise, with the 3 piece flex thumb of the APX2 Pro? Obviously, both thumbs prevent hyperextension backward. Does the 3 piece thumb expose the thumb to jammage, when falling on the ice and landing on the thumb, more so than the lock thumb?

Reason I ask, I saw this article when researching the topic:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=502288

This article is from 2009, so I am thinking, "Were there even 3 piece flex thumbs available then, as they are today? Would he think that a 3 piece flex thumb is actually a lock thumb, since it prevents hyperextension backward?"

[Harkonnen87 10]

I don't think there is any difference in a three piece flex thumb and a thumb lock in regards to to protection against hyper extension. Both are design to prevent your thumb from going backwards beyond the normal range of motion. I think the difference comes that they actual protective piece have multiple segments (think overlapping layers) compared to the the tradition way of just having a single thumb piece come out of the main body of the glove (like the warriors). The 3 piece system makes it easier to flex the protective part of the thumb giving you a little bit more mobility, but since your thumb isn't actually in that part of your glove but actually below it in the actual finger portion it shouldn't make a huge difference when dealing with stick handling etc.

As far as jamming your finger when falling I can't say for certain on it because every fall is different, but the protective part of your thumb should extend past your actual thumb a bit so it shouldn't increase your chances of jamming your thumb. Also if you are gripping your stick that should help as well since your thumb won't be locked out which is a major part of jamming your thumb.