New leg pads

[Smity72]

Hello, I'm looking into getting new pads and was curious to hear some opinions.

Currently I have a set of CCM Eflex 2 860s, 34+2. They have pretty stock strapping with 2 velcro, 2 leather calf straps, 1 leather strap below the knee and a boot strap. I've had these pads for close to 4 years and I'm looking at upgrading. The velcro for the strapping has worn down and doesn't stick or hold in certain spots (i.e. I can't have the calf strap as tight as I want, as the velcro will just won't hold and the strap will come off). I have also been landing in the lower portion of the landing pad, and sometimes even half off the pad. This is probably due to overall wear of the pad. I'm also considering if maybe I should scale down to a 33+2 pad. I'm 5' 11" with my floor to knee height being around 19.5" 

Right now I'm looking at either buying new or used (from sideline swap) Eflex 3 (pro or 3.9). Or I buy new Eflex 4.9 (I haven't seen much as far as used 4's on sale). In any case I'm pretty dead set on sticking with the CCM Eflex line of pads.

EFlex 4 look appealing, but the stock strapping is drastically different and stripped (couple of velcro straps, bootstrap, and bungee lace) than what I've been playing with my whole career. Without the budget to order custom gear, what would you say to someone who's been in a pretty standard strapping setup for so long wanting to move to the simplified quick motion strapping of a stock Eflex 4? And should I buy a slightly smaller pad to better fit my legs?

Thanks

[southpawtendy48]

I would first try on a set of pads if possible, now obviously you can’t try on eflex 3s as that’s an outdated line in case you didn’t want to go to the eflex 4s as you implied, if you get around to trying pads on the eflex4 will pretty much be identical sizing wise to the previous line

[seagoal]

Here's a question to consider:

Aside from familiarity, what benefit or function do you think the leather calf/knee/boot straps offer you?

I think one of the major reasons, perhaps the most important, for the elimination and simplification of strapping was designers and goalies taking a hard look at actual, practical functionality and purpose of straps.  Modern, all velcro quick strapping is often marketed and discussed as a way to save you time in the locker room, but really, that's just a benefit, not the reason we don't have multiple leather straps anymore.

Anyway, it can be revealing to look at your pads on your legs, analyze how you play and the way the pads work for you, and ask yourself: what straps are actually doing something at all or doing what I need them to do on these pads?

You might realize there is quite a bit of excess without function. 

This is not me pitching modern pads to you.  Just encouraging you to look at your gear, yourself, and the reasons why modern pads are the way they are.

Cheers man.

[RyanR3KC]

I had Reebok XLT Premiers and just went to Warrior GT2.  The Warriors are a great pad

my local hockey shop also cut me a deal on the price

[Scythe]

I like all the leather straps on my pads. 5 in all and 2 velcro. There's probably about 2 leather ones that i don't think really do anything but they look cool. The straps are brand new and stiff but once they get worked in I'll be able to buckle them with 1 hand and blind folded.  

[BadAngle41]

@Smity72 I too have a 4 year old set of Retroflexes that I took from the stock 4 leather straps and 2 velcros... to 3 velcros and 2 leathers. Like @seagoal pointed out... the more I used the traditional leathers the more I realized I wore them so loose they actually didn't provide anything that wasn't already being done (or could be done) by velcro and elastic... so I modified them. 

Being 4 years old and VERY soft (not that they were ever stiff) and having demo'd a few sets to get a feel for stiffer pads with larger rebounds etc... I ended up ordering a set of 2X Pro. While I did keep a boot strap when ordering... it is removeable... so it's very possible I end up w/ no leathers at all anymore. Once you've dialed in the elastic/velcro straps... leathers essentially become vestigial organs. Of course that's all personal preference... but had I gone the way of CCM I would have picked up EF4 with the main reason being strapping. Super easy to dial in and very customizable.

As for sizing I'm about your height... 5'10" and just over 19.5" ATK... and I wear 33+1.5. I don't find myself coming off the block at all. What you can do to help reduce that while you ponder your next set is either go one more notch on the boot strap or little tighter on your calf strapping so your leg stays in place relative to the block better.

OG Strapping...

Modified Strapping...

2X Pro w/ Boot Strap...

