Vaughn V7 XF Pro Carbon Custom Set

[Puremetal33]

BACKGROUND: I've been a Vaughn guy for a long time now. I've tinkered with other brands, some successfully (Smith, Brian's) and some not so successfully (CCM). The set I've been in for the past two seasons is a Ryan Miller return Vaughn set. It's custom, and Vaughn won't make it for retail customers - pro only. Since that has been the best performing set I've worn, I set out to to get at least in the ballpark of that set spec wise. 

THE SPECS: 

PADS: V7 XF Pro Carbon

35+2"

Open Knee

Niemi Strapping (Two nylon calf straps that meet mid outside calf), one knee strap through knee block, attached below knee outside calf. Top strap above knee - removed)

SLR Bootstrap

Custom Colors and Embroidery 

 

GLOVE: XF Pro Carbon

Stock, game-ready palm 

Custom colors and embroidery

 

BLOCKER: XR Pro Carbon

Nash palm

Reinforced sidewall

Custom Colors and embroidery 

 

THE REVIEW: 

PADS: First thing I noticed out of the box is, they're light. The Miller returns I have are what I would consider VERY light and these are lighter. They're soft but they're springy soft. Essentially this pad is constructed similar to the V6 2000. It's soft at the breaks and there is a good amount of torsional flex in the shin. What sets it apart from the 2000 is that the inside gusset is different, flatter to prevent the issue that the older style Velocity pads, V6 2000 and older models with knee rolls would encounter when flexed - the inner knee would "bulge" and break five hole seal. The gusset on the XF Pro Carbon remains flat to the ice at all times in the butterfly, even when the pad is flexed or curved. The pad provides a very stable butterfly base and slides very well. Rebounds are a bit more active than my previous set. I'm able to get great butterfly flare in them and the great seal to the ice means I can play with confidence that the five hole is sealed. 

Since I know it's of great interest to one of the Admins here who invited me to sign up and do this review, let's talk about my strapping choices for a minute. I dislike traditional leather straps. Don't like the extra weight, don't like that the suede-ish material on the backside grabs a bit, don't like to miss with strapholes and buckles. I asked Vaughn to do the SLR bootstrap (synthetic leather with an elastic section in the middle. My choice for the Niemi strapping solves a couple of problems - 1. The weight reduction of nylon strapping 2. Set it and forget it with the plastic buckles and 3. The angle of the lower calf strap keeps it from interfering with the skate. Vaughn doesn't offer a true "Y-Clip" like the TPS pads had, but if they did it would be easy to rig this strapping up with a single, mid-calf attachment point. For reference, I use the Monster Hockey HAL toe straps as well. 

GLOVE: I was picky about gloves, I debated hard between the XF Pro Carbon, XR Pro Carbon and SLR trappers before making my choice. In the end I went for the XF because I love it's wide open shape. the glove feels and closes to me like a cross between the V6 2000 and the Kipper spec as it has an almost hinged break. Glove plays nice right out of the box. Swallows up pucks, presents a wide surface and takes up a lot of space. If I had to do it over again, I'd ask for the reinforced T-spines (double T) and pro palm. I'm old school enough not to mind stingers thankfully. If you like to feel the puck a bit like me, the game ready palm is more than sufficient. The glove also works great for shooting with the reverse (Turco) grip I use. 

BLOCKER: I wanted to get as close to the Miller blocker (B2000 with 2200 sidewall, Nash palm) as possible with this order and I didn't much care for the hand position or sidewall on the XF Pro Carbon blocker, so I opted for the XR Pro Carbon. The stock sidewall is a bit flimsy feeling to me, so I asked for the reinforced version. I also asked for a Nash palm as I dislike the gray synthetic material they're using stock in the blockers now. I just prefer the feel of the tan colored Nash palm. I dig the weight and balance of the blocker, the palm feels and fits comfortable and stick grip works without interference from extra finger padding. That's my gripe about a lot of newer blockers: The extra index finger protection is nice but it hinders stick grip for me to the point I end up cutting it out a lot of the time. With the XF, there's none of that. Protection is more than adequate and stick grip isn't effected. 

 

Without further ado, some pics: 

[TheGoalNet]

Thanks for sharing!!! 

[coopaloop1234]

Nice Looking pads.

 

[SaveByRichter35]

Nice review and I love the pads!  Bravo on the choice of colors, they're very sharp.  Love the functionality of the mods you chose as well.  The weight of leather straps though?  Come on.  Its negligible at most, unnoticeable at best.  I can see wanting to get rid of them because they can be annoying and time consuming compared to other strapping options.  I removed a few of the leather straps on my 2200s just because I felt I don't need them and it shaves, what, 4 seconds from putting them on.  However, the amount of people that I see reference the weight of leather straps is ridiculous.  People should start doing some leg exercises if they can't handle the weight of a few leather straps.

[Ghostender]

2 hours ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

Nice review and I love the pads!  Bravo on the choice of colors, they're very sharp.  Love the functionality of the mods you chose as well.  The weight of leather straps though?  Come on.  Its negligible at most, unnoticeable at best.  I can see wanting to get rid of them because they can be annoying and time consuming compared to other strapping options. ...

On a more technical level, I’d be concerned about the plastic snap-buckles (specifically the one’s sewn in) taking a puck and blowing up.

