Preliminary Review of Altramax Pads

[Chas]

I recently got my new Altramax pads and I thought I'd give a review. I had a pair of CM9's that were just too small. They were a good pad but I suffered too many shots to the knees. First, I chose the Altramax over at least 7 other pads based on initial fit. I tried on all of the others and that pad just plain fit best. When I tried all of them on, I took my pants and skates to the shop so that I could get a good idea of potential problems. I worked them out as well as I could in the back room, checking 5 hole closure, the way the pads layed and moved with my legs, etc. Again, the Altramax won out. Now that I have them, I'm still happy. They fit real well. A little stiff at first. Surprisingly lighter than my CM9's, even though they are a taller pad (32" vs. 37"). After I got them, I wore them around the house for a while. I also compessed them, then strapped them up and left them overnight. I've taken them to sticktime and pickup to get a feel. They are definately wider than my other pads. The lace-on inner calf wedges take a while to get used to. I've kept them on for now but they may go. I've been tripped up several times during quick C-cuts where the wedge catches the other pad. I think it will just take some time getting used to the width and those wedges. I've already seen a slight change in rebound control in the shin faces as they break in. At first, shots came off pretty hard. They are starting to deaden as time goes on. Although my CM9's had knee locks, the knee locks on the Altramax really lock me in, almost too much. I'm going to start to experiment with how tight I lock my knee in with both the knee lock and the strap. With the added width, I've also noticed that I have less of an angle to work with before my pad hits the ice and lifts the blade off. I just got my OD blades so that may help. Also, I started to take Bryan's advise and loosen up on the toe laces to allow the pad to lift. That will take more work, but with trial and error, I think it will work out, especially with the OD blades. The most impressive feature of these pads is the way they lay on the ice. I've really closed up the lower part of the ice with these pads. Obviously, because they fit better, I get better closure, but they seem to contour better to the ice, regardless of what position I'm in. As I get more used to the pad, I'll report back. I don't want to praise or criticize the function of the pad too much until I'm comfortable enough to know whether or not its me or the pads.

[Arctother]

Chas,

Thanks for the review. I'll be interested to hear what you think after a few games.

Also, a couple questions - First, how did you choose between the various Brians products (Altramax, Alite, etc)? was this just the only pad you tried, or did you not like the others ?

Second - why did you pick Brians over Miller ? You mention size, but Miller would have been happy to make you a pair of 37"ers...

Reason I am asking is for when I end up in new pads, the two pads I'm keeping my eye on right now are the Brians and Miller pads.

Thanks again. Good, clear review.

-Arc

[Chas]

I chose Brian over over the others I tried on and inspected including CCM, Koho, Vaughn, ITech, Eagle, basically on fit and personal inspection of each pad. After I made the choice of Brian, the shop owner set up a meeting with me and the Brian rep who happens to live in town (Pgh.) He brought samples of all of their pads. The Altramax just fit real nice. Of course its their premier pad so it should fit nice. Actually, I could have gone with the Alite, but the extra few bucks got me graphics that I wanted and a four week delivery. As for why I didn't go with Miller, the primary reason is that I got to see the pad here, got fitted here and was serviced here. I got my other pads from Paul out of the Stock Room. I'm not at all unhappy with those pads but it did teach me about the hazards of ordering without seeing. Sizing over the phone and actually trying them on are two different things, particularly for pads. I am a Miller customer. Paul made me a hybrid C/A. Its basically a CM9 with CM8 arms. It's great. Sizing and ordering that over the phone and via email was worth the risk. Maybe if I was more savy over exactly what I wanted in a pad, I would have ordered from Miller. So I guess I would have to say my ignorance lead me to have to see the product before I bought.

[Arctother]

Thanks again.

-Arc

[Bryan]

Good post Chas. Your rationale for the choice you made is a good one. I totally agree on the lock in Brian's knee locks being 'too much'. That's why I removed them from my Altras.

Did you order them with different stuffing from the regular stock version? You mention they are lighter than your CM9's, but (as I mentioned in another thread) the Altramax' I've seen in person were actually kind of heavy compared to previous Brian's pads. I know Brian's has a 'pro stuff' option, but I think all they do these days is use ether foam instead of snake foam for the body of the pad. The pro stuff option used to be deer hair mixed with the snake foam to kill rebounds. Mine have the deer hair, and surprisingly it ISN'T as heavy as many might think. They aren't the lightest pads out there, but there's many that are heavier.

WARNING: Watch the bottoms of your calf wraps carefully. They wrap down awfully far on most Brian's pads, and tend to get chewed up by the OD blades. I had to chop the bottom 1" off my calf wraps because I was leaving little bits of nylon all over the crease. I wish I could have warned you to check for this before you placed the order! It would have been easy to order them a little shorter from the factory.

[This message has been edited by Bryan (edited May 02, 2001).]