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Ritual G4 Set and Chest


thebigm

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On 4/22/2018 at 10:23 AM, Zypherz said:

Any insight on how you have your G4 Chest setup with your pants? Do you have Warrior Pants as well? I'm having a hard time trying to find a good set up for using the G4 Chest tucked into my Warrior Ritual pants. The chest seems to keep popping out on the sides and front. I currently have suspenders on the pants but its not doing a good enough job for keeping the Chest inside the pants.

I switched back to wearing the G4 chesty untucked... unlike the G1 which I did tuck. I found that I needed to keep the velcro extensions installed for this. As you can see below I had the front one permanently stitched in place to help keep the inside corners from starting to bend or have the velcro start catching on things. You can sort of tell by the picture where the Warrior pants slot into the lower gaps in the chesty body. Also, completed the mod to the rear strapping.

Chesty.jpg

Stitching.jpg

Strap.jpg

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Also, decided to add some velcro to my toe bridge and get rid of the extra lacing on top of my foot...

Summer hockey fires-up in a couple of weeks so likely be able to get some better information together about the on ice pad performance, etc.

Velcro.jpg

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  • 5 weeks later...

Back on the ice and getting the G4's dialled in. I had about 4 or 5 previous ice times back in April + another 3 hrs or so during goalie night in May. First week of summer... 4 games in 5 nights... so all in all around 10 games so far.

AirSlide: The pads slide great and perform consistently throughout the duration of the game. The biggest difference I have found in the AirSlide knee blocks are improved shuffling ability over my previous G1/G2 sets. They have a very positive grip with the ice, but still offer great sliding ability. If there is a gain in sliding "speed" over previous models... it is slight, but the consistency is there.

RVH Outer Roll: Is a nice feature... the taper gives a good look to the outer roll and is functional. I've never had too many goals sneak in between my pad and the post, but a tighter seal is never a bad thing.

HyperComp: Has definitely added stiffness to the thigh rise area. Rebounds are popping out a few inches farther then with my G2's, but I'm sure with some use they will be a little less lively. The addition of this material has also helped the Profile Lock feature.

Profile Lock: Much improved over the G2 model... (which in my case really didn't do much at all.) Put a good, aggressive bend right where you want it, attach the profile lock tab, leave upside down against a wall, massage your bend every couple hours and ensure the lock tab is maintaining tightness... 1-2 days and you're good to go. The HyperComp in the thigh rise seems to help hold a curve very well once formed.

Active Response Straps: I wear the ARS boot strap on the maximum setting under the rear of my skate (Traditional). This allows my skate to get to the ice with minimum pull on the pad, but is tight enough to keep the pad against my boot when upright. Up front I utilize a sliding toe bridge. 

Post Wedge: The thinned design is great. pushes down out of the way in the RVH, and curves a little where you sit into it. Still offers a visual deterrent to shooters when standing against the post.

Sling Wrap: First appeared on the G3 and is a welcome improvement over the previous elastic bands used on my G2's. Having the nylon strap to ensure a consistent maximum stopping point is key.

360*ActiveDrop: This feature has forced the first major change in my pad strapping since I switched to the Warrior line back in 2012-2013. That was the year I went from a pair of Vaughn V2's with a very traditional strapping set-up, to a full blown loose fitting completely open knee/thigh set-up on my G1's.

The G4's 360*ActiveDrop feature works as advertised since the cut of the upper calf wrap has been openly tapered, and the thickness of both the post wedge and calf wrap itself reduced. Unfortunately, for me... it works too well. On my old G2's it was the outside of the calf wrap that supported the pad on my leg when upright and set. This position was critical... it kept everything about my movements responsive, unobstructed and confident. The loose fit meant there was never any questions about proper pad rotation. So why mess with what works... right..? Well, as I'll try to demonstrate with the photo's below, the 360*AD has added so much drop in the upright position that I felt uncomfortably "knock-knee'd" when attaching the Sling Wrap strap to the calf wrap. The inside corners of the thigh rise would intermittently interfere with each other just enough when getting into set position and skating upright to cause a real issue. I even got my pads caught up together on a contorted play in tight while in the butterfly... Keeping in mind they stiffened this area with HyperComp... It was playable, but these performance issues could not be tolerated. Because of this, I feel it is almost mandatory to wear the Sling Wrap across the back of the knee and use it to moderate the amount of active drop experienced. Since making this change everything has performed exactly the way I had hoped moving on to a new set-up. The G4 knee flap is very flexible, so I don't really notice the strapping against my knee in RVH, etc., but it keeps your thigh rises from knocking around, sets a positive stop on the knee block when in butterfly, helps with responsiveness, and hasn't had any effect on my pad rotation. 

