havlicekdom

3 hours ago, RichMan said:

That's odd. Looking at the HL2 and the Mach side by side, the Mach seems built longer in the torso. As for the arms, I'm guessing the HL2 has more flex given the materials and structure which could make them feel longer. Just guessing.

Torso-wise I think both models would work for me, but the arms were weird, the HL2, arms Velcro all the way to the end, ended up covering the end of my palms, about 5cm over my wrist bone, while Mach ones with plenty of Velcro to spare were just at my wrist.

I also tried the Elite size Medium as it was the only medium sized C/A they had, and the arms length was okay, but when I had my hands loose on sides of my body, I felt the them pulling down the whole unit on my shoulders.

Maybe I have T-Rex arms or just don’t fit well into Bauer

6 hours ago, mik said:

In my opinion, that is the main point. I tried lot of chest protectors in recent time, most of them looked good at store, but not suited for my body. For example - Warrior didn´t fit good al elbow area, Brians Optik was nice crafted product, but I can´t turn my head properly...Vaughns were good. For lot of years I was in Bauer only, but only Supreme line, Reactor or Vapor never fit me good. Strange thing to me is, that by measures I sould by definitely in L size, it fitted realy great in store, but I allways ended in XL size. It is litte over sized for me, but "feel" is better. But maybe it is just sometihng I´m used to.  

Absolutely same .

My very recent experience with Bauer was the same, tried on Hyperlite 2 C/A size Large, body fit me well, but the arms did not (were too long) no matter how I set it up. Put on Mach same size and it was basically perfect. Even the clerk was surprised when I told him the HL2 was too big for me.

18 minutes ago, mik said:

There are other small brands in Europe, but usualy not big (or good) enough to make it to the profecional leagues. Other thing is sponsorship and contract of the clubs with Bauer, CCM...sometimes even in highest league goalies can´t decide brand of their equipment (some can, some can ´t). 

Exactly, if a goalie gets traded, he often has to switch brands. Even our national team is sponsored (by CCM) and I've seen goalies playing in the EHT with covered logos on their gear.

Rey and VHV Opus were two very common brands back in late 90s, early 00s, mostly because of availability, not everyone could get their hands on "Made in Canada" gear. Both brands still exist, but they narrowed their offer. Rey focuses mostly on masks and Opus offers only knee pads, jocks and clavicle protectors.