Teezle

Passau Pro Pack Chest Protector - Size Medium (fits like a Small in other manufacturers). Used 10 times. $400 USD. Ships from Houston, TX.

For the blocker, I went with the 2-Piece Vapor blocker. This is the old 1X spec, but with updated materials and the Mach palm/finger protection. Many years ago I tried on a 1X blocker and loved it immediately, but was dissuaded from buying it because I was told it had durability issues. Now that it is available to order again (as a Pro Custom spec), I jumped on the chance to finally use one. It does not disappoint - the blocker is light, well-balanced, and extremely comfortable. I am very happy with this one.

For the glove, I went with the Game Ready palm + 3mm Poron on the palm. I find that when I don't catch cleanly, it is mainly on the palm/finger area and wanted to beef that up. I had a Pro Palm on the Hyperlite glove and did not like the way you could feel the reinforcement running through the break of the glove, but still wanted some extra protection. Pucks hitting the thumb side of the break usually deflect into the pocket, so I didn't feel it necessary to beef up that side. The red line circled in green in this photo is what I am referring to for the Pro Palm - whatever material they used for this part was not comfortable to close your hand around, in my opinion. So far it seems to be exactly what I wanted. The glove is very easy to close right out of the box, the pocket presents super wide, and the extra protection in the palm is noticeable when you take a hard shot there. The lack of a traditional wrist strap gives you great mobility to present the best angle for the glove, and it also eliminates the possibility of your chest protector and the wrist strap rubbing against each other (infrequent, but annoying). There is an attachment point to have the new strap go closer to your wrist on the outside, but I found it more comfortable, and easier to close the glove, leaving it how it came. Another really nice feature of this glove is the grippy lines for your fingers. They really help you get a solid grasp of the glove to close it, and prevent the glove from feeling like it is sliding off no matter how much I sweat in it. Lastly is a difference from the stock Mach glove when ordering custom: the T is attached traditionally, instead of the flexy tie down shown in the HockeyReviews video. The closure is still great.

My Mach set also came in this weekend. I was hoping they'd have come in a few days earlier, but I still used them for the a couple games in the Memorial Day hockey tournament and in my game last night. Here are some first impressions and comparisons between the Mach and the Hyperlite. Pads: The stock stiffness is considerably stiffer than the Hyperlite. This makes sense, as it is about a 4/5 stiffness on Bauer's scale compared to the 1/5 that is the stock Hyperlite flex. The profile of the pad makes it look taller than the Hyperlite, despite being the same size and both having the 100 degree boot angle. The less curved profile did save a goal in my game last night, when the puck was whacked towards me during a scramble in front of the net and just clipped the top of the pad to keep it out. It probably would have gone through with the Hyperlite profile. That said, it will take a bit of adjustment to the extra stiffness before I am completely comfortable in it. Like @ZeroGravitas, mine were built with the single bevel on the calf plate and the smaller calf pillow. This is definitely a positive; they are incredibly stable when in the butterfly, and I agree that the larger pillow on the Hyperlite was a little too much. It also means that your leg is already positioned a little closer to the spot for getting an edge to engage and push when down, instead of having your leg essentially lie flat across the pad. I.e. knee and lower leg are at approximately the same height on the Hyperlite; on the Mach your lower leg is a little closer to the ice. A couple other distinct differences from the Hyperlite: the boot channel and the knee strapping. The boot on the Hyperlite was basically a flat boot, whereas the Mach has a more defined boot channel. This helps them sit in the same place despite the overall straighter profile on the Mach. For the knee strapping, the Mach really encourages you to strap down to the calf (as I have done on the Hyperlite as well) by sewing the knee strap at an angle already. The Hyperlite knee strap is sewn straight across the knee. I'll get pictures of the glove and blocker for the next post.

Looks great! When did you place your order, and which store did you go through?

Medical issues like being 5'9" In that case, I, too, had medical issues that prevented me from going pro. You heard it here first! All kidding aside, it's a great story and I'm happy for him that he got to be in the game and the locker room afterward.

I think he means that he wants that strap to be like the regular one you use to tighten a blocker (velcro), and not the one shown here which is a nylon strap with a buckle to hold it tight. Brian's has their BOA tightening system there (though you can order it with regular velcro instead), so it's all just personal preference.

