Vaughn SLR 4

[UCLALabrat]

7 minutes ago, coopaloop1234 said:

I think the SLR3 C/A is better. 

What you like better about it?

[coopaloop1234]

1 minute ago, UCLALabrat said:

What you like better about it?

I was being facetious. they're the same unit aside from colour. 

[UCLALabrat]

26 minutes ago, coopaloop1234 said:

I was being facetious. they're the same unit aside from colour. 

Lulz. My bad i thought i missed something.

[Toobs]

Here’s my slr4 set. 33+2. Added a knee break and also went with the V9 style upper strap. Stock blocker with exception of V10 palm. 70 degree glove. Colors are Kelly green, yellow, and a mix of white quickslide, weave, and standard jenpro.

First impressions are they are chunkier than anticipated. I thought they had slimmed out the thigh and boot more, but compared to my PX3s they are quite chunky. The boot channel is flatter though. I hated the V10 strapping which they copied on the slr4s, which is why I went with the V9 style upper strap and I like it much more. 
 

I love the blocker. It’s a big departure from the SLR3 one piece sidewall, but it feels like a true blocker but slightly improved on. The board is super stiff and I expect solid rebounds off it. The index finger setup is great with 3-sided palm material.
 

The glove is the same as my previous V9 XP70. It’s a solid glove. I’m a 580 truther, so I like the closure and out of the box it closes very well. The cuff is nice and thin and overall the glove feels nice and lightweight.

Picture of strapping with V9 upper strap.

Can see how thick the thigh is.

Flat boot

Not as thinned out as I expected.

Nice closure out of the box.

New sidewall

Love this feature of the blocker with the 3-sided palm material on the index finger.

My biggest nitpick is the colors… the Kelly green jenpro is significantly darker than the Kelly green nylon. I was hoping for it all to be the nylon shade, but the jenpro is just kinda dark.

Chesty is nice, it’s got bulked up arms. Coming from a hyperlite it is significantly beefier and somewhat heavier, but noticeably higher quality as well.

 

Ive had the pants for a few weeks, I love them. Very protective but also very mobile. No complaints at all.

A note on sizing… these are the SLR4s which are 33+2 lined up next to my PX3s which are 34+2. The SLRs definitely seem like they might fit a bit bigger.

[coopaloop1234]

14 minutes ago, Toobs said:

Here’s my slr4 set. 33+2. Added a knee break and also went with the V9 style upper strap. Stock blocker with exception of V10 palm. 70 degree glove. Colors are Kelly green, yellow, and a mix of white quickslide, weave, and standard jenpro.

First impressions are they are chunkier than anticipated. I thought they had slimmed out the thigh and boot more, but compared to my PX3s they are quite chunky. The boot channel is flatter though. I hated the V10 strapping which they copied on the slr4s, which is why I went with the V9 style upper strap and I like it much more. 
 

I love the blocker. It’s a big departure from the SLR3 one piece sidewall, but it feels like a true blocker but slightly improved on. The board is super stiff and I expect solid rebounds off it. The index finger setup is great with 3-sided palm material.
 

The glove is the same as my previous V9 XP70. It’s a solid glove. I’m a 580 truther, so I like the closure and out of the box it closes very well. The cuff is nice and thin and overall the glove feels nice and lightweight.

Picture of strapping with V9 upper strap.

Can see how thick the thigh is.

Flat boot

Not as thinned out as I expected.

Nice closure out of the box.

New sidewall

Love this feature of the blocker with the 3-sided palm material on the index finger.

My biggest nitpick is the colors… the Kelly green jenpro is significantly darker than the Kelly green nylon. I was hoping for it all to be the nylon shade, but the jenpro is just kinda dark.

Chesty is nice, it’s got bulked up arms. Coming from a hyperlite it is significantly beefier and somewhat heavier, but noticeably higher quality as well.

 

Ive had the pants for a few weeks, I love them. Very protective but also very mobile. No complaints at all.

