Pants: Bauer Mach vs 3S Pro

[Radien55 6]

 

I am thinking about getting new pants and I like the Machs, but I noticed they don't have the belly flap protection and thought that was kind of strange, as most pants have it. I looked at them in the store today and there is nothing behind the closure system, which is very thin itself, so the only protection in this region is the jock and there would perhaps be a gap between it and the shoulder pads.

Does anyone have experience with this, is this an issue?

[A2rhino 84]

Truth be told, I don't know of any belly flap that has truly been worth a damn other than back when Warrior added the extra (sixpack) protection in it a few years back. I personally had my pants modified with the Small Nash pad and its been great. 

Edited December 4 by A2rhino

[swede 55]

It’s totally uneccesary.. it’s just a piece of foam that actually don’t offer much protection anyway. I have the Supreme 2s pants which have a big belly flap, but i find it mostly in the way, and kinda restrict me in my skating, so i push it as far down as i can. 
 

My 12 year old son went from Vapor x900 lite pants which also have a big flap to Tackla Expp55 pants which don’t have any flap at all and also have a much lower cut front than other pants on the market. He is much more mobile in the lower cut tackla pants. And he plays D with most blocked shots on the team. He says, there is tension in the abs when skating, so the padding for the lower abdomen is uneccesary

[218hockey 50]

X900 pants were great.

[Radien55 6]

7 hours ago, swede said:

It’s totally uneccesary.. it’s just a piece of foam that actually don’t offer much protection anyway. I have the Supreme 2s pants which have a big belly flap, but i find it mostly in the way, and kinda restrict me in my skating, so i push it as far down as i can. 
 

My 12 year old son went from Vapor x900 lite pants which also have a big flap to Tackla Expp55 pants which don’t have any flap at all and also have a much lower cut front than other pants on the market. He is much more mobile in the lower cut tackla pants. And he plays D with most blocked shots on the team. He says, there is tension in the abs when skating, so the padding for the lower abdomen is uneccesary

I have almost the same pants, Supreme 3S and the flap isn't very thick, but there is at least something there, even if it is a placebo effect. I never noticed it get in the way though.

Thanks for the explanation! I figured it had to be something like that, because they would not remove it, if it was important. The pants have tons of protection every else, way beyond what the 3S offers. So it wouldn't make sense to skimp there. I will get a pair and see how it goes.

[xstartxtodayx 347]

I just tried an ACP Pro girdle last night and noticed it didn't have any padding there either, my Super Tacks one has a little something, but like swede said, I don't think that little padding there is doing much anyways.  I didn't notice it missing while playing last night.

[swede 55]

4 hours ago, Radien55 said:

I have almost the same pants, Supreme 3S and the flap isn't very thick, but there is at least something there, even if it is a placebo effect. I never noticed it get in the way though.

Thanks for the explanation! I figured it had to be something like that, because they would not remove it, if it was important. The pants have tons of protection every else, way beyond what the 3S offers. So it wouldn't make sense to skimp there. I will get a pair and see how it goes.

It’s mostly just there for some cushion behind the belt buckle, so you’ll be fine.

David Tomášek of the Edmonton oilers uses the Tackla Breezer 3D prozone girdle. https://tackla.eu/tuote/tackla-breezer-3d-prozone-icehockey-girdle-sr/
 

it has crazy amounts of padding everywhere except for the lower abdomen which is not padded at all.

[A2rhino 84]

Here is a photo of what I had added. You can fold it down and it will protect the lower area as you were wanting of fold it up to protect that area between your shoulder pads and pants.

 

[Davideo 101]

Based on the pictures you show, it also seem to be comparing different areas. Both have similar sized, small foam flaps above the belt. I think it's mostly just the cut of the padding above the waist that makes it appear different.

 

[Larry54 245]

To add to what Davideo posted above, I think the two areas you should be comparing are what I circled in yellow on the modified picture below.

[Sniper9 562]

If you're gonna be spending money on machs or any top end retail pants for that matter and are looking for good protection, you should strongly consider getting pro stock pants like the bauer nexus or ccm hp45. They will be generally cheaper than retail and way better quality and protection. 

