"Official"Sportmask thread

[Jon45189]

I hope everyone's Sportmask Razors are holding up better than mine.

Mine cracked in the chin the first couple months I had it, then I sent it back and Tony Priolo fixed it. It took about two months but he fixed it.

I played in it for about another 5 months and the chin cracked again. I understand once there's a crack, it's susceptible to break down even more even it has been mended up. However, this time it was in a different spot.

Now, I'm ditching the Sportmask and have ordered a different mask.

[ryanduffy33]

Originally Posted by Jon45189

I hope everyone's Sportmask Razors are holding up better than mine.

Mine cracked in the chin the first couple months I had it, then I sent it back and Tony Priolo fixed it. It took about two months but he fixed it.

I played in it for about another 5 months and the chin cracked again. I understand once there's a crack, it's susceptible to break down even more even it has been mended up. However, this time it was in a different spot.

Now, I'm ditching the Sportmask and have ordered a different mask.

are you serious? mines working wonders and its the best mask ive ever had!

[ziggy]

quick question for you sportmask users, especially recent buyers.

i got my new sportmask a little bit ago, and the first shot i took off the dome dented my cage in about half an inch. Has anyone else had this problem, i dont know if it is a weak cage that they put on or what, because it wasnt even that hard of a shot.... if anyone else has had this happen, did tony replace your cage for you, or did you just bang out the dent yourself?

[evildink]

Originally Posted by ziggy

quick question for you sportmask users, especially recent buyers.

i got my new sportmask a little bit ago, and the first shot i took off the dome dented my cage in about half an inch. Has anyone else had this problem, i dont know if it is a weak cage that they put on or what, because it wasnt even that hard of a shot.... if anyone else has had this happen, did tony replace your cage for you, or did you just bang out the dent yourself?

Well I'm not a sportmask user, but this type of thing happens with lots of masks. It's not always the power/speed of the shot, but where and how it hits. Alls it takes is a decent shot at just the right impact point to dent a cage. Tony or any mask maker for that matter has no idea what kind of shot it was, how it happened, or how long you have been using that mask. 9 times out of 10 they'll just write off the situation as a common occurance and you'll just have to shell out for another cage. There are times where they feel generous and will just give you a new cage. Also note that cages aren't made by the mask makers. Most cages are made by companies like OTNY wire who make cages for most of the industry. So it's not like most mask makers have defective cages out there that is just found only in their brand. You'll get the occasional defect like in anything, but it's very rare to have one company with a string of defective cages.

[Beaver]

Originally Posted by ziggy

quick question for you sportmask users, especially recent buyers.

i got my new sportmask a little bit ago, and the first shot i took off the dome dented my cage in about half an inch. Has anyone else had this problem, i dont know if it is a weak cage that they put on or what, because it wasnt even that hard of a shot.... if anyone else has had this happen, did tony replace your cage for you, or did you just bang out the dent yourself?

I have taken weak shots off the cage a couple of times on different masks, including my Sportmask, and the cages dented as well. But I never even thought of it getting replaced under "warranty." It dented... it happens. If it dented, it did it's job because it did not break. You could go out and get a new cage tomorrow and get it dented on the first shot you face, weak or strong. Or you could go a whole year with it and be fine.

I believe that a cage will dent no matter the strength of the shot if it is hit in the right spot. I have 3 replacement cages for my Sportmask, and I just switched it over. Also, never bang out a dent in a cage as you will compromise the strength and integrity of the cage.

As for being a weak batch cages, that is something you should ask your retailer or Tony.

Russ

[richardsevigny]

Originally Posted by ziggy

quick question for you sportmask users, especially recent buyers.

i got my new sportmask a little bit ago, and the first shot i took off the dome dented my cage in about half an inch. Has anyone else had this problem, i dont know if it is a weak cage that they put on or what, because it wasnt even that hard of a shot.... if anyone else has had this happen, did tony replace your cage for you, or did you just bang out the dent yourself?

Just a little FYI post from my experiences...

Most cages are designed to bend/dent with a strong impact in order to protect you.

However, I found in looking at a few csa masks (Sportmasks included) that the "gauge" of the cage wire was relatively quite thin. I inquired about this at a popular pro-shop in T.O., and they said that these particular cages are much more likely to bend.

Cat-eyes tend to have a thicker gauge because they have longer "expanses" of wire between welds, so they need to be stronger. Whereas, many csa cages are designed to be thinner for better visibility because they can be ...with much shorter expanses between welds.

I personally was looking at Sportmasks and Itechs for my next mask, and decided that I wanted a csa cage. Both the Sportmasks and Itech 960's have very very thin cages.

Rather than drop $120-160 on a new cage when it bent too much or too many times, I decided to go with an Itech 9600 setup.

