New Pads Recommendations- Bauer Line?

[johndeere506 3]

Im mainly sticking w Bauer becasue there are SO MANY choices out there i needed to narrow things down. I went to my LHS last night and was surprised they didnt have even a matching set for a lot of things. Im 6'1" 210 lbs. I was only able to try on Nexus Large pants, no XL, and no Supremes in either size.

What do most people wear, Nexus or Supreme pants? I don't like tight fit stuff so I assumed Id like the Nexus but couldnt even try the Surpemes, so I dont know how they fit. The Nexus in a large seemed fine, not sure if my size needs a XL. The chart says I do for height and weight, but not waist. I guess Im not sure if Im between sizes should you go bigger or smaller?

The shoulder pads, the nexus just looks bulky so I tried a L Supreme (170 or 190). It seemed fine, but again they didnt have the XL. I'm in between sizes again.

As for helmets the had a good selection, the Bauers from $120 and up felt great. The CCM Fitlite in a large didnt seem to fit me as well. Do you notice some helmets fit better than others. I went planing on buying the fitlite, but was surprised when it didnt fit as well.

[IPv6Freely 2082]

No reason at all to stick to one brand. Try everything on. Find what you like. 

[start_today 757]

You also don't need a "matching set."  Outside of random luck or being dogmatically brand loyal, most people, even pros, don't wear the same brand protective top to bottom. Try everything! It makes it more fun, and helps you dial in what you like and don't like. 

[marka 518]

Howdy,

41 minutes ago, johndeere506 said:

As for helmets the had a good selection, the Bauers from $120 and up felt great. The CCM Fitlite in a large didnt seem to fit me as well. Do you notice some helmets fit better than others. I went planing on buying the fitlite, but was surprised when it didnt fit as well.

This is true across the board, at least to some extent, but its REALLY true for helmets.  Different models (even within the same brand) fit differently.  Try them on and see what fits you.  A helmet that doesn't fit will cause you the most problems, with the possible exception of skates.

And none of my gear matches.  :-)

Mark

[nyquil 43]

2 hours ago, johndeere506 said:

Im mainly sticking w Bauer becasue there are SO MANY choices out there i needed to narrow things down. I went to my LHS last night and was surprised they didnt have even a matching set for a lot of things. Im 6'1" 210 lbs. I was only able to try on Nexus Large pants, no XL, and no Supremes in either size.

What do most people wear, Nexus or Supreme pants? I don't like tight fit stuff so I assumed Id like the Nexus but couldnt even try the Surpemes, so I dont know how they fit. The Nexus in a large seemed fine, not sure if my size needs a XL. The chart says I do for height and weight, but not waist. I guess Im not sure if Im between sizes should you go bigger or smaller?

The shoulder pads, the nexus just looks bulky so I tried a L Supreme (170 or 190). It seemed fine, but again they didnt have the XL. I'm in between sizes again.

As for helmets the had a good selection, the Bauers from $120 and up felt great. The CCM Fitlite in a large didnt seem to fit me as well. Do you notice some helmets fit better than others. I went planing on buying the fitlite, but was surprised when it didnt fit as well.

CCM Tacks and Bauer Nexus are the two pant lines that feature a more traditional roomier fit.  If you have questions about how a shoulder pad or pant should fit, Ice Warehouse on YouTube has great videos about how shoulder pads and pants should fit.  As far as helmets go some fit rounder heads better and other fit more oval shapes better.

Also, like someone else said, there is no reason to be brand whore.  For me it goes Skates - CCM, Shin Guards - Sherwood.  Pants - CCM.  Shoulder Pads - Bauer.  Helmet - Bauer.  Elbow Pads - CCM.  Gloves - Winnwell.  Try on some CCM and Warrior stuff and get what fits.  