Now that I'm confidently strapped-up, I can pay greater attention to just how well the AirSlide performs with continued use... I will update further as I continue to get more ice time.

ActiveDrop.png

Straps.png

G2 Front.jpg

G2 Rear.jpg

G4 Front.jpg

G4 Rear.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

So around 15 games now in the G4's and the first quality issue has developed... the stitching on the lower edge of the binding for the outer knee block flap... on both sides... has almost completely worn away. Everything is still pretty tight, so I'm not sure if they have glued the backside of the binding... or if this will start to lift and require the stitching to be repaired sooner than later. We'll see how it goes for now...

Pad - Left.jpg

Pad - Right.jpg

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AirSlide Update: Despite the small issue above, the AirSlide has performed really well. Had a game a couple days back where the ice started out good, but got really snow covered by the 3rd... until I actually thought about how bad the ice was getting while clearing my crease... I realized that I hadn't even noticed any difference in performance as far as effort required to get around. So looks like there may be something to this... 

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On 7/14/2018 at 10:58 AM, CG35 said:

The G4's 360*ActiveDrop feature works as advertised since the cut of the upper calf wrap has been openly tapered, and the thickness of both the post wedge and calf wrap itself reduced. Unfortunately, for me... it works too well. On my old G2's it was the outside of the calf wrap that supported the pad on my leg when upright and set. This position was critical... it kept everything about my movements responsive, unobstructed and confident. The loose fit meant there was never any questions about proper pad rotation. So why mess with what works... right..? Well, as I'll try to demonstrate with the photo's below, the 360*AD has added so much drop in the upright position that I felt uncomfortably "knock-knee'd" when attaching the Sling Wrap strap to the calf wrap. The inside corners of the thigh rise would intermittently interfere with each other just enough when getting into set position and skating upright to cause a real issue. I even got my pads caught up together on a contorted play in tight while in the butterfly... Keeping in mind they stiffened this area with HyperComp... It was playable, but these performance issues could not be tolerated. Because of this, I feel it is almost mandatory to wear the Sling Wrap across the back of the knee and use it to moderate the amount of active drop experienced. Since making this change everything has performed exactly the way I had hoped moving on to a new set-up. The G4 knee flap is very flexible, so I don't really notice the strapping against my knee in RVH, etc., but it keeps your thigh rises from knocking around, sets a positive stop on the knee block when in butterfly, helps with responsiveness, and hasn't had any effect on my pad rotation.  

G2 Front.jpg

G2 Rear.jpg

G4 Front.jpg

G4 Rear.jpg

I'm really glad I picked up this thread and went through your thoughts.

I think we will continue to see these issues pop up between different manufacturers and models as pads migrate towards a strapping setup that allow the knee elastic to be strapped down to the outer calf wrap.  I was encountering this issue myself and it was driving me nuts!  Sometimes the inside tops of my pads would butt into each other or cross over when I was in a relatively vertical, shot-ready position.

I ended up playing with several different strapping setups, and ended up using an RRC/Scrivens style strap with zero elasticity to get the pad to stay in place.  I still wanted the openness of the knee because I wear pretty big knee pads.

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i strap my calf to the upper calf and the knee to the last 1 " or so on the upper calf as well.  seperated the strap from the sling gives perfet response.

prob the only one that does this strapping. this is on the g3. kept the knee flap on so pads stays centers, don't know why it does but it does, took it off twice early on didn't like it.

Thee RRC is similar to what i did early on with all my pads with the calf strap took it out of the leg protector and  push it above the calf.  

Anyways just mentioning this.

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Yeah, this issue really bothered me... I mean the last thing you want in your head when addressing the shooter is that your pads just aren't right. So far since making the strapping change things have been "lights out" good... just night and day... I couldn't be happier with the current performance. 

