ArdeFIN

With my Warrior GT pads I've actually never fallen off the knee block. I wear them Warrior stylish loose, knee to calf and lundy, bungee toe. Haven't really had any chance to examine why but it just seems to do it right. I've used Vaughn LT88 (well used ones) pads a few times and with them I had a few occasional dropouts. Like mentioned they happened when went from wideish butterfly to stretch. Strapped them the same as my Warriors as much as possible. From this knowledge I'd say it has something to do with pads being worn and gotten soft but then again my sample size is way too small. Thikning this in theory; the knee strap going from the edge of the block is way too far out to hold against your weight pushing the knee down and knee block forwards out from under the knee. Which then leads to thinking that the strapping makes the pad to overrotate slightly and with tight strapping your knee adds to the overrotation which leads to knee falling off the block. Or the pad is overrotating already before the kneeblock hits the ice to get back to level. That would make your knee to hit to the edge of the block as the block is in wrocg angle when going down to ice. This could be from too tight strapping around the ankle (calf-lundy-boot-toe) where the rotating action of the pad starts when going down to butterfly? I assume your knee falls off the back of the block and not "under" (=too long pad sizing). I should look for some pictures to replace a few thousand words...

Last mod that I'll propably do to this unit; changed the cheap elastic strap to the original strap that I moved from the sleeve to the elbow floater. The sleeve will stay in place as well as before and maybe even better now. Before (testing version) Final Sleeves on this unit are excellent now and if the body part would fit better in my pants, and I didn't have the modified Brown, this unit would be in use from now on. Until something better shows up. That is what my Brown C/A thinks at the moment. The next C/A project came in today...

First to test things out try loosen the laces on the left green circle, change the lace to a longer one if needed. Set the velcro on the right green circle to as loose as you can. Now you should have a lot more room without any permanent mods. If the top end of the finger protection is giving problem open up the blue circled velcro. If needed you can still attach it with a lace for test purposes so that it won't fly around. The wrist strap might be a bit more of a challenge without exploding the whole glove. I just modded a 1X glove so there might be some similarity in the gloves. But as said I recommend first to try all possible ways without permanently modifying anything. Edit: That Reimer mod seems simple too, and at the same time even too complicated. You could buy some 50mm wide elastic strap and a few slices of both velcro sides. Get someone to sew them together (normal sewing machine is good enough) and add that piece in between the velcros of the cuff. Reimers mod is made with some buckle and what ever, easier to adjust and open/close multiple times though compared to bigger velcro slices tacking to each other.

Some time ago someone here or in the FB mentioned that Browns posts there about new gear are atleast partly from history. Someone got a new chesty and a gear bag to here in Finland and I asked something about them and congratulated them for their new gear. Reply was something like "yes we've had it for over a year now so not very new to us anymore. But it's a good gear anyways now that we've been using it for a while... "

Blocker time for the V6 2000. This story is pretty short as the blocker was in decent used condition and only needed little repair job on palm and good wash. And maybe something improvised to the cuff. So a few side-by-side with the 2200 blocker to see the differences. There are actually quite a lot starting from the binding on the front face and around almost everything on the 2200. Is it that the 2000 is bindingless version and as the 2200 is with binding it is then all around the thing? Palm view shows more differencies between. One detail picture from the 2000. It opens up the whole side length which makes it easy to do repairs. But some parts are sewn together which prohibits the operation effectively And what's more is that in the 2200 those same places are mostly laced in. Interesting design selections indeed. Double layer thumb protection (red plates) and the palm attachment is laced in which could give some possibilities. Then the palm or actually finger repairs. A few small holes are worn and while here and I have a suregrip available I'll fix them away. Didn't have any decent picture from the beginning but the final result is like this. Here the cuff is visible also, I have to make an extension piece to make some more room to the cuff. Previous owner has had it wide open and even the wrist strap was routed weirdly to make it fit. I'll take a few more describing pictures next time. And in the same process I moved the pinky side protection some 15mm towards the side as there was really tight for the fingers. Don't really understand the reason for such tight fitting or was it just that the maker didn't really know how to put them together. But much better now. And final touch for this one was the tested modification of moving the elastics to different locations and split them in two to prevent the fingers from rotating sideways. With the cuff still waiting the glove is ready to be put together. I'm looking forward to get these gloves with me on sunday for a test drive.

