Vaughn SLR 4

[UCLALabrat]

5 minutes ago, Toobs said:

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.

My V9s don't even have the ankle strap, just a professor, knee strap, and calf wrap. I'll try it as is on the ice first but I may just remove it.

[Toobs]

41 minutes ago, UCLALabrat said:

My V9s don't even have the ankle strap, just a professor, knee strap, and calf wrap. I'll try it as is on the ice first but I may just remove it.

Honestly the lower strap isn’t even really necessary imo. I’ve been playing with mine super loose, not even sure it’s doing anything.

[ZeroGravitas]

4 hours ago, UCLALabrat said:

My God, that+1 looks like a +4

[UCLALabrat]

11 hours ago, ZeroGravitas said:

My God, that+1 looks like a +4

The overall height is only about an inch higher on the first pic but not sure I had them squared up equally. I was hoping the total height would be the same but looks like the SLR4s are a skosh higher. I don't find that impedes movement at all but I haven't put them on with pants or on the ice yet so I'll wait to give feedback.

 

Dropping into my butterfly the seal seems good and the thigh rises square up pretty much perfectly against each other. Won't be able to tell how the integrated block helps with dropping, rotation and closure until I get them on the ice. On carpet at least they seem more stable so I hope it helps my movement. Being on the knee block I think will help immensely

 

I was at a stick n puck yesterday morning before they got here and practicing slides back and forth. The V9s tend to under rotate and I was falling off the top if the block do I was all over the place.

 

Overall I thought the knee block would be higher. When I tried them on with skates I was worried they still weren't tall enough

I think I dialed it in with strapping but I'll need to play around more.

[Toobs]

5 hours ago, UCLALabrat said:

The overall height is only about an inch higher on the first pic but not sure I had them squared up equally. I was hoping the total height would be the same but looks like the SLR4s are a skosh higher. I don't find that impedes movement at all but I haven't put them on with pants or on the ice yet so I'll wait to give feedback.

 

Dropping into my butterfly the seal seems good and the thigh rises square up pretty much perfectly against each other. Won't be able to tell how the integrated block helps with dropping, rotation and closure until I get them on the ice. On carpet at least they seem more stable so I hope it helps my movement. Being on the knee block I think will help immensely

 

I was at a stick n puck yesterday morning before they got here and practicing slides back and forth. The V9s tend to under rotate and I was falling off the top if the block do I was all over the place.

 

Overall I thought the knee block would be higher. When I tried them on with skates I was worried they still weren't tall enough

I think I dialed it in with strapping but I'll need to play around more.

The +2 thigh on a slr pad is about 0.5 inches higher than the +2 of an equivalent sized velocity pad, which explains why the new pads are slightly bigger overall. 
 

You can probably strap them up so they sit higher by tightening the top strap or using a Lundy loop or strapping the knee strap diagonally down to the calf.

[UCLALabrat]

Got my first EBUG call tonight, stoked to get them on the ice, especially since I have to miss stick time next week.

[UCLALabrat]

Ok so what I thought was an EBUG situation was more like a private pickup game that went for a full 1.5 hours, no breaks. Unreal and inwas WRECKED.

On ice impressions: ok the quickslide I don't know what to make of it. My V9s have quickslide and I don't know if it's a different setup (the SLR4s supposedly have plastic built in to improve sliding even more?) But the finish feels a bit different; the V9s feel slick while the SLR4s feel slightly more textured? When I got the V9s I struggled to slide, and after some tweaking with my skate hollow and practicing technique I could move ok. I put vinyl film on them and I was flying. I swear the SLR4s make even the film feel like sandpaper. I think I could launch into low earth orbit, even on roughed up ice I was still flying. Incredible.

Knee block and calf wing feel really good, I like the stability. Seal was great. My technique was sloppy as all hell after about 10 min but I was able to get a bunch of kick-out saves and the seal was awesome.

 

Rebounds: these things have great pop. I've never worn bauers or brians and my V9s aren't pro carbon, so obviously they were pretty soft. I had a bunch of low shots that popped rebounds out past the dot without me moving my leg. One low angle shot hit my right pad and careened off to the far boards and out past the dot. Overall im impressed but not sure how they stack up (pun intended) against other, hotter brands. 

[ZeroGravitas]

My SLR4 gloves came the other day. Leg pads still on the way, I hope?

Blocker is stock SLR4, though I wonder if I should have gone with an INT palm as it feels pretty spacious. But I'm used to using a Bauer blocker.

Catcher is a 70 degree SLR4 - which is Vaughn's version of a 580. Went with the "Double Classic T" instead of the stock Single T. Pocket looks and feels huge, I have to doubt that it is NHL-spec.

[UCLALabrat]

Those are gorgeous! 

[ArdeFIN]

3 hours ago, ZeroGravitas said:

Catcher is a 70 degree SLR4 - which is Vaughn's version of a 580. Went with the "Double Classic T" instead of the stock Single T. Pocket looks and feels huge, I have to doubt that it is NHL-spec.

That is Velo style catcher, not SLR even though said to be SLR. Lacing, fingers to palm, structure overall.

I love VE8, hated V9 and now I think I have to get myself one 70deg to try as it looks just what I would like. 

BTW take a measure of the perimeter, my V9XP (not Pro Carbon) was about 116cm from factory and looked massive. It might be that Vaughn has started to make them a bit larger on pocket...

Edited Wednesday at 07:30 PM by ArdeFIN

[ZeroGravitas]

Just now, ArdeFIN said:

That is Velo style catcher, not SLR even though said to be SLR. Lacing, fingers to palm, structure overall.

