ArdeFIN

2 hours ago, ThatCarGuy said:

As someone who works at a hockey shop the younger kids don’t care nearly as much about how a pad works or what changed they just care what name is on the front and who wears it

Hasn't that been always the way? Atleast I remember from 90's when I was a kid. We had brands like Koho and Cooper, Pallas and what else and that was what we wanted to use and wear.

These days my friends who have their kid playing hockey and especially goalie they are very keen to use CCM and Bauer despite the catchers are never soft enough to even close and some other problems with gear not fitting them. Warrior is a possibility because in Finnish Liiga there are several good goalies wearing Warrior gear.

Brians or Vaughn? No way unless the goalie himself wants to have something that a NHL goalie is using but very rare are those kids.

Had my 1X yesterday on ice and tried to replicate what happened to you, and yes the thigh board seems to be willing to shift sideways and it would be possible to let the puck in by that.

Not and easy mod and it might have some negative effect too, is to add some padding either to inside (between thighs) or to outside where there is a soft padding in a bag atleast on 1X pants. This, carefully positioned should shift the thigh board outwards and prevent the excess rotation. But it also could make some trouble atleast if you use knee pads that wouldn't fit in with added padding.

If you can add some to try it out it might help even with the placebo effect of making things better. 

Have to say from my three times on ice experince with these 1X pants that I don't really like them that much. They are trouble free and lightweight but at the same time they are made with excess amount of bling and cadgets that give nothing but good looks. That has some effect on my mental playing that I don't really like the gear I'm wearing even while they're perfectly doing the job. This is written from comparison to Warrior X2Pro and Simmons 996Pro pants. That said I don't have a real issue with either of them and still all of them have some problems I cannot solve easily so I'm going to look for some future options.

If it is the thigh plates, you can easily check them by slightly bend the plate. It should have little to no bend in it if everything is ok. 

Next that comes to my mind is to check all the seams that everything is intact. So that the thigh plate does not have a possibility to turn and let the puck go by.

X900 is the old style of pants where the thigh plate isn't rounded up and should be quite flat.

I have 1X version in large so I can share some thoughts with you, and I already looked inside the thigh areas to fix some wear spots.

This is the (left) thigh plate in 1X pants, propably no Curv and only plastic in X900. There is an annoying sewing in the middle which could break and let the plate bend somewhat. 

Jenpro surface is a tough one to find anything that bond to it in long term. So try to add the glue only to edges of the cut and behind the cut area. And add a layer of some material that also bonds to the glue, Jenpro upsidedown would be good.

Superglue is a nogo for Jenpro, it hardens completely and doesn't have any elasticy. Jenpro is very elastic material. 

I don't know for sure but I think superglue doesn't melt the surface as you can use it for instance to fix ceramics like coffee cup. I think that ceramic material does not melt. But it is a strong chemical liquid that will react with some materials.

And one more no for superglue is that it is a pain to fix anything with sewing machine as it is extremely hard when cured.

19 hours ago, Puckstopper said:

I don't have ringing per se when I get hit with either of my Bauer masks (NME 8 or 960) but I do notice that the sound is higher pitched than my old ProMasque.   Not exactly a "ping", but there's something a little louder and higher frequency than the dull thump sound I'm used to when a puck deflected off the shell of the PM.  Fortunately I haven't caught a real sizzler right in the cage with either Bauer mask yet, so can't really comment on that aspect of it.  

This might be exactly what I'm upon too.

Despite @coopaloop1234 offer I'll propably have to manage this myself in some way. As said luckily I don't get headshots in every icetime and hopefully it continues that way even with me having top notch gear for protection.

21 hours ago, johncho said:

I wonder if strips of car sound dampening material could somehow help? I have no clue how feasible it would be, but I remember a cymbal demonstration where there was a strip of this stuff and it totally dampened the cymbal when you hit it.

That was my first thought and that might do the trick, but then thinking that the sound is metallic it would come from cage more than the mask itself and then the dampening wouldn't do much. Also those add considerable amount of weight and last issue is adding 2mm material between the padding and mask.

But under consideration still.

15 minutes ago, turbototts said:

In some cases, the ringing can be from cracks or bad lamination of the layers,  you should see if you can warranty it at least.

I have a VTX and I do not get ringing when taking a puck off the front cage/chin/front of the helmet. I play in the higher divisions and if it is a direct hit it usually will blow the chinstrap off or a buckle but not deafen me.  

I've checked everything throughly but I still might've missed something like bad welding on a cage. Might be able to ask for warranty but then again I love this mask except the sound so I'll try and find a way to save this. But if it was material problem then warranty is the way. No reason to use a 800€ mask with material flaw that might lead to injury in worst case.

I only play low level hockey and no official games at all and (luckily) do get only very few head shots so I'll take my time and maybe a few more hits to head before I make a  decicion of how it will be. And I have the REY still so I can go back anytime and try to get rid of the Bauer.

Thanks for the feedback so far, seems that it's not unheard to get some ringing effect from Bauer.

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.

On 2/4/2023 at 4:14 PM, RichMan said:

It's easy for those with deep pockets. For the rest of us, it's often a hit or miss. Too bad there isn't a demo program at every shop or company.

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.

On 2/2/2023 at 7:14 PM, coopaloop1234 said:

Warrior eventually made slits in the calf wrap for the G5 and G6 that allow for a tighter feel. 

GT2 has a limited customization system. Though, the way they created the leg channel itself has a more enveloped feel than the G5/G6. 

In this picture, you can see the addition of the angled foams on each side of the RGT2 face. This wraps around your shin to give a more connected feel. 

So despite my G5 having an additional option to tighten the calf wrap, my GT2 still felt more connected to my leg. 

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.

On 1/24/2023 at 7:31 PM, Pezon36 said:

I went from a g3 to a 6.1.  It feels nothing like a g3.  The g6 feels closer to the g3.  The 6.1 feels similar to a 590 type closure. The one thing I really don’t like is your fingers slide as you close it. The g3 felt like it was fully apart of your hand.  The big plus though is the pocket. Way bigger than the g3. I end up making what feels like more glove saves after switching. 

14 hours ago, CJ Boiss said:

I've used a G3, G4, and a GT2. The removable liners in the G3/4 did always feel tighter around my fingers than my GT2 does, but after switching to my GT2 I realized how... sloppy, for lack of a better word, the liner system was. Like, my hand felt very locked in with the G3/4, but it didn't feel locked in to the glove.

I'd love to get my hands on some G6 gear, but I'm a little bit skint at the moment.

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. 

19 hours ago, seagoal said:

@ArdeFIN is a great person to have chime in here. Our resident gear surgeon on this forum.

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!

16 hours ago, ThatCarGuy said:

Didn’t realize the tee edges were laced wrong by the previous owner. That makes a huge difference in the shape

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.