What Drives Your Gear Purchases

[TheGoalNet]

Vote here and add any comments... 

[Mike24]

Price

I'm always looking for a deal.  I like very a bunch of different stuff to mess around with. 

[coopaloop1234]

Performance/specs was the big one for me.

The only reason I changed from my V4's to my R/GT's what that it had the right specs off the shelf to sway me enough to buy a new set. I was still pretty damn happy with my Vaughns.

[mik]

Performance and where gear is made is important to me.

I vote for "Favorite Pro Uses It" because my sets from last years are pro return from my favourite Ducks goalies. Not like "Price is in EFLEX"  so I will go buy that at store.

I like similar pieces what I´m used to (chest, skates, type of pads), but last time I went totaly different with Vaughn pads.

Price - of course is important, not in first place, but have my limits what I can spend, of course.  

[ULTIMA]

Innovation should have been an option to check off.

I do like the "pro" look. That means I want all 3 pieces (glove, blocker & pads) to be the same brand and same color/matching.

But we all want the same thing - good protection, light weight, mobility.

[IPv6Freely]

Assuming you can lump innovation into "performance" then that's definitely #1 for me. After that, I don't care much. I couldn't care less where its made, and I would say brand name but that's not accurate either. I mean, I don't buy Brian's because it says Brian's on it, but I buy Brian's because Brian's makes the best equipment IMO. 

It's like when I ordered my Model 3 before they even released what it was going to look like. Does it matter? It's a Tesla, so you know it will be good. 

[bunnyman666]

It better be cheap if off the peg!!!!

[cwarnar]

For me it comes down to function... incorporating performance and weight.  I'm turning 37 and I need every advantage I can get.  

My Passau set was built on this principle and that's why I moved to Warrior gear and a 1S stick

[Puckducker]

I'm fortunate enough in life that I don't have to worry over price (too much), so it's not a deciding factor. But a large reason why I don't look at the price tag is that I rarely buy new gear (the new pads I'm looking at will be the 4th set of pads I've owned in 26 years of being between the pipes). So when I buy gear, I don't mind paying for pro stock, because I don't plan on replacing that gear for 6 or 7 years.

So performance/quality is tops for me

That all being said, as I always tell my teams when they're looking to get new jersey colours, "I'm the only one on the ice that needs to look cool". The way I see it, half my job is to intimidate the other team before they've even taken a shot on me. So the look of the gear is always a big factor. 

 

[IPv6Freely]

3 minutes ago, Puckducker said:

I'm fortunate enough in life that I don't have to worry over price (too much), so it's not a deciding factor. But a large reason why I don't look at the price tag is that I rarely buy new gear (the new pads I'm looking at will be the 4th set of pads I've owned in 26 years of being between the pipes). So when I buy gear, I don't mind paying for pro stock, because I don't plan on replacing that gear for 6 or 7 years.

So performance/quality is tops for me

That all being said, as I always tell my teams when they're looking to get new jersey colours, "I'm the only one on the ice that needs to look cool". The way I see it, half my job is to intimidate the other team before they've even taken a shot on me. So the look of the gear is always a big factor. 

 

Look good, feel good, play good. 

[SaveByRichter35]

I voted, in no particular order

• Price - For obvious reasons.  Though, maybe I take this one back because really all pro level sets are around the same price.  Well, at least the major brands.
• Where its made - I prefer something made in North America
• Something similar to what I used to have - I don't like major changes in my gear.  I don't like getting used to something new.

Performance would probably be the category I used to replace price.

 

[estogoalie]

To me, the feel is #1. If it doesn't feel right, the rest doesn't matter. After that, then maybe look or brand. We'll, of course it has to look good, all goalies are narsacissic. Brand, I tend to prefer smaller or certain companies (I look at Brian's and Vaughn first, and generally avoid CCM and Bauer), or ones that mfgr in NA (like Passau). Cost is a lesser factor, but still there. Which pro is using the gear has zero influence in my decision.

[Moose75]

I always look for feel/performance first. I need something functional that feels right for the way my game is changing. I'm not that tied up into pad weight, but I also don't want two slabs of iron on my legs.