A note on sizing… these are the SLR4s which are 33+2 lined up next to my PX3s which are 34+2. The SLRs definitely seem like they might fit a bit bigger.

Are you sure that's not just a True blocker with a misprint on it? 

[ZeroGravitas]

Nice looking gear. I had a similar issue with Kelly Green jenpro and nylon on my Warrior pads ages ago. Another user posted about this buddy with the exact same Kelly Green issue on his buddy's Vaughns.

Hope to hear your on-ice impressions soon.

[UCLALabrat]

2 hours ago, Toobs said:

Here’s my slr4 set. 33+2. Added a knee break and also went with the V9 style upper strap. Stock blocker with exception of V10 palm. 70 degree glove. Colors are Kelly green, yellow, and a mix of white quickslide, weave, and standard jenpro.

First impressions are they are chunkier than anticipated. I thought they had slimmed out the thigh and boot more, but compared to my PX3s they are quite chunky. The boot channel is flatter though. I hated the V10 strapping which they copied on the slr4s, which is why I went with the V9 style upper strap and I like it much more. 
 

I love the blocker. It’s a big departure from the SLR3 one piece sidewall, but it feels like a true blocker but slightly improved on. The board is super stiff and I expect solid rebounds off it. The index finger setup is great with 3-sided palm material.
 

The glove is the same as my previous V9 XP70. It’s a solid glove. I’m a 580 truther, so I like the closure and out of the box it closes very well. The cuff is nice and thin and overall the glove feels nice and lightweight.

Picture of strapping with V9 upper strap.

Can see how thick the thigh is.

Flat boot

Not as thinned out as I expected.

Nice closure out of the box.

New sidewall

Love this feature of the blocker with the 3-sided palm material on the index finger.

My biggest nitpick is the colors… the Kelly green jenpro is significantly darker than the Kelly green nylon. I was hoping for it all to be the nylon shade, but the jenpro is just kinda dark.

Chesty is nice, it’s got bulked up arms. Coming from a hyperlite it is significantly beefier and somewhat heavier, but noticeably higher quality as well.

 

Ive had the pants for a few weeks, I love them. Very protective but also very mobile. No complaints at all.

A note on sizing… these are the SLR4s which are 33+2 lined up next to my PX3s which are 34+2. The SLRs definitely seem like they might fit a bit bigger.

Love it! Wonder if they thicken up the thigh on the knee break version, althohgh that looks a ton slimmer than the velocity line already.

I ordered stiff (no break) with a single outer roll break. We'll see if theres a difference.

[Toobs]

2 hours ago, UCLALabrat said:

Love it! Wonder if they thicken up the thigh on the knee break version, althohgh that looks a ton slimmer than the velocity line already.

I ordered stiff (no break) with a single outer roll break. We'll see if theres a difference.

I don’t think there will be any difference in thigh thickness. I think I was just kinda fooled in pictures. The core area where the quickslide is pretty thin, but there’s a decent amount of material on either side of it.

It’s definitely thinner than a velocity thigh, but just coming from a PX3 it’s noticeably chunkier than what I’ve been playing in and used to for the past year+. We’ll see if I notice it on the ice at all.

[UCLALabrat]

So I emailed Dennis yesterday to see if they had shipped and he said they would be out the door tomorrow or Thursday. I'm stoked.

Two things: Dennis is a fucking rock star, he's more responsive than my rep (not a knock on my rep, he's been responding to emails pretty much within a day). I can't believe they respond like that to some beer league schmoe. The fact they give me the time of day is mind-blowing.

 

Second: 99.9% they just posted my pads to their IG feed and HOLY SHIT IM GEEKING OUT RIGHT NOW

 

Edit to link:

https://www.instagram.com/stories/vaughncustomsports/3342493206543720634?igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==

Edited April 9 by UCLALabrat

[Toobs]

5 hours ago, UCLALabrat said:

So I emailed Dennis yesterday to see if they had shipped and he said they would be out the door tomorrow or Thursday. I'm stoked.

