jayluv54

8 minutes ago, AGoalie said:

Still no refund. Still no product. Automatic replies on both e-mail accounts.

Frickin awesom.

How did you pay?

22 hours ago, HP29 said:

What did you use for connectors?

I've been tinkering with S-biners and shock cord....

I use the small synthetic S-biners now.  I've also used those plastic hook and loop type terminations, but I like the s-biner better because it just lays flat on top of the skate.  You can just tie an anglers loop in the shock cord and it holds perfect.

6 minutes ago, goalie said:

who bought who?

All I've heard so far is that it's a merger so they can pool their resources.  I know there is a relationship there so who knows the details behind it.  OTNY is probably looking to get more mass production going and I bet Tony has the connections there.  I'm sure with coveted going retail, they want to compete on that level.

Heard Sportmask and  OTNY are merging today.  Pretty cool, but I hope prices and quality stay reasonable as I'd imagine they are going to try and make a big retail push.

18 hours ago, motowngoalie said:

@jayluv54 sweet mask! Still waiting for mine, hoping for November. Question, what was the additional charge to have Michel paint your mask?

You can get the mask in any color you want as long as he has the paint, but he didn't charge anything extra for the White window.

Happy to finally get this guy today.  So I was considering a 961 because I always wanted one that actually fit right, but because my head mold matched Potvins exactly, Michel talked me into this one.  He was psyched to make another Potvin straight from Felix's original mold and shell. The Green paint happened to be left over from a Luongo mask he made back in the day too, so pretty cool story behind this one.

4 minutes ago, bunnyman666 said:

That’s a good thing. At the time, I felt like I was being extorted and eBay was complicit. Very shitty thing eBay was doing at that time. That experience turned me RIGHT OFF; my account never seeming to be secure was the LAST straw for even buying via eBay!

Its true, they used to be all about the seller when they first started because that's where the revenue came from, then when buyers left in droves, they switched gears and were all about buyer protection.  They still kind of favor the buyer a little bit, but are more reasonable and fair about it now.

On 9/24/2018 at 7:22 PM, Hockey School Dropout said:

I bought a used GoPro off eBay many years ago.  The seller had a good rating, and I figured that would work out.  I got the GoPro, it wouldn't turn on and wouldn't charge.  The battery connections on the battery AND in the camera were corroded.  I notified the seller via email and received no response.  I took it to a local camera shop to see if it was salvageable, sadly no.  Due to my own procrastination, I passed the 30 days to get refunded but filed a complaint anyway.  Seller finally responded and said they would refund me if I shipped it back.  I did (glad to be rid of it) but SHOCK, no money came back.  Seller ghosted me. 

Some of it was my own fault, but even the rating system is not perfect.  I've bought stuff from sellers in Asia and gotten very fast, reliable service.  IMO, eBay is a complete crap-shoot.

Sellers live and die by their ratings on Ebay.  Never leave feedback until your completely satisfied because most sellers will do anything to not have negative feedback and Ebay will be more likely to rule against them in any claim situations if they have negative feedback.

9 hours ago, bunnyman666 said:

I quit selling a few years back because I got extorted over $25! I was parting out a 950 SS Ducati that had the special edition aluminium swing arm. The wanker I sold it to waited 60 days to report the supposed crack in it, and eBay “suggested” that I refund that tosser $25! After that, I vowed to NEVER AGAIN sell on eBay.

My eBay account keeps getting hacked, so I am on permasuspended mode. I do NOT trust eBay and DO NOT feel that they have the best interests in mind for EITHER sellers or buyers.

Screw eBay, I say!!!!!!!

Doesn't work that way anymore, typically 7-10 days for a refund if your unsatisfied or your SOL, unless the seller has a 60 day return policy or some crap.

7 hours ago, motowngoalie said:

As far as buying/selling, I've had the best luck with Sideline Swap. EBay seems to be dying off as far as goalie gear available to buy...

I find most stuff on SLS drastically over priced...facebook seems to be the best bang for the buck with the occasional crack smoker, but you have a lot of JR and College players selling pro gear at the end of their season for pennies on the dollar.  I've bought 2 sets (Warrior R/GT Pro & Eflex 3's) in like new condition for less than $700 in the last year.  I made almost $500 flipping both sets.  Ebay still has some great deals though, some people don't know what they have, but it is slowly dying.  The worst part about facebook is all the Brian's fanboys thinking their Gnetik 2's are still worth $1700...

