ArdeFIN

So it's not my VTX nor me atleast, but more so to the Bauer. What I could imagine to be the reason is how the foams are attached using screws and posts and not glued in like all(?) others do. Soft foam glued in could soften the vibrations of shell a lot better, so maybe I just try and add some soft foam or rubber pads to try this theory. Atleast it doesn't really cost anything to try it out. The last option would be to put some earplugs in for an hour of ice. Just had to find the smallest samples as I don't really like those plugs but any other hearing protection with mask is a bit problematic.

I bought a new NME VTX so that for once I have "the best I can get" mask protecting me. The fit is perfect and while it is just a bit tight over my cheek bones that is all I can complain about the fit. The foam is interesting, there are Poron XRD blocks on both sides and some other softer foam around them on cheek and down to jaw. But the fore head and top is really hard foam. So that you barely can squeeze it down a few millimeters. Sure I have sweat band over my forehead which softens a lot. Not really related is my question about Bauer masks in general actually. It is the noise when I get a hit to the mask. Whether it is a puck or stick blade there is an annoying metallic rattle that makes my ears ring a bit. I'm sensitive to get my ears ringing but I haven't had it this bad with my REY mask. I had NME 5 when I started goalie and that was not a good mask (yeah, right ) but even that one didn't make similar sound as this VTX does. I've checked the cage, mask and screws and everything is in perfect condition. Rubber tubing is on place on the cage edges and what ever. Has anyone noticed anything similar or am I just too sensitive to the noise and need to get more used to it. Maybe my REY just was quieter and that said it is with double layer of maltese and 4/5mm stainless cheater cage. VTX is with certified cage just to mention. I haven't gotten any hard shots yet and no problem with the feeling of getting hit, it hasn't hurt my head any more than before. But the rattling sound when hit is terrible.

Did it before the summer! Of 2023 First time for me ever to try a C/A untucked. It was a lot easier than I thought and while the C/A might be just that much too long for me it was really nice and comfortable. I ended up removing the front suspender from the C/A and added real suspenders for pants to keep them up. I don't like the belt strapped tight. I left the rear strap to pull the front side of the C/A up as if it even was to fall down at all. This setup is a tank. My modded Brown was good. But this is a tank. And it's so wide and huge that I had a bit of problem to fit inside my jersey. Definitely going to give a lot more use now that I finally got it out for the first time. I'll have to change the knee pad socks as they are a bit tight and are attached to the knee pads. The socks are INT size, fit nicely but are a pain to get into . Some strapping is a bit tight on forearms but don't really know what as there shouldn't actually be any. Could be just some other adjustment needed.

Yes exactly, only way to try something is to buy the gear. And usually you have to wait a while to find what you are after. But that's the only way to get the feeling of some part of the gear like the pads. No matter how you try them in a shop it's still a different world when on ice and moving around with full gear on. Not to say anything about getting things to break in. That though is done when buying second hand but then there is a risk that previous user made it whole wrong.

This is exactly what I miss on my G5 pads compared to GTs. The G5 is so wide and flat on the shin that while it's there on place it still sort of flies around in a way I don't like. I've tried different strapping setups and even added a professor strap recently, but that took away the whole Warrior pad feel as it changed the pad and not only the shin which seems to be the no go for me. This is propably also me coming from the GT pads where the feel is different and I like that pad and feel of it a lot. Reading this makes me regretting the G5 as there was and are some GT2 in my size and black color every now and then. But then I'm again having to send the pads to Kova to get the thighs bent into rigid S form to suit my butterfly. And sell the G5 and this and that. Dang. And when thinking of that I always end up to think of other alternatives like Bauer or Vaughn.... This is endless procedure

For the sizing on the original post, 33+2 Vaughn played the same for me as 33+1,5 Warrior, but I also fit very well into 34+1,5 in Warrior. Haven't tried 34+2 in Vaughn but from the fit of 33+2 I'd say 34+1,5 Warrior is just a bit smaller. Then we can only quess how much has the V7 shrinked since new. With foam core there isn't that much, but all the flexing has taken some length out of them. Talking about flex, where do we need flex except for ankle break and maybe, just maybe, the knee break? After I got into my Warrior GT pads after a few tries with older, softer and heavier pads I couldn't think of going back. Now I have G5 too and they don't fit as well because of their wide leg channel but other than that I like them too and they are a lot stiffer than my GT. Don't take this as an attack because I do understand some like soft pads and other like the stiffest they can find. I'm there in between for now and looking to experience more. So if you have a chance to try them, or buy and try them I'd say go for it. If it doesn't work for you and you can get your money back some way then it's no harm done except you know better what you are after in the future. At the moment the whole industry seems to be going to the stiffer edge in pads.

I think, from comments above, that Warrior has very good lock in for the palm to glove and that causes fingers to slide when closing the glove. Because some area has to move when closing the glove that is just plain physics. I'll think of this in a few hours on ice with my Bauer glove. How it operates compared to Warrior and where does the movement happen.

