Vaughn VE8 Carbon

[Quadzilla32]

Hey guys

I’m in the market for a new chesty and was trying on some at my LHS and tried a ve8 and actually really liked how mobile and light it felt. I have never worn or used Vaughn and have heard mixed reviews as far as protection and feeling shots in the arms. I came across one online that is at a great price point as well as the retailer gave it their “spec” and beefed up the arms as well as the sternum area. 

anyone have any experience with the carbon model and can give any feedback on comfort and protection? I know this is suppose to be their “pro” model but everything I have read generally says that their pro models are still modified because the protection isn’t there  

I currently have a Passau pro pack on the way but want to have a back up in case the pro pack is just too bulky or uncomfortable. I play upper intermediate beer league and face some good shots every so often. I’m currently in a 8+ year old Simmons. 

[southpawtendy48]

i got the pro carbon THS spec, the THS spec has a little more padding in the sternum and arms than the regular pro carbon, but it's not too much of a difference. it's very mobile out of the box so it doesn't take much time to break in compared to other chesties, other than the stingers in the upper arm once and a while its very protective and very mobile. arm padding has been an issue with vaughn for a while now but for the most part i have had no issues with that. 

[Quadzilla32]

2 hours ago, southpawtendy48 said:

i got the pro carbon THS spec, the THS spec has a little more padding in the sternum and arms than the regular pro carbon, but it's not too much of a difference. it's very mobile out of the box so it doesn't take much time to break in compared to other chesties, other than the stingers in the upper arm once and a while its very protective and very mobile. arm padding has been an issue with vaughn for a while now but for the most part i have had no issues with that. 

I’m actually looking at that exact one. They advertise “beefed up” but I was wondering how much it actually was. I get occasional stingers in my arms now so if they aren’t any worse than my current chesty then I can live with that. The mobility is what is drawing me, I put it on and was already having full range of motion and didn’t feel like anything was binding or snagging. 

have you had any wear issues or anything breaking down to fast? 

[bildeer]

I actually have the same C/A that you are referring to. I have used it at the ACHA Division one level for one season and can recall many times where I could feel shots to the arms, but I could only feel the very hard shots. I never received any bruises to the arms with mine. 

As long as you are okay with feeling the occasional shot, I would say you would enjoy using this C/A.

[mr_shifty1982]

Why pay so much money for such abuse. I don't get some of these companies to be honest, charge an arm and a leg for stingers and bruises. Every year price going up and up. 

[Quadzilla32]

28 minutes ago, mr_shifty1982 said:

Why pay so much money for such abuse. I don't get some of these companies to be honest, charge an arm and a leg for stingers and bruises. Every year price going up and up. 

That’s why I generally stay away from big brand stuff and stick to smaller places that make better gear and usually same price if not cheaper. 

Only looking at this because I tried one on and loved how it felt plus the one I’m looking at gets me good exchange rate and on sale. I’ll get a “pro” model for a SR price. 

[Chenner29]

19 hours ago, Quadzilla32 said:

Hey guys

I’m in the market for a new chesty and was trying on some at my LHS and tried a ve8 and actually really liked how mobile and light it felt. I have never worn or used Vaughn and have heard mixed reviews as far as protection and feeling shots in the arms. I came across one online that is at a great price point as well as the retailer gave it their “spec” and beefed up the arms as well as the sternum area. 

anyone have any experience with the carbon model and can give any feedback on comfort and protection? I know this is suppose to be their “pro” model but everything I have read generally says that their pro models are still modified because the protection isn’t there  

I currently have a Passau pro pack on the way but want to have a back up in case the pro pack is just too bulky or uncomfortable. I play upper intermediate beer league and face some good shots every so often. I’m currently in a 8+ year old Simmons. 

A lot of people I talk to who use this unit love it for the mobility, but have issues with the arms.  They compare it to wearing an old sweater in terms of comfort, but also in terms of protection in the arms.

The most egregious issue IMO is that Vaughn continues to choose to use this shitty air knit material that wears through much quicker than traditional nylon.  If you go on Sidelineswap, you can find these units with padding popping through tears and holes in the air knit. 

I used to be a Vaughn guy from head to toe in the V2-V4 era, but IMO they've really fallen behind. The only thing I'm wearing from them now is the pants.

