Most Protective Shoulder Pads

[TheDriver85 1]

I m looking to buy new shoulder pads, as my current ones are 10+ year old Easton EQ50s…and I recently crashed into the boards separating my shoulder.  It’s not bad…grade 1, which is like a sprain, so 4-6 weeks.  But, I’m thinking maybe new shoulder pads once I heal.  
 Naturally, injuries suck…so what are the most protective shoulder pads?  
mom looking at CCM Tacks line, and Bauer Supreme…but IDK, what your thoughts.  
 

also, I might look into getting one of those compression shirts with small pads on the shoulders.   Bonus points for info on those.
 

thx 

[nutters 218]

It terms of protective, the most padding offered will be the top of the line ones. However, the best protection is a proper fitting one. 

In terms of beef, the tacks line or sherwood m90 have a lot going for them. I picked up a pair of Nexus 2Ns on close out and the shoulders are dense, so I would recommend those if you can find em as well.

As for an undershirt: https://www.prohockeylife.com/products/bauer-officials-protective-shirt?variant=44611314436

[xstartxtodayx 343]

I'd try the Tacks line and Supreme, since those are both easily available, but also as mentioned, the SherWood ones look pretty nice if you can try a pair to try on.  I like CCM's CL/RBZ/QuickLite/Jetspeed shoulder pads, I've had a few pairs over the years and they're a nice balance of protection, lightweight, and mobile (plus they fit my body well unlike some others I've tried such as Vapor and STX).  For the most protection you'd want to stick to the top/second from the top models.

[stick9 890]

Protection wise. I think the recent Bauer offerings top CCM's. I had the 2x's for a bit and they were extremely protective, more so than the Jetspeeds that replaced them. The Jetspeeds fit nicer and feel more like traditional hockey shoulder pads. Which is why I switched.

[Westside 232]

3 hours ago, stick9 said:

Protection wise. I think the recent Bauer offerings top CCM's. I had the 2x's for a bit and they were extremely protective, more so than the Jetspeeds that replaced them. The Jetspeeds fit nicer and feel more like traditional hockey shoulder pads. Which is why I switched.

Clearly you haven’t seen the new hyperlite line…

[Jbear 113]

Super Tacks...AS1 or AS-V Pro.  Supreme 1s or 2s Pro.  I use Bauer 1s and I replaced the caps with my old Cooper SB94 caps...I hate big shoulder caps.  I love the light weight and the sternum,  spine, and biceps protection is top notch.  They also play cooler and that is great.   In your situation...the caps will help.  If I wasn't going to mod them...I think the Tacks are amazing!  Too expensive to go cutting pieces off though. 

[TheDriver85 1]

16 hours ago, nutters said:

It terms of protective, the most padding offered will be the top of the line ones. However, the best protection is a proper fitting one. 

In terms of beef, the tacks line or sherwood m90 have a lot going for them. I picked up a pair of Nexus 2Ns on close out and the shoulders are dense, so I would recommend those if you can find em as well.

As for an undershirt: https://www.prohockeylife.com/products/bauer-officials-protective-shirt?variant=44611314436

The 2N is the top of the nexus range, right?  

[nutters 218]

3 hours ago, TheDriver85 said:

The 2N is the top of the nexus range, right?  

Yes it was. It was replaced by the Pro Series, which outside of the gloves, I don't think is available in NA.

[stick9 890]

14 hours ago, Westside said:

Clearly you haven’t seen the new hyperlite line…

Which is why I specifically mentioned the 2x....

Since were nitpicking, look and actual in situ protection are two different things. 

[CaptainCharisma 25]

The Easton Pro10 shoulder pads had some good coverage and protection but obviously tough to find older equipment.  Tacks ASV pro probably your best bet for current equipment.  

[Westside 232]

3 hours ago, stick9 said:

Which is why I specifically mentioned the 2x....

Since were nitpicking, look and actual in situ protection are two different things. 

 

Totally agree. The new hyperlite got rid of a lot of protective elements the previous generation had. When I checked them out in store, they were very flimsy and felt poorly made compared to older models. They look terrible too (like a toilet bowl around your neck), but it's not like you can see them when you're playing so that doesn't really matter. It's a shame because I used to love Bauer protective, but the last few generations of all their gear has seemingly gone down hill.

 

Back to the OP's question, the new Tacks ASV Pro shoulders seem extremely protective in photos/videos, but I don't have any personal experience with them.

[TheDriver85 1]

I just bought the Nexus 2N.  I found a pair for 80 bucks brand new…sideline swap.  
 