When I bought my low-budget V2s, one of the straps was missing so I retrofit all the leather straps (other than the boot strap) with the webbing straps and plastic snap-buckles. I coined them my “old man straps” as it allowed me to put the pads on both quickly and without a lot of stretching.

Some people questioned whether the plastic snaps would be durable enough but I poo-poo’d their concerns. It worked well ‘til the last 6 months where I lost two snaps on two separate occasions from people trying to fire the puck in between my pad and the post (or off my pad). Luckily the straps on the V2s slide in and out through a tunnel behind the leg channel, so the R&R wasn’t a big deal. With the  sewn in type, that could be a different story...

[TheGoalNet]

@WGD - Any insight you can share as to the history and origin of this strapping?

[SaveByRichter35]

1 minute ago, Ghostender said:

On a more technical level, I’d be concerned about the plastic snap-buckles (specifically the one’s sewn in) taking a puck and blowing up.

When I bought my low-budget V2s, one of the straps was missing so I retrofit all the leather straps (other than the boot strap) with the webbing straps and plastic snap-buckles. I coined them my “old man straps” as it allowed me to put the pads on both quickly and without a lot of stretching.

Some people questioned whether the plastic snaps would be durable enough but I poo-poo’d their concerns. It worked well ‘til the last 6 months where I lost two snaps on two separate occasions from people trying to fire the puck in between my pad and the post (or off my pad). Luckily the straps on the V2s slide in and out through a tunnel behind the leg channel, so the R&R wasn’t a big deal. With the  sewn in, that could be a different story...

That's another reason I always ordered my pads with all leather straps.  However, now with all of the elastic bands in the knee and calf, most straps are unnecessary anyway.  For instance, I removed the leather strap that was on my knee block because it has the elastic knee lock.  The leather strap is redundant and pointless.  I removed the boot strap once I started using Pro Laces because they keep the pad tight enough to my skate that the boot strap was just also pointless.  I tried removing it when I was wearing toe ties and the pad just felt too sloppy so I put it back on.

[bunnyman666]

3 hours ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

Nice review and I love the pads!  Bravo on the choice of colors, they're very sharp.  Love the functionality of the mods you chose as well.  The weight of leather straps though?  Come on.  Its negligible at most, unnoticeable at best.  I can see wanting to get rid of them because they can be annoying and time consuming compared to other strapping options.  I removed a few of the leather straps on my 2200s just because I felt I don't need them and it shaves, what, 4 seconds from putting them on.  However, the amount of people that I see reference the weight of leather straps is ridiculous.  People should start doing some leg exercises if they can't handle the weight of a few leather straps.

You save about a pound per pad in some cases IF you also get rid of the metal buckles. For me, I only notice the weight near the end of the game IF I am taxed. But over all- even with eight leather straps per pad, the modern pad is stupid light compared to the deer hair Coopers back in the day. I can do my impression of a 70's goalie lying on my back and lifting my legs whether I am wearing my Brian's (Lead) Air Pac or my PAW pads; just the lighter pair makes it easier to get back in position after a scrambly desperation save selection. 

On the pads I got in trade from you, for example, when I got done with all of the strap mods (using shock cord and losing all but one metal buckle), I saved around a pound and a half; of course I also gutted the knee wrap, boot strap, and other extras. For me, that little bit of extra weight off makes the pad feel a bit more responsive. 

But if a pound per pad feels like too much, hit the gym!

[SaveByRichter35]

I doubt its a pound per pad.  Maybe a pound combined.  But point still stands, its negligible.

[bunnyman666]

1 hour ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

I doubt its a pound per pad.  Maybe a pound combined.  But point still stands, its negligible.

Next pad I do surgery on, I will take a pic of stuff on the scale. Deal?

[DonPost]

9 hours ago, TheGoalNet said:

@WGD - Any insight you can share as to the history and origin of this strapping?

You can pick up the split release buckle here (http://www.strapworks.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=NASRBSR). I starting to wonder about a custom set of R10s to go with my gloves.

[MadsM]

If you don't mind asking, how much did you have to pay for the set? Also tyvm for the review!

[TheGoalNet]

23 hours ago, DonPost said:

You can pick up the split release buckle here (http://www.strapworks.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=NASRBSR). I starting to wonder about a custom set of R10s to go with my gloves.

Is @WGD doing pads yet? 

[DonPost]

11 hours ago, TheGoalNet said:

Is @WGD doing pads yet? 

Hope and dreams. I get a feeling he really like making the goalie helmet bags so Im not counting on it.

[mik]

Although I'm not (apparently) a fan of kings, I really like your color setup.

[Rcush]

Pure metal, can u help me. I have slr carbons  33+2 and came from Simmons 586 36+2. I can't stand the stiffness of slrs. How did u figure out your size in the xf? I'm 5'9"

[Puremetal33]

1 hour ago, Rcush said:

Pure metal, can u help me. I have slr carbons  33+2 and came from Simmons 586 36+2. I can't stand the stiffness of slrs. How did u figure out your size in the xf? I'm 5'9"

Measure from the middle of your ankle bone to the center of your knee while seated. That measurement will determine which pad size you should be using. If you're 33 in the SLR you're likely 33 or 34 in the XF.