Beefing up a chest protector

[Math.]

So my C/A is a good unit, fairly protective and very mobile with only one draw back I could come up with, every now and then I would feel shots to the belly.  It didn't happened very often so I didn't acted upon it, but recently I felt one that made me go : alright, that's enough.  So I managed to finally get my hands on a sewing machine and got to work.

Modifications included adding padding to the heart guard, doubling up the shoulder floaters and beefing up the front and side of the body.

Materials used : 1/2 inch yoga mat, anti fatigue floor mat (1/4" eva foam mat), jenpro (or similar faux leather material), jacket liner fabric and various bits of fabric elastic and Velcro.

The floaters I did by building duplicate of 1/4" eva foam and jenpro, and fixed them under the existing floaters through the elastic straps.  I also squeezed a piece of the same foam under the existing heart guard.

For the internals, I built a pad with soft 1/2 yoga mat contained in a jacket liner pocket and held in place with Velcro. 

It's amazing how much it beef up the unit and, although I have to test it out, I'm confident I'll never feel a stinger ever again!

Feel free to ask any questions.  Cheers.

Edited November 17, 2020 by Math.

[MrGoalie]

Nice work!

[Math.]

40 minutes ago, MrGoalie said:

Nice work!

Thanks.  It's not the prettiest job but it does the trick.  Can't wait to give it a try, see if I lost any mobility and if so, how much.

[ArdeFIN]

I like the idea of those doubled shoulder floaters and that chest and belly area paddig. Good job.

I just might get some ideas from this to my own VE8 project.

[creasecollector]

Great modifications. Well done! You should be able to getting much more life out of your epic unit. 

I did the exact same MODs with the Shoulder Floaters and heart guard on my current CCM C/A. I didn't need it, but I just wanted to do it.

I layered them the same way with old pieces from a Jr RBK P1 C/A. I also have an old, removable belly pad similar to what you have on my old RBK P2 C/A that I will attach to my CCM unit if/when I need it. 

 

 

I also plan on attaching these old Vaughn knee wraps to the upper arm to my CCM Pro unit if/when I need them too like I did on my old Premier 2 C/A. Mobility is not restricted and they work perfectly.

 

 

 

Edited November 16, 2020 by creasecollector

[Math.]

On 11/15/2020 at 9:13 AM, ArdeFIN said:

I like the idea of those doubled shoulder floaters and that chest and belly area paddig. Good job.

I just might get some ideas from this to my own VE8 project.

Please do and be welcome to ask questions on the process I went through or pitch ideas.  I'm also following your VE8 thread.

 

On 11/16/2020 at 12:43 AM, creasecollector said:

Great modifications. Well done! You should be able to getting much more life out of your epic unit. 

I did the exact same MODs with the Shoulder Floaters and heart guard on my current CCM C/A. I didn't need it, but I just wanted to do it.

I layered them the same way with old pieces from a Jr RBK P1 C/A. I also have an old, removable belly pad similar to what you have on my old RBK P2 C/A that I will attach to my CCM unit if/when I need it. 

 

 

I also plan on attaching these old Vaughn knee wraps to the upper arm to my CCM Pro unit if/when I need them too like I did on my old Premier 2 C/A. Mobility is not restricted and they work perfectly.

 

 

 

The whole idea about these mods was to avoid spending on a new CA altogether.  I was at a point where I had worked to make the unit fit well and really appreciate the mobility, coverage is very good considering I'm built on a small frame but protection was lacking a little in some areas.  Didn't want to spend the money but mostly, didn't wanted to have to adjust to a new unit.

I remember seeing the double floaters mod somewhere on this board and wanted to give it a try.  Not having an extra CA on hand, I just built something that I thought would work and it really did make a significant difference.  All for about 13$ total! 

For the thigh board idea, I see we think much alike has I did the exact same thing to mine using the boards that came with my first set of pads.

 

Edited November 17, 2020 by Math.

[ser33]

1 hour ago, Math. said:

The whole idea about these mods was to avoid spending on a new CA altogether.  I was at a point where I had worked to make the unit fit well and really appreciate the mobility, coverage is very good considering I'm built on a small frame but protection was lacking a little in some areas.  Didn't want to spend the money but mostly, didn't wanted to have to adjust to a new unit.

I remember seeing the double floaters mod somewhere on this board and wanted to give it a try.  Not having an extra CA on hand, I just built something that I thought would work and it really did make a significant difference.  All for about 13$ total! 

 

for the same reason, I have upgraded my bauer s170, making it much stronger, but I have completely disassembled it and added foam to every part of it

[creasecollector]

4 hours ago, Math. said:

Please do and be welcome to ask questions on the process I went through or pitch ideas.  I'm also following your VE8 thread.