I've tried G2, G3 and G4 so far and I didn't like either of them. These quotes are about how I feel them all, the fingers are the main problem. @Pezon36 said one exact that is the fingers sliding when closing the glove and that might have some connection to @CJ Boiss words. I now have a GT waiting for some refurbs and that'll be another way for Warrior. I looking to find a GT2 too but these are quite rare so far. G6/6.1 definitely and maybe G5 some day.

They must've hired "Daveart - Cradle of Creativity" for their feature names. Hopefully these also give something more than just cool tags.

Try to drill the screws head off with a drill just a bit thinner than the thread is. Getting that into some depth you could then atleast cut the bolt by turning the head of it.

Right colors and I do love the VE8, it just is the right of everything. So they say this is something else while the same and a mix of a VE8 and PVE? What. And as I have a SLR2 blocker in these colors that I like more than the VE8 blocker I thought there would be a decent pair then. And for real it was just pure interest of what have they done differently. And I do love the VE8 so hopefully this will be a close call.

This is what I had inside my VE8 non carbon. The Pro Carbon has that plastic sheet changed to carbon. And from custom route you can order the sheet in full size which I would do right away. So the foam on the left will be the tricky part to mold. The foam plate behind plastic is easily moldable with heat too.

Uh, thanks. Haven't received the email notifications from the forum and been out for a few days. And right then someone is looking for help. Oh well I don't know if I'm able to give a solid answer but yes, the carbon that Vaughn uses is some sort of carbon sheet infused with plastic. It will mold with heat and can be somewhat repaired by melting it and then pressing it back together when the layers have separated. I don't know how solid or long lasting this sort of repair is but I've tried it a few times and it seems to work atleast for some time. If you ask me I'd get rid of that material and replace it with PE-HD right away. But back to the blocker it isn't the carbon/plastic sheet that is the issue but the foam core that you cannot really bend with heat. Maybe some that might just be enough for you to do the trick here. Last and not least is that the jenpro cover isn't going to give you a lot of room either, could be even less than the foam core. You are not going to break anything unless using excess heat and force and while being on the safe side you propably are able to recover from the modifications too. BUT, if I understood what you @Almost Hip are after I would look for something else before this mod. Maybe modding the finger protection or stick handle (pistol grip) etc. Ofcourse those are more or less infinite mods. I don't think I need to mention that you have to dismantle the blocker to try and make this mod.

Tight boot strap (under the skate) will keep the pad down low and it'll eat the attack angle of your skate. Elastic straps might give some possibilities here as they would stretch out when you need the angle and still pull in right when they get the slack. It is problematic to fix something when something else then is not good. But I'd say you need to play with your still brand new pads a few times and after that they are just that much broken in that you'll get a better feel of them. And then try and adjust things again. You are still coming from a whole different era of pads so you have to adjust your playing too. But when you get into your pads it'll be a youride!

Yes they were on both ends, though the finger side had big effect on this. I'm not 100% that I made it like the original was, as said I had to get rid of one hole on the top side on the finger sides edge to get them even. That tells something has happened but I wasn't able to tell what. Now it works so I really don't have an issue with that. Funny it is as you would think that when it has been built and all the holes for laces have matched then how can they suddenly be missing by one hole. Found out that I should've replaced the velcro for the backhand cover that is on the thumb protector. It's not basically holding anymore and the damn spot requires a lot of dismantling to get into...

Had to make a gif of this change. The T looks like it cannot be the original one. The thumb area and cuff are just a bit cleaner than before.

Nothing much to add to this story. It went a bit off with so many pictures being mushy and dark but hopefully you got some idea of what is inside a Gnetik IV. I still am confused about the Brian's desings as all of the gloves I've already refurbished there has been a lot of problems from the design and engineering. And still at the same time they have made some really excellent gloves. How good they would be if they just did a bit of redesing in the structure of their gloves.... The pocket was made with 274cm waxed skate lace and mid lane is 4mm thick basic lace without wax. I'm not really a fan of skate lace but the white with a bit of black goes into the glove theme nicely. The weight before doing anything (but not from factory condition on the glove) was 1045g. After repairs listed the result is 1018g. The Eyes! It's so soft that it was a bit of a struggle to set for this picture.

A small cut from the fingerside right at the T there was almost 15mm of extra which I just cut away and cleaned out the binding. I also had to remove one hole and re-align the rest to get the perimeter lace properly through. Funny detail that Brian's added a Primo sheet here as this isn't a place where normally is a lot of abrasion. Feels a lot different compared to the basic jenpro, I'd assume the top layer is somewhat different material. Then we are in the first setup round. I had to make a few small mods while getting it together like adding some foam with adhesive to the cuff-thumb area to smooth the edges. The original plastic was so difficult to make that took the easy route there. It might still be better and longer lasting now as there is no bends that are always weaker than flat plate. And after a series of resetting and adding or cutting bits and pieces it's done. Pocket and backhand protections still remain to be done. Looks like it got the big pocket back which wasn't there when I started. And no changes done to the T so this is about as it was when new.

