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VegasHockey

Smarthockey vulcanized rubber blade tape?

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Has anyone tried this? PenaltyBox was pushing this on sale and supposedly sold 1200 rolls in 12 hours according to their IG!?! 

https://www.smarthockey.com/products/blade-tape

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Gretzky said he’d like to see all players go back to wood sticks instead of using composite sticks so players would have a better feel and control for the puck. (Read here)  Everyone knows that isn’t going to happen because the advantages composite shafts have over wood shafts in terms of puck velocity.  But what if you could have both? Smarthockey Blade Tape is first major innovation for hockey tape ever augments composite shaft technology with the “feel” of a wood shaft.  The patent pending rubber tape has over 40,000 “fingers” to grab the knurling around the edge of an ice hockey puck giving you unbelievable “feel” when receive a pass, stickhandle and shoot without giving up any velocity.  In fact, when you shoot, the technology makes it feel like you can pick the puck up and basically “throw” it with unbelievable accuracy (almost like throwing a ball with a lacrosse stick). Additionally, the tape makes it feel like you have “pillows on your hands” because the puck feels so soft.  Practice with it for a while and it’s like you have you have the puck tied to a string.  It basically sticks to your blade for toe drags, puck extension and tight turns.   Unlike conventional cloth tape or electrical tape, Smarthockey Blade Tape is hydrophobic which means it won’t become waterlogged and peel off your blade. Unlike wax, it doesn’t freeze or condense causing it to lose its grip after a few minutes on the ice. And if you start to get ice build up, simply tap your stick on the ice and watch it disappear. Last but not least, Smarthockey commissioned a study by one of the leading optometry schools in the US to understand what colors are hardest to process by the human eye.  What we learned was that humans have fewer cones and rods in their eyes to process neon yellow, electric blue and powder grey (Gretzky may not have known it,  but he actually had an advantage by putting powder on his black tape).  When those colors are moved quickly in front of the human eye it can’t process these colors which causes a blurring effect. Since stick shaft technology has increased the speed at which a puck comes off the blade, goalies are now forced to react to where the puck is going based on where the blade is pointing as opposed to watching the puck (Read here).  However, if the color of the  tape on the blade of the stick blurs as a player is shooting, it effectively puts the goalie at a huge disadvantage. While Smarthockey Blade Tape might seem pretty ordinary, this might be the biggest innovation in hockey since the curved stick or plastic skate blade.  This is a game changer!  

 

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I’d like to try it. Perhaps it could also serve as a good alternative to traditional cloth tape for top hand grip, though I know there are already other alternatives for that use.

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Pucks are made from vulcanized rubber.  When warm, pucks are soft and two pucks would create a lot of friction when rubbed together.  But cold pucks are hard and two slide across each other easily.  Why would this tape be any different?  At room temperature, I bet it works great.  But as it cools it's going to become harder and less elastic.  That certainly would affect things like durability and performance.  Speaking of durability, my tape gets torn up whether from rubbing on the ice or boards, or cut from skates, other sticks, and pucks.  What is the durability of this stuff?  At $15 for a roll that looks like it would barely cover my typical tape job, it better last as long as however many uses I get from a regular roll.  Sounds great, but I'm highly skeptical of their claims especially given the absolute lack of information or usage pictures other than the marketing speak on their website.

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59 minutes ago, psulion22 said:

Pucks are made from vulcanized rubber.  When warm, pucks are soft and two pucks would create a lot of friction when rubbed together.  But cold pucks are hard and two slide across each other easily.  Why would this tape be any different?  At room temperature, I bet it works great.  But as it cools it's going to become harder and less elastic.  That certainly would affect things like durability and performance.  Speaking of durability, my tape gets torn up whether from rubbing on the ice or boards, or cut from skates, other sticks, and pucks.  What is the durability of this stuff?  At $15 for a roll that looks like it would barely cover my typical tape job, it better last as long as however many uses I get from a regular roll.  Sounds great, but I'm highly skeptical of their claims especially given the absolute lack of information or usage pictures other than the marketing speak on their website.

I was also curious about durability, which you would hope would be decent, but never know.  Didn't think of the temp effect though, that would definitely be the proof in the pudding, although stuff like bladetape seems to manage the cold pretty well and stay sticky.

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12 minutes ago, krisdrum said:

I was also curious about durability, which you would hope would be decent, but never know.  Didn't think of the temp effect though, that would definitely be the proof in the pudding, although stuff like bladetape seems to manage the cold pretty well and stay sticky.

 

1 hour ago, psulion22 said:

Pucks are made from vulcanized rubber.  When warm, pucks are soft and two pucks would create a lot of friction when rubbed together.  But cold pucks are hard and two slide across each other easily.  Why would this tape be any different?  At room temperature, I bet it works great.  But as it cools it's going to become harder and less elastic.  That certainly would affect things like durability and performance.  Speaking of durability, my tape gets torn up whether from rubbing on the ice or boards, or cut from skates, other sticks, and pucks.  What is the durability of this stuff?  At $15 for a roll that looks like it would barely cover my typical tape job, it better last as long as however many uses I get from a regular roll.  Sounds great, but I'm highly skeptical of their claims especially given the absolute lack of information or usage pictures other than the marketing speak on their website.

I think for the cost you get 3 rolls thats what I saw on other websites selling it. I could be wrong though. 

