Bunny's Cowlingless Skate Adventure

[bunnyman666]

I took a hard shot in the ball of my foot. I went down. I did finish the game, but between getting run earlier and the shot in the foot, I played like shit.

After experimentation with the cowling-free skate, that is simply not enough protection.  I have not decided if I am back to Reebok cowling or cutting the toes from the Graf cowlings or maybe make a fiberglass cowling. 

Stay tuned...

[daffy]

I play a butterfly style but still through in some hybrid, there is just no way I could use a skate without cowling.  Hope your foot is still intact.  

[mik]

I was thinking about skates without cowling some time ago (weight, attack angle..). But I get shots to front part of cowling pretty often,  can´t imagine how that would work without cowling :(. Hope you are ok bunnyman..   

 

[bunnyman666]

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I was thinking about skates without cowling some time ago (weight, attack angle..). But I get shots to front part of cowling pretty often,  can´t imagine how that would work without cowling :(. Hope you are ok bunnyman.. 

It doesn't work.

The cowlingless skate is a joke unless you go down for every single shot. 

I am sore this morning, for sure.

[bunnyman666]

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I play a butterfly style but still through in some hybrid, there is just no way I could use a skate without cowling.  Hope your foot is still intact. 

I am going back to a cowling. It simply did not work for me. You need plastic and daylight between the cowling and the toe, period. Maybe the Bauer has more protection. 

I hurt, but I don't see swelling or bruising, weirdly enough.

[mik]

49 minutes ago, bunnyman666 said:

It doesn't work.

The cowlingless skate is a joke unless you go down for every single shot. 

I am sore this morning, for sure.

I get shots even when I´m down and stretch my leg to reach shot and it still hurts when the shot is realy strong.  Friend told me, that bauer skates have rainforced front cap, but i don´t know if that can replace cowling in terms of protection.

I know, that NHL pros use this type of bauer skate, but they don´t have serial production..

[bunnyman666]

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I get shots even when I´m down and stretch my leg to reach shot and it still hurts when the shot is realy strong.  Friend told me, that bauer skates have rainforced front cap, but i don´t know if that can replace cowling in terms of protection.  I know, that NHL pros use this type of bauer skate, but they don´t have serial production..

The NHL skate also may be more clad than the VH or production Bauer. I am convinced that cowling free is NOT for me.  I am definitely in pain this morning.

[jayluv54]

On 4/24/2017 at 1:41 AM, mik said:

I was thinking about skates without cowling some time ago (weight, attack angle..). But I get shots to front part of cowling pretty often,  can´t imagine how that would work without cowling :(. Hope you are ok bunnyman..

Same here.  I take shots off the toe constantly, perhaps due to my limited flexibility since sometimes the best I can do is get a foot on it.  But I feel shots through my Vertexx cowling all the time, so there's no way I could go without any cowling.  At some point you get to the age where you stop sacrificing your body for the sake of playing better, so I'll sacrifice attack angles and better pushes for the sake of my feet.

[Ghostender]

4 hours ago, bunnyman666 said:

The NHL skate also may be more clad than the VH or production Bauer....

If that is the case, then those manufacturers should openly state it for the safety of their non-pro clientele. While most people here aren't playing in the NHL, it doesn't mean they don't face the odd boomer. Even at my age, when my little 6'-7" 260# nephew comes out to a shinny skate, he can unleash some "quality" shots...

Bunny:  think you are on to something. Why not have a skate with just a toe cowling - it could provide the necessary protection and be blended into the skate such that it wouldn't sacrifice angle of attack. This could even be an aftermarket purchase part that you install yourself

[SaveByRichter35]

This happen on your VH skates?

[Fullright]

These threads blow me away. I don't know where you guys get your cajones. I cant imagine playing without a cowling or a toe cap that is bullet proof. I am intrigued by the innovation in skates big time but jeez a broken instep really really hurts and it is a pain in the ass to heal. Butterfly guy who never turns his foot or not, some how some way a puck will eventually hit your instep and with the focus on having the pads rotate - hence loose or slack toe ties - the instep is going to be exposed at some point. You guys are bad ass.

Hope you get better quick, B.

 

[bunnyman666]

10 hours ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

This happen on your VH skates?

Yes, sir.

[bunnyman666]

On 4/25/2017 at 5:15 PM, Fullright said:

These threads blow me away. I don't know where you guys get your cajones. I cant imagine playing without a cowling or a toe cap that is bullet proof. I am intrigued by the innovation in skates big time but jeez a broken instep really really hurts and it is a pain in the ass to heal. Butterfly guy who never turns his foot or not, some how some way a puck will eventually hit your instep and with the focus on having the pads rotate - hence loose or slack toe ties - the instep is going to be exposed at some point. You guys are bad ass.

Hope you get better quick, B.

Thanks.  It is not cajones, it is blind faith in a relatively new product. Shame on me.

[bunnyman666]

On second thought, I may go with my  GX-1 cowlings. No- not the ones I am selling Daffy, but the ones from my original Vaughn skates.  

