VH Footwear/TRUE by Scott Van Horne

[Mimizk 114]

Rob would answer and send these photo for me.

[Mimizk 114]

And the shape like " --O " is built in shim.

[Mimizk 114]

Started to write ordering sheet. Maybe I will order my new boots around Jan or Feb of the next year.

[decoy 164]

Nick Bjugstad

[Bbd94 26]

Interesting tidbit is that @Bjugstad moved from a Mako II as evidenced by the holder.

Brandon Pirri uses VH and also plays for Florida. Putting the good word in? Seems like alot of these STX/TRUE/Warrior guys going VH.

Edited November 20, 2015 by Bbd94

[flip12 714]

Kulikov also had CXN's on his VH, but I don't think he had a Mako transition period before that setup.

Along with Pirri, Quinten Howden wears them.

I was wondering if Bjugstad might make the switch. Now let's see how long it lasts.

[Doozy8 6]

Great way to start the weekend with an email from Rob from VH....I should have them on Tuesday....Can't wait.

Hi Darren,

Your skates are shipping today via Fedex, tracking #xxxxxxxxxxxx

Before trying them on, please watch the heat molding video at the following link:

http://www.vhhockey.com/order-info/

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you for your order.

Rob Thomson

Director of Customer Service

VH Footwear

[ortonc85 1]

Hey guys,

I have had my VH goal skates for close to a year now and about 6 months into owning them i started getting pain at the balls of my feet. Any suggestions to alleviate the discomfort?

Thanks in advance.

[Monty22 832]

Hey guys,

I have had my VH goal skates for close to a year now and about 6 months into owning them i started getting pain at the balls of my feet. Any suggestions to alleviate the discomfort?

Try a foot bed with a thicker forefoot.

Thanks in advance.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Hey guys,

I have had my VH goal skates for close to a year now and about 6 months into owning them i started getting pain at the balls of my feet. Any suggestions to alleviate the discomfort?

Thanks in advance.

If it's the same feeling I got in my goal skates (pain in the balls of your feet and it hurts to bend your big toe for a few days after playing), then try new insoles. Leave the red in and replace the yellow with something like superfeet.

I found the yellow was sliding forward into the toe box making me curl my toes (I didn't notice that was happening while I was on the ice but you could see a pretty definite bend in the toe end of the yellow insole).

In my case I replaced the yellow with some custom SIDAS insoles I had made for my old Makos and the pain has gone away completely.

[ortonc85 1]

I took out both the red and yellow insole and just went with super feet. Maybe I'll try a new pair and see if that works. The rivets don't seem flush with the outsole either so I think I might replace them as well. Thanks for the help.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

I had to leave in the red or else I lost too much volume.

[Doozy8 6]

Got my VH skates today. Can't wait to bake em and mold em. I ordered on Nov 12th and received on the 23rd. Not bad at all and I am in NJ.

[jarret_g 5]

Got my VH skates today. Can't wait to bake em and mold em. I ordered on Nov 12th and received on the 23rd. Not bad at all and I am in NJ.

I first messaged Rob on 29-Oct with some questions. Placed my order on 2-Nov and received them the 19th. 2.5 weeks. Our skates were probably on the shop floor together. FWIW I had a busy weekend. 5 games. Two in a row on friday so I took my old one95's just in case. I never even though about switching over to them. I got a small blister but after 5 games and wet skates I'd have at least that with my old skates. They're an absolute dream to skate in

[Doozy8 6]

I first messaged Rob on 29-Oct with some questions. Placed my order on 2-Nov and received them the 19th. 2.5 weeks. Our skates were probably on the shop floor together. FWIW I had a busy weekend. 5 games. Two in a row on friday so I took my old one95's just in case. I never even though about switching over to them. I got a small blister but after 5 games and wet skates I'd have at least that with my old skates. They're an absolute dream to skate in

I baked them and from what I can tell, they feel great from a comfort perspective, I can't wait to skate in a game tomorrow night. I'll also be skating Thanksgiving morning for 2 hours with some buddies, we rented the rink as a Thanksgiving tradition, early morning.

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

New to the VH Team..... Pavel Bure, Rick Vaive and soon to be ordered 3 more former big pro's. Word is spreading on how comfortable they are!

[jarret_g 5]

I said I'd post my thoughts on ordering and stuff and kind of forgot. So I'll do it now. I first messaged VH through their website on the 29th of October. Rob messaged me back with a custom order form and answered my questions about the tendon guard, tracings and other stuff. I sent an email last November 1st with my tracings and that I wanted to order a pair. He sent an invoice early on the 2nd and answered some more questions. After I placed the order I remembered the 3mm lifts in my right boot so sent him an email. No problem, they would build them into the boot. I was on the fence about this since it would be a permanent thing instead of a removable plastic bit but I've skated on those lifts for over 5 years so thought it would be fine. The lifts were the only custom bit I got on the skate. I wanted all black so no other colours. I thought about going for the older style tendon guard since I preferred the look and also the older style toe cap. Rob strongly suggested the newer styles so I took his advice. My current size 8 one95's came with a 272 tuuk ls2's. Size 7.5 one95's came with 263's (except EE which were 272's) I wasn't sure whether to go with 263's or keep the 272's. Since I was changing holder/blade and not keeping my step steel I told Rob to make the decision. He went with 272 which are right at the edge of the toe.

