Anyone wear slide plates?

[natelevi]

Originally Posted by suicidekings

Pics of my new slide plates:







They aren't very good looking but they work very well. I used leafer's & natelevi's methods for attaching the plates using industrial strength velcro, and a heat gun. After they were attached my only concern was the smaller knee gusset piece, I was afraid that the velcro would not hold up but I ran into no problems during my league game last night.

The sliding properties of my pads are amazing now, (better than I anticipated) I was able to shuffle and do small bfly slides on sportcourt. More importantly, the stress on my knees is gone.

Wow! Fantastic job!! Glad they worked out for you! I think you won't have any troubles with them staying attached - i've played maybe 10+ games now and they are stuck to the velcro like a baby to a nipple!

For anyone else reading this - I have peeled a few pieces velcro off the leather to reposition them and I can tell you you're not going to ruin the leather. What I did was take a hair dryer to the velcro for about 30 seconds or so to loosen the glue, and then peal. If you completely remove them you *are* going to have to deal with removing the glue, but if you allot yourself some time in front of the tube you'll have no problem rubbing the glue off your pads.

have fun and nice looks slide plates!!

[drasik]

Okay guys I know I'm coming in late on this discussion but I really need to know which material works best on smooth concrete. I'm playing ball hockey in full sized arena's and I play it like I'm an icehockey goalie so I'm getting no sliding action with my weave pads. I've used nylon covers before that worked pretty decent but they would wear over time.

Which material in any of your opinions would work best on the concrete.

[soulpatch]

Originally Posted by drasik

Okay guys I know I'm coming in late on this discussion but I really need to know which material works best on smooth concrete. I'm playing ball hockey in full sized arena's and I play it like I'm an icehockey goalie so I'm getting no sliding action with my weave pads. I've used nylon covers before that worked pretty decent but they would wear over time.

Which material in any of your opinions would work best on the concrete.

ballistic nylon pad covers. Concrete is fairly abrasive and will wear down your pads should you roll off of the slide plates. Ballistic nylon holds up extremely well. It is basically the stuff airbags are made of. I had a set of Glenn Miller Icebreakers that lasted FOREVER on asphault, concrete, ect...

[Aaron]

So when you guys attached the velcro, you used a different cement or just the glue that came on the velcro when you peel it off to reveal the sticky side?

[suicidekings]

Originally Posted by Aaron

So when you guys attached the velcro, you used a different cement or just the glue that came on the velcro when you peel it off to reveal the sticky side?

I used the velcro's adhesive. My roomate told me that he tried peeling off this kind of velcro that was once attached to one of his walls. He ended up not only pulling off the paint, but some of the drywall as well.

[Aaron]

Originally Posted by suicidekings

I used the velcro's adhesive. My roomate told me that he tried peeling off this kind of velcro that was once attached to one of his walls. He ended up not only pulling off the paint, but some of the drywall as well.

LMAO well I guess that's a ringing endorsement! You heat it up as well huh?

[steelhmr]

here are the pics of the slide plates i made for my Mission Helium Elites. i made these for street hockey (on asphalt) and dek hockey (sport court) so the plates are not meant to come off. i used 1/16" HDPE and industrial strength velcro to attach them. also, i shaved a little of the foot plate off before my first street game. i have 'after' pictures, but i'll post them later since they were taken on a different camera and are on a different computer.

[chasewill]

I'm looking at making some slide plates but don't have access to a heat gun. I thought I remembered someone saying they had used their oven, at 200 degrees, to heat the plastic so it could be shaped? I was wondering how long to leave the plastic in the oven and also if the oven door was shut or open (just guessing that makes a difference on the amount of actual heat the plastic is being subjected to). Thanks!

[Tekkaman]

Hi everyone, i was wondering if anyone as ever taken a puck to the edge of the slide plates? If you have, did it affect the plate in anyway? Thanks!

