When Did You Get Bored With Acquiring New Hockey Gear?

[jmiro 55]

I got my kid pretty Set.  Purchased extra stuff for when he grows out of it.  He is very particular on fit, so now that i got that down were good. As for me.  Now that I modded my shins to fit and sending my gloves for repairs.  Still can't find a pair of elbows I like.  I just ordered a pair of Stx.  I think the only thing ill be in the market for is skates.  Not over exited about the ones I have now.  So when they are shot maybe 2 pair.  One to convert to inlines and one for ice.  But yea kinda over it as I don't see a ton of options or innovations I dig compared to what I have.

[CigarScott 132]

I'm in a different situation than most. Outside of 15" gloves, Tackla pants, and XL CCM elbow pads, everything I use has to be pro stock or custom. Nobody currently makes retail sticks, skates, shins (I can use Bauer S190 if I'm desperate), shoulder pads, or helmets so I'm constantly on the lookout for gear that I know will fit me as well as learning about stuff that may fit me that I had no idea existed. I have countless alerts set up on Sideline Swap and Ebay for these very reasons. I keep backup sets of everything, except skates because of me knowing that a lot of this stuff is hard to find and I can't walk into a LHS or go on one of the online retailer sites and get replacements for a lot of what I use, and me working in IT for a living, I'm big on redundancy. 🙂 But I try to not be a gear whore and I don't need 20 different gloves, sticks, or helmets.

[shoot_the_goalie 281]

I now only get excited for gear by reading through the 188 pages (and counting) of the VH/True skate thread.

Edited February 5, 2019 by shoot_the_goalie

[Cavs019 708]

59 minutes ago, shoot_the_goalie said:

I now only get excited for gear by reading through the 182 pages (and counting) of the VH/True skate thread.

I guess that thread is pretty polarizing - reading it makes me want to quit hockey/MSH altogether. 🤣

Edited February 4, 2019 by Cavs019

[JunkyardAthletic 505]

20 hours ago, Nicholas G said:

I haven't used soakers in years. lol

Hi Dave.  Didn't realize you changed your name on here.

10 hours ago, clarkiestooth said:

 

Aren't those things for figure skates?

There must be 3500+ pro, college, and junior players that are using figure skates to play hockey then...

[Davideo 99]

I find significant improvements in hockey equipment to be quite infrequent. I stopped playing competitively a dozen years ago and my gear from then was not much worse than what you can get now. Sticks rapidly improved in function and durability the first handful of years when one pieces came out, but the last half a dozen of years there hasn't been much improvement. I've heard helmets have improved, but for no check, I don't really care about that. Stuff is lighter, but often trivially so. Seems most yearly updates are a color change and "upgrade" from SUPER ProTec Foam to ELITE ProTec Foam!

So in summary, I don't see much reason to upgrade when you get your gear dialed in. And even playing pretty regularly most stuff should last a few years.

I do get excited by certain older gear in good shape. Old Eagle gloves, CCM HT2 helmet that must be paired with a Jofa 381 cage (currently looking for a black one, much harder to find than white), NOS righty senior replacement stick blades in an acceptable curve (seems like they are as rare as hen's teeth these days), game worn or practice jerseys from the '90's, etc.

[tvuollo 23]

Right now I'm only looking for vintage stuff. Koho, Jofa, Tackla ... everything I love about 90s hockey gear.

[shoot_the_goalie 281]

1 hour ago, tvuollo said:

Right now I'm only looking for vintage stuff. Koho, Jofa, Tackla ... everything I love about 90s hockey gear.

I think vintage items all still look super cool, and I love reminiscing about those items...but I'm quickly reminded on how archaic they are when I try them on again...lol.  

[DarkStar50 679]

You know your gear is old when your pants and shoulder pads are branded NikeBauer as mine are. No need to get anything new there. The old Reebok 7K elbows are fine and Nexus 600 shins are good enough. I did get new FT1 skates a year ago after the Supreme NXG died after 5 years. I used to rotate my gloves but now wear the same pair of 2015 CCM 4 rolls every game. As long as the palms are good, why bother switching.