 

The whole idea about these mods was to avoid spending on a new CA altogether.  I was at a point where I had worked to make the unit fit well and really appreciate the mobility, coverage is very good considering I'm built on a small frame but protection was lacking a little in some areas.  Didn't want to spend the money but mostly, didn't wanted to have to adjust to a new unit.

I remember seeing the double floaters mod somewhere on this board and wanted to give it a try.  Not having an extra CA on hand, I just built something that I thought would work and it really did make a significant difference.  All for about 13$ total! 

For the thigh board idea, I see we think much alike has I did the exact same thing to mine using the boards that came with my first set of pads.

 

Very nice though wrap/board mod. We do think alike! 

May I ask how you fixed it to the upper arm? I see it's strapped in, but any additional attachment to hold it in place permanently? Looks really good and It doesn't look like it will move around. Thank you.

[Math.]

4 hours ago, creasecollector said:

Very nice though wrap/board mod. We do think alike! 

May I ask how you fixed it to the upper arm? I see it's strapped in, but any additional attachment to hold it in place permanently? Looks really good and It doesn't look like it will move around. Thank you.

They've been there for years and never moved.  Those are cheap boards that came with cheap pads and the attachment point was made w/ velcro.  I bascially just stuck the sticky side of the velcro to the mesh type fabric on the upper arm.  The soft side of the velcro being up, it helps the inner elbow pads sliding onto it and not interfering.  Honnestly, I couldn't have designed it better, it really worked out good the way they were made.

[creasecollector]

2 hours ago, Math. said:

They've been there for years and never moved.  Those are cheap boards that came with cheap pads and the attachment point was made w/ velcro.  I bascially just stuck the sticky side of the velcro to the mesh type fabric on the upper arm.  The soft side of the velcro being up, it helps the inner elbow pads sliding onto it and not interfering.  Honnestly, I couldn't have designed it better, it really worked out good the way they were made.

That's awesome - Thank you!

[Math.]

And then if we're going to go overkill, why not go the extra mile right?!

Added extra padding to the throat protector.  1/4" foam, held in place w/ 3 patches of velcro.  Probably should have punched holes in the foam to help w/ ventilation but I tought about it afterwards and I don't feel like unstitching and restiching the thing, I'll see how it works once on the ice.  The good thing is I planned this much ahead and put the soft part of the velcro on the existing bib, so can still be used as originaly made w/out tearing holes in my base layer.

[A.YOUNGoalie13]

Anyone have a good frankenchesty? I guess thats kind of the same as beefing up a chesty. I want to try a vaughn body with brians arms. Vaughn arms suck

[creasecollector]

15 hours ago, A.YOUNGoalie13 said:

Anyone have a good frankenchesty? I guess thats kind of the same as beefing up a chesty. I want to try a vaughn body with brians arms. Vaughn arms suck

Check out this older thread. His creations were nice:

 

[SixThreeStopper]

Something else that works great for beefing up heart guards is using the belly pad that often comes with your pants. To me, those are redundant and a little annoying if they're floppy, but are the proper shape in many cases to Speedy Stitch onto your chest.

[ArdeFIN]

Good old topic to add this short modification.

Begins from few months back when I finally found a RGT2Pro C/A for myself. I had been eyeballing for one for a long time but seemingly nobody isn't really wanting to part with theirs and I do understand that.

Looking the unit through I liked what I saw and got it pretty well setup too. Only spot I was really worried about was the top portion of the arms. Above bicep protection and next to or actually under the shoulder floater. There is only a pitiful flap of less than 10mm thickness, propably made of thin foam and aired plastic that is hard but not like basic plastic sheet is. Here's the plate and you can see the webbing material behind it.

Lifting my hand to the side there is an opening barely covered by that nearly nonexistent plate.

So it took about 10 ice times before I caught one there. Not bad but enough for me to take some action. Made me wonder as I use a VE8 padded shirt under the C/A and there is a padding sheet on that area. The shot was just a crisp snap shot from a close distance.

So I digged into my "spare" parts boxes and found a leftover from an old Reebok 6K hand. It had the side plates on the elbow that were pretty much spot on in size, shape, material and also looking good enough to be added to my almost new C/A. Here they are cut off, edges shaped and the binding replaced as good as possible. Not perfect but will do very well. About 10mm thickness, 5mm soft foam on bottom and 5mm harder foam on top. Almost the same as the original plate on the C/A.

I first thought that I would just sew there to the sleeves but then I realised that I had the hands on the wider setup on the C/A which reveals a nice line of holes where I could attach these addon pads with lace. So no modification done that couldn't be removed or changed if needed. Didn't get any decent picture of the attachment and I'll add one later. 

