Vaughn V6 2200 Chest - Factory Mad Beef Up

[cwarnar]

Little teaser pic... Review to be posted in the next few days...

[cwarnar]

BACKGROUND

Chest protectors are one piece of gear that always has frustrated me, only because I really never knew about the specifics of blocking style C/A’s vs more mobile units.

It wasn’t until I moved from an Eagle Fusion into a Vaughn V2… thus began my love/hate relationship with Vaughn chesties.  Broken in nearly out of the box or off the shelf, but quickly the arm areas break down and you start feeling everything.

I rode the V2 for nearly 5 years… then it was a twisted tale of McKenney (very Vaughn like, but at a lower price point) and Boddam (to damn bulky).

I briefly flirted with going custom – Passau or Brown, but again found my way back into a Vaughn Unit.

MOD TIME

I picked up my V6 2200 Pro on GGSU for the low price of $130 CAD shipped to my door.  The second I put it on I again feel in love with a Vaughn Chestie.

But it was short lived as after 1 final end of season skate I literally felt everything that was shot at me and ended the skate with 2 significant stingers that left good bruising.  After reading TGN article with Dennis at Factory Modification, I dropped him a Facebook message about doing a beef up. 

He came back with: add suspended retainers, Belly pad, shim forearm and biceps.

I sent the unit off to Dennis.  Within hours of it arriving I got a phone call from Dennis advising that the mesh portions of the unit were falling apart and the lower arms were basically toast.  He offered to repair holes in mesh and fabricate new arm floaters with removable air pads.

It was more than I was anticipating but still lower than going with one of my custom options.

Within 4 days Dennis had completed his work and shipped it back to me.

ON ICE

I was very impressed that Dennis’ mods didn’t add any noticeable weight to the unit.  In the first handful of skates I noticed that the belly pad added s significant amount of protection.  I was able to feel shots but with no pain or stringers, and still deadened the puck on impact. 

The arms, which historically have been pathetic on Vaughn units, offered significant upgrades in protection.  And I’m not even sure where Dennis added protection with his shims but I have yet to have a stinger since.

So far the only downside are the new arm floaters.  I find them to a bit large that it can, at times, interfere with my blocker.  That being said protection isn’t an issue again.

CONCLUSION

While the modifications I had Dennis do were initially higher priced that I would have liked, overall I couldn’t be happier with the unit.  Overall, I still was able to get a beefier Vaughn unit without the $700-800 price tag.

I would highly recommend Dennis’ work in a heartbeat.  He went above and beyond to keep me informed of the progress on the unit and the turn around time was super quick.

I understand he’s still in the development phase of launching his own Chest Unit… but I would imagine if/when he gets it to market, it won’t disappoint.

[TheGoalNet]

Thanks for sharing. Dennis always teases of making a C&A it's interesting to see his projects. 

I have been doing the Mrazek straps for like 15 years? I am shocked they are not more common at retail. They are coming the V8E though. 

[cwarnar]

On 11/14/2017 at 8:48 PM, TheGoalNet said:

Thanks for sharing. Dennis always teases of making a C&A it's interesting to see his projects. 

I have been doing the Mrazek straps for like 15 years? I am shocked they are not more common at retail. They are coming the V8E though. 

I know. I’ve always ran my suspenders under the floaters but there never seems to be an easy path for them tho. 

These work great

[cwarnar]

Anyone interested in buying or trading for this bad boy?  I'm looking to go in a different direction with my C/A.

Would consider: Brians, Passau or Bauer 1S/1X

[zork]

Pm sent.