G5 initial impressions, review (eventually) & GT2 Comparison

[Puckstopper]

After almost a year in Warrior GT2's I decided I wanted to go back to a stiffer pad.  Given how much I loved my GT2s, selecting G5's for my next set was pretty much a no brainer.  So far my initial impressions of the G5's are extremely positive and I can't wait for the opportunity to get on the ice in them and see how they perform. 

Specs:

Pads: 35+2, Single break exterior (no break also available) X-Stiff thigh/knee core (medium stiffness also available) weave sliding area.

Glove:  60 degree (75 + 90 degree available) single T (double available), Nylon lacing instead of skate lace.

Blocker: Large palm (Intermediate, Medium and XL available)

Impressions/Thoughts

Pads:  Out of the box I didn't really notice the face forward/ CoverEdge+ design.  My initial impressions was that these were somehow even lighter than my GT2 set and that I loved the thinned out thigh rise.   A couple things jumped out at me right away:  No more Profile Lock and the toe strapping had been adjusted to allow the user an option on how tight they wanted the elastic strap.  By adding a second cutout to run the elastic through Warrior has really allowed the end user to dial in their preferred tightness using their elastic option.  Of course if skate lace or bungee laces are more your thing Warrior has your back there as well.   Holes are pre-punched and ready to go for you.

Personally I don't think eliminating Profile Lock will be a big loss based on how my GT2 set broke in, but it will be interesting to see how the X-Stiff thigh rises I selected for this set take a curve.   By the time I get them on the ice they'll have been stored upside-down with light pressure on them for nearly 2 weeks, so hopefully there won't be any major issues. 

Taking another second to examine the super thin thigh rise I noticed that it's only thinned out in the area that should be covered by my body when I'm in the butterfly, and then the vertical roll gets thicker as it runs down the pad toward the ankle.   This seems like a fantastic compromise that provides extra coverage low on the pad but thins out the pad in areas where that coverage is redundant allowing for extra mobility and also a (small) weight savings.

The slit that allows the calf wrap to sit closer to the leg makes a noticeable difference.  The pad sits closer to the leg and it almost feels like a professor strap making the pad sit higher on the leg.

The outer roll of the pad has a gap that others have noticed in pictures.  It doesn't look bad in person and definitely allows the boot to have  a nice soft feel right out of the box.   2 more observations about the boot area are that it's even more of a tabletop boot than the GT2, and it's a 90 degree boot instead of having the tapered shape of the GT2. 

Catch Glove:

Initial impression:  Ugh, this thing is way stiffer than my last one and I may have made a mistake trying the 60 degree break.  After a few days of working the glove in I'm happy to say that as the glove loosens up the 60 degree break is feeling much more natural.  It's still not breaking in as fast as the GT2 did but I'm attributing that to the velcro'd in liner as opposed to the GT2 being all one piece and having fewer layers.   The glove is showing signs of break-in, it's just not as quick as the GT2 which was game ready within a few hours of coming out of the box.

I like the single trap better than the double, but it does seem a hair shallow.  It appears that Warrior has gone to a slightly offset T location similar to (but less dramatic than) what CCM offered on 590 custom orders.  I may have to swap the nylon lacing out for skate lace eventually, but I'm going to try the glove as ordered for a couple months. 

Again, CoverEdge+ is not noticeable right off the jump, but looking closely the top of the glove leans towards the shooter and works to cut down the angle a bit.

Blocker:

Initial impression:  Ah, here's that CoverEdge+ stuff and "Oooh, I forgot how much I like the feel of a brand new Warrior glove!"   The blocker is noticeably thicker and flatter than previous Warrior blocker.  Overall the flatness of the blocker should lead to more predictable rebounds, and the extra thickness doesn't come with any weight penalty that I could feel.  Warrior uses some of the nicest feeling internal materials I've ever felt on their gloves and putting on a new Warrior glove for the first few times always feels amazing! 

The blocker maintains Warrior's 3 different hand position options and on the G5 it seems like the middle position is a bit more centered than the GT2.  Going paddle down was super easy, so this go around I'm going to try moving the board down to the bottom notch instead of staying in the middle as I did with the GT2.  After making that change I can still get paddle down easily and have just a hair more coverage below my hand.

Overall impressions:

The pads feel light, well built and very well balanced.  Probably the thing I'm most impressed with is that all of the changes in this iteration of the equipment feel like they have a legitimate function as opposed to simply being changes for the sake of change (magnetic buckles anyone?).  The textured area in the outer portion of the pads and blocker adds a subtle effect that you don't notice unless you look closely.   i would be curious to know If these areas would have been double textured if I'd selected weave  in those areas or if they'd have just been flat. Regardless, it's a nice touch.  Overall I can't wait to get these on the ice and see how they play.  I'll update with direct comparisons to the GT2 series after a few games.

[Big2]

Very nice looking set - keep us informed on how the glove works out

[jfu91]

Thanks for the teaser Glad to see they brought back the jenpro along the top edge on the back side. The nylon was wearing through way too quickly.

I tried the OPTIK2 pads and gloves today to see if I wanted to go with the G5 or OPTIK2 - I gotta say, the warrior pads are so much light and feel more natural to me on my legs. Looks like I'm going to go with G5 pads + blocker with the OPTIK2 glove. Please keep us posted!

[coopaloop1234]

Man that blocker is THICC. 

Good initial impression. How come the change to the 60 degree glove? Just for shits and giggles? 