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On 7/14/2018 at 1:58 PM, CG35 said:

Back on the ice and getting the G4's dialled in. I had about 4 or 5 previous ice times back in April + another 3 hrs or so during goalie night in May. First week of summer... 4 games in 5 nights... so all in all around 10 games so far.

AirSlide: The pads slide great and perform consistently throughout the duration of the game. The biggest difference I have found in the AirSlide knee blocks are improved shuffling ability over my previous G1/G2 sets. They have a very positive grip with the ice, but still offer great sliding ability. If there is a gain in sliding "speed" over previous models... it is slight, but the consistency is there.

RVH Outer Roll: Is a nice feature... the taper gives a good look to the outer roll and is functional. I've never had too many goals sneak in between my pad and the post, but a tighter seal is never a bad thing.

HyperComp: Has definitely added stiffness to the thigh rise area. Rebounds are popping out a few inches farther then with my G2's, but I'm sure with some use they will be a little less lively. The addition of this material has also helped the Profile Lock feature.

Profile Lock: Much improved over the G2 model... (which in my case really didn't do much at all.) Put a good, aggressive bend right where you want it, attach the profile lock tab, leave upside down against a wall, massage your bend every couple hours and ensure the lock tab is maintaining tightness... 1-2 days and you're good to go. The HyperComp in the thigh rise seems to help hold a curve very well once formed.

Active Response Straps: I wear the ARS boot strap on the maximum setting under the rear of my skate (Traditional). This allows my skate to get to the ice with minimum pull on the pad, but is tight enough to keep the pad against my boot when upright. Up front I utilize a sliding toe bridge. 

Post Wedge: The thinned design is great. pushes down out of the way in the RVH, and curves a little where you sit into it. Still offers a visual deterrent to shooters when standing against the post.

Sling Wrap: First appeared on the G3 and is a welcome improvement over the previous elastic bands used on my G2's. Having the nylon strap to ensure a consistent maximum stopping point is key.

360*ActiveDrop: This feature has forced the first major change in my pad strapping since I switched to the Warrior line back in 2012-2013. That was the year I went from a pair of Vaughn V2's with a very traditional strapping set-up, to a full blown loose fitting completely open knee/thigh set-up on my G1's.

The G4's 360*ActiveDrop feature works as advertised since the cut of the upper calf wrap has been openly tapered, and the thickness of both the post wedge and calf wrap itself reduced. Unfortunately, for me... it works too well. On my old G2's it was the outside of the calf wrap that supported the pad on my leg when upright and set. This position was critical... it kept everything about my movements responsive, unobstructed and confident. The loose fit meant there was never any questions about proper pad rotation. So why mess with what works... right..? Well, as I'll try to demonstrate with the photo's below, the 360*AD has added so much drop in the upright position that I felt uncomfortably "knock-knee'd" when attaching the Sling Wrap strap to the calf wrap. The inside corners of the thigh rise would intermittently interfere with each other just enough when getting into set position and skating upright to cause a real issue. I even got my pads caught up together on a contorted play in tight while in the butterfly... Keeping in mind they stiffened this area with HyperComp... It was playable, but these performance issues could not be tolerated. Because of this, I feel it is almost mandatory to wear the Sling Wrap across the back of the knee and use it to moderate the amount of active drop experienced. Since making this change everything has performed exactly the way I had hoped moving on to a new set-up. The G4 knee flap is very flexible, so I don't really notice the strapping against my knee in RVH, etc., but it keeps your thigh rises from knocking around, sets a positive stop on the knee block when in butterfly, helps with responsiveness, and hasn't had any effect on my pad rotation. 

Now that I'm confidently strapped-up, I can pay greater attention to just how well the AirSlide performs with continued use... I will update further as I continue to get more ice time.

ActiveDrop.png

Straps.png

G2 Front.jpg

G2 Rear.jpg

G4 Front.jpg

G4 Rear.jpg

Not being a wearer if Warrior gear probably made me appreciate your review even more. Great job explaining changes from previous generations to G4 as well as the Active Drop. Thanks for continuing to post as you use more and more. 

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16 hours ago, Chenner29 said:

I'm really glad I picked up this thread and went through your thoughts.

I think we will continue to see these issues pop up between different manufacturers and models as pads migrate towards a strapping setup that allow the knee elastic to be strapped down to the outer calf wrap.  I was encountering this issue myself and it was driving me nuts!  Sometimes the inside tops of my pads would butt into each other or cross over when I was in a relatively vertical, shot-ready position.

