Abraham Simpson Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 I was looking for some relatively inexpensive custom twigs, when I came across a company called Hoapa. It looks like they’re based in Taiwan, and started selling sticks under their own name in 2019. Anyone have any experience using these? They claim their 27” sticks weigh only 695g, and as far as I know, it’s the only company that offers hot pink as a colour option: https://www.hoapahockey.com/products/hg1-sr-stick?variant=17985562017863 Despite the novelty, I ended-up ordering a few Christians... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dualshowman Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 Mamma Mia! I hoapa deeza donta breaka! Ciao! I'm 1/4 Italian, so I can legally do that. Just can't be made... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abraham Simpson Posted June 19, 2020 Author Share Posted June 19, 2020 I’ll respond to my own thread, since I decided to order a Hoapa stick just for fun after finding a 25% off coupon. Here are some observations: 1. This feels like a 2X clone in terms of weight, shape and finish. My cheap kitchen scale shows that a 25” (taped) 2X stick and a 27” (not taped) Hoapa have the same weight, around 630g. 2. Blade shape and size are virtually identical. 3. The 27” Hoapa paddle is about 2.5” longer than a 2X 25” paddle. This would be a stick for only the tallest of goalies. 4. The shape and thickness of the paddle where it meets the shaft is almost the same on both sticks — the 2X might be a little thicker. 5. The Hoapa is a gorgeous stick, and can be ordered in unusual colours. In terms of options, Hoapa really needs to do some work if it wants to expand the goalie side of its business. The forward sticks have a bunch of options that players can choose from, but the goalie stick only comes in a P31 curve and a 27” paddle (which is closer to 27.5”). Their website never specified how they measure their paddle length, so I was assuming that a 27” Hoapa would actually be closer to a 26” Bauer, since only a small percentage of goalies would choose to go with a full 27”. I was wrong ... They do offer some choices for grips: Standard, Gloss, Matte and “sharkskin” for the shaft, and no grip or sharkskin grip for the blade. I chose the “standard” grip for the shaft, so the entire length of the shape is actually pretty grippy. They did am outstanding job in this area, since visually you can’t even tell that you go from a glossy paddle to a grippy shaft. Because of these limited options, I can assume that when an order arrives, they can just take a stick off the shelf, apply the appropriate grip, stick on a namebar, and ship it off. This explains the phenomenal delivery time: 9 days from order date to delivery in Canada. I unfortunately can’t speak about its durability or performance, since rinks haven’t yet reopened in my area. In terms of price, I paid the company $210 Canadian, but was dinged another $40 when the stick had to clear customs, so the grand total was $250 Canadian all included. For comparison, the 2X is currently about $350 with taxes. Pros: - lightweight - quality design and great colours - rapid delivery Cons: - limited customization options - 27” default is too long for the average goalie - regular price is too high TBD: - Performance & durability Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motowngoalie Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Great writeup! I've been looking at these as well, do you have a link to the 25% off coupon? I believe @Hills has done some testing of their player sticks on his Youtube channel, but overall there's not much out there about Hoapa. Also, it looks like they'll reimburse the duty fees you paid: https://www.hoapahockey.com/pages/custom-duty-reimbursement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abraham Simpson Posted June 19, 2020 Author Share Posted June 19, 2020 1 hour ago, motowngoalie said: Great writeup! I've been looking at these as well, do you have a link to the 25% off coupon? I believe @Hills has done some testing of their player sticks on his Youtube channel, but overall there's not much out there about Hoapa. Also, it looks like they'll reimburse the duty fees you paid: https://www.hoapahockey.com/pages/custom-duty-reimbursement The coupon popped-up on Facebook — 25% off your first order if you join their mailing list. Thanks for the link to the duty reimbursement, but it looks like most of the fees charged at the border relate to sales taxes collected by the Cdn government Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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