Then some break wondering, what the heck? The ruler is set to the line where the outer palm layer had holes on the break line. The felt is set over that so that the holes for the lace on finger side match. The longer "softening" holes aside with the lace holes are a lot off from where they should be now... Then the thumb side plastic set as it should be on when laced in. The break area looks weird, there is a lot of uncovered area at the index knuckle which is a spot where I don't like to get pucks if not properly protected. One last for the break where there is a plastic strip. That is located just where I would assume the glove to bend and close. And it's also somewhat curved and as said already multiple times no hinge will operate smooth if not in straight line. Will be fixed... Then some butthead once again took pictures where you see nothing so I replaced the plastic strip with a bit wider 2mm PE and moved it to center of the lace line. I also replaced the fingerside plastic as well as the thumb side and modified both so that the break area edges are in line to each other and have less than 10mm gap between which has given me good results with closure. Nothing really new that I hadn't done before but sorry no pictures to show here.

The palm was surpricingly good with no holes and even the lace had held well. Only the pocket edge had worn through from puck hitting it. Some jenpro pieces and a bit of color matching and playing. The main reason for three pieces is that I didn't have single large piece and also the seams between each piece help just that much with the break area flexing. Quite a lot of seams fixed in the same run. Should be good for a long time now. I took some bits of felt away as there was a lot of excess. Interesting that the designers don't cut these out in the design process as this is sort of waste. The binding is worn too but I made it a bit cheap, cut it off, turn upsidedown and sewed back in. Can't tell from the looks and on the outside so it does the job.

As the glove was ready short time ago I took to a real world test yesterday. I did catch the pucks very well, mostly into pocket and only few my palm area. It's super soft and easy to use opens out and closes well as it should right after a full refurb. But the biggest issue for me is the strapping on the back hand. I just could not make it work with my hand. Too tight my hand couldn't operate the glove and any combination of settings down from that my hand just moved in or out while catching pucks. Also the wrist strap is way too far out from the glove. It touches my C/A sleeve and if loosened completely doesn't hold my hand in the glove which is obvious though. Side note for this I removed the wrist strap from my Total One Bauer as it had the same issue and now that glove is a dream. It might work a lot better if I moved the anchor point on the pinky side towards my wrist and removed the wrist strap. But with the glove in so good shape and not really looking to keep this one as it's not the best of the bunch for me I'll propably sell it to someone who likes it as it is. Then back to the story.

Findings from the inside. Both plastics have cracked, finger plastic only on one spot and the thumb side is toasted. Thumb side plastic doesn't go all the way up to the cuff, but only ends half way and inside the foam plate. The bent edge is a weak spot and has been cut all the way. This same thing happens in all the gloves made with this style. But that is basically unavoidable and the plastics will break no matter what. Finger side was cut from the edge through some needle holes, weak spot here too and I don't really think that they need the felt to be sewn to the plastic here on the outer edge. None of the other manufacturers do. The T was looking bad but that was more of the lace work that was done to fix the pocket. Sure the spines were broken at the attaching holes but that a common thing and pretty easy fix. Even without dismantling the whole glove if you ever get into a situation like this. I did have a picture of before, but it wasn't good enough quality to show you anything. Cracked ends were cut with different lengths on top and bottom to interlace the seams. Right side was worse and the top had to be cut one hole longer. T had a skate(?) cut on the edge which had been repaired by some non-hockeygear and hadn't held up. The inside piece was also damaged so much that I decided to replace it with a new material. Simple job to do and doesn't consume a lot of jenpro either as the piece is straight edged. I also bent the outer material in so that the existing needle holes were hidden inside and sewed everything back together.

So new project story incoming. This time I had a Gnetik IV which was pretty much done atleast from sellers viewpoint. Paid 30 euros which is not much but, well. Yeah. Not much that I can describe in words, but you'll get the idea from these pictures. Dirty all over, lots of puck marks too but dirty. From this side it looks used but not actually that bad... T looks worn and the skatelaced perimeter goes for a short time but will wear quickly if rubbed against ice. Finger protection off revels that the T is pretty bad and the skatelace pocket isn't the best art work there is. Working though so no pucks go through. Did I mention about washing your hands to push this sight further to the future. It'll happen no matter what though but I'd say a good soaking wash and some toothbrush rubbing in the summer break could renew this kind of glove without having to dismantle the glove totally. The stench! And saying this after the glove has dried and aired in the storage for 6 months... Boas are worn but still working properly. I had the original weight of this glove some where in the database and it was 1045g. Perimeter size is pleasantly close to the 114cm so there won't be a need to extend the T. And no chance to do it to enlargen the pocket either...

Thumb is short compared to fingerside and the T is folding in on the finger side like Brian's do, though only partly and not the whole lip. The structural lacing is very similar on the thumb for each of the pictures. The Capitals one has some very custom setup too.

Can you do a bit of research about the shipping (to Finland)? It could be reasonable but most likely it won't be.