IpaddyTECH

I feel like Bauer and Warrior are like competitive cousins. Both make innovative, cutting edge technology, semi-cheaply manufactured in Thailand, yet good looking gear. I feel like Bauer has slight edge with pads, blockers, masks, but everything else is either close or Warrior has the edge, especially with durability and sometimes affordability from what I've seen. Am I ball park here or way off? But to try to stay on topic, I do love all my vaughn gear, super durable. I am very interested in trying a pair of these SLR4's if I ever get the chance.

I noticed the calf pillow too. That would be nice as I had to make one for my warriors. Is that upper calf strap their take on a Rotation control/professor strap? That would also be nice as I had to add one of those too haha.

That is a sexy mask

Nice, those are great results. Yeah I need to get my film tuned in. We play a lot of pick up with no Zambonis, so towards the end I can give a maximum effort push and barely slide 3 ft haha

@OldSchoolGoalie Yeah I'd recommend only putting in on the knee block that un-velcros, that way that little strip of Jenpro friction on the end might help you have some control. I have the Warrior g2s which does something similar. From what I've read here, if you wrap the film around the sides of the knee block all the way up to the velcro, then that stuff is almost never going to come off unless you take it off, and that matches my limited experience with them. Curing time didn't seem to make a difference for me, although it might be ideal. For what it's worth, in my experience I played much worse the 2 times I had it on because I couldn't control it. Take that with a grain of salt as it might just be my technique, but It might be better to experiment in a stick time instead, or just put the film on half the block (which is the mod I'm going to try next).

Wow I found my pad brother! I wear literally the same G2's classic pads, same color even. I'll get some action shots up here eventually. Nice butterfly. Quick question, how do you guys get such nice photos?

Congrats on the beauty! Matches your set perfectly. Sorry you were having troubles with the g6. I'm in the g6.1 and loving life but it's my first glove since the original ritual glove so that's not a lot of competition. Felt so much better than a true glove to my hands.

I agree with you about the glove and pads both. I went warrior G6/1 for my glove with kova strap and adore it. But I plan on m5 pads and either a Mach or m5 blocker. Do you find the m5 blocker protective enough despite not being pro level? That's funny, I actually really like the Mach/M5 graphic. I plan to get all black, and I like the cold, sort of mechanical or technological look of the pads. Sort of subconsciously suggests goalies are advanced, evil, feelingless robots bent on denying goals to others. Kinda true right? or am I way overreading into this, getting all artsy-fartsy.

Nice work on the mask. And those M5's! How do you like the pads?

Hey all! I just thought this might be a fun topic for people to chime in on. Post a pic of some of your favorite gear designs. Maybe include vintage and modern, your favorite graphic overall or your favorite specific set. Fun to reminisce, also could be nice for inspiration for those who are order custom gear right now. It'll also be fun to see the banter over some people's complete lack of style (guilty as charged here). Have fun, and remember, beauty is in the eye of the beholder! Two of my favorite sets here, the Reebok Premier 3's, and Bauer supreme One100s. Not the best for different designs but really fun and different from typical pads when done well.

Have you had a chance to try the Kova Wrist strap? My "new to me" 6.1 came with it. It's surprisingly better than a traditional wrist strap in my book. It actually sits higher up on the arm than a trad strap, not on the wrist joint but just above it. I cinch it down moderately and it anchors my glove from sliding off my hand, while providing much less interference with range of motion than a trad strap. Kinda the best of both worlds if. you don't like just the hand strap.

Did you measure your FTK? I'd start there if you haven't yet. I also added a professor strap to a pad. Itt had only a small effect on my knee landing, but I loved the responsiveness it provided so I have stuck with it. How tight do you have it? Mine is so tight it angles upward as I stand, tightly wrapped around my calf, thus lifting my pads slightly and keeping them from sagging as much. As far as I understand, the purpose of the professor strap is to reduce the pad's normal tendency to sag downwards when you're standing which increases your thigh rise (as well as create a more connected to the leg feel without interfering with pad rotation, theoretically). So your pads might slide up a little in a b-fly, but essentially they should already be higher to begin with if that makes sense? Correct me if I'm wrong on this fellas. Do you have a tight boot strap keeping the pad anchored low? I also only have a lundy loop strap for the boot, and centered toe bungees. Overall keep playing with it until you get the feel and performance you're looking for. That's kind of the golden rule of pad mods, do more of what works, less of what don't.

That might be my problem then. Making the "good saves", let alone remembering them haha! (you should do a short review of the Mach's if you have time. I'm debating just getting the m5's, partly because they sound more similar to US than Mach)

I'm in the safer is better category myself now. But like I said, I have had some luck with rubbing alcohol. I'm not seeing any abrasive effects an it did seem to loosen some more rubber than just dish soap alone. But try at your own risk. Just like carpet cleaning, test in an inconspicuous area first haha! Especially with different brands using different kinds of material or different qualities (cough bauer cough). That's another topic. Some guys see puck marks as badges of honor or a sign of a good busy goalie. Some guys like their pads to look brand new. I'm the later guy, who kind of wishes he was the prior guy. I appreciate the ruggedness of used, dirty pads, but they just ain't for me. My solution henceforth, neearly black pads. Plus all black is sexy. Much like your new set Coop, congrats btw

Okay yeah that lines up with what I've read and seen. I think I was bringing it up because I don't think some people are aware of the more abrasive nature of magic erasers. Just like I wasn't the first few times I used it. I guess I was curious if perhaps there was a way to use them without harming the pads and maybe I just did it wrong. At first glance it looks like it's working beautifully, but if you look close after the pad dries, you can see a difference. Sounds like it's just not the right tool for the job if you want to preserve the sheen and integrity of the jenpro over time?

aren't magic erasers harmful to jenpro? I thought I read that somewhere. I have noticed if you use them too much it takes of the natural shine of the jenpro, leaving spots dull or flat looking. I had some luck using rubbing alcohol and a good rag, and a lot of elbow grease.