Sorry if that sounds like a rant. 

[Quadzilla32]

2 hours ago, bildeer said:

I actually have the same C/A that you are referring to. I have used it at the ACHA Division one level for one season and can recall many times where I could feel shots to the arms, but I could only feel the very hard shots. I never received any bruises to the arms with mine. 

As long as you are okay with feeling the occasional shot, I would say you would enjoy using this C/A.

When you say you felt them you mean you know it hit you or it was an ow but no bruise?

[Quadzilla32]

1 minute ago, Chenner29 said:

A lot of people I talk to who use this unit love it for the mobility, but have issues with the arms.  They compare it to wearing an old sweater in terms of comfort, but also in terms of protection in the arms.

The most egregious issue IMO is that Vaughn continues to choose to use this shitty air knit material that wears through much quicker than traditional nylon.  If you go on Sidelineswap, you can find these units with padding popping through tears and holes in the air knit. 

I used to be a Vaughn guy from head to toe in the V2-V4 era, but IMO they've really fallen behind. The only thing I'm wearing from them now is the pants.

Sorry if that sounds like a rant. 

Not at all I’m glad you chimed in. I don’t want to be being new stuff every year or two because it’s falling apart. There are so many other options out there that if one company makes low durability gear I can jump to another one. 

[bildeer]

I’ve never gotten a bruise in mine, I just recall very heavy shots to the arms hurting for just a second.

i haven’t noticed any degradation of the air knit material, but that may be because I have only used it for one season so far.

[southpawtendy48]

22 hours ago, Quadzilla32 said:

I’m actually looking at that exact one. They advertise “beefed up” but I was wondering how much it actually was. I get occasional stingers in my arms now so if they aren’t any worse than my current chesty then I can live with that. The mobility is what is drawing me, I put it on and was already having full range of motion and didn’t feel like anything was binding or snagging. 

have you had any wear issues or anything breaking down to fast? 

i’m not sure how much more padding it has, you can’t really tell from the outside as i’ve tried regular pro carbon and the THS pro carbon but didn’t try both for long enough to tell the difference, i think it could be higher quality materials in those areas. personally i would go for the THS, better safe than sorry, and i’ve had it for about a month and there’s been little to no signs of wear (as far as i’m aware)

and again, i only feel the really hard shots in the upper arm for just a second and it happens rarely. 

[ArdeFIN]

I'm looking forward to make trade of some old gear and getting a VE8 C/A non carbon in exchange. 

I've been around for more information about this chest as it looks nice for the images found and there seems to be the normal Vaughn problems.

What I cannot find from any pictures so far is what's under the shoulder floaters? And the arm padding is really hard to figure out as most of the pictures only are from front and rear at a distance. Closeups mostly only show the elbow floaters or the wrist strapping.

This would be a backup for my Brown, and also would go into the workshop as I'm quite interested about the padding on the arms and how I could get them better.

Can someone owning this VE8 chest post some pictures of the above mentioned things for me? I'll obviously get into this VE8 thing deeply soon enough but in the mean time I hunger the info about what is it. (or should I pass the deal right away)

[ArdeFIN]

Googling around for more info I found this difference between Pro and Pro Carbon. PC seems to have these extra padding/flaps under the floaters, and from some texts I read that there would be padding over the whole shoulder area under the floater.

These flaps (circled red, green is about the whole size of a flap) are velcroed in. This info is from some picture I was able to find.

Looks like there is a bit more than just added carbon and kevlar and higher quality materials to Pro carbon.

Local shops are not carrying the Pro carbon version anymore so I cannot go and compare these out.

[ArdeFIN]

Got that VE8 today and will be starting with it soon. Exited I am.

The sleeves are really thin, like a layer of hard foam/plastic and LD foam under it, about 20mm total at max. But then again the structure is so neat and nice. It'll be no time to make some openings there to insert some extra padding for a tryout. And with some planning those could be like velcro closed so the padding can be changed if needed.

Body protection felt pretty good in whole but I didn't go into deeper details yet. Shoulders might need a padding layer to give me a bit more size. But I have to look at these with care to not raise the shoulder floaters too high. They seemed to have an airgap under them.

Doesn't anyone have a PC version available for some measurements and detail pictures? Well, while un-modded this C/A is having a not so bright future I think...