Thanks All!!

[nutters 218]

50 minutes ago, TheDriver85 said:

I just bought the Nexus 2N.  I found a pair for 80 bucks brand new…sideline swap.  
 

Thanks All!!

Hope you enjoy them. They seem to emphasize shoulder protection. Hopefully, however, you never need to test how good the protection is

[Gswift 33]

8 hours ago, CaptainCharisma said:

The Easton Pro10 shoulder pads had some good coverage and protection but obviously tough to find older equipment.  Tacks ASV pro probably your best bet for current equipment.  

I love my Pro10 pads, even when they were new it was close enough to the Bauer buyout that they were difficult to find.

[caveman27 208]

On 7/31/2022 at 10:45 AM, TheDriver85 said:

I m looking to buy new shoulder pads, as my current ones are 10+ year old Easton EQ50s…and I recently crashed into the boards separating my shoulder.  It’s not bad…grade 1, which is like a sprain, so 4-6 weeks.  But, I’m thinking maybe new shoulder pads once I heal.  
 Naturally, injuries suck…so what are the most protective shoulder pads?  
mom looking at CCM Tacks line, and Bauer Supreme…but IDK, what your thoughts.  
 

also, I might look into getting one of those compression shirts with small pads on the shoulders.   Bonus points for info on those.
 

thx 

Any of the latest pro-level shoulder pads should be sufficient. 10+ year old pads may have had degraded foams in the shoulder caps, or your body is breaking down and it wouldn't have mattered what kind of shoulder pads you were wearing, you would have experienced the same injury.

[TheDriver85 1]

2 hours ago, caveman27 said:

Any of the latest pro-level shoulder pads should be sufficient. 10+ year old pads may have had degraded foams in the shoulder caps, or your body is breaking down and it wouldn't have mattered what kind of shoulder pads you were wearing, you would have experienced the same injury.

Most likely this was going to happen no matter what pads I was wearing.   However, when I start playing again, More than likely my shoulder will NOT be as strong, so I want the most protection.  

I play D, and the best player on the other team dumped it into my zone as I was skating backward.  Before I pivoted, he was hustling…so I was skating hard.   As I got close to the boards I opened my legs wide and zigzagged so he wouldn’t get around me.   I had planned on slamming on the brakes soon as I slapped the puck around the boards.   But…my left foot caught an edge during my transition to stop…and well I didn’t stop.   Slammed into the boards after I hit the puck, and hit shoulder first.   The funny thing is…the guy that was hustling after me, soon as I turned around…he stopped hustling and was coasting.   Ugh….   So, no one hit me, no one was near me…I do this move all the time…and I just had a bad day, in short.  

I think I’m going to get one of those ref shirts, then wear these new 2N pads I just got.  

[caveman27 208]

1 hour ago, TheDriver85 said:

Most likely this was going to happen no matter what pads I was wearing.   However, when I start playing again, More than likely my shoulder will NOT be as strong, so I want the most protection.  

I play D, and the best player on the other team dumped it into my zone as I was skating backward.  Before I pivoted, he was hustling…so I was skating hard.   As I got close to the boards I opened my legs wide and zigzagged so he wouldn’t get around me.   I had planned on slamming on the brakes soon as I slapped the puck around the boards.   But…my left foot caught an edge during my transition to stop…and well I didn’t stop.   Slammed into the boards after I hit the puck, and hit shoulder first.   The funny thing is…the guy that was hustling after me, soon as I turned around…he stopped hustling and was coasting.   Ugh….   So, no one hit me, no one was near me…I do this move all the time…and I just had a bad day, in short.  

I think I’m going to get one of those ref shirts, then wear these new 2N pads I just got.  

Yeah, I've gotten self-injured on the ice. 

The concept of buying top-of-the-line equipment even if I'm not in a high-level league becomes more important as I am older and more susceptible to injury in a non-checking, intermediate-level league. 😂

[VegasHockey 1280]

15 hours ago, caveman27 said:

Yeah, I've gotten self-injured on the ice. 

The concept of buying top-of-the-line equipment even if I'm not in a high-level league becomes more important as I am older and more susceptible to injury in a non-checking, intermediate-level league. 😂

That's smart. I wish most customers would understand that there are a few items that it's worth it to spend extra money on just to have better protection. 

I personally think top-tier and second-tier items typically have the same protection, you are usually just getting a slightly lighter item with top-tier or it has slightly better materials.

Example: FT4 Pro shoulder pads vs FT4.