If you have to get retail, I would steer away form Bauer. Their retail protective is really lacking, even their top end models. 

Edited December 12 by Sniper9

[iceman8310 110]

The Mach and the 3s pro are two different fitting pants 

[Radien55 6]

On 12/10/2025 at 6:11 PM, Davideo said:

Based on the pictures you show, it also seem to be comparing different areas. Both have similar sized, small foam flaps above the belt. I think it's mostly just the cut of the padding above the waist that makes it appear different.

 

 

On 12/10/2025 at 11:26 PM, Larry54 said:

To add to what Davideo posted above, I think the two areas you should be comparing are what I circled in yellow on the modified picture below.

I know what you mean, but there is no padding anywhere in that region, it is just the closure system, which is very thin. I bought the pants, I'll try to get a picture of it.

There is less protection in that area. However, I do not think it will cause any big gaps. Last game (I paid more attention than I ever have to that region and) I noticed that the flap of the 3S pants overlap quite a bit with the extension pad (bottom) of my Ultrasonic shoulder pads, when you are in a skating position.

Overall, the pants are very nice and I am happy with them.

Edited Thursday at 01:13 PM by Radien55

[Radien55 6]

On 12/12/2025 at 5:02 AM, Sniper9 said:

If you're gonna be spending money on machs or any top end retail pants for that matter and are looking for good protection, you should strongly consider getting pro stock pants like the bauer nexus or ccm hp45. They will be generally cheaper than retail and way better quality and protection. 

If you have to get retail, I would steer away form Bauer. Their retail protective is really lacking, even their top end models. 

How do you get a hold of pro stock pants exactly?

I've only looked a little bit on sidelineswap and it was mostly pants that were quite worn, from the less popular teams.

[Radien55 6]

On 12/13/2025 at 7:49 PM, iceman8310 said:

The Mach and the 3s pro are two different fitting pants 

Yes, they are a bit more streamlined, countered to the body without being too tight. Both the 3S and Mach fit me very well.

I also tried the XF Pro and Jetspeed Pro, but they were smaller in the same size and going up in size made them too long. Quality pants though.

[Davideo 101]

3 hours ago, Radien55 said:

How do you get a hold of pro stock pants exactly?

I've only looked a little bit on sidelineswap and it was mostly pants that were quite worn, from the less popular teams.

There are various places online that you can get new pro stock pants, but I've only ever bought used ones on eBay or Sideline Swap. I've found it better to identify the model of pants you want, for example "CCM HP45", and search for that. If you only search for pro stock, you often are missing a good number of options. With both Sideline Swap and eBay you can set up alerts to get notified of new items that get listed that match what you are looking for. With a bit of patience, I've had good success getting specific model and color used pants still in good shape for under $100. You can pay $50-$100 more, but I'd rather save the money. And by "save the money" I mean fund other hockey equipment purchases.

That being said, if you have your heart set on an exact color/version that is uncommon it can take a lot of patience and a lot more money depending on what it is (like specific outdoor game or specialty colorways).

[Radien55 6]

20 hours ago, Davideo said:

There are various places online that you can get new pro stock pants, but I've only ever bought used ones on eBay or Sideline Swap. I've found it better to identify the model of pants you want, for example "CCM HP45", and search for that. If you only search for pro stock, you often are missing a good number of options. With both Sideline Swap and eBay you can set up alerts to get notified of new items that get listed that match what you are looking for. With a bit of patience, I've had good success getting specific model and color used pants still in good shape for under $100. You can pay $50-$100 more, but I'd rather save the money. And by "save the money" I mean fund other hockey equipment purchases.

That being said, if you have your heart set on an exact color/version that is uncommon it can take a lot of patience and a lot more money depending on what it is (like specific outdoor game or specialty colorways).

Now when I searched there were more options. Interestingly enough, both Bauer Nexus and CCM HP45 pro stock have the belly flap. These pants all look very solid.