Flash forward, my only small gripe with ordering, there are no updates. I didn't really expect any but I thought it might be cool to get something like "your boot is at step 4 of 10 and expected to ship on X day". I realize the logistical nightmare and added time this might cause but could be done with something like RFID tags and would be really helpful. I have a camp this weekend (27-30) that I wanted to skates for and would have loved to get a good weekend of skating on them before I went so I messaged Rob to get an ETA. The next day he gave me a shipping number and tracking. It was a saturday (the 14th) . Shipped via fed ex economy which states 1-3 business days so I was expecting to get them tuesday/wednesday. When they were picked up at VH the tracking was updated and expected delivery was Monday the 23rd. I was disappointed but still held some hope they'd arrive before the weekend. The came on Thursday November 19th. 17 days since I placed the order.

When I got them I couldn't even put my foot in them. The wrap around the top of the foot/eyelets was impressive. It was stiff. I read through this thread previously and knew this was common so I wasn't worried about it. The baking process was easy enough. I have a convection oven but it only had 200 degrees as the lowest setting (VH recommended 180 degrees). VH says you can use a standard oven so I put my skates in without pre-heating the oven and turned the heat to 200 and turned the convection fan off. I put the skates as far away from the element as possible on a cookie sheet with a towel on top of it so there was no metal-to-metal contact. I checked them every 5 minutes or so to check stiffness. This probably delayed the baking time opening the oven door so much. It was a solid 18-20 minutes before they were as soft as in the video. I put them on and laces them pretty gingerly. I could have went harder at this point but still got a great fit. I kept pressing against the heel and other areas while they were cooling and sat with my knees a little forward to simulate a knee bend while skating.

The first night I had two games. I mostly referee now and was concerned a more aggressive position would hurt my backwards skating. 4-man system has a lot of backwards skating. I took them to a local skate sharpener with my old skates and just asked for the same profile. I couldn't even remember what I was skating on but it was over a year since I had them profiled so it might have been off a bit. I didn't want to experiment with specific radii and thought this would be the best bet to minimize that new skate awkwardness. I'll probably get them profiled correctly after a few more skates and I get a better feel for them. I always liked going sockless but my one95's were pretty worn out the last few years so that was impossible. I went with a thin sock for the first game. The first few minutes were pretty awkard but not impossible to skate on. They were stiff but didn't feel like shoeboxes, I still had control. By the end of the first period they felt just as good if not better than my old one95's. By the end of the game my feet felt fine and I was a lot more confident. I decided to try game 2 without socks which was a mistake. They were pretty wet and I got a small blister on my instep from the friction. This was my own fault.

3 more games on Saturday and they still felt great. I wore dry socks each time and put some body glide on the blister. It expanded a bit but wasn't too bad. 5 games in 26 hours would cause hot spots with any skate. I had a little pain in my ankle bone on the inside of my right skate but I think just re-baking that small area will alleviate that. Other than that they were amazing. The lifts were perfect. I have a small issue with the ls3 edge blade/holder with the blade on my right skate not seating in all the way. I can see part of the "D" that bauer mentions but I don't have any experience with the Edge system besides these skates. JR mentioned taking a rubber mallet to pound it in so I'll try that tonight. I looked at a few other LS Edge skates and the trigger was all the way "out" with the blade in whereas mine looks like it's still depressed a little bit. It also has that familiar "click" noise when I'm walking indicating the blade is a little loose. Probably not a big issue.

It's impossible to say how durability will be with these after only 5 ice sessions in two days but I'm not that hard on my skates. I had my one95's for almost 7 years now. Since I only play scrub or stick and puck they don't get beat up from playing. The fit, however, is remarkable. It's like skating with a sneaker. There's no lag/delay when skating. When my foot moves my skate goes with it and I have 100% control over it. Not really any hot spots either besides the one on the ankle bone which I should be able to eliminate. Obviously if they completely destruct in 2-3 months I wouldn't recommend them but as it stands now these things are the real deal.

Edited November 25, 2015 by jarret_g

[Doozy8 6]

Jarrett,

Since our skates were probably on the floor of the factory at the same time, I will share my very similar positive experience as well, since last night was my first game with them.

Communication: I messaged Rob and emailed my new player skate order in on Nov 11 at 1:35pm EST. I hadn't heard back from him or anyone at VH that day or by 10:30am EST the next morning, so I emailed asking what the typical turnaround time was for acknowledgment of new skate orders. Rob got back to me very quickly and told me that the 11th was Remembrance Day in Canada (as it was Veterans Day here in the US) and that he would be working on and processing my order shortly.