The 9600 cage is csa with excellent site lines, but it is one of the rare csa's with thicker cat-eye-style wire gauge ...thus making it less likely to dent on smaller impacts. However good the sitelines are in the 9600, they are naturally slightly worse than a thinner gauge cage like the 960 or Sportmask cages, but it's worth the savings in not having to replace the cage as often.

In talking to this pro shop when comparing the 9600 to a Sportmask T3, they said that the T3 cage is designed to bend more with impact, whereas the 9600 cage can handle stronger impacts.

So, in your case, your sportmask cage is going to bend to protect you, but this is to be expected. You're going to have to replace the cage if the bends/dents get too bad.

Check out the difference in cage thicknesses:

Sportmask: http://sportmask.com/goalie-masks/images/t3cert.jpg

960: http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.c..._2005_10442055

9600: http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.c...7_2002_3503328

[dreadlockgoalie]

Hate to say this but I have both a Razor VX and 961 and have bent multiple cages on both. The Sportmask cages have actually lasted the longer than the Itech cages but I'm firmly of the belief it's simply been luck of the draw. It is, after all, OTNY making both cages.

[richardsevigny]

Originally Posted by dreadlockgoalie

Hate to say this but I have both a Razor VX and 961 and have bent multiple cages on both. The Sportmask cages have actually lasted the longer than the Itech cages but I'm firmly of the belief it's simply been luck of the draw. It is, after all, OTNY making both cages.

Are both these cages cat-eyes?

[Kael]

Ok, so I've had my Sportmask T3 (silver) certified for about 2 weeks now. I figured it is probably time for a mini-review. I'll probably roll this into an actual review (in the proper forum) once I get further down the road and get more headshots out of it.

Ordering Process:
- Sportsmask was semi-quick (day) to answer my email regarding availability, color, sizing, and ordering-to-ship time of the T3. Their estimate of 4-6weeks was spot on. The stores were quoting me 8-12 weeks at this period.

I ended up ordering from TheHockeyShop.com and couldn't have been more happy. They put the order in correctly, price matched HockeyGeeks (about a $60 savings), and shipped it promptly when they got it (Sportmask doesn't drop ship).

Helmet Fit:
- From what Sportmask told me, the Large and Medium use the same shells. They give you extra padding (which I got). After placing the extra padding, the helmet fit like a glove. I was happy with this setup, as my measurements fell halfway in the medium and halfway in the large sizing columns. So this worked out.

Now mind you, I'm coming from an Itech 960, so for the price-range, this mask should compare well. Immediately after getting the box, I was surprised at the lack of weight. I figured they forgot to ship the helmet. Hand to hand comparison goes bar-none to the T3 in terms of weight. The thing is just that light. Granted, my 960 does have a Maltese kit in it, but still.

Finish:
The helmet looks well finished, no missed edges, or loose padding. No flakes in the paint, everything is great.

Protection:
First night out, everyone was head hunting on my team, not a single puck hit my head (despite my taunting). It took about 3-4 practices and the first hit happened in warmups before our Texas Tech game. In the intermission, I checked the helmet and immediately noticed a major issue. The puck (the first to have hit it) took off about a two linear inches of paint and spider webbed the surrounding coat. I immediately thought this might be a finish issue, as it was a simple wrister that hit it. But, being out of town, I only had this helmet. Over the past week, I've taken about 5 impacts to the head - all of which left me with no pain. None of these impacts have compromised the shell or paint like the original. I still don't know what I might do, I don't know if it would even be worth trying to warranty it since it was the first time it got hit - or if paint would be covered. Because it is in silver, it might be another four weeks. I'd hate to lose this thing for that long. Still contemplating it. I'll post pictures later. It was a rather bummer, to get a nice prestine helmet and have the paint jacked on it within the first week (third time wearing it on ice).

More later.

[Goats34]

Here are my two Sportmasks. I had no idea this thread existed!

Left is a Razor VX and right is a Cooper SK2000L with a Sportmask SM-90 on it.



I've been playing in the SK2000L/SM-90 combo for the past 6 months and decided to get a Razor because the SM-90 is a tank. If I have to choose a mask, it's going to be a Sportmask.

[croy33]

has anyone had experience with the mage? haven't heard much about them. thanks

[jbgd825]

Please make use of the search function.

I found these threads in under 1 minute of searching "Mage"

thinking about buying a mage!!
Sportmask Mage Review!
Mage Pro - Sportmask & Imageairbrush

or you can try the sportmask website at Sportmask custom goalie mask manufacturer

[Kael]

Originally Posted by Goats34

I had no idea this thread existed!

Yeah, it's an oldie. But I remembered it, so I searched "Official" and "Sportmask". That is always the safe bet.