Vaughn v3 7500 Legpads Review

[cowie]

Hey everyone, been lurking here for awhile, collecting information and thoughts as I geared up to buy my first set of pro pads, and now that I've gotten them, I thought I'd share back with teh community.


So, I'll go ahead and post my first impressions of these pads after some ice time, and then in awhile post updated thoughts, probably in a month or so.

First of all, I'm playing house leagues, played competitively back in high school (B+/A-) and took a long time off due to life hitting me. That said, the reasoning to purchase pro level gear is mostly a "will last for freakin ever" decision, with a little thought about playing scrims with high level guys.


The pads are 35+1", and pictures aren't happening because my camera blows.

Comfort: Should be said that the pair I got were a 'Demo' pair from EastWest Hockey, local to Northern California (best shop in teh area imo). They were so new I didn't even realize they were the demo until later, but didn't have that usual 'Stiff as a board' feeling most v3's have. I spent the night strapping, and basically sitting on them to force them into the S I wanted, and when i took them out on the ice the next day, they felt just a little stiff. There was some collision between legs on the *very* bulky inner knee guard, but the padding is laced in, so some removal work fixed that problem. Midway through an hour of ice time, the pads, while stiff and not yet configured exaclty how I wanted yet, were playing like a dream. I actually chose to keep the thigh guards and nix my old bauer kneepads, and it feels alright, works well with my old Heaton 5 pants.

The pads fit well, and being used to some 34" old reactor 1000's, its a world of difference. My butterfly is more solid than it's ever been, and the front closes relatively well, though I need to work with the strapping a bit more to find a good fit.

Play: Jesus these things will move by themselves, exactly where you want them to be. The butterfly and profly feel amazingly secure, and flopping doesn't disrupt these at all. The move from 12" to 11" is huge as well, the mobility is so vastly improved, and I didn't even feel the blocking surface change. With the improved rotation on a profly, it felt like even though the face was 1" shorter, it was a larger blocking surface. The light weight is huge as well as the sliding, feels very controlled and easy to maneuver.

Protection: Pretty much just where I wanted. I can feel and deflect shots well with these, and at the same time, nothing even came close to pain on these. Dropping and moving, and the knee protection held up well, shot to the thigh guard went well. I'm pleased.

So far, this seems like a great investment. For those of you that are in Northern California, I HIGHLY suggest stopping by EastWest hockey. They have a website up, but there's nothing like going down and being helped by people who know what they're doing. The guys there sold me the pads for 950, after letting me demo them. It's tough to find a good shop around here.

I'll be back soon to input any changes.

[TurcoWolv]

I've been in that shop and looked at their demo sets, did you get the blue and white set? VERY nice people work in that East West Hockey shop, but their inventory of goalie equipment is very very small.

Hockey X-Sport in Oakland has the best selection in the BA IMO, but the people that work their are for the most part very unfriendly.

[jbgd825]

Originally Posted by TurcoWolv

Hockey X-Sport in Oakland has the best selection in the BA IMO, but the people that work their are for the most part very unfriendly.

It's Oakland

[Mattchu]

Originally Posted by jbgd825

It's Oakland

yea, pretty much.......almost everyone in there is compleatly stupid, i mean they know stuff about hockey but they are horrible with costumers (not everyone)

but i would rather pay shipping with hockey giant or goaliemonkey cuz i love them over there

[cowie]

Originally Posted by TurcoWolv

I've been in that shop and looked at their demo sets, did you get the blue and white set? VERY nice people work in that East West Hockey shop, but their inventory of goalie equipment is very very small.

Hockey X-Sport in Oakland has the best selection in the BA IMO, but the people that work their are for the most part very unfriendly.

Yup, that's the one. Really like that lil mini-shootout thing behind the store too. Kinda cool.

I agree the selection goalie equipment is a small one, but I spoke to him and he said he really tries to keep with high end stuff more than just a larger inventory, and of course ordering custom fit stuff wouldn't be a problem. When I went to HXS, yeah they had a wall of gear, but ALL of it is SR level or below, or a year old. They were advertising the 'sale' of old pro level pads as "Price 1300, marked to 900", and these were 12" things. They didn't have anything, and I searched for awhile.