Two things: Dennis is a fucking rock star, he's more responsive than my rep (not a knock on my rep, he's been responding to emails pretty much within a day). I can't believe they respond like that to some beer league schmoe. The fact they give me the time of day is mind-blowing.

 

Second: 99.9% they just posted my pads to their IG feed and HOLY SHIT IM GEEKING OUT RIGHT NOW

 

Edit to link:

https://www.instagram.com/stories/vaughncustomsports/3342493206543720634?igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==

37+1?! How tall are you?! Lol.

Sidebar, my set is Dudo approved lol.

[UCLALabrat]

3 minutes ago, Toobs said:

37+1?! How tall are you?! Lol.

Sidebar, my set is Dudo approved lol.

I'm 6'7 with an FTK of 24.25".

 

I saw that in the feed and I'm like "what other fucking yeti out there is ordering 37+1? Black nylon back with black quickslide top? Those HAVE to be mine"

 

Sure as shit Dennis emailed me a tracking number this morning, they're on they're way to pure hockey warehouse in MA before they get sent to me.

 

I'm fangirling over here

[UCLALabrat]

Also can you explain the V9 upper strap you were talking about? I can't see a difference from stock.

[coopaloop1234]

13 minutes ago, UCLALabrat said:

I'm 6'7 with an FTK of 24.25"

Monster 

[UCLALabrat]

2 hours ago, Toobs said:

37+1?! How tall are you?! Lol.

Sidebar, my set is Dudo approved lol.

Dude I just now realized yours is the other set in that spread

 

Sorry. I'm colorblind and obviously not the sharpest meatball in the drawer.

[Toobs]

14 hours ago, UCLALabrat said:

Also can you explain the V9 upper strap you were talking about? I can't see a difference from stock.

Yeah… the stock straps are thin without much padding. I had on a set of V10s and hated it. They had the option to change the upper strap to the thicker more plush version they used as a professor strap on the V9s, or magnetic version on the slr3. I went with the V9 version cause my V9s were one of the most comfortable pads I’ve ever worn.

V9 style strap

Stock strap

[UCLALabrat]

Thanks! Think I see what you mean. You can get those straps as spares right?

[Toobs]

5 hours ago, UCLALabrat said:

Thanks! Think I see what you mean. You can get those straps as spares right?

Right now they only have the laced in ones on their website, but I’m sure you could email Vaughn and they’d hook you up.

[G_B]

On 4/5/2024 at 12:37 AM, Toobs said:

 

Chesty is nice, it’s got bulked up arms. Coming from a hyperlite it is significantly beefier and somewhat heavier, but noticeably higher quality as well.

How's the arm width compared to hyperlite? SLR4 look wider but I've read that they're (also) NHL spec.

Also, is it possible to get the shoulder wings lower and wider? They look very tall stock and would probably interfere with the mask?

[Toobs]

8 hours ago, G_B said:

How's the arm width compared to hyperlite? SLR4 look wider but I've read that they're (also) NHL spec.

Also, is it possible to get the shoulder wings lower and wider? They look very tall stock and would probably interfere with the mask?

I’d say the arm width is pretty comparable, no noticeable difference.

The shoulder floaters I haven’t had any issue with my mask. Those options aren’t on the spec sheet for custom, but Vaughn is typically open to a lot so you could check with them.

[Toobs]

Have had the chance to get these on the ice a bit. Absolutely love the glove and blocker. Both are super comfortable to wear and very lightweight. Good pop off the blocker. Glove was broken in after the first skate and catches exceptionally. 70 degree break is awesome.

