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Factory Mad review (very long)


Bell31

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Hey guys,

After 6 ice sessions here is my review on the Factory Mad pads, glove, and blocker. 

Dennis at Factory Mad was a pleasure to deal with. He answered all my questions that I had about his equipment that he makes. The reason I made the decision to go with Factory Mad was his demo program. Back in July I demoed his Ultra light pads, glove, and blocker.

So on my equipment I wanted a simple design. I wanted vertical stitching on the pads, glove, and blocker. Dennis did a fabulous job on pads and gloves. 

Glove

It’s by far one of my favorite gloves to use. I also like the one piece glove design. I had Dennis put the vertical stitching on the cuff part. A+ job!

Love the floating T with skate lace! Glove is like a vacuum to pucks and is very easy to close too.

Glove comes with removable palm protection for stingers. Also the wrist strap is removable too. Both are secured with Velcro.

When I was demoing his glove I had some concerns about the protection. I took some shots and I did get some stingers. So I was a little worried.  With my new glove the protection is top notch. No stingers. The demo glove has seen a lot of action, so that’s probably why I got some stingers.

Blocker

The blocker that Dennis makes is great. Lots of mobility, protection, and is stable on your hand. His blocker doesn’t have a big and bulky side board. Love the simple design. More like old school blocker to me which I love. Had Dennis put the vertical stitching on the whole face. Once again his work great!

Pads

The pads are based off the new ultra lite one piece landing. Size 34”+1. His pads are not core foam pad, he has a layered foam system which offers a traditional feel pad.  Torsion flex.

I did ask Dennis for a couple things on the pad. I liked the demo pads with the Velcro strapping system. The Velcro strapping reminds me of my old G2.

I have 1 Velcro strap to go behind the knee, 3 for shin.  The boot has the traditional leather strap for the skate . The Velcro strapping system is great because the pad is very responsive to your moves. Also the one piece landing gives you a great seal on the ice when in the butterfly. The pad also slides just as well as my old G2. He also has a foam wedge which has really great for support and it’s very comfortable when in the butterfly. Having this puts less stress on your leg and knees. I had Dennis make a bungee toe strap similar to monster straps. On the demo pads he have skate lace sliding toe bridge. I didn’t like it.  With the bungee toe bridge it puts less strain on ankles. 

The boot I really like what Dennis has done. The boot area is super flexible and tapered toe. Helps get you in a  wider stance, and aids in pushing off making post to post saves.  On the under side of the boot area, there is an small area where your skate cap is snug  and conforms near the toe area. This also helps to keep the pads centered. 

On the face of the pad I went with jenpro face so I could have the vertical stitching. 

The outside gusset of the pad I did go cordura to reduce some weight. 

Overall the pads great. Good mobility, slide well, and are very comfortable. Rebounds come off the pads softer than my old G2. The one piece landing is stiff, which makes the pad less flexible in the middle of the pad. Thigh rise is flexible. I don’t mind the stiffness in the pad, because my G2 are just as stiff. The pad is a little heavier but I don’t mind. 

Any questions let me know.

Thanks

Ron

 

 

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Hi RichMan, 

Weight of the glove is good. It’s not the lightest glove on the market. Very balanced glove. I’ll take a weight next week at work.

As far as the puck sticking in the pocket I haven’t had a situation where it gets stuck. I’ll keep you posted. I have more skates coming up this month.

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I’ve actually talked with CCM about this. The blockaids were too far ahead of their time. Probably why the sales didn’t do the design justice. 

Many of those Heaton designs would hold up today. 

V7 Pads sorta look like a Heaton Z

Blockaid glove had the cleanest no binding we’ve seen

Gatekeeper was insanely thin

etc, etc 

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@TheGoalNet Love my Factory glove, as it is one of two that made the cut in my gear clear out. I like the blocker upon initial impression; unfortunately, I am IR for a very long time and can’t give an impression on it. Knee guards are EXCELLENT. Any mod Dennis carries out is sterling. 

Factory gear is priced at a premium, but it is 100% bespoke, worked on by one man and not on an assembly line. My Factory gear looks nearly as good as the day it arrived. As long as you are comfortable with spending the money, one would be very happy with Factory Mad gear.

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