[Xdave90x]

7 hours ago, BadAngle41 said:

@Smity72 I too have a 4 year old set of Retroflexes that I took from the stock 4 leather straps and 2 velcros... to 3 velcros and 2 leathers. Like @seagoal pointed out... the more I used the traditional leathers the more I realized I wore them so loose they actually didn't provide anything that wasn't already being done (or could be done) by velcro and elastic... so I modified them. 

Being 4 years old and VERY soft (not that they were ever stiff) and having demo'd a few sets to get a feel for stiffer pads with larger rebounds etc... I ended up ordering a set of 2X Pro. While I did keep a boot strap when ordering... it is removeable... so it's very possible I end up w/ no leathers at all anymore. Once you've dialed in the elastic/velcro straps... leathers essentially become vestigial organs. Of course that's all personal preference... but had I gone the way of CCM I would have picked up EF4 with the main reason being strapping. Super easy to dial in and very customizable.

As for sizing I'm about your height... 5'10" and just over 19.5" ATK... and I wear 33+1.5. I don't find myself coming off the block at all. What you can do to help reduce that while you ponder your next set is either go one more notch on the boot strap or little tighter on your calf strapping so your leg stays in place relative to the block better.

OG Strapping...

Modified Strapping...

2X Pro w/ Boot Strap...

Man i can't wait to see how your set turn out

[Chenner29]

To piggyback off @BadAngle41's post, there is honestly nothing negative about getting away from traditional straps.

With each iteration of pad I've gone through the last couple years, I've found myself eliminating strapping where I can, and I was a 5-strap guy on my EF1s.

My current set of EF4s has one at the knee and one at the boot.  The boot straps are more for strapping them together to carry to and from the rink.
I could probably eliminate both of these straps if I really wanted to.  Between the Quick Motion strap and the wide velcro strap across the middle of the calf (note that the wide middle calf strap on the EF4 is not elastic and does not move once set), the fit and feel is really fantastic.  I haven't noticed a difference and the weight savings from EF1 to EF4 has been a welcome change.

[BadAngle41]

16 hours ago, Xdave90x said:

Man i can't wait to see how your set turn out

You and me both!! This is week 8 of the wait...

[ser33]

I played in pads with classic 5 straps for about 10 years, but when I switched to new ones, I tried a strapping similar to Brian’s smart strap. And I never returned to the old pattern. Besides fast dressing, elastic straps allow you to hold the pillow closer to your leg, which it would be better to feel it and at the same time do not interfere with its rotation at all. I also installed an elastic harness on my "new" P4s and I am very pleased with it.

[kyledjean]

I am still wearing my epics, though i did demo a pair of vapor x700's. I can tell you from looking at my pads, and doing a couple alone power skating sessions with both my epics and x700's that Velcro is the way of the future. My epics the only things that do anything, and mind you I have 5 leather straps and two buckles and one Velcro, my leather straps do absolutely nothing since i wear them so loose. The ONLY two things that actually hold my pads are the ONE Velcro knee strap and my toe ties. I don't ever see myself getting leather straps ever again on any pad. The Velcro is just to customizable as well as soooooo light. Plus they are easier and cheaper to replace. 

[kyledjean]

If you can demo a pair, or purchase them and go to an open skate or something, leave all the tags on and be very very careful and skate around for a little bit. See how they feel. As long as you make sure nothing happens to them you can return them the next day. I know its not the most ethical thing to do, but when pads are almost two grand you gotta test them out other than putting them on in the store. I think you will be very surprised how much you will like the pads once you figure out how you like the new strapping to go. Change is hard but usually good.

[jayluv54]

On 8/19/2019 at 12:36 PM, Smity72 said:

Hello, I'm looking into getting new pads and was curious to hear some opinions.

Currently I have a set of CCM Eflex 2 860s, 34+2. They have pretty stock strapping with 2 velcro, 2 leather calf straps, 1 leather strap below the knee and a boot strap. I've had these pads for close to 4 years and I'm looking at upgrading. The velcro for the strapping has worn down and doesn't stick or hold in certain spots (i.e. I can't have the calf strap as tight as I want, as the velcro will just won't hold and the strap will come off). I have also been landing in the lower portion of the landing pad, and sometimes even half off the pad. This is probably due to overall wear of the pad. I'm also considering if maybe I should scale down to a 33+2 pad. I'm 5' 11" with my floor to knee height being around 19.5" 

Right now I'm looking at either buying new or used (from sideline swap) Eflex 3 (pro or 3.9). Or I buy new Eflex 4.9 (I haven't seen much as far as used 4's on sale). In any case I'm pretty dead set on sticking with the CCM Eflex line of pads.

