Pads for old people

[cuprajake]

Just watching bones unbox his new pads and it got me thinking, 

The new generation of pads are all very stiff boards made for people who are 6ft plus with no hip sockets.

Then i got to thinking what about us old gits who dont bend to well anymore??

I recently unboxed and sent back warrior g5 and bauer 3s, both stiff pads, 

So bar the vast sizing jump, what pads are there available now that are softer, more flexible?

You look at bauer, the vapor is stiff, ccm the efelex is stiff, even vaughns are stiff now. 

Are we destined to buying old pairs of beat up pads for ever????

[creasecollector]

You could order custom, but yeah, a lot of the 'soft' options still make for a stiffer pad than before. The durability is a lot better.

As for the change in gear, you do get used to it though and they will soften up a tiny bit with time. 

[kudot]

If you consider eflex and vaughns stiff than I doubt you will find anything at a retailer that is soft enough for you. 

Maybe something like the Brown 2100 Classic is an older style squishy pad

You can potentially go custom through one of the smaller guys? 
I think you can still get something like the Don Simmons Ultra light pads from the guys that took over the Simmons brand?

 

 

[daffy]

Boddam Hybrids.  Made as soft as they come.  ( Same as Simmons 586).  Heavy compared to pads today but they will bend and twist anyway you want.

But yeah options are limited.

[Quadzilla32]

Simmons 586(retro) pads are pretty soft. They feel and play like old velocity pads. I have a pair of double break Simmons and actually got new pads because they were to soft for my liking. I have a narrower BF and my hips aren’t the greatest but warrior pads aren’t that stiff and actually close better than my soft double break pads. 

[ArdeFIN]

I don't understand why it is always said that you should have softer pads when older or so? I'm very comfortable with my Warrior GT Sr pads, didn't enjoy myself just as much with Vaughn LT88 pads that were already very used. Worst I've tried so far were CCM Eflex500 that were supersoft and nice. Those were terrible to play with no matter what. 

Fair to say that I'm already very used to my GT pads but I'd try some even stiffer pads next. Then again it's not only being stiff, I tried Supreme S29 pads in a store and those didn't work at all for what I'd like. Maybe those would fare better on ice with full gear and skates but I just couldn't se myself going with them.

It's sort of a stereotype of these days saying you have to have softer or stiffer pads. Just as someone is referred to hybrid style vs butterfly or blocking style. How do those really differ from each other anymore? 

[keeperton]

Do you not like stiffer pads because you are "old" or because you grew up using something different?

[Max27]

check vaughn v9s out. same with brians gnetik. some of the softest pro pads you can buy.  vapors are flexible but are very much butterfly style pads and eflex is getting to be very stiff up top compared to previous models and even the axis and premier from my experience. 

[cuprajake]

I use warrior stuff atm, which as snr gear is softer 

When you get older and loose flexibility, and hip rage you need more flex in a pad, doesn't have to be soft but needs to flex 

[keeperton]

1 hour ago, cuprajake said:

I use warrior stuff atm, which as snr gear is softer 

When you get older and loose flexibility, and hip rage you need more flex in a pad, doesn't have to be soft but needs to flex 

Does it need flex or does it need to be pre-curved [more]? Very few pads have mechanism that makes the knees or thighs flex. Hell, most pads have thigh landings that prevent the knee from bending further than a couple of inches.

[Griff1604]

On 9/6/2020 at 5:07 PM, cuprajake said:

I use warrior stuff atm, which as snr gear is softer 

When you get older and loose flexibility, and hip rage you need more flex in a pad, doesn't have to be soft but needs to flex 

Have you considered something like Optik 2’s? Not really flexible but pre-curved which means you don’t need as wide of a butterfly. Still stiff, slide incredibly, and have hot rebounds. I don’t have the best hips and mine have been nothing short of amazing for me so far.

[cuprajake]

Agree, you dont see top straps to often anymore 

Im bot in the market for pads, just thought it would be a good topic

I would love a set of optiks though

[Hockey School Dropout]

The nice thing about stiffer pads is the pucks rebound further.  Thus gives you more time to react, and as we get older, that becomes an important factor. 