[Puckstopper]

I liked the thumb angle on the GT2, but there was something that just wasn't quite right for me with the 75 degree break.   I'm hoping going to the 60 degree break will get me closer to my beloved VE8 in terms of feel.  As the glove breaks it I'm thinking this was a good change, but I won't know for sure until I can hit the ice with them in about a week. 

[dreadlocked1]

Can you post some more glove pics and pics in general?  Thanks for this, and I have enjoyed your previous reviews.  Looking forward to updates.

[xoch1]

Hows the new airslide design look? Durability issuses are the only thing holding me back on these. 

[cwarnar]

12 minutes ago, xoch1 said:

Hows the new airslide design look? Durability issuses are the only thing holding me back on these. 

The knee wing is back to bindingless.  Should be zero durability issues now.

[Punisher Goalie]

@Puckstopper you mentioned the pre-punched holes for laces/elastic on the toe, but if I’m seeing it correctly in your pic, the holes are on the backside of the pad? That is, no separate toe tie tab? If so, not sure I’ve seen that on any other pad before. 

[CalValce]

T

Throwing this out there also

This is what the toe tie area looks like minus the elastic strap and with the toe tie

[dreadlocked1]

Thanks.  What size are those?

[CalValce]

13 minutes ago, dreadlocked1 said:

Thanks.  What size are those?

32+2 Xstiff thigh. Definitely a distinctive stiffness difference between the G4 or G3. Really really nice if thats the kind of pad style you prefer

[Puckstopper]

Thanks for posting the shot of your bungee ties Cal.  That's pretty close to how I'd pictured using them, although I may add a small block of foam to alleviate wear down there.  Nice set by the way.  I went retro brown on my last set and liked how they looked.

I will get more glove pics up shortly after I get home and some side by side shots with the GT2 set.  If there is anything else you guys want just let me know!

[Lucky Pucker]

1 hour ago, Puckstopper said:

Thanks for posting the shot of your bungee ties Cal.  That's pretty close to how I'd pictured using them, although I may add a small block of foam to alleviate wear down there.  Nice set by the way.  I went retro brown on my last set and liked how they looked.

I will get more glove pics up shortly after I get home and some side by side shots with the GT2 set.  If there is anything else you guys want just let me know!

I like the colour scheme -bigly! But I’m curious (and apologies if you posted elsewhere and I missed it), but what jersey will you typically be wearing with this set? 

[RichMan]

The knee block looks sooo thick, wow.

[Griff1604]

@Puckstopper

Thanks for the review - could you post a picture from the side of how thin the thighrise is? Thank you!

[CalValce]

5 hours ago, Puckstopper said:

Thanks for posting the shot of your bungee ties Cal.  That's pretty close to how I'd pictured using them, although I may add a small block of foam to alleviate wear down there.  Nice set by the way.  I went retro brown on my last set and liked how they looked.

I will get more glove pics up shortly after I get home and some side by side shots with the GT2 set.  If there is anything else you guys want just let me know!

Thats a good idea with the foam, when you have it set up send me a picture!

[CalValce]

3 hours ago, Lucky Pucker said:

I like the colour scheme -bigly! But I’m curious (and apologies if you posted elsewhere and I missed it), but what jersey will you typically be wearing with this set? 

My G3 set

My G4 set

And the G5 Set

I play in an over 30 Roller Draft League and an Roller Platinum Draft league as well so the jersey colors change every 10-12 weeks

[Lucky Pucker]

20 hours ago, CalValce said:

My G3 set

My G4 set

And the G5 Set

I play in an over 30 Roller Draft League and an Roller Platinum Draft league as well so the jersey colors change every 10-12 weeks

Ah - thanks... but I was actually hoping to see @Puckstopper's jersey, given his OP and very different colour scheme

[Puckstopper]

A few more pics concentrating on the thigh rise, glove, AirSlide and jersies as requested.   As a side note my second team also utilizes a black/green/orange color scheme but the colors don't match as nicely.

As you can see, the thigh rise has already begun taking on a nice S-Curve with only a week of being stored upside-down.

I got impatient last night and decided to get an hour of ice time in with the new set (minus the glove which isn't quite ready for game play).  Preliminary on-ice impressions are that rebounds come off these babies HOT, that they are the best sliding set I've ever used and that I certainly got what I ordered with the X-Stiff thighrises.  Shots hitting both the pads and the blocker have a much louder thump than my GT2's and have a much higher exit velocity than any previous set I've used. 

As far as sliding goes, I overslid pucks several times and had to reach back to make saves.  Getting used to these will be a pleasure.  I'll have to examine my GT2 set to see if I can figure out what makes these slide so much better, but the difference is noticeable!

Finally, the stiff thigh rises work well but will require adjustments on my part.  If these stay 80% as stiff as they currently are they'll still be the stiffest set I've ever owned.  This is not a knock on the pads, simply a fact to be aware of.  

One final thought, is that the softer boot does allow much easier cross-crease pushes and does a lot to offset the 90 degree boot.

Edited March 9, 2020 by Puckstopper

[SaveByRichter35]

Its amazing to me how thin these pads are

[ThatCarGuy]

I’m sold. These sound exactly like what I’d want from a pad. Any chance you could put a number on the weight?

[Puckstopper]

If I can get my hands on a postal scale I'll get an exact number.   Suffice it to say they're (at worst) no heavier than my GT2 set and they feel slightly lighter.

[CalValce]

Mine weighed in at 4.4 lbs for 32+2

[Kayen]

Did they keep the velcro orientation the same on the liners, so that in theory the liners could be backwards compatible with G3 gloves? (I know you can do G4 to G3, but not to G2 since velcro was reversed on the G3).