ok, recently ordered some stuff from sara at PAW. shes great to deal with, and has great prices. definately recommend her. ask if you have questions.
knee pads by PAW: exact copys of the luongo knee pads by rbk. they are a bit bulky, but that is what i wanted. price was definately better than buying the pant/kneepad combo from RBK. ordering was easy,and sara is great to deal with. got them in my colors too
. havent used them on the ice yet, but will in the next week.
pros: if you get a stinger to the knee, you are doing something wrong, or your playing in a league of al mcginnis's. im going to put my money on the first. they are in my colors, great price, and very protective.
cons: a little bulky, but they are becoming less and less noticeable wearing them around the house.
neck guard by PAW. it was made to my specs and sepcific instructions. i have always been trying new neck guards or looking for one that covers as much of my neck as possible, and offers great collarbone protection. i dont mind getting stingers to the glove or chest or knee, but stingers to the collarbone is something i cant stand, and i used to get them often.i have also been cut by a skate on my neck, so somehting that came high enough to cover the vital parts in my neck was a priority. this one gets the job done. check the pics, it rides high in the back and interferes with my helmet, so something will have to be done, but i havent given it much thought as of yet.
btw: i have used a brown neck guard three different vaughn neck guards, and a maltese. Brown and maltese were good , but vaughns were just so-so
pros:exactly what i wanted
cons:a little on the heavier side, but not really noticeable when on. the back hitting my helmet is an issue to be dealt with.
demo pads: sorry no pics right now, but ill get some shortly. i have to say saras work is top notch and her ability to make a quality product should not be questioned. these pads are no exception. my buddy was in the market for new pads and i told him to wait and try these demos out. he was "worried' about the quality and i kept telling him not to worry about it. when they finally came in i told him that if you put a RBK logo on it you would think RBK came out with a new pad. as for the pad itself, i think they are similar to the bauer one95, but the internal is completely removable, and customizeable. i definately loved the inner leg channel, and alot of features on the pad.(like changeable postions on the straps) these pads are very flexible, and light. after an hour on the ice i decided they werent for me though. i think i prefer a more of an older style of pad, and will be looking into something like the brians beast. i would definately shorten and taper the boot, as that was a major problem for me. if you have a decent butterfly, they would probably work but with my terrible butterfly, they were a little unforgiving(as are most pads)
pros: i definately liked that they were very flexible, yet still somewhat stiff. you cant beat her price, and they are very customizable as a stock pad.
cons:hated the straight RBK style boot. some might like it, i did not. i wear my pads really loose, and i dont think these pads work well when worn extremely loose. not much else, very nice pads