Alrighty then, as I have had ahabit to come back to these gloves after some on ice experience it's time for this one. It's a bit stiff of my selection of gloves. Not stiff like new from shop though. Easy enough to close without any problem but opening out wide isn't possible without little help from blocker side or hip etc. Comparing to the Vaughn VE8 here which closes and opens out markably easier. But despite that the glove performs excellent, puck that enters the pocket stays there and angle(s) of the glove work to me nicely. Inside materials are really pleasant and missing the pinky loop isn't a problem at all. My hand does wonder around in the glove just that much that I notice it occasionally but when in the middle of the action it doesn't bother at all. One close range snapshot to the boot of the T / palm area and felt it hitting but nothing else. Gotta like the XRD foam there. Concluding in not as good as the VE8 I have but only falls behind that much that I can say so. With some more use I think I'll love this one too.

Chance given have use it and whip you with another feather Only gently though. And yes I do have a Pfaff with walker which helps in sewing bindings. No guide or binding folder yet. The hardest thing is to find that binding material. I haven't yet succeeded in finding a source but I know that when I need to get some of it I'll contact Varusteverstas (Kova Goalie) here in Finland.

As well as Goaliecrease which showed this angle a bit better. The Trav4oilers video is a ADHD style where you can't really get anything out about the break of those gloves.

If anyone has both 580 and 590 and even 600 of the about same series could you take a picture of them side by side where one could evaluate the break angle to wrist position and closure? Most of the comparison pictures are of glove only and it's really hard to determine the angle of the forearm in the glove.

If I had the possibility (and need of) I'd go for the heaviest possible armour with most protection. Makes good amount of confidence when you don't have to worry about it. And training&pickup plays are a good place to exercise with heaviest gear available. Then for official games if any I'd get another set of gear as similar as possible but a lot lighter and maybe some sacrifice with protection like catcher with game ready palm. Only one unit is a bit difficult. If you feel you need the best possible(?) go for it. If you feel that you cannot carry the whole weight with you or it'll affect your moving and speed then the lighter one.

It is possible that the wear is from previous users way of stick handling or maybe he had his stick cut to pistol handle or whatever. So this might not be a problem for every user or also it might be uneven production problem which will appear only on some of the many 2X blockers. Can't tell at the moment but maybe some years later we have enough of them used to examine more. Until then, happy using of the blocker. It feels really good and I'll take mine to testrun as soon as I get it back together.

Just got to open a used 2X blocker so I'll give some insight to this one. I'll make an mod/repair topic later on with some more pictures and story. This blocker has been used for a season in active or competitional (not highest though) level junior hockey about below 20 years. Bought it really cheap as he said it strikes through really bad and the plate is broken at the top where it was bending visually. One wear point which is a bit of a design problem too as the inside fabric is way too tight and the jenpro edge couldn't protect there enough (thumb plastic is worn through): What's inside then? Polystyren that is expanded (ball like cells) and then compressed. Very easily cracks between the connections of the balls as has happened here too. Only reason to use this material here is the weight, it's really light compared to volume. These same effect are seen in CCM catchers and pads too. Curv Composite sheet is over the edges to reinforce things. And the plate is cracked at both edges of the Curv. (don't show up really well on the picture) No wonder it gives stingers as there are only a remains of the rigidity left in the plate now. From first look through I thought the Curv was only used to reinforce the top and bottom of the plate but the sheet goes all over the front of the blocker. And from new unit experiences it makes a good job there too. Now it seems to flex way too much which also takes away from the protection, and also some of the hot rebounds. And the problem is the glue used or the amount of it, as they have used as little of the glue as possible. Now with the foam layer broken the plate is bending so much that the Curv has ripped off. Some polymere glue in between there and hopefully it'll stick good enough. Also the polystyrene sheet was glued with the Urethane glue.