[c0nquistad0rian]

Originally Posted by chasewill

I'm looking at making some slide plates but don't have access to a heat gun. I thought I remembered someone saying they had used their oven, at 200 degrees, to heat the plastic so it could be shaped? I was wondering how long to leave the plastic in the oven and also if the oven door was shut or open (just guessing that makes a difference on the amount of actual heat the plastic is being subjected to). Thanks!

That must've been me. My write up on slide plates is in the how-to thread (linked below.)

I used an oven to heat up my plates. I just placed them on a cookie/baking sheet on a very low setting and literally checked on them every minute to see that if they were soft enough to mold, but not melting. DON'T use a toaster/convection oven as they heat up really quickly and WILL melt the plastic.

The "How to" (mods and repairs) Thread

Originally Posted by Tekkaman

Hi everyone, i was wondering if anyone as ever taken a puck to the edge of the slide plates? If you have, did it affect the plate in anyway? Thanks!

My plates stick out perpendicularly to the face of my pads just abit with the lace-in attachment method that I use and lay relatively flat on the sport court when I butterfly. I've taken (roller) pucks to the edge of my slide plates, and have also had (again, roller) pucks hit the plates directly. No ill effects, but maybe a puck mark or two.

[chasewill]

That was the write up...Thanks Alot!!!

[suicidekings]

During my game last night the right boot piece just fell off completely from the pad, the adhesive did not hold up. It could have been a stick or a puck that knocked it off, I'm really not sure. I ended up removing the other boot plate, which came off very easily and left no residue on the leather. I will play without those pieces until I figure out a better solution.

[c0nquistad0rian]

Originally Posted by suicidekings

During my game last night the right boot piece just fell off completely from the pad, the adhesive did not hold up. It could have been a stick or a puck that knocked it off, I'm really not sure. I ended up removing the other boot plate, which came off very easily and left no residue on the leather. I will play without those pieces until I figure out a better solution.

This is why I went with the method that I did: sew in medial rolls and lace them in like a thighboard.

Everyone always says that they are concerned with the permanency of sewing something of on to your pads but the reality is that if you un-lace the plates, the pads will function exactly as they did before. And doing the job with a sewing all requires much more patience than skill, if you purchase a sewing awl and the proper thread for the job.

Applying adhesive or adhesive backed velcro may be the easier solution to mounting slide plates and may leave no residue in a short term trial, but who knows how applying an reapplying the adhesive will affect the pads long term and how the chemicals in the adhesive will interact with the PU leather that pads are made from while in constant contact and pressure after a couple of years?

All of that said, after having made slide plates for two sets of pads, I know that I never have to worry about them going anywhere (but laterally across my crease!) during game play.

Originally Posted by c0nquistad0rian

Slideplates:
Lastly, I sewed in a jenpro medial roll to the side of the face of the pads and made slide plates, following the same attachment format that I used in my own design.

The "How to" (mods and repairs) Thread (9th post down)

I have two key differences from my original design: the first is that the calf plates also cover the whole calf wing. The second is that instead of cutting holes into the plastic to lace the pad straps through (difficult & a greater chance for wear of pad straps – though I never had an issue), I used more 3mm lacing to create loops that the pad straps belt loop through.

Originally Posted by c0nquistad0rian

Thanks to:
-Scott Battram for the idea
-soulpatch for sending me pics of his Battram pads with slide plates
-Marauder31 for the inspiration, posting the awesome pics of his own DIY slide plates and answering my questions
-NJDev803 for posting pics of the medial rolls on his pads

And here's a pic of Marauder31's lace in slide plates that he made for his Smith pads from page 3 of this thread.

[havok]

I am still looking for someone who is willing to do this
for me, I am willing to pay!

Thanks!

I own a pair of 36" 5k goalie pads...

[soulpatch]

lacing them is def the way to go. My pads are now a few years old and my plates have held up fine. No issues whatsoever....

Putting velcro and such on your pads is only a temporary thing. Eventually the adhesive is going to wear out and normally at an inoportune time. Spend the time and do it right if you are going to do it at all IMHO


Havok - seriously dude it will take you a saturday to do it yourself. not hard to make template, cut some plastic, sand it down, and sew it onto your pads.....