As a buyer for the shop, I think that innovation in gear upgrades peaked quite a while ago. So many items were just reskinned after every 2 year product life cycle, that it was just blah. I know the guys on the inside at Bauer and CCM will want to crosscheck me for that comment but I can speak softly and carry a big stick. I do believe that one thing to consider in terms of skate tech/improvements is that as Bauer was blowing up financially and at management levels, a lot of their key leaders in R D & D and skate design were let go. This downsizing in staff and financial resources had to have some impact. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't worry about it. However, I don't see the innovation that was happening 10-12 years ago in skate design by the leader in the category.      

[CigarScott 132]

4 hours ago, DarkStar50 said:

I do believe that one thing to consider in terms of skate tech/improvements is that as Bauer was blowing up financially and at management levels, a lot of their key leaders in R D & D and skate design were let go. This downsizing in staff and financial resources had to have some impact. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't worry about it. However, I don't see the innovation that was happening 10-12 years ago in skate design by the leader in the category.      

I've heard the same thing from the guy that owns my regional LHS regarding Bauer being in bad shape and planning on shaving down their offerings even more. If this is true that Bauer cut down their R&D departments, that could be a boon if CCM cherry picks them or if Warrior ever decides to get into the skate biz.

[BenBreeg 493]

5 hours ago, shoot_the_goalie said:

I think vintage items all still look super cool, and I love reminiscing about those items...but I'm quickly reminded on how archaic they are when I try them on again...lol.  

The old stuff is great design-wise.  Nexus gloves and other 4 roll styles havent chamged a whole lot from the old Cooper BDP Pro style.

[CigarScott 132]

1 hour ago, BenBreeg said:

The old stuff is great design-wise.  Nexus gloves and other 4 roll styles havent chamged a whole lot from the old Cooper BDP Pro style.

I agree, you can only improve some things so much. I'm rocking Tackla Air 9000 pants which look like at 20-30 year old design I can't see myself using anything else.

[flip12 715]

2 minutes ago, CigarScott said:

I agree, you can only improve some things so much. I'm rocking Tackla Air 9000 pants which look like at 20-30 year old design I can't see myself using anything else.

Tackla pants also stack up competitively weight wise, from a pretty lengthy comparison I saw on a pro stock focused forum. I love their fit. I can't see myself wearing anything but Tackla cut pants, whether they're actually tacklas or Reebok 7000's or CCM 70's.

Jofa also nailed it on the head with their shins and elbows from almost 30 years ago. Early 90's shin pads are still the go to for pro stock today, the main question being, "the style with or without hyper-X plastic below the knee cap?"

[CigarScott 132]

1 minute ago, flip12 said:

Tackla pants also stack up competitively weight wise, from a pretty lengthy comparison I saw on a pro stock focused forum. I love their fit. I can't see myself wearing anything but Tackla cut pants, whether they're actually tacklas or Reebok 7000's or CCM 70's.

Jofa also nailed it on the head with their shins and elbows from almost 30 years ago. Early 90's shin pads are still the go to for pro stock today, the main question being, "the style with or without hyper-X plastic below the knee cap?"

All of my protective is either Jofa or Reebok or CCM derivatives. My shins are Reebok 20K which are about the only shins that I found that my knees fit comfortable in them. My Jofa/Reebok shoulders are one of the two types of XXL shoulder pads that I've found and they're built like a tank. My Jofa ASD7000 elbows look ancient but are built like a tank, as well. I also have a pair of CCM Tacks 7092 and other than some improved materials, look and feel like the Jofa and Jofa/Reebok elbow pads that everyone covets.

[chippa13 1844]

When it got to be too much of a pain in the ass to find sticks with my preferred pattern.

[BenBreeg 493]

1 hour ago, CigarScott said:

I agree, you can only improve some things so much. I'm rocking Tackla Air 9000 pants which look like at 20-30 year old design I can't see myself using anything else.

I actually just found my 9000s when i was cleaning out a closet yesterday.  When I bought them they were the only thing i could find in a tall.  Probably going to switch from my Tackla girdle back to pants.