I ended up playing with several different strapping setups, and ended up using an RRC/Scrivens style strap with zero elasticity to get the pad to stay in place.  I still wanted the openness of the knee because I wear pretty big knee pads.

It really hit me during goalie night this spring with all the kids trying Warrior, Bauer and Vaughn's new product just how crazy it is to try and figure out who's equipment works best for you in about an hour of ice. I mean some of it is just the fun of trying new gear for kicks, but it took me around 7-10 ice times just to adjust my strapping correctly on the G4's from what I had been doing previously on the G1's & G2's. With all the strapping options, breaks, toe ties, etc. that are becoming available... and honestly, little to no help at times on how to use or adjust these features correctly and in unison with each other and your additional equipment, I wonder just how many guys passed on gear that would improve their game because it felt weird in the moment.

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On 7/25/2018 at 11:06 PM, CG35 said:

So around 15 games now in the G4's and the first quality issue has developed... the stitching on the lower edge of the binding for the outer knee block flap... on both sides... has almost completely worn away. Everything is still pretty tight, so I'm not sure if they have glued the backside of the binding... or if this will start to lift and require the stitching to be repaired sooner than later. We'll see how it goes for now...

Pad - Left.jpg

Pad - Right.jpg

I just got my new G4 pads and put the sliding polish from Passau. I put more of the polish on that area with the stitching. Hopefully this will work.  

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9 hours ago, Bell31 said:

I just got my new G4 pads and put the sliding polish from Passau. I put more of the polish on that area with the stitching. Hopefully this will work.  

Let us know how it goes... could just be me, could be a thing... time will tell.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
On 7/31/2018 at 7:13 PM, CG35 said:

Let us know how it goes... could just be me, could be a thing... time will tell.

Update after 1-1/2 month of use.

Stitching is holding up. No issues. Today just put on second polish coat.

First picture is right landing area.

Second picture is left landing area.

9E5CCF76-77D3-4E59-812D-CB62C69D0E8A.jpeg

416C0AA7-BA04-4BD0-A45A-CB2BE334D3E0.jpeg

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Good to see these are holding up for you... even have some puck marks on there. If I burn through the heavier repair stitching I'll likely try polishing or waxing them a little, but it's good to see there haven't been any more posts of this occurring for anyone. Maybe just due to some of the poor ice conditions I played on this summer... we'll find out soon as winter exhibition fires-up next week...

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On 7/26/2018 at 12:06 AM, CG35 said:

So around 15 games now in the G4's and the first quality issue has developed... the stitching on the lower edge of the binding for the outer knee block flap... on both sides... has almost completely worn away. Everything is still pretty tight, so I'm not sure if they have glued the backside of the binding... or if this will start to lift and require the stitching to be repaired sooner than later. We'll see how it goes for now...

Pad - Left.jpg

Pad - Right.jpg

This actually happened to mine as well. I stitched it up and it’s all good.

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 9/15/2018 at 8:00 AM, CG35 said:

Good to see these are holding up for you... even have some puck marks on there. If I burn through the heavier repair stitching I'll likely try polishing or waxing them a little, but it's good to see there haven't been any more posts of this occurring for anyone. Maybe just due to some of the poor ice conditions I played on this summer... we'll find out soon as winter exhibition fires-up next week...

It's due to the air slide and how it connects underneath as my other pad let go the other day and I stitched that up as well.  It seems to put more stress on the binding!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Just a couple of updates on my G4 pad set-up...

Heavier stitching used to repair the knee landing surface has held-up perfectly.

I have removed the elastic boot straps... just using sliding toe bridge, calf wrap and Sling Wrap across back of knee.

That is all.

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17 hours ago, CG35 said:

Just a couple of updates on my G4 pad set-up...

Heavier stitching used to repair the knee landing surface has held-up perfectly.

I have removed the elastic boot straps... just using sliding toe bridge, calf wrap and Sling Wrap across back of knee.

That is all.

I blew out my stitching a second time on one pad only though but i only used nylon thread from fabric land.  I need to order the heavy duty stuff!

I have some Vaughn Pads coming in the next week or so and will be switching to those for a while.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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