19 hours ago, Hockey1234 said:

Had hal straps, switched to these. I’m NEVER going back. I had good customer service with monster hockey but the amount of times the knot would come undone was insane. I kept on having to cut the knots off which kept on making the elastic shorter and shorter to a point where I couldn’t use them anymore. Prolaces are stitched in and you will never have this problem with. I’m taking pro laces over hal straps any day 

Monster is a joke at this point, Prolaces are better quality but if you want something similar to Hals, FixMyGear has them for about half the price and no delivery issues.  I bought my own cord on Amazon because I wanted something with more stretch and use a termination so they never pull through.

On 9/18/2018 at 4:31 PM, Hockey1234 said:

Any opinions on the sportmask t3 helmet? How does it fit?

As good protection as you'll probably ever need.  Fit is the same as the X8 and that is going to be wider in the temple and cheek areas.  Light.

16 hours ago, bunnyman666 said:

Having had music published, I can weigh in on this topic.

We musicians tend to rip bits off from each other all the time. Whether it goes from a thread that was what we heard in a chorus or whatever; as long as it becomes an entirely original song, it’s not theft. For example- there was some 70s tune where the guy sings about walking through the wet grass, in the 90s, someone made that into their hook. The tunes don’t resemble each other AT ALL. Chord structures are nothing to sue over. Now- George Harrison BLATANTLY ripped off “He’s So Fine” with his song “My Sweet Lord”.

How many bar owners actually pay the BMI or ASCAP fees for songs a lowly bar band plays? Probably not many, knowing how many bar owners are scheming, smarmy WANKERS!

I had a handlebar idea get ripped off when I asked a buddy of mine to show it around at Interbike. That taught me to be careful who sees my stuff in the development stages... That design ended up not making it into production, but the fact that my concept became someone else’s concept irked me plenty...

Is my “Trixie the Darling Devil Bunny” a rip off of the Lalime paint job? Considering that it was my Trix standing in for Marvin the Martian, no. Compositions are not exactly copywriteable. 

When (and I do mean “when”) I build my first helmet, am I going to take cues and inspirations from the best, like Wright, Harrison or @Don Straus? Of course! But I want to throw in my own twist and make it a bunny devil dude ORIGINAL! 

I would not directly rip off an artist or designer; however- if a thread comes along and inspires something entirely original, it’s fair game. 

Metallica hacked most of the riffs from some of their biggest hits from other small bands they saw while on tour.  Kirk would basically tweak it to make it his own...some call it cloning, some call it inspiration.  No different than a paint job on a mask.  You have to trademark it to keep it from being copied, if you don't then you leave it open to be hacked.

On 6/7/2018 at 5:53 PM, Chenner29 said:

Double post to answer your second question,

Mike Vaughn has either ownership interest (or possibly flat out owns) a plastics plant and a Jenpro/clarino production facility
So, YES! He is probably raising a grass-fed, Wagyu quality synthetic cow with carbon fiber reinforced bone structure, Bio-Flex internals and +3 sizing on the flank.

I had heard that Vaughn is such a major player in the materials market that other major gear manufacturers actually have to purchase from him if they want to source in N.America.  Don't how true that is, but did come from a trusted source.

40 minutes ago, coopaloop1234 said:

They'll be different. I've gone from P2's -> V4's -> R/GT's.

A more flexible pad (especially torsional) will put less strain on the hips/knees as the pad is far more forgiving and will bend with the leg. Stiff pads generally work against you.

Granted, a lot of these are due to toe ties really. If we had the same slack in a stiff vs soft pad, the soft pad will be less strenuous as per my reasons above. Toss in a lot more slack and injury issues will lessen.

I've worn both, I guess I just never really understood where I might see the difference.  I agree 100% that a stiffer pad works against you in most areas.  I noticed that with using G3's coming from Reactor 9000's, it was like I couldn't even feel the weight difference once on the ice because I could move so much easier in the Reactor's despite the heavier weight.  But I will say that a stiffer pad feels much more stable when in the butterfly, which does feel like less work sometimes as well.

The flexible vs. stiff pad discussion has been going on forever, but in terms of the injury aspect, I've always heard that a softer(more flexible) pad may put less strain on the joints such as the hips, knees and ankles.  Anyone use both flexible and stiff pads for extended periods of time and really feel like they've felt a difference in that respect? 

2 hours ago, villemk said:

Hi everybody! 