Another thing is they seemed fearful of me when I asked specific questions and didn't answer at all. I went up and asked "Do you have the Velocity 3 7500's" and the guy goes "Uh, the goalie gear? Its against the wall." No help from that point on, even though one guy actually goes up to my girlfriend next to me as she looks at a shirt and asks if she needs help. "/

Seems they really cater to the roller genre, not needing or really wanting high level ice gear, and that just wasn't what I was looking for.

And I'm sorry, but for unfriendliness, you can't beat power play hockey in SJC. Jesus, I've been there SO often for sharpenings, even purchased a stick or two, and ONE guy working there has an idea of what customer service is. The other guys are like frustrated B level players who still think they can make it in the pros and act above their customers. Appalling.

[jbgd825]

Originally Posted by cowie

And I'm sorry, but for unfriendliness, you can't beat power play hockey in SJC. Jesus, I've been there SO often for sharpenings, even purchased a stick or two, and ONE guy working there has an idea of what customer service is. The other guys are like frustrated B level players who still think they can make it in the pros and act above their customers. Appalling.

FTR I can't STAND PPH. Every time I go in there, the workers are in the backroom not even paying attention to anyone in the store. Their selection is HORRID even on players equipment. Asking for help? out of the question....

I didn't realize 12 inch CCM Vector pros were still worth $1200.

Oh and one more comment on their lack of customer interaction. I made It to the door with a pair of V2's (listed at $1300 last week) practically INCHING my way to the door before someone came out of the backroom to ask if I needed any help. To which I replied "do you guys price match?" I recieved a laugh in the face, and a no. (which I expected) To which I also replied with a laugh and a "good luck selling these pads then...."

[TurcoWolv]

Yeah, What is with Power Play Hockey? Theyve had the exact same goalie gear in thier for 3+ years, Everything is illegal sizing and the pricing is ridiculous.

They have a pair of Premier 1 RBK's in their that I asked them if theyd price match on and they said no as well. Asking $1399. 10 years from now they will still have the exact same goalie inventory and charge the exact same prices.

[Carnivale]

Originally Posted by TurcoWolv

Yeah, What is with Power Play Hockey? Theyve had the exact same goalie gear in thier for 3+ years, Everything is illegal sizing and the pricing is ridiculous.

They have a pair of Premier 1 RBK's in their that I asked them if theyd price match on and they said no as well. Asking $1399. 10 years from now they will still have the exact same goalie inventory and charge the exact same prices.

Do they still have those Nabby return R4s? I haven't been in there for a while since I moved to Oakland. I had the same experience there though, half the time you'd walk in and no one was even around. The employees were outside smoking or in the back room.

[jbgd825]

Originally Posted by Carnivale

Do they still have those Nabby return R4s? I haven't been in there for a while since I moved to Oakland. I had the same experience there though, half the time you'd walk in and no one was even around. The employees were outside smoking or in the back room.

Haven't seen any Nabby returns lately so I'm guessing no.

Sometimes I'm tempted to run in, grab as much as I can and have a truck waiting for me out front. Maybe with a couple people haha.

[cowie]

Originally Posted by Carnivale

Do they still have those Nabby return R4s? I haven't been in there for a while since I moved to Oakland. I had the same experience there though, half the time you'd walk in and no one was even around. The employees were outside smoking or in the back room.

Nope. They had em for awhile, but they got snatched up. Were a few inches short for me else I woulda contemplated em.

God I hate that place though.

Anyway, getting slightly back on track:

Hit the ice again today, with the removed inner knee bits, and they're still kinda stiff. The S isn't sinking as much as I want yet, and since I"m used to the crazy tight hugging traditional strapping (using their new 'butterfly/hybrid' straps) the inner knees still occlude from time to time. REEEALLY hoping that strapping those down all weekend hard core will fix that for a game on Sunday.

Aside from that, they're still great. Getting used to it, and played against some guys who I later found out were like AAA, and felt like crap this morning, so my game was definitely not as high as I'd like, but eh, that's how it is breaking things in.

Ironically, I was telling another goalie how my c/a was holding up well, as crappy as it was, and I had 3-4 stingers today, lol.

[bellness]

nabokov response 4 ?

are you kidding me

[Bryan]

Originally Posted by bellness

nabokov response 4 ?

are you kidding me

Bauer REACTOR 4, the pads Nabokov wore for years.

[bellness]

ooo .. yeah i forgot he wore bauers. i totaly forgot.

all i seen was R4 so i thought Tps ..