I myself an curious about the durability, grip in the cold, and weight. I imagine this stuff has got to be super heavy. 

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8 hours ago, SkateWorksPNW said:

Last but not least, Smarthockey commissioned a study by one of the leading optometry schools in the US to understand what colors are hardest to process by the human eye.  What we learned was that humans have fewer cones and rods in their eyes to process neon yellow, electric blue and powder grey (Gretzky may not have known it,  but he actually had an advantage by putting powder on his black tape).  When those colors are moved quickly in front of the human eye it can’t process these colors which causes a blurring effect. Since stick shaft technology has increased the speed at which a puck comes off the blade, goalies are now forced to react to where the puck is going based on where the blade is pointing as opposed to watching the puck (Read here).  However, if the color of the tape on the blade of the stick blurs as a player is shooting, it effectively puts the goalie at a huge disadvantage. While Smarthockey Blade Tape might seem pretty ordinary, this might be the biggest innovation in hockey since the curved stick or plastic skate blade.  This is a game changer!  

 

I dont understand them mentioning this either. The tape is black, not grey. 

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Howdy,

"Vulcanized rubber" covers a heck of a lot of ground... For instance, all tires are vulcanized, but some remain really soft in winter weather and some get so hard they will literally crack instead of flex (racing tires).

This product looks interesting, but I'm not sure its "$15 to try something I'm not sure I want/need" interesting.

Mark

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Did they really need to commission a study about how the eye sees color?  That info is out there.  I just tend to think that the more long-winded an explanation is, the more I start to question the value prop.

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It does induce skepticism.  Which is a bit of a shame, as I like some of their other products.  I have one of their 6oz training pucks and one of the balls and have found them to be solid.  At least on par with green biscuits for performance on various surfaces. 

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15 hours ago, krisdrum said:

It does induce skepticism.  Which is a bit of a shame, as I like some of their other products.  I have one of their 6oz training pucks and one of the balls and have found them to be solid.  At least on par with green biscuits for performance on various surfaces. 

Yeah. Their training stuff is solid. I'm not a fan of their wax though but I guess with this amazing new tape you don't need wax. Right!? LOL

I'm gonna order some to test. I am intrigued to know if this is BS or legit. 

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The biggest 'Infomercial' selling point that makes my ears perk up is when I hear 'makes toe drags a breeze!' You see it all the time with blade patterns and now apparently there is tape too!

You know what makes you better at toe drags, or any other move or stickhandling in general, practice. But sure drop $15 on a few rolls of tape.

I'm waiting for the Bobby Orr Blade tape where you can glue wood onto your composite blades and have 1 strip of tape, ideal for those end to end rushes

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I ordered some to test. I thought I saw Drew on the Hockey Deals and Discounts group say that it was 3 rolls, but each roll is single use. If that's true, it better be very durable. With how often my blade gets dinged up, I'm not paying $15 per TJ. Spending $10 on Lizard Skins for grip on the top of the stick already feels excessive (but I do it anyway because I love how it feels).

4 hours ago, SkateWorksPNW said:

I guess with this amazing new tape you don't need wax. Right!?

This is what I'm most interested to find out: how well being hydrophobic works.

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58 minutes ago, johns25 said:

This is what I'm most interested to find out: how well being hydrophobic works.

If you are really into hydrophobic-ness, then just get some Neverwet and spray it on your tapejob, I do it some times when I remember. Much cheaper and lighter.

https://www.neverwet.com/

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3 hours ago, johns25 said:

I ordered some to test. I thought I saw Drew on the Hockey Deals and Discounts group say that it was 3 rolls, but each roll is single use. If that's true, it better be very durable. With how often my blade gets dinged up, I'm not paying $15 per TJ.

If it performs like or is similar to blade tape, then IMHO, its a decent deal for $5 per tape job. Blade tape lasts forever for me. And if this is more durable and provides similar grip, this is will definitely be something I'll use.

Can't wait to hear everyone's opinions.

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Eh.  This looks gimmicky.  Seems like we're in a period of "gimmicks" for hockey gear right now. (i.e. Bauer hole in the blade ADV).  I am excited though about the blade tape that Chara uses SKPNW posted about previously.  That's something I would try.  Any update on those?  Anyone use them?  Available to general public?

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Ya I'm a sucker and I coughed up $15 to check this out. Will let yall know how well, or not-well, it works. BTW I've always been a fan of Bladetape and my kid doesn't mind it either but his coach wants everyone to use tape instead...

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4 hours ago, shoot_the_goalie said:

Eh.  This looks gimmicky.  Seems like we're in a period of "gimmicks" for hockey gear right now. (i.e. Bauer hole in the blade ADV).  I am excited though about the blade tape that Chara uses SKPNW posted about previously.  That's something I would try.  Any update on those?  Anyone use them?  Available to general public?

I have been eagerly waiting for that stuff. If anyone can get their hands on it let me know 🙂 

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25 minutes ago, SkateWorksPNW said:

I have been eagerly waiting for that stuff. If anyone can get their hands on it let me know 🙂 

So weird that Rezztek doesn't like money and drags their feet on getting their products to people outside of the pros'

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7 minutes ago, Coldclay said:

So weird that Rezztek doesn't like money and drags their feet on getting their products to people outside of the pros'

Not sure I agree here. With these smaller companies first impression is often everything, perhaps they are just waiting to make sure the product is solid before releasing it to the masses 

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