Edit for YouTube links:

Sizing Pants

Shoulder Pads

 

[Coldclay 53]

Yep no need to stick to matching pads/brands. Try EVERYTHING. Here's what my 13 yo Bantam AA kid wears:

Helmet: Bauer Re-Akt (Still the most comfortable helmet in our opinion)

Shoulders: Bauer 1X (covers the back the most, not the most protective but certainly one of the lightest)

Elbows: STX Stallion HPR (look at STX if you haven't yet, they make some quality stuff)

Gloves: Warrior QRL

Pants: Bauer Supreme MX3 Girdle

Shin: Bauer APX2

Skates: CCM FT1 (came from years of wearing Mako's and he said these are better)

Misc: Bauer 37.5 Elite Padded shirt (converted into a short sleeve and ditched the wrist protection) + Bauer 37.5 Elite Padded Jock Shorts

[johndeere506 3]

I was hoping to make a quicker trip than that by having a few in mind. It sounds like thats not how you guys do it. None of my old stuff matched either, but i probably bought what was decent and on sale when i was younger. 

I just ordered some gear for my 5/6 year olds from hockey monkey on sale. Nobody has much in stock local for them, so I got full sets of MX3s in each of their sizes (I got their skates, helmets, pants and gloves local). For me, I was thinking of just buying some sale items there and the rest local if anyone has them. It sounds like you guys think everything needs to be test fit first. Kind of tough with low stock locally. They said its the low stock season.

The helmet I would certainly agree, I should have known that. All my motocross and MTB helmets are top shelf and I test fit them all. I do those sports more so I was used to it though. Im thinking the Bauer Reakt or Reakt 75.

My old shoulder pads, easton SP8200 might work still. People seemed to like them and would save 100 bucks or more for now.

[CigarScott 132]

In my recent experience buying gear to start playing again, I found that it was impossible for me to be a brand whore and stick to one brand. Unless you have an average sized feet, head, hands, arms, legs, shoulders, etc., you will find that some brands will fit better than others for each piece of gear. In the case of my head, the Reebok 11K VN helmets leftover from the 2014 Olympics are the largest helmets that I know to exist (and their certifications were still good!). As far as pants, Tackla is the only company that I'm aware of that makes pants for people with a 46" or larger waist. For elbows, CCM is the only company that currently makes XL-sized elbow pads. For Shins and skates, Bauer were the only company that I could fit into their skates and could get their shins to fit on me. Gloves, I happen to have Bauer just because I got them used for cheap; I should be able to wear any brand's 15" gloves. For shoulders, I got the Sher-wood's since their Vintage ones can be adjusted for people with extremely wide shoulders.

[johndeere506 3]

I was able to get to a different store today. For shoulder pads they had a Supreme 170 and Warrior Dynasty AX2. The AX2 was on sale and fits pretty good. I didnt like the fit of the 170 as much compared to the Warriors, but seemed ok still. They didnt have any CCM Large in stock.

What volume fit are the AX2 or AX3s? I don't have real wide shoulders so the L fit better even though Im 210, 6'1".

As for pants I liked the Tacks and QLTs. Either would work fine. Maybe preferred the Tacks only by a little. I have more slim thighs I guess, but dont like a tight fit in pants so maybe thats why I liked the Tacks.

[PaulieWalnuts 5]

I had the new supreme protective.  Shoulders I had to go up in size to an XL in order to fit like my fit lites.  Elbows I was able to stay the same as every other brand.  I have since sold the supremes because they didn't protect me enough in my back and picked up Supertacks shoulders.  Love the Tacks line of pants but don't sleep on the Warrior Covert pants either.    

[johndeere506 3]

1 hour ago, PaulieWalnuts said:

I had the new supreme protective.  Shoulders I had to go up in size to an XL in order to fit like my fit lites.  Elbows I was able to stay the same as every other brand.  I have since sold the supremes because they didn't protect me enough in my back and picked up Supertacks shoulders.  Love the Tacks line of pants but don't sleep on the Warrior Covert pants either.    

What do you mean about the Warrior pants?

I liked the Tacks pants too. A couple people told me I NEED to try on some tacks shoulder pads, so Ill try those before I buy the Warrior AX1 I found.

[PaulieWalnuts 5]

On 2/22/2018 at 7:55 PM, johndeere506 said:

What do you mean about the Warrior pants?

I liked the Tacks pants too. A couple people told me I NEED to try on some tacks shoulder pads, so Ill try those before I buy the Warrior AX1 I found.

Meaning they're a really good pair of pants.