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

On 2/3/2019 at 4:41 PM, JunkyardAthletic said:

New soakers ALWAYS make you happy!  😁

And mats, and toiletry bags, and helmets bags....  but I  digress.. that's really swag.

On 2/3/2019 at 8:39 PM, Nicholas G said:

I haven't used soakers in years. lol

yawn

Edited February 5, 2019 by dkmiller3356

[shoot_the_goalie 281]

Design wise the old stuff is great and classics really never die.  But I am very happy in terms of the advancement in materials.  I don’t miss the soaking heavy wet feeling of my old gear nor the idea of breaking in leather gloves.

[Monty22 833]

I wouldn't say I'm bored with it, but I don't get excited unless there is some true innovation. Getting VH skates and solving my fit issues that went back over a decade was exciting. Stuff like Flare steel , the Bauer/True/CCM quick release holders are intriguing to me.  The True X-Core stick blade were a cool innovation that I was leery of but came around after trying it out at Summer Jam. At this point in my life it's hard for me to get excited about new release retail gear. I can't remember the last time I was in a big box shop. 

[OzziesDad 89]

I'd say I still get as excited as I ever have when I get a great deal on a piece of good equipment. 

It's the chase/experience of getting something I wanted, and I can use, at a heavily discounted price, as opposed to getting all that excited over new product lines, and product reveals. 

It's no secret, we are generally at a state of vastly diminishing returns when new product lines are released. 

A perfect example, when the Super Tacks skates came out, I picked up the Tacks(2014) on clearance for 400.00. I really liked the skate a lot. 2 days ago, I picked up another pair of brand new Tacks skates for 200.00.

I got 2 pairs for well below the price of the initial msrp of 1 pair. That to me never gets boring. 

[Sniper9 530]

12 hours ago, Monty22 said:

I wouldn't say I'm bored with it, but I don't get excited unless there is some true innovation. Getting VH skates and solving my fit issues that went back over a decade was exciting. Stuff like Flare steel , the Bauer/True/CCM quick release holders are intriguing to me.  The True X-Core stick blade were a cool innovation that I was leery of but came around after trying it out at Summer Jam. At this point in my life it's hard for me to get excited about new release retail gear. I can't remember the last time I was in a big box shop. 

True quick release holders?

[Monty22 833]

2 hours ago, Sniper9 said:

True quick release holders?

Sorry, meant relatively faster for them..

[icewalker_bg 126]

When everything started fitting perfectly. 

[caveman27 208]

On 2/2/2019 at 5:01 PM, dkmiller3356 said:

I've been playing for 17 years now... I started late in life.  One of the things I loved about the game was the cool gear.  I've bought tons of shit over the years and I know many of you gear whores have done the same.  But now I find myself uninspired...  bored perhaps.... or am I finally just satisfied with that I have? 

Have any of you also gotten stagnant on the gear hunt?  Is it the lack of truly new offerings?  

Thoughts?

Gear is just what's needed to play the game.

But, if you have hit a true dead-end in player gear whoring... become a goaltender. That opens up an entirely new world of goalie gear whoring possibilities.

Edited April 17, 2019 by caveman27

[IPv6Freely 2092]

51 minutes ago, caveman27 said:

Gear is just what's needed to play the game.

But, if you have hit a true dead-end in player gear whoring... become a goaltender. That opens up an entirely new world of goalie gear whoring possibilities.

Sort of. The problem there is that each piece now costs a LOT to replace so unless you have unlimited funds you can't just try new stuff for the heck of it. Spending $600 for a mask and another $500 for a chesty means you're unlikely to buy either of those items again any time soon. 

Then there's the problem I've run into where I don't think I wear a single thing that you can buy off the shelf in a store - so I don't bother even going to the goalie store anymore. For example:

Mask - Retail Bauer, but custom paint
Chesty - Custom Passau
Glove/Blocker - Custom Passau
Leg Pads - Custom Passau
Knee pads - Stock Passau
Skates - Custom VH
Collar - Custom Maltese
Pants - Pro Stock CCM
Jock - Custom Monster Hockey
Socks - Pro Stock Reebok

I think the only thing I buy retail is baselayer (Bauer 37.5) and skate socks (Swiftwick Aspire Four).