EFlex 4 look appealing, but the stock strapping is drastically different and stripped (couple of velcro straps, bootstrap, and bungee lace) than what I've been playing with my whole career. Without the budget to order custom gear, what would you say to someone who's been in a pretty standard strapping setup for so long wanting to move to the simplified quick motion strapping of a stock Eflex 4? And should I buy a slightly smaller pad to better fit my legs?

Thanks

FWIW...I'm a 19.5 FTK and I typically wear 33's in CCM.  I can get away with 34 in Warrior and Bauer, but not CCM or Vaughn.  Strapping setups are simpler now because pads are lighter...if we were still using 7lb leg pads, a couple of elastic straps probably wouldn't cut it as the weight of the pad would pull it away from the leg in certain situations.  I've even had moments in "modern pads" where I've been in scramble mode and pulled completely off the knee block because the pad stuck to the ice and the elastic couldn't hold me in.  Those moments make me wish I still had a firm strap there.  Lets face it, elastic and velcro are not new innovations, but just a better alternative when the strength and durability of leather is no longer necessary.

I've used the quick motion strapping on a pro return set of EF3's and on P2's.  It works well.  I did find with both sets that I had to keep the knee lock fairly tight to keep the pad from flopping around too much though which I don't particularly like.

[BadAngle41]

3 hours ago, jayluv54 said:

Strapping setups are simpler now because pads are lighter...if we were still using 7lb leg pads, a couple of elastic straps probably wouldn't cut it as the weight of the pad would pull it away from the leg in certain situations. 

That's an excellent point I hadn't thought about before. Elastic and Velcro became much more viable as THE strapping option when pads became lighter and didn't require an "anchor" anymore in fixed leather straps.

[Chenner29]

9 hours ago, BadAngle41 said:

That's an excellent point I hadn't thought about before. Elastic and Velcro became much more viable as THE strapping option when pads became lighter and didn't require an "anchor" anymore in fixed leather straps.

I've been listening to a lot of podcasts lately, and most of these guys being interviewed played in the late 80s, early 90s.  Everyone talks about cranking down on their straps to get the pad to respond how they wanted on their leg.

Most leg pads these days have a leg channel/shin cradle/calf wrap to help with this now.  I can't remember the last time I saw a retail pad with a gutted leg channel like the old Koho/Reeboks.

Bonus pic.  Look how loose Lalime wore his pads

[jayluv54]

he wore his pads VERY loose on top.  I've seen some pics of him stretching and his leg doesn't even look like its touching the leg channel.  I bet he had them cranked down at the bottom though.  Reminds of how MAF wears his pads.  Tight at the bottom, but very loose at the top allowing the pads to fall inward when in his stance.

[big_tommy68]

I remember going to a goalie school in 90 or 91. I had never really played goal before. I was wearing some borrowed old brown leather pads that were probably from the 70's, but most of the kids were wearing pads that were still fundamentally the same design concept as my antiques -- lots of leather straps through the pad face, little if any calf wraps or landing gear, etc. It was even pre-thigh boards.

But it was Montreal at the "start" of the butterfly era, and kids were doing all sorts of stuff with their strapping to get their pads to present a more vertical pad face when they went down (by using what I know now as the torsional flex of those old, soft pads). Kids had their friends tugging on the boot straps for them to make the bottoms super tight then leaving the tops of the pads to flop around, they were crossing straps behind their legs, strapping their top thigh straps way down behind their calves, and more. I had never seen any of it before. But as a result I strapped my pads just like the Lalime pic until about a year ago when I finally tried a professor strap...!

[Lucamatruda31]

@Xdave90x hey do you still own those maine V4 pads? I saw them on another blog and was wondering if you would sell them

[Xdave90x]

16 hours ago, Lucamatruda31 said:

@Xdave90x hey do you still own those maine V4 pads? I saw them on another blog and was wondering if you would sell them

Yeah i still have them but i'm keeping them sorry !

[Scythe]

I know the thread isn't about strapping systems but found this pic.. i guess some guys are still using all of em