Safest foam option?

[pfeiffjay54]

What do you guys believe is the safest foam for a mask? I read through all the threads I can find and I’m leaning towards resilient str and normal rubatex. Any additional suggestions? Never felt gel foam so that kind of turned me away from shocktec stuff.

[SentryHockey]

So I got samples of every foam, in the same thickness that's commercially available and dropped a 5lb steel ball on them. I then watched to see how many times the ball bounced, which to me showed which one absorbed and dissipated the most amount of shock.

Off the top of my head, the results were something like this

1) D30

2) Shocktec

3) one of the Poron varieties I got a sample of straight from Rogerscorp. I remember it was yellow but cant recall the name.

4) Rubatex

5) Poron from resilient that has the overlay

6) all the eva foams were about the same

7) gel from shocktec which is what Maltese used.

One day I'll do a video of this and show the test results

[pfeiffjay54]

1 hour ago, SentryHockey said:

So I got samples of every foam, in the same thickness that's commercially available and dropped a 5lb steel ball on them. I then watched to see how many times the ball bounced, which to me showed which one absorbed and dissipated the most amount of shock.

Off the top of my head, the results were something like this

1) D30

2) Shocktec

3) one of the Poron varieties I got a sample of straight from Rogerscorp. I remember it was yellow but cant recall the name.

4) Rubatex

5) Poron from resilient that has the overlay

6) all the eva foams were about the same

7) gel from shocktec which is what Maltese used.

One day I'll do a video of this and show the test results

A video of this data would be really cool! D3O being in the package is what made me consider going with pharoah’s foam. Honestly might buy a sheet for the mask and beef my glove up a bit

[bildeer]

While I cannot advise as to what is the safest foam, I will say that I have had good experiences with the shocktec product. Many years ago I had planned on supplementing it with additional sheets of d30 in select areas between the shell and the other foam but never got around to it. Perhaps one of these days?

Edited February 5 by bildeer

[Hockey34]

On 1/30/2024 at 4:19 PM, pfeiffjay54 said:

What do you guys believe is the safest foam for a mask? I read through all the threads I can find and I’m leaning towards resilient str and normal rubatex. Any additional suggestions? Never felt gel foam so that kind of turned me away from shocktec stuff.

Did you ever get new foam for your mask? If so what did you get? And do you like it?

[pfeiffjay54]

On 4/12/2024 at 2:10 AM, Hockey34 said:

Did you ever get new foam for your mask? If so what did you get? And do you like it?

I went with two sheets of bulk rubatex in different thicknesses, ended up not using one sheet. I only got on the ice with it one time because I cant wear cateyes yet. The time I used it it felt great. For how thick the mask I put it in (Rey swiss) is it felt light. Also my first time in that mask. For protection it didn't see much. I had a shot around the side chin that barely hit the mask and a stick impact to the temple that didn't hurt at all. I'm excited to use the mask next season once I repaint it again and I'll probably get the rubatex from resilient again as long as it doesn't harden on me. Maybe experiment with mixed foams next time? 

[pfeiffjay54]

1 minute ago, pfeiffjay54 said:

I went with two sheets of bulk rubatex in different thicknesses, ended up not using one sheet. I only got on the ice with it one time because I cant wear cateyes yet. The time I used it it felt great. For how thick the mask I put it in (Rey swiss) is it felt light. Also my first time in that mask. For protection it didn't see much. I had a shot around the side chin that barely hit the mask and a stick impact to the temple that didn't hurt at all. I'm excited to use the mask next season once I repaint it again and I'll probably get the rubatex from resilient again as long as it doesn't harden on me. Maybe experiment with mixed foams next time? 

also went with this because i love the cream foam look proschoice uses haha

[Chenner29]

1 hour ago, pfeiffjay54 said:

also went with this because i love the cream foam look proschoice uses haha

I dunno where Dom gets the foam for his masks, it doesn't seem to get crusty.  I actually had Dom add a 1/8" layer of D30 in the cheeks and crown of my most recent mask

[Cass]

On 2/5/2024 at 10:59 PM, bildeer said:

While I cannot advise as to what is the safest foam, I will say that I have had good experiences with the shocktec product. Many years ago I had planned on supplementing it with additional sheets of d30 in select areas between the shell and the other foam but never got around to it. Perhaps one of these days?

Is that the Air2Gel foam from them?

[MrGoalie]

After years of using Rubatex, I switched to 

Dual Density Poron

Colours - Black/Black overlay

Firmness - Soft

Properties - Neoprene blend base foam with a 1/8" overlay of soft Poron material. 

l’ve had this in my mask for about 18 months now.  Biggest difference I notice is that when taking a decent shot off the mask, I don’t get any kind of ringing at all. Just sort of a quiet “thump” and that’s it.  I believe that’s due to the poron absorbing more energy than the rubatex.  Take this as anecdotal evidence only - I have not done any testing at all. 

[pfeiffjay54]

21 hours ago, Chenner29 said:

I dunno where Dom gets the foam for his masks, it doesn't seem to get crusty.  I actually had Dom add a 1/8" layer of D30 in the cheeks and crown of my most recent mask

yeah wish i could get the real stuff, hopefully someday I can save enough for one.

[pfeiffjay54]

7 minutes ago, MrGoalie said:

After years of using Rubatex, I switched to 

Dual Density Poron

Colours - Black/Black overlay

Firmness - Soft

Properties - Neoprene blend base foam with a 1/8" overlay of soft Poron material. 

l’ve had this in my mask for about 18 months now.  Biggest difference I notice is that when taking a decent shot off the mask, I don’t get any kind of ringing at all. Just sort of a quiet “thump” and that’s it.  I believe that’s due to the poron absorbing more energy than the rubatex.  Take this as anecdotal evidence only - I have not done any testing at all. 

I was really considering but there's a couple reviews of guys getting concussed in a dual layer foam from resilient. I don't remember if it's the neoprene poron or not but whatever it was turned me off really fast. I need to see a video of the shock absorption like @SentryHockey mentioned before going with that. 

[goalie]

it is a very thin layer of Poron attached to the neoprene. Also to consider is there are different thicknesses of the neoprene. Could make difference to concussions.

[bildeer]

On 4/16/2024 at 6:37 PM, Cass said:

Is that the Air2Gel foam from them?

This is what I used. https://shocktec.com/product/shocktec-air2gel-lightweight-impact-protection-products/ I have it attached to the mask with 3m dual lock (sort of like velcro/hook and loop).

Hope that helps.

[casualT]

I had the dual density poron foam in my mask, and it was the comfiest padding that I ever used.  My problem with it was the durability, I had to hold onto the velcro for my sweatband so it wouldn't tear the poron out.  I switched to the dual density ST-N, and while it's a little firmer, the durability is much better and I've taken my fair share of head shots without any issues.

[Cass]

10 hours ago, bildeer said:

This is what I used. https://shocktec.com/product/shocktec-air2gel-lightweight-impact-protection-products/ I have it attached to the mask with 3m dual lock (sort of like velcro/hook and loop).

Hope that helps.

Thank you.