​He then sent me the options list and we went back and forth with some customization questions, etc.... After all was finalized, I received my PayPal invoice and paid it immediately on Thursday, Nov 12th. After placing the order, talking to some people and reading more on MSH, I was up in the air about which holders I wanted, so I emailed Rob and requested a change in holders and steel and he said no problem. After more reading and thinking about it, I emailed him back after the weekend and reverted back to my original holder request (LS3 Edge with LS3 Steel). I apologized for the back and forth, but he assured me it was no problem. On Friday the 20th, I received an email from Rob that my skates were shipping that day via FedEx. I then received a tracking email from FedEx confirming that, then I received another later in the day from FedEx that they were picked up and have an expected delivery date to my home on Tuesday 11/24. I checked the FedEx tracking over the weekend and saw they were already at the main hub in NJ and were going to be in route to the local FedEx facility. Impatient and excited me, called FedEx to ask if there was a possibility the skates would be delivered on Monday the 23rd. I was told no. I then asked for a hold to be put on the package so I can pick it up at the FedEx facility near me and they did that. Monday morning, the 23rd, I checked the site and the update was that the package was ready to be picked up and being held. Needless to say 9am I shoot over the FedEx facility 30 minutes away and pick up my skates. Christmas came a month early for me, thanks to my wife for my great early X-Mas gift.

Preparedness: Once I found out on Friday that the skates would be here Tuesday, knowing I had a game that night, I immediately ordered an additional pair of LS3 Blackedge steel from No-Icing, with my custom 8'/12' radius with my 9/16" FBV and medium forward pitch to try to make them as similar to the Grafs and the natural pitch on those. They would be delivered by Tuesday, in time for my game that night. (OK, I admit, I am neurotic)

Fitting:

I read the paperwork that was included in the box and I did not try to put them on before baking them. I got a wet towel and set my oven to 180. I did 1 skate at a time and flipped the skate at the 8 minute mark of the 16 minute bake.

I tightened up the laces about 90% as suggested in the videos, sat down, knee in line with toe for 20 minutes and then repeated the process for skate 2. I did use a wood clamp to make sure heels were molded perfectly so I would be locked in. I pressed around my forefoot while skates were hot and sort of molded around my feet. I used a very thin Easton sock that I would use to skate. Toe toe box felt amazing, which I usually have problems with new skates due to a slight bump on the outside of my big toes. No problems whatsoever and my heels were locked in, no movement at all. I should also mention, I removed the VH footbeds and installed my own Sofsoles

First Skate:

I jumped out on the ice, did a few laps around our zone in warmups, felt very very comfortable. I did feel slightly different on my outside edge for some reason, but that may take some getting used to, as I was using Grafs with Graf holders, the pitch slightly different. Overall, my feet felt great, I may have tied a little too tight, but that's something I will have to adjust and get used to, as I am not used to such an aggressive wrap and molded skate. I do feel I have some getting used to on the response and on the edges, but nothing major. I am sure 1-2 times on the ice, will do the trick. I'll be skating for 2 hours Thanksgiving morning, so hopefully that helps. I am still very excited to use them again and can't wait for tomorrow.

After the game last night, I removed the footbeds and dried my skates with my equipment in my rocket dryer. Rob mentioned that will help prevent rusty rivets.

So, like Jarret, it's too soon to tell the durability, but from the way I felt inside the skate, I would highly recommend VH for those looking to get into a high end skate that they can have customized to their own foot. I will update with any changes or additional comments as I skate with them more.

[Bbd94 26]

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't you not supposed to dry skates in the Rocket Dryer? I've never done so but I thought I read it can ruin the integrity of the boot. Same with gloves.

I use two of these to hang my skates upside down from the holders.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Tornado-30-lb-Steel-Ladder-Hook-48044/202639949

Edited November 26, 2015 by Bbd94

[mc88 160]

The Rocket Dryer only goes to a modest 70°F, so I doubt it'll do much of anything. I've been using this, as another member suggested. It's has a relatively low airflow of 105°F, and I haven't had any structural issues yet (avg dry time is around 90min).

I know a lot of the NHL teams use something like this as well:

http://blademaster.com/web/en/skate-and-glove-drying-equipment/427-sc8500.html

OR

If you're really concerned, use a standard run-of-the-mill portable fan (cool air).

Edited November 26, 2015 by mc88

[kadayo 9]

I've been using the rocket dryer for years and it does not do any harm to gloves or skates.

[jarret_g 5]

Toe toe box felt amazing, which I usually have problems with new skates due to a slight bump on the outside of my big toes.

Are you me? I ordered VH's because toe boxes were always an issue with this callus/bone spur on my big toe being wider than my forefoot. The toe box in other skates for my second toe over to the point it's basically 90 degrees at the last joint.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

I also had them make sure to avoid the big bump on the outside of my big toe.

[Doozy8 6]

Are you me? I ordered VH's because toe boxes were always an issue with this callus/bone spur on my big toe being wider than my forefoot. The toe box in other skates for my second toe over to the point it's basically 90 degrees at the last joint.

That's funny Jarret, we had our skates in the factory at the same time being made for pretty much the same reason.

I do have to say, I skated on them again yesterday and they felt even better than the first time, if that's at all possible.

[decoy 164]

Christian Ehrhoff