I will be switching from ccm premiers to Vaughn SLR Carbon pads for the next season and I have a question. I have been a rbk/reebok/ccm guy for 12 years and will not be able to try on the new vaughn gear in person so I need help with sizing. I am currently in the premiers which are 33+2(which fit perfect). Should I go up a size in the SLR-s, considering that I've seen premiers run big? Even the previouse model (reebok xlt-s) were an inch smaller than the premiers. 

Thanks!

The Premier line and Vaughn always ran about an inch larger than other brands/models, so you should be fine in 33's.

4 hours ago, Lucky Pucker said:

Anybody here on the IR with good news stories or updates? My physio told me "optimistically" that things with my MCL were progressing well, I might be ready to play in another 5 weeks (!)

I think I might just call it for the summer, and make sure I'm completely rested and ready come Fall.

give it as much rest as you can stand.  The tricky thing about knees or any joint for that matter is they can feel relatively OK making controlled movements until you make that one explosive push or pull that just puts too much stress on it and you feel that pop all over again. 

Don't just rest it either, make sure your strengthening the area on BOTH sides as much as possible.  It never fails for me that when I hurt one side, the other isn't far behind if I'm not careful because you don't realize how much extra stress your putting on the healthy side.  So make sure you are working both legs the same when your rehabbing.

5 minutes ago, jeff da goalie said:

Got the word from the doc.  Grade 1 sprain, but a mild one.  There's some very minor instability compared to the other leg, but he's not overly worried.  He said another week off the ice, then i play it by ear.  If I'm pain free, I'm good to go.  

Good deal, glad to hear it.

13 minutes ago, jeff da goalie said:

that's what happened to me in the past.  I'm hoping it's that way again.  I'm seeing my doc in an hour so if the joint is still stable, it's likely it was just the scar tissue.  And your description is pretty spot on.  

I'm about 5 days into my latest episode and its still a little sore, but the looseness has gotten better.  This is the first one in a couple years, so I may give it another week or so before I try and play or do anything on it.  I also have a progression of braces that I go through whenever it happens.  I start with my Don Joy Armor for a few days to a week and then I work my way down in support to just a sleeve or wrap over the coming weeks.  I combine that with a lot of stretching and massaging and it always seems to rehab OK.

On 5/24/2018 at 11:19 AM, jeff da goalie said:

this post was bad luck.  Went into the butterfly last night and "pop" there goes my left knee again.  I'm assuming it's my MCL but scheduled an appointment just in case.  It's not nearly as bad as my first one and I don't think even as bad as the second time I did it (other leg).  Might even just be some scar tissue popping.  We'll see.  But I'm assuming I'm off for 4-6 weeks now.

I pop my scar tissue all the time.  My knee doesn't swell or anything, I just get this dull ache and a "loose" feeling in the knee for about a week.

32 minutes ago, Lucky Pucker said:

That's kind of interesting... any thoughts as to why that is? Maybe when there's no formal defense, the goalie is more prone to injury as they over-extend themselves, trying to make miraculous recoveries and/or saves ...(?)

Definitely a higher frequency of shots/plays where a bigger stretch/push is needed.  This also leads to more fatigue.

Over 8 years in net(started when I was 30), I've had minor ACL and LCL tears in my left knee, multiple hip flexor strains, multiple ankle strains, bruised sternum, jaw realignment, couple broken fingers.  The knees and hips have become a recurring issue.

One common theme with most of these injuries, except the bruised sternum, is that they did not happen in actual games, but in pickup, stick&puck, training sessions, etc...

Loosening up the binding lace works really well too if nothing else helps.  I did it with my Eflex 3 practice palm glove and got a complete and snappy closure out of it...real easy to do.  Just another Jason Terio (keeps33) method.

54 minutes ago, IPv6Freely said:

That's where I like what's in the Bauer NME so much. Theres the normal foams in there, but then there's low density gel pads for comfort. If I could get a mask lined with maltese (for impact absorption) with some of the little gel pads (for comfort) I'd be in heaven. The pads are actually ULTRAGEL which is easy enough to find online, but not in smaller sizes. 

There's this...I saw this yesterday and was thinking of getting some of the 2.5" discs.  I have to re-pad an X8 I'm refurbishing and this over some Shocktec or even EVA would be nice...and fairly cheap.

https://www.onlygel.com/collections/protective-gel-and-padding/products/retach-ultrahook-backed-gel-disc-kit