Pads have been a bit of a mixed bag so far. They slide excellently, I contend that quickslide/primo is easily the best sliding material available currently. These and the iconiks I got a chance to demo were the best sliding pads I’ve used. Rebounds off these are mid range. Not soft but also not jumping off the pad like off bauers. These are also very stiff. I ordered them stock stiffness with a below knee break and a soft boot, but even with the soft boot the boot feels pretty stiff, and there’s not much flex at the knee break. The thigh is stiff which I like, but I do hope with a bit more use the boot and below knee break in a bit more. Compared to my PX3s they feel stiff as a board. But they seal the ice well and post integration is solid, but with the lack of flex I definitely noticed a bit more stress on my ankles and hips.

The chest protector is a tank. I don’t feel anything playing with pro level shots. It absorbs shots well too and is easy to cradle rebounds. But it is noticeably heavier than my hyperlite 2 unit. 

[UCLALabrat]

Thanks! If yours are that stiff with a break I bet mine feel like surfboards.

Edit: hows the integrated kneed and calf block? Pretty stiff? Too stiff?

Find out Thursday

Edited April 15 by UCLALabrat

[AdamL]

11 hours ago, Toobs said:

Have had the chance to get these on the ice a bit. Absolutely love the glove and blocker. Both are super comfortable to wear and very lightweight. Good pop off the blocker. Glove was broken in after the first skate and catches exceptionally. 70 degree break is awesome.

How's the backhand fit on the blocker compared to say a True blocker?  Does it press tightly to the back of the hand?

The thing I hated the most about my V9 blocker was was how plush the backhand pad was.  It might sound odd, but it put a noticeable amount of space between the back of my hand and the blocker board, so the energy from shots would get absorbed by that pad rather than producing any pop off the board.  The thing would even fulcrum around my hand if the shot hit the top 1/3rd or so of the board and the rebound would die within a few feet of me.  It was super comfortable and well-made, but from a performance perspective it was frankly unusable.  

[Toobs]

12 hours ago, AdamL said:

How's the backhand fit on the blocker compared to say a True blocker?  Does it press tightly to the back of the hand?

The thing I hated the most about my V9 blocker was was how plush the backhand pad was.  It might sound odd, but it put a noticeable amount of space between the back of my hand and the blocker board, so the energy from shots would get absorbed by that pad rather than producing any pop off the board.  The thing would even fulcrum around my hand if the shot hit the top 1/3rd or so of the board and the rebound would die within a few feet of me.  It was super comfortable and well-made, but from a performance perspective it was frankly unusable.  

The backhand is quite plush, but the board is thicker and quite stiff. Decent amount of pop off it and I have noticed the issue you mentioned at all so far.

[UCLALabrat]

Theyre heeeeeeeeeeeere....

First impressions out of the box: theyre gorgeous. I'll post more pics later but the knee block looks to be perfect for my sasquatch legs. 

The RRC straps came mounted inside the calf wrap, and I tried them on and found them uncomfortable (mostly the ankle being awkward).

I moved them to outside the calf wrap and it seems much better. Unfortunately I won't be able to get them on the ice for a bit since I have work obligations next week. I love the feel of them and the 5 hole closure is great. Knee block feels quite a bit better also compared to my V9s.

 

[Toobs]

2 hours ago, UCLALabrat said:

Theyre heeeeeeeeeeeere....

First impressions out of the box: theyre gorgeous. I'll post more pics later but the knee block looks to be perfect for my sasquatch legs. 

The RRC straps came mounted inside the calf wrap, and I tried them on and found them uncomfortable (mostly the ankle being awkward).

I moved them to outside the calf wrap and it seems much better. Unfortunately I won't be able to get them on the ice for a bit since I have work obligations next week. I love the feel of them and the 5 hole closure is great. Knee block feels quite a bit better also compared to my V9s.

 

Beauty set! Missed your earlier question… I like the integrated knee block. Not too stiff at all and gets the pads to the ice quick. 
 

Liking them so far, especially the glove. My only gripe I think with the set is just how chunky they are. Wish they’d thinned them out more.

I agree the stock RRC straps are uncomfortable. You should try to get the V9 version from Vaughn, makes a big difference.