This one:

Agreed. There should be values assigned to each measurement, so we can compare them to other available safety data. E.g. there is a lot of data from car accidents and test pilots about what the safe g levels are, which could be used to compare the linear acceleration. Or studies like this one: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3217370/ which can be used for the angular acceleration, to provide cutoffs for safe vs. unsafe masks.

Are these results published externally somewhere?

Betting on games seems like a fast way to get a lot less enjoyment out of following any sport. Instead of "hooray my team won!" or "disappointing, but we'll try again next game" it turns into "even though we won, my team didn't score enough to cover the spread" or "my lousy team cost me $10 today!" I have never understood the appeal of it.

Using a 580 now, so a much different closure, but I like it.

It is funny, and goes to show just how personalized glove preference is, because I hated that they changed the V style closure of the G3 to the |_| style of the GT2. It could be because I have small hands, but that flat spot really prevented my fingers from being able to get a good grip to close the glove, and I was constantly shifting my hand position inside the glove to try to make it line up with where my palm naturally folds.

I see what you mean. Bauer just took it further than the CCM/Lefevre option of one-piece or half-piece cuff to no piece cuff

Did they change anything from the US to the MACH blocker? It doesn't matter for me, because I went with the 2-piece blocker. Been looking to get one of those since I tried on the 1X blocker in the store years ago, but was dissuaded from buying it because the people working the goalie section said it had durability issues and would fall apart in 6 months. *Darrell Hammond as Sean Connery voice* Failing to do so has been my biggest regret.

I like #2 the best here. Got an answer to what the calf bracket is when I inquired on my order: "For the calf bracket, this is a new option on the MACH pads and going with this option will make the calf plate much stiffer to help with sliding and ice seal. If you’d like the calf to have some more movement like a traditional pad, I would opt to go without this option." I decided to go with it; I've been moving towards wearing stiffer and stiffer pads anyway.

The theory is somewhat sound. If you had an imaginary blocker board that was a foot thick, it would be a foot closer to the puck which gives it less room to go around it and into the net, like how my defensemen always manage to hit the other team's forwards in the shins with their slapshots - not because the forwards' shin pads are very large, but because they are very close to where the puck is being shot from. My issue with it is their implementation is so marginal that it won't realistically do anything for you, and is just marketing hype. If it saved you one or two goals over the entire life of the equipment, I'd be surprised.

I went with #2. I went through Pure Goalie, as they had the ability to do the ProCustom level order on their website, which I didn't see on GoalieMonkey, and I wanted some of the expanded options: Vapor 2-piece blocker (old 1X style) 100 degree boot, Vapor Tune Fit (professor strap), leather boot strap Add Poron foam layer to the palm of the glove

#2 for me, but both 2 and 3 look really nice.

#1 or #2?

From what I heard when I talked with some of the pro shops this week, the openings for pre-release custom orders are a month or two away, so I figure retail is another month after that. I don't have any hard numbers though. I did get confirmation that the updated version of the online customizer will have the ability to select the "2-piece" (ie old 1X style) blocker, which is good news for me.

I think those are talking about two different things. The 90 degree boot on Brian's refers to their toe taper - how much of the inside of the toe is shaved down to make it easier to transition back and forth from butterflying/not slip out in your stance. See my crudely drawn overlay: The Bauer 100/125 degree boot angle refers to the angle between the boot at and shin of the pad itself: You can see from their catalog picture that the 100 degree boot for Bauer sits flatter on your skate, where the 125 degree boot pushes up your pad somewhat and will sit taller. If you like how your current pad sits on your skate, I'd measure the angle and go with that one. Personally, I feel more connected to the pad in the 100 degree boot angle from Bauer. The 125 degree will be similar to the Reebok/CCM Premier/P1/PII boot angle; the standard Brian's Optik2 boot angle looks to be close to the 125 boot as well.

SOLD

I have not worn a Vaughn unit since I was in middle school, so I don't know. I fit nicely into a size Small for both the Warrior GT2 and Bauer Hyperlite chest protectors.

5'7" I believe it was 52 or 53", but I can remeasure at home.