Here's how it came out. The cover thickness is doubled and all three flaps on shoulder do move regardless of each other which seems to help with mobility. I didn't notice any change on hand movements. This picture is a bit bulged as the arms are pulled forward so that the shoulders push ahead too.

For a comparison here's a picture from internet. This mod doesn't really popout a lot.

Testing this mod protectionvise will propably take a lot of time if I even notice anything anymore. Mobility will be tested anyways and hopefully no problems will occur.

Edited December 11, 2022 by ArdeFIN

[creasecollector]

Well done, sweet mod. 

[RichMan]

@ArdeFIN any updates on your shoulder mod? Can you post a pic and/or explain how you attached them to the unit?

Caught one there last week in my Bauer 2S and it killed. It was tender for a week and is now black and blue. I'm gonna have to Magiver that with parts from used forward shoulder pads or some knee guards.

Bauer could of added some kind of foam bar like Brown or a Tear drop like Vaughn to help. 

[johncho]

I'm curious on how it's attached as well.

You know one thing I noticed while looking at my kid's Chesty that's now too small, how I could cut up the parts and source it to beef up my own chesty (it sells for only about 50~80$ CAD). And looks wise, they are the same color and model so it would look stock haha.

[ArdeFIN]

I'll have to take some photos of the attachment to give you a better detail, but simply said I made holes to the beefups and tied them to the sleeve laces. Warrior uses the lace attached sleeves...

Edited September 10, 2023 by ArdeFIN

[ArdeFIN]

It's not much to see with these pictures. I remebered wrong here as I've since updated these pads to the ones I had in my FrankenCCM. These addons have sewn in jenpro tabs with holes. Structurally the same as to make the holes to the pad itself. The added tab doesn't show too well in the picture but you get some idea.

Then some lace to attach the pad to the length adjustment holes on Warrior C/A. Could use elastic lace here too to add some give to the movements. Warrior has a lot of holes to lace sleeve which is good for aligning the sleeve but also to add this kind of extra. Any way you do it you need to test it a bit to see how the tab positions itself to between the layers.

Another one from under the added tab. If the holes were through the flap it would maybe be easier to set it where you want it. This type of attachment leaves some play no matter how you tighten the lace. But in this setup it works. I can't tell that the extra flap is there from mobility nor anything else. Direct comparison isn't possible though.

 

[indykrap]

This is the exact mod I need to make, @ArdeFIN. Took a nice shot to that open spot that gave me a big bruise, and I really don't want to get a new chestie (RGT2 is super mobile and good elsewhere) but that seems to be a known weak spot.

Looking at the newer models now, they really seem to have beefed up that spot and added extra padding. I'll have to do some digging and see what I can find. Thanks for all the pics and reference material!

[OldSchoolGoalie]

15 hours ago, indykrap said:

This is the exact mod I need to make, @ArdeFIN. Took a nice shot to that open spot that gave me a big bruise, and I really don't want to get a new chestie (RGT2 is super mobile and good elsewhere) but that seems to be a known weak spot.

Looking at the newer models now, they really seem to have beefed up that spot and added extra padding. I'll have to do some digging and see what I can find. Thanks for all the pics and reference material!

I use a Warrior Warrior Ritual X3 E+ and right above the bicep is pretty bad on these. I should also look at beefing it up. The only other problem I ever had was rib shots when I'm doing a desperation save. I did use a Vaughn Velocity V9 Padded Goalie Compression Shirt to solve that issue but it is a pain to maintain it (every comb pad has to be manually removed and put in), and I overheat wearing any undershirts.

[indykrap]

7 hours ago, OldSchoolGoalie said:

I use a Warrior Warrior Ritual X3 E+ and right above the bicep is pretty bad on these. I should also look at beefing it up. The only other problem I ever had was rib shots when I'm doing a desperation save. I did use a Vaughn Velocity V9 Padded Goalie Compression Shirt to solve that issue but it is a pain to maintain it (every comb pad has to be manually removed and put in), and I overheat wearing any undershirts.

Same here - I run hot so I'd prefer to keep the under layer light. I'll post here what I come up with.

[indykrap]

Thinking it over I'm probably just going to sew a layer on top of the existing flaps instead of a new one. I really like the existing mobility and think that one that snuck through was more of a one-off (and is a very covered spot normally). 

[creasecollector]

On 2/29/2024 at 4:06 PM, indykrap said:

Thinking it over I'm probably just going to sew a layer on top of the existing flaps instead of a new one. I really like the existing mobility and think that one that snuck through was more of a one-off (and is a very covered spot normally). 

Sounds great! Let us know how it goes.