I love VE8, hated V9 and now I think I have to get myself one 70deg to try as it looks just what I would like. 

BTW take a measure of the perimeter, my V9XP (not Pro Carbon) was about 116cm from factory and looked massive....

You're probably right. I think these 70 degree catchers were initially released as a Velocity 9 or Velocity 10 70 degree XP.

From what I was told, the glove and pocket are all NHL-legal - they shortened the cuff so they could add more space to the pocket.

[coopaloop1234]

4 minutes ago, ZeroGravitas said:

they shortened the cuff so they could add more space to the pocket.

Pretty much how gloves are trending. The cuff difference between the G5 and earlier gloves and the G6/7 is substantial, as is the increase in pocket size. 

Believe the new Shadow catcher is doing something similar as well, just in a smaller increment, 

[RichMan]

The SLR4 catcher is going back to the XP shape of things in break.

Maria Mountain just posted a full kit overlook with the boys at Vaughn on Youtube. Huge overhaul from the SLR3.

[Toobs]

5 hours ago, ArdeFIN said:

That is Velo style catcher, not SLR even though said to be SLR. Lacing, fingers to palm, structure overall.

I love VE8, hated V9 and now I think I have to get myself one 70deg to try as it looks just what I would like. 

BTW take a measure of the perimeter, my V9XP (not Pro Carbon) was about 116cm from factory and looked massive. It might be that Vaughn has started to make them a bit larger on pocket...

They got rid of the old SLR3 style catcher with the SLR4 line. What used to be the velocity XP glove is now the default SLR4 glove. It’s available in both 60 degree (590) and 70 degree (Vaughn’s version of a 580).

[Toobs]

9 hours ago, ZeroGravitas said:

My SLR4 gloves came the other day. Leg pads still on the way, I hope?

Blocker is stock SLR4, though I wonder if I should have gone with an INT palm as it feels pretty spacious. But I'm used to using a Bauer blocker.

Catcher is a 70 degree SLR4 - which is Vaughn's version of a 580. Went with the "Double Classic T" instead of the stock Single T. Pocket looks and feels huge, I have to doubt that it is NHL-spec.

Beautiful gloves! I love my new SLR4 70 degree. It catches everything. Best part of the new set for sure.

I think Vaughn still needs to work on their finger protection for their blockers, but I like the amount of pop I’m getting on the blocker so far.

[ZeroGravitas]

15 hours ago, Toobs said:

Beautiful gloves! I love my new SLR4 70 degree. It catches everything. Best part of the new set for sure.

I think Vaughn still needs to work on their finger protection for their blockers, but I like the amount of pop I’m getting on the blocker so far.

Thanks! And speaking of fingers, I think the SLR4 index finger needs a little work. When I bend my index finger, the finger material seems to be bend in an awkward way. Maybe a side effect of the SLR4 fitting on the larger side?

20240501_160553-rot-noaud.mkv

But on the Velocity 10, it seems to be just fine.

20240501_160616-rot-noaud.mkv

Edited yesterday at 04:58 PM by ZeroGravitas

[Toobs]

7 hours ago, ZeroGravitas said:

Thanks! And speaking of fingers, I think the SLR4 index finger needs a little work. When I bend my index finger, the finger material seems to be bend in an awkward way. Maybe a side effect of the SLR4 fitting on the larger side?

20240501_160553-rot-noaud.mkv 3.03 MB · 10 downloads

But on the Velocity 10, it seems to be just fine.

20240501_160616-rot-noaud.mkv 3.18 MB · 3 downloads

I ordered my SLR4 with a V10 palm for that reason. The V10 has the palm material on 3 sides, whereas on the SLR it’s standard only on the palm, so when you grip the elastic pulls and rotates the index finger material.

[ZeroGravitas]

Family picture

[ArdeFIN]

On 5/2/2024 at 4:11 AM, Toobs said:

They got rid of the old SLR3 style catcher with the SLR4 line. What used to be the velocity XP glove is now the default SLR4 glove. It’s available in both 60 degree (590) and 70 degree (Vaughn’s version of a 580).

Kind of like Bauer did with skates, first the Vapor and Supreme were opposite to player skates in fit, and then after 2S they changed the fit between Vapor and Supreme to mess everything.

So why did they end up with something like this? Is the V10 or V11 going to be the "600" style as SLR2 was before or what? And so me liking the VE8 catcher should now get me SLR4 to get the same feeling? V9 wasn't even close to either SLR2 nor VE8. And talking of XP models here, I don't like the 2-piece ones at all.

Edit: checked the THS webshop and they have really nice lineup with "actual" pictures of the gloves side by side. What a mess is it with V10 and SLR4 

 

On 5/2/2024 at 7:57 PM, ZeroGravitas said:

Thanks! And speaking of fingers, I think the SLR4 index finger needs a little work. When I bend my index finger, the finger material seems to be bend in an awkward way. Maybe a side effect of the SLR4 fitting on the larger side?

20240501_160553-rot-noaud.mkv 3.03 MB · 13 downloads

But on the Velocity 10, it seems to be just fine.

20240501_160616-rot-noaud.mkv 3.18 MB · 5 downloads

As Toobs close called it, it is the elastic that is only on one side of the finger that is doing things. I've fixed all my Vaughn blockers so that the elastics are on both sides since Vaughn uses dual elastic that can be split "easily". I think I've used similar method on some other brand blockers too.

This is one design thing that once again makes you wonder why they do it so bad? It wouldn't be any more difficult to do it better when building the glove. I was able to fix the issue somewhat without dismantling the whole glove.

Edited 3 hours ago by ArdeFIN