Seriously? That's crazy to me. I'm 5'8.5 ... guess I shoulda tried harder haha!

That all makes a lot of sense. Honestly thank you for saying that. As I'm reflecting on this I feel more motivated to push myself to be a better goalie. Instead of looking at bigger goalies and sort of thinking "It's not physically possible for me to be as good as he is". And another thing, technically bigger goalie's gear does weigh more. Whether that is negligible when you factor in proportions and strength I don't know, but all I can say is that's why I'm tempted to try some intermediate Bauer M5 pads. The senior pad weighs in at 5.1 lbs (2.3 kg) while the intermediate is 3.7 (1.7). That's more than 25% lighter. Not sure if I'll feel that difference very much but I'll take advantage of what I can. I have to confess I don't really watch NHL hockey much. I had no idea Soros was only 5'11. I always loved Lundqvist partly because he's only 6'1 in a sea of 6'5 guys, but now I have a new hero haha! I might mess around with the pocket thing too sometime, but I have a G6.1 and it has the largest visual pocket of any on the market that I'm aware of. Not a single pop out yet... feels like cheating compared to my last glove haha

This is really interesting to know. ALMOST makes things seem more fair to this smaller goalie. I definitely second all of the "too big of gear = hindered mobility = more goals against" talk going on here. I have been sizing down throughout the years from 34" down to 32" pads and now I'm even toying with intermediate M5's which are 10.5 inches wide. For what it's worth, I think this topic is especially important for smaller goalies. I used to be tempted to make up for my smaller size with bulk, but the more I chisel my gear down, the more I focus on technique (movement and quiet eyes) the faster and better I get, even without the bulk. But after all that I do admit I'm a cheater. I still use an old Vaughn Velocity V4 unit with these lovely armpit triangle cheaters. Muhaha. Can't really say if they make a huge difference, but how could they not help?

That's not a bad idea at all, thanks! At this point I think I'm also dealing with a "lack of technique issue". I grew up playing roller and only have played 1 full season of Ice. I had rollerfly slide plates for years so I got used to some level of sliding but never had to learn who to stop the slide (due to lots of remaining friction). So for right now, pads that slide less actually work better. I probably need to just keep playing, maybe get a little coaching, and then perhaps I could control the speed of crazy fast pads.

Hey all, just thought I would chime in my experience with the film because I ended up taking it off after 2 hours of use. I used: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M19KCBB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Overall, like others have said, easy to put on and it certainly does what we're all hoping for, essentially eliminating friction. I wrapped ONLY my knee wings and I was absolutely flying. I am using Warrior G2 Pros, which weren't bad at sliding to begin with, but you know how it goes on TGN, you get to reading posts and think, THAT'S what will make me a good goalie finally: new pads or mods! Haha, anyway, on to my negative experience and a question for you all who have kept it. My problem was just over sliding like crazy. I was slamming into posts, spinning out of position. The worst is when telescoping backward on a break away, if I went down into a butterfly or the spread eagle leg thing (I'm sure there's a more technical term) I would just fly backward into the net leaving the net basically empty. I guess I didn't realize how much I relied upon Jenpro's little friction to control and limit my slides. I finally tore off the film in the middle of a game, and immediately had control back. I could still slide fine, but I would naturally slow down without always having to catch a skate edge. My question for you all who still enjoy the film and flying effects, do you always have to catch a skate edge in order to stop or control your slides? I still do lift a leg and catch an edge on big pushes across the crease, but I'm used to the jenpro friction helping a little. For some saves I don't lift a leg at all, I push into a a full b-fly slide and arrive pretty much square to the puck (both knees and pads down) like I was aiming for. But maybe I'm just lacking technique to control the flying slides. I've been training hip flexors and glutes in the gym a lot to increase my pushing power, so maybe I just don't need the help anymore? I will say I had an amazing backdoor save on a wrap around against the fastest player on the other team. I was looking over my left shoulder (he was behind the net) and I just saw him suddenly break the other way fast. I just loaded and pushed with all I had, and I slammed into the post in a full b-fly slide just as he was trying to stuff it in, all he got was pad. Not sure I would have made the save that definitively (or at all) without the film. Thanks ya'll!

Personally I don't always equate less color = looks worse, or all black or all white = free agent. Think white bengal tiger, no color, yet considered one of the most beautiful animals on the planet. Sometimes it's nice to see a calm helmet design for a change. But to each their own!

Doooooo it, join the dark side... but to be honest I'm getting a Mach blocker too. Warrior is fine to me, but Mach blocker is such a nice feel.

I tried those on once, crazy comfortable yes. Congrats!

I just checked and it's only the wrist pad that is removable, where you fit the kova strap. So mine is a standard sewn in 75 degree liner, which I'm okay with. Any advice on the break in process? Specifically with getting it to open all the all? It closes pretty nicely already (with an audible snap), but it doesn't open up all the way easily yet.