I'm pretty fickle with gear. I tend to switch back to older stuff if my game doesn't instantly mesh with new equipment right away. So naturally I try to look for a similar feel to what I liked about my older equipment, but also look for anything that could be improved on, or something I no longer have a use for (i.e. boot strap. I wore it so loose it was a vestigial organ on my pads). When I was younger I often tried things that I hoped I was going to like (i.e. Kipper spec glove), yet wound up being incompatible with them. Now that a new glove cost roughly 600 bucks, I'm not taking those risks as much anymore. I did get the Blackwood spec XR pad, and the thick one-piece knee block had to be crudely modified after a while so it didn't feel like I was landing on cinderblocks. 

In terms of buying new gear, I've thrown price out the window now. Unless you can find a white whale on Sideline Swap or eBay, you're giving a few arms and legs for gear anyways, so I'd rather have exactly what I want. That said, I'm not paying 300 dollars for a goalie stick. I can get a dozen foam cores for the price of four 1S composites (A bit of a moot point as I'm still Cory Schneidering it with my stick game). Additionally I don't know if any of that China-made versus USA/Canada-made hoopla is fact or fiction, but I tend to jump on the bandwagon of nervous folks who'd rather have it made here.

Lastly, I go for cool graphics/overall style too. If I'm paying 2700$ for a set, I'd rather have the graphics not look like a heap of poo (i.e. whatever CCM has been doing with the Eflex lines. I loved the Premier graphic, but P2's graphic looks...not good). Functionality and performance comes first though.

[SaveByRichter35]

21 hours ago, Moose75 said:

I always look for feel/performance first. I need something functional that feels right for the way my game is changing. I'm not that tied up into pad weight, but I also don't want two slabs of iron on my legs.

I'm pretty fickle with gear. I tend to switch back to older stuff if my game doesn't instantly mesh with new equipment right away. So naturally I try to look for a similar feel to what I liked about my older equipment, but also look for anything that could be improved on, or something I no longer have a use for (i.e. boot strap. I wore it so loose it was a vestigial organ on my pads). When I was younger I often tried things that I hoped I was going to like (i.e. Kipper spec glove), yet wound up being incompatible with them. Now that a new glove cost roughly 600 bucks, I'm not taking those risks as much anymore. I did get the Blackwood spec XR pad, and the thick one-piece knee block had to be crudely modified after a while so it didn't feel like I was landing on cinderblocks. 

In terms of buying new gear, I've thrown price out the window now. Unless you can find a white whale on Sideline Swap or eBay, you're giving a few arms and legs for gear anyways, so I'd rather have exactly what I want. That said, I'm not paying 300 dollars for a goalie stick. I can get a dozen foam cores for the price of four 1S composites (A bit of a moot point as I'm still Cory Schneidering it with my stick game). Additionally I don't know if any of that China-made versus USA/Canada-made hoopla is fact or fiction, but I tend to jump on the bandwagon of nervous folks who'd rather have it made here.

Lastly, I go for cool graphics/overall style too. If I'm paying 2700$ for a set, I'd rather have the graphics not look like a heap of poo (i.e. whatever CCM has been doing with the Eflex lines. I loved the Premier graphic, but P2's graphic looks...not good). Functionality and performance comes first though.

Well said on all accounts

[TheGoalNet]

Interesting to see that weight is a minority factor. On some level, performance encompasses weight 

[IPv6Freely]

9 minutes ago, TheGoalNet said:

Interesting to see that weight is a minority factor. On some level, performance encompasses weight 

Weight is completely irrelevant for me. Anything on the market is going to be pretty damn light these days, and I'm not one of those people who is able to feel 5 grams difference.

Going along that route, my VH are significantly heavier than just about everything else I've worn... but the fit is so good that it doesn't matter. 

[SaveByRichter35]

1 hour ago, IPv6Freely said:

Weight is completely irrelevant for me. Anything on the market is going to be pretty damn light these days, and I'm not one of those people who is able to feel 5 grams difference.

Going along that route, my VH are significantly heavier than just about everything else I've worn... but the fit is so good that it doesn't matter. 

Exactly.

[TheGoalNet]

2 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

Weight is completely irrelevant for me. Anything on the market is going to be pretty damn light these days, and I'm not one of those people who is able to feel 5 grams difference.

Going along that route, my VH are significantly heavier than just about everything else I've worn... but the fit is so good that it doesn't matter. 

Different strokes for different folks. 

I would never wear anything that didn't fit properly or wasn't safe enough... but I will always pick the lighter of 2 pieces of gear. Settling for "light enough" means everyone can stop pushing the boundaries of what possibles or looking for better materials