That's definitely me trying to make a save.

I have them on mine and can't tell any real difference for a bear league level. I don't remember ever gotten any shots because of them. And structure-vise they are so soft that I don't really think that a puck hitting them will really change it's path at all. But after all that is said the raised edges look nice and maybe with them the C/A gives me that subconcious edge over being without.

V6 2200 is my glove for sure. Just felt like it was only extending my hand over and not being an extra glove pulled over my hand. Took a few harder shots and all was nice and cool. Even one pop-out from a close range hitting the middle of the palm and no problems at all. Next time I'll get back to the VE8 to see how that glove feels now as I've regained my touch after the 8 month Corona break and can concentrate on making saves and not just survive in the crease. Feeling sorry for all of you who still have to wait to get back on the ice again.

Second run was done with this too, now I had my inner belt tightened and the elastic straps a bit tighter too. It did help a lot as there was only one occasion where I ended up lying on the ice and the belly flap turned in as I was reaching out. But the edges next to the flap now interfered with everything. Not in a way it would be painful or hindering noticeably my movement but the feeling was there all the time. So the end line is I'm gonna sell this one out. There's no use to start modifying it from the scratch to make it work for me. I already have the Brown which does fine job and can also be modified more. And in this state I'll be able to sell this one to someone in need for a good C/A. Maybe I'll go after a GT2 Warrior next as the GT Pro was so good with only minor weaknesses.

I have a few different models of Vaughans since my construction days. Excellent tools as are Vaughn equipment in hockey.

I'm not Warrior rep. but you could wasily find the problem from your equipment by wearing it; C/A and gloves, maybe pants too and suspenders if you use them. Then make the moves you get stuck with and try to notice what is the exact spot. One I would guess is the elbow area, maybe bicep and or forehand padding. If they interfere a bit and are dislocated then the elbow flex is lost from C/A. Ie. you try to flex the padding around the elbow area which is stiff for sure. The Pro version is making a lot of difference there as mention yourself it being more beefed up. Then do some adjusting, the Warrior C/A is a hell on this as there is so much to adjust. That's also why they are so sweet when adjustments are spot on.

Last sunday I finally got this one to the ice to see how it goes. I had a little caution in my mind as the glove hasn't been really my favourite over the corona break when I've been dryhandling my collection. It always felt a bit stiff and not operating just like I would hope it would be. But after some good warm up slap shots (and the last one from breakaway to nuts) I had a lot better feeling of it. All the shots that came in just hit the pocket solidly and stayed in even if I didn't close the glove fully. No pop-outs, sticngers, nothing but just solid catching. And after that the next hour of pickup style gaming was just plain pleasure. Still not the best of my many gloves but really nice piece. One clear difference to VE8 glove I used before was when the puck hits the pocket at the lips end the VE8 tends to give up a little while Sub Zero holds against more solidly. Both are having pretty long profiled pockets.

The shape and closure of the 2200 wasn't really pleasing me as said earlier. The plastic had a little memory return and also the shape wasn't right in the first place. It started to "knack" with the break area plastic when closing the glove and thus obvious there was a need for some re-thinking. So I opened the perimeter from the thumb side and also half of the core laces to get the plastic out. Some redo with heat gun but it didn't do what I was looking for. The heel of the break was still folding over. Then I realised the problem was the roll in of the plastic that following the black graphic element. The thumb end was working already but the heel area needed to be moved towards the cuff and after some testing I moved it almost 30mm. You can see the difference in the picture on the previous post comparing 2200 to 1100. Now the shape was pretty good already and I'll give it a tryout on next sunday. New comparison but the angle is not equal on gloves. The 1100 is so soft that it's really difficult to make it stay open like this. But they do feel really similar now except the 2200 being a bit stiffer and having a thicker feeling in it. One little fixing to say out is the strap for fingers was really long. It actually extended to the pocket and wanted to dive through the webbing after a while. You really could fit some sort of bear foot inside and still the strap would be long enough. So some 20mm shorter and the end folded over with some stiching to give a good grip if there ever will be need to open the strap.