The Reebok ones have toe protection, but not like these!

[bunnyman666]

It is the Vaughn cowlings all the way! After getting tagged in the ball of my foot and feeling lucky enough that it is just a bit stiff after not being able to move the toe, I want MAXIMUM protection. I have taken that same shot to the ball of my foot and did not feel NEARLY the pain in a pair of cowled skates! I am going to use Overdrive blades with these!

Now- do I get professionals to do this or DIY?

[Srsieve]

I did my OD blades myself.  It is not that hard.  In fact, on my second pair of skates, I actually made the blades themselves from a worn out saw blade.  The hardest part is getting them aligned just right so that they bite when you want them to, but don't stick down so far that they catch when you try to slide.   You can see part of it in the image below.   I found that the serrated edge works better and really grabs when I go to push over (like a toe pick for figure skaters).   It was a really old, dull blade, so no good for cutting wood anymore, and those are hardened steel with the perfect curve already built in, so it worked perfectly.  Just used my OD blades as a template.   If you are not comfortable doing it, you can take it to a skate shop and they should be able to do it for $15-$20 bucks.      

[bunnyman666]

5 hours ago, Srsieve said:

I did my OD blades myself.  It is not that hard.  In fact, on my second pair of skates, I actually made the blades themselves from a worn out saw blade.  The hardest part is getting them aligned just right so that they bite when you want them to, but don't stick down so far that they catch when you try to slide.   You can see part of it in the image below.   I found that the serrated edge works better and really grabs when I go to push over (like a toe pick for figure skaters).   It was a really old, dull blade, so no good for cutting wood anymore, and those are hardened steel with the perfect curve already built in, so it worked perfectly.  Just used my OD blades as a template.   If you are not comfortable doing it, you can take it to a skate shop and they should be able to do it for $15-$20 bucks. 

I've done the OD blades, but I have not installed my own cowlings. After seeing some hack jobs, I am almost thinking of installing these myself with T nuts. 

Partial Hockey was going to charge $40 to do install Overdrive blades and I told them to get stuffed!

[Ghostender]

13 hours ago, bunnyman666 said:

Thanks. It is not cajones, it is blind faith in a relatively new product. Shame on me.

No shame on you Bunny: you bought a product claiming to do three things: (1) be lighter, (2) allow greater angle of attack while (3) being as protective as a cowled skate. For the price I assume you paid, it is VH who should, as Denis Lemieux said “feel the shame”.

Straight up, IMO they are selling a product that is endangering your safety… I'd be interested in their response

[bunnyman666]

2 hours ago, Ghostender said:

No shame on you Bunny: you bought a product claiming to do three things: (1) be lighter, (2) allow greater angle of attack while (3) being as protective as a cowled skate. For the price I assume you paid, it is VH who should, as Denis Lemieux said “feel the shame”.

Straight up, IMO they are selling a product that is endangering your safety… I'd be interested in their response

I doubt they would respond. In the end, I did not break anything. They would probably say "no blood, no foul on our part".

[SaveByRichter35]

Aren't the VH skates full composite?  Still not enough protection, damn.

[bunnyman666]

5 minutes ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

Aren't the VH skates full composite?  Still not enough protection, damn.

It is probably the lack of material dispersing the hits. With a cowling, there is protection AND a bit of air between my foot and the puck.

[SaveByRichter35]

3 minutes ago, bunnyman666 said:

It is probably the lack of material dispersing the hits. With a cowling, there is protection AND a bit of air between my foot and the puck.

Yea that's true.

[Ghostender]

8 minutes ago, bunnyman666 said:

It is probably the lack of material dispersing the hits. With a cowling, there is protection AND a bit of air between my foot and the puck.

I agree totally. It doesn't matter how hard or strong the shell of a skate is, if your foot is tight to the boot and you take a shot off that area, the shock is going to be transmitted right through into your foot. As you said the cowling stands off a bit from the foot which makes all the difference in the world. Same as the goalie masks from the '70s and 80's: they were fairly strong, but with ~ 1/8" of padding, a lot of the force was transmitted straight through, The current masks have a good depth of resilient padding that allows the shock to dissipate along a larger area

[bunnyman666]

5 hours ago, Ghostender said:

I agree totally. It doesn't matter how hard or strong the shell of a skate is, if your foot is tight to the boot and you take a shot off that area, the shock is going to be transmitted right through into your foot. As you said the cowling stands off a bit from the foot which makes all the difference in the world. Same as the goalie masks from the '70s and 80's: they were fairly strong, but with ~ 1/8" of padding, a lot of the force was transmitted straight through, The current masks have a good depth of resilient padding that allows the shock to dissipate along a larger area

The designer in me would definitely execute a different design. I am not saying that the VH are poorly designed, I just don't think it was thoroughly tested AND the NHL-ers get better protection.

[SaveByRichter35]

23 minutes ago, bunnyman666 said:

The designer in me would definitely execute a different design. I am not saying that the VH are poorly designed, I just don't think it was thoroughly tested AND the NHL-ers get better protection.

What difference is there in the NHL skates?