Helmets

[tpedersen3118 58]

I would consider this the most important piece of gear for playing hockey at any level (well, tied for first with a nut cup). That said, how often are some of you replacing your brain bucket? I know some leagues and even tournaments require you to have a lid that is not "expired" but for someone like me who hasn't had that problem in some years and who's lid is in good shape albeit aging, should I consider a new one? I have some xmas $$$ from the in-laws burning a hole in my pocket so I've been leaning towards a Re-Akt 75 to replace my 5100. Either that or I squirrel it away for when I need some new jets.

[ginjaninja 19]

Well I have an HT2 but a know a few guys who have the Re-Akt helmets and like them.  Said they were fairly light.  Only way to know is to try one on.  Good hockey in Madison. I used to play in Verona when we lived on the west side of town.

[YesLanges 127]

I'm not an expert and only have anecdotal evidence, but in my experience, there's little to no difference in protection (except for coverage areas, like open vs. closed ears) between an HT2 (or even the original CCM Pro Standard) and modern helmets, provided they fit right and you have the right version of the padding the old CCMs came with. I've had my skates pulled out on me and hit my head as hard as you can hit your head on the ice and I was fine. Meanwhile, one of my teammates recently got a concussion from the same type of thing in a much newer CCM helmet. Just about everybody I know who's sustained a concussion in my league was wearing a newer helmet.

I've repaired or adjusted several modern helmets for teammates and in my opinion, some of the newer types of padding seem to offer less protection than some older padding. Some of it just seems too hard to me, and/or to reverse the right order of harder and softer padding, going from harder against your head to softer against the shell, which seems totally backwards to me. I can feel the difference just putting them on and smacking them with a fist: the newer material seems to transmit more of the force to my skull than some of the older material. I'm sure every new type of padding material introduced reflects a lot of R&D time and some objective data generated by machines measuring force transmission, but that doesn't necessarily mean that whatever they chose to measure mirrors the way that those forces affect real heads outside the lab. 

I like hockey equipment as much as many of you guys, but it seems to me that a lot of the current stuff reflects annual changes marketed as "upgrades" or "improvements" when those changes are likely intended more to sell new gear than they are to reflect genuine improvements in protection. Same reason auto manufacturers keep rolling out new model changes every year.  Hockey equipment is getting lighter and lighter, but it seems to me that protection-wise, most of it already peaked quite a while ago; and anytime I hear (or read) somebody complaining about gloves wearing out and breaking down too fast, it's always about new gloves and never guys like me wearing 20 or 30-year-old gloves.

I'd except skates from those observations, because some of those newer materials seem fantastic compared to older skates, with significant improvement in just about everything skates are supposed to do. Ironic, considering I'm stickin' with my Langes for however many more seasons I end up playing. (Already tried out and sold a pair of NXGs and Graf 5035s at a 50% loss after it became clear to me that it would probably have taken me about as many more years as I'll still be playing just to get used to them and skate as well as I do in my ancient skates.)

 

[Holmes_D_83 27]

Depending on the unis we're wearing, I go between a Jofa 390, a Jofa 690 and a Reebok 11K pro stock (full VN liner, no microdial). I should probably get a new bucket but these 3 fit me best and here in Northern Ireland we don't have a LHS anymore so everything has to be mail order.

[Jamarquan 201]

On 12/28/2016 at 6:48 PM, tpedersen3118 said:

I would consider this the most important piece of gear for playing hockey at any level (well, tied for first with a nut cup). That said, how often are some of you replacing your brain bucket? I know some leagues and even tournaments require you to have a lid that is not "expired" but for someone like me who hasn't had that problem in some years and who's lid is in good shape albeit aging, should I consider a new one? I have some xmas $$$ from the in-laws burning a hole in my pocket so I've been leaning towards a Re-Akt 75 to replace my 5100. Either that or I squirrel it away for when I need some new jets.

I've had my IMS 7.0 for three seasons now, even though I'm playing for a new team (blue and green helmet with a team using Rangers colors - it's bad.) If your helmet isn't having any problems then I'd just keep it.