[cuprajake]

So i tried the g5 tonight, really didnt go down well 

Felt so awkward, bulky and just wouldn't sit right on my leg

[keeperton]

52 minutes ago, cuprajake said:

So i tried the g5 tonight, really didnt go down well 

Felt so awkward, bulky and just wouldn't sit right on my leg

Could you be more specific (too high/low, rotation, etc)? This sounds like a potential strapping thing and possibly related to the boot.

[WillyGrips13]

Remember folks, just because something works for you doesn’t mean it will work for someone else. 

[Quadzilla32]

51 minutes ago, WillyGrips13 said:

Remember folks, just because something works for you doesn’t mean it will work for someone else. 

I agree with you but I also don’t understand when people say they pad X won’t work for them because they tried them on in the store for ten mins on carpet. 
 

for example I tried on warrior in the store and the 33’s fit me perfectly and the 34’s were to big. Fast forward and my 34’s fit perfectly, some would argue almost little to small. If I went with the 33’s I would be off the stack. 
 

[cuprajake]

Its 100% strapping. More the toe tie 

The tie is offset which pulled the boot out, they rotated well actually, with the straps tighter or loose. 

They just felt stiff on the leg. 

The knees blocks also larger than the gt vesrion, which feels to add to the illusion of bulk. 

I have a second training tonight, im going to try something else toe tie wise

[keeperton]

16 hours ago, cuprajake said:

Its 100% strapping. More the toe tie 

The tie is offset which pulled the boot out, they rotated well actually, with the straps tighter or loose. 

They just felt stiff on the leg. 

The knees blocks also larger than the gt vesrion, which feels to add to the illusion of bulk. 

I have a second training tonight, im going to try something else toe tie wise

Good luck (this is not sarcastic). It took me a long time to get toe ties right for me. I used to do a really bizarre "tight but loose," where I'd put knots on them (when using lace) then crank down my boot strap. Ever since I got lundylooped skates and elastic toe ties that I dialed in on the instep it's been great. Hope something like that works for you.

[creasecollector]

30 minutes ago, keeperton said:

Good luck (this is not sarcastic). It took me a long time to get toe ties right for me. I used to do a really bizarre "tight but loose," where I'd put knots on them (when using lace) then crank down my boot strap. Ever since I got lundylooped skates and elastic toe ties that I dialed in on the instep it's been great. Hope something like that works for you.

+1 for the Lundy Loop and Elastic toe tie setup. Works well for me. 

I've always been a skate lace guy for my toe ties, but I switched the Elastic toe ties early this year and I love them. Sturdy and tight when you need it, but stretches when you need it and retracts back after.

[cuprajake]

Yeah ive been an elastic user since back in the day, being an in line goalie ive had to find different ways of strapping pads over the yrs 

These just need a bit of break in and dialing in. 

They rotate better than the gt for sure, they just feel bulky. 

Doesnt matter atm now as ive got an mcl sprain or worse

[MTH]

I wear Velocity 1s still... 

[coopaloop1234]

7 minutes ago, MTH said:

I wear Velocity 1s still... 

I thought you retired?

[hateclowns]

I'm in a similar yelling at cloud boat.

I have been using the same pair of pads on ice since like 2006.  And it will sicken most of you to know what they are - Mission Heliums. 

But since they are literally disintegrating, I've been testing out "newer" pads.  I use quotes heavily since I bought a pair of V5 7800s a couple years back, and that's new to me.  I don't love them, but don't know if that's me or just being unfamiliar / not having them how I like them.

Even before everything shutting down, I didn't get much ice time, so the usual answer of "you've just got to play in them and change things to get them how you like it" didn't help me much.

So I decided I'm going to build a slide board surface in my basement.  Not really for working on drills / exercising, but to play around with strapping and other personal preference stuff.  The biggest issue I see arising is covering the skate - slide boards are usually in booties or socks, but without knowing how the strapping to the skates feel, that's a big question mark I'd still have.

While it won't replicate ice time, I can at least get much closer to knowing how I'd like more modern pads to be.  I have some pre-scamming Monster Halo straps to try, some elastic toe ties, and a couple other things I want to try swapping in and out to see what works better.

I look forward to entering the 2010s as a truly modern goalie.

 

[estogoalie]

On 9/6/2020 at 11:07 PM, cuprajake said:

I use warrior stuff atm

You use Warrior a** to mouth? Hold on, what forum am I on...?