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3mm vs 4 mm blades


Big2

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So another very expensive summer all new equipment for my son ( except his CA and skates ) however I am starting to consider getting him new skates and would like to understand the + and - of both blade types !

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2 minutes ago, Big2 said:

Oh Bunnyman your the best I will check out their site - this could a game changer giving you an option for either thickness!

I can’t imagine playing forward on goal skates, or WORSE- playing goal on forward (3mm blade) skates! But that’s me...

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Well the best Goalie store in my region says that a 3mm will provide better ability to skate and T Push but the 4 mm better shuffles!

I really want more information / your comments - on T Pushes can you really tell the difference is it really that obvious?

Also I might be late to the party on the following but I am being told that CCM has come out with custom skates per True and that Bauer has or will come out with a 3D fitting system on carbon skates per True!

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I feel more stable on a 4mm blade. I am FIRMLY a hybrid goaler. Some I know have gone 3mm and won’t go back. 9/10 goalers I do sharpenings for are firmly in the 4mm crowd- age range of 14-47! 

I would do 3mm steel as a post-season experiment. If you do Bauer cowling-free, Step can do BOTH widths.

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3 hours ago, Big2 said:

Well the best Goalie store in my region says that a 3mm will provide better ability to skate and T Push but the 4 mm better shuffles!

I really want more information / your comments - on T Pushes can you really tell the difference is it really that obvious?

Also I might be late to the party on the following but I am being told that CCM has come out with custom skates per True and that Bauer has or will come out with a 3D fitting system on carbon skates per True!

As someone who works at a hockey store where this is offered I can confirm that Bauer and CCM offer custom goalie skates based on a 3D scan.

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5 hours ago, Big2 said:

Well the best Goalie store in my region says that a 3mm will provide better ability to skate and T Push but the 4 mm better shuffles!

I really want more information / your comments - on T Pushes can you really tell the difference is it really that obvious?

Also I might be late to the party on the following but I am being told that CCM has come out with custom skates per True and that Bauer has or will come out with a 3D fitting system on carbon skates per True! 

I've flip flopped back and forth between 3mm and 4mm.  Can't really say I find a tremendous difference.
Little things here and there. A 3/8 on a 3mm blade feels slightly grabbier than on a 4mm blade.

IMO the biggest performance benefit one can get from steel is a custom profile. 
Steel can be shaped to be flatter for more stability, or rounded for agility, or a combination of both with a dual or triple radius.
Can also pitch forward to get more on your toes or centered for better balance (backward too, but almost no one recommends this)

Second place to look at tweaking is steel quality (aftermarket steel tends to be better than stock).
Harder steel will flex less, promoting better energy transfer to the ice.  It'll also hold an edge better for longer.

CCM has two levels of custom based off a cast of a players foot scan:
Stock boot compressed around a cast of the player's foot
Full custom boot from the ground up. You can pick and choose pieces from other lines and I believe select a stiffness profile for different segments of the boot

Bauer's program is expected to launch either end of this year or next, I can't remember which.

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Similar to @mik I went from 4mm Graf to 3mm on Bauer. My journey was Cobra cowling to a Vertexx on the Graf boot... then to S190s. 

Personally I like the 3mm. Took a little while to find the right hollow but once I did I love the bite. Went from a 5/8 on 4mm to 1/2 on 3mm. The only issue I had was how soft the Bauer steels were. I used both 2G and 3G. Both were like butter against a post. Constant sharpenings. Tydan DLC fixed that though. 

For me, 3mm is lighter, has great bite, allows for easier shuffles, and Tydan DLC resolved the constant sharpening issues. 

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3 hours ago, daffy said:

Tried 3mm, hated it. Definitely not planted.  Felt like i was moving all the time, not set for the shot.  Went back to 4mm and no issues.

did you profile both the skates the same and same blade size? you probably had a radius cut , but should have had a CAG flat spot.

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  • 3 months later...
On 8/4/2018 at 3:39 PM, daffy said:

Tried 3mm, hated it. Definitely not planted.  Felt like i was moving all the time, not set for the shot.  Went back to 4mm and no issues.

This is exactly how I feel. How much did you experiment before reverting to 4mm?

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Nice to see some activity on this thread - so my son has been on his new Bauer 2S skates since Sunday. He has been on the stock 3MM blades that came with the skates and I bought 2 sets of Step Fat blades 4MM, he has yet to decide if he likes the 3MM blades I will try to hook up with him tomorrow night to get some feedback so I can either get the 4MM blades sharpened or get two sets of 3MM Step blades.

When I saw him skate on Sunday on the pre game warm up he looked like he was not set as he typically was with the 4MM on his old Reactors - I hope to have some feedback any day!

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My old vh skates on Bauer vertexx cowlings it was 3mm steel and I had to sharpen at 3/8” and I felt like I needed to sharpen every 2-3 skates. In my two piece cowlingless it is 4mm steel and I sharpen 1/2” and I can go 5-6 skates between sharpens. I really do like the 4mm better. 

4DF67726-BF04-4E37-9572-459A85829FCD.jpeg

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10 hours ago, Imperative said:

My old vh skates on Bauer vertexx cowlings it was 3mm steel and I had to sharpen at 3/8” and I felt like I needed to sharpen every 2-3 skates. In my two piece cowlingless it is 4mm steel and I sharpen 1/2” and I can go 5-6 skates between sharpens. I really do like the 4mm better. 

4DF67726-BF04-4E37-9572-459A85829FCD.jpeg

2 things at play here in my mind... 

  1. Deeper hollow will mean thinner edges and be more susceptible nicks and burs... especially against posts.
  2. Quality of the steel being used. I had the same frequent sharpening issues with vertexx 3mm steels as well as LS3G. Switched to Tydan DLC 3mm and it's better than when I had 4mm steels.
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I had mine contoured with a 28' radius with a 5/8" hollow. It is the best the skates have been but still not great. I'm going to go 3/8" and see if that is acceptable. I either spend a small fortune on various profiles and sharpens or I sell the 2 sets of Step 3mm I have and get some of the Step 4mm.

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14 hours ago, BadAngle41 said:

2 things at play here in my mind... 

  1. Deeper hollow will mean thinner edges and be more susceptible nicks and burs... especially against posts.
  2. Quality of the steel being used. I had the same frequent sharpening issues with vertexx 3mm steels as well as LS3G. Switched to Tydan DLC 3mm and it's better than when I had 4mm steels.

Step steel in both skates. I would never go back to 3mm steel 

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