Sorry, not yet. Still struggling with my project XLT pads. Thanks for noting me. But from this experience that @bunnyman666 says I'm only a learner yet. Basically it's pretty simple from the top end. Just cut the internals and figure out how to cut the lining so that it's clean and nice. The sideroll will be the most demanding part I think? For the topic I think that @seagoal you should still go through a series of different adjustments to see how they change the game. And then maybe some more S curve, and maybe some break in for the boot. While it being soft your blue ones are really broken in. (if the core is not broken already)

That's why I'm doing this, to create the perfect gear. The way to make it better is to be a bit afraid of puck and wanting better protection while having the good mobility and whatever. An endless mission it is but at the same time I do learn about it and might be able to give something from that out to whoever is interested. Would be really interesting to get someone else to test these mods and modded equipment too to see that are they only fit for me or are them universal.

Other pad is readdy to be sewn together but as the pads need a lot of room to fit in the machine I thought I should prepare the other pad too and then sew them both in one time. So the same start, removal of the buckles and knee cradle padding and open up the edges. Damnit why is this pad a lot worse than the first one? The rigidity is really gone and the layers are separated a lot more. Uh oh and then we start glueing it back. The pad wasn't opened from the other side at all but this one had to be as the sheet was all the way loose. Hopefully the curve is even close to the other pad.

Had my VE8 C/A with me last sunday on ice to see how it does the job. Well there was some fiddling to adjust the pants elastic straps to be short enough for this, those were adjusted to fit my Brown. From that it was feeling okayish but the bottom part, especially the flap over belly wanted to rise over my pants top edge and at times it also turned in to push my stomach. Annoying it was and didn't feel very nice. No confidence on that part. Othervise really good, noticeably cooler than Brown because Brown is so completely over the body and this Vaughn is a lot less covering. Cooler also because the belly wanted to fly over all the time and kept air flowing between my chest and the unit The hands are pretty good, the shots were only mere snapshots from distance but felt like just enough to notice where and that's it. Would make a bit more of a hit with more force but I think it's good enough for lower level beer league atleast. Mobility is excellent and it fits like a sweater on me, but there is also room to adjust it looser. I like it pretty snug. What I noticed in the locker room after the one hour of struggle that I forgot to tighten up my inner belt on the pants. Dang! Have to take the unit to a second tryout and get all the strappings better forehand and not afterwards. Last mods that were done before icetime, added a flap made from 15mm thick MD foam and attached with elastic lace to the sleeve attachment straps. Flap is sized so that it covers the lacing for the sleeve and my setting is pretty narrow so it extends over the shoulder cup. But is not visible from under the floater. Gives a little lift to the outer edge of the floater. Comparing to Maxpower29 pictures here is a lot less of material under the floater. Added one elastic strap to the elbow floaters lower edge to keep it in form and straigth. I might move the original strap from elbow to there as it's a bit stiffer and thicker material. My strap material is more suitable for testing than long time use. Just to mention to the end of it a Finnish goalie (Metsola maybe?) got a new Vaughn gear including a VE8 chesty and that unit definitely had double shoulder cups. Tried to ask for some extra knowledge about it but never got anything out.

Update here just that much that I have to say these gloves are really nice pair to use and from the beginning they were like I've used them for a long time already. Ofcourse if the catchers angle suits your hand. I liked the feeling, soft break and pancake opening of the catcher. Blocker is a blocker, didn't really feel that much different compared to my SLR2 blocker that I could tell which one is what. Definitely will be holding these gloves in the house.