Custom Heavily Modified Heaton 5 Chest & Arm Review

[jf-laflaire]

Hi everyone:

I don’t do a lot of reviews, but feel a review of this unit and the modifications I made would be great for everyone.

Preamble:

I recently acquired a Heaton 5 [in pieces], the holy grail of c/a units. After a few skates, and some heavy modification to the unit, I feel I can do a good review. I’ve worn the Brian’s Alite, Brown 500 series, Brown 2100 and lately a Brown 2200 so it was a bit of a bold move to get into one of these. For a short period of time I wore a BHG H5 unit, which I acquired by my work in a local goalie school, but for several reasons, I sold that. I wanted to mention all of these units and my experience with them so that you guys can see where I’m coming from. I used to be a Brown follower, but, I’m more open to change now.

Sizing & Fit:

This unit is a large. I wore an XL in the Brown 2100, and a L in the 2200. I prefer the large. I don’t like a large floppy c/a unit. At 6’3” and 215 lbs, I could get away with the XL, but, I feel that mobility is my strongest asset on the ice, and the marginal size increase I get from the XL is nullified with the added mobility from a smaller unit. I have long arms, but, like the c/a arms to fit higher on my forearm. I never really have had issues with pucks there, as I have pretty quick hands [from soccer goalkeeping] to protect myself pretty good. I also wear a Farrell shirt underneath my c/a with a Maltese collar. Both units sat well on me, but, I preferred the slimmed down H5. Having previously used a BHG H5 which I felt was not enough protection in certain areas [but great for mobility] I knew how the unit felt, and performed like. Browns tend to be a bit bulky, however, being so soft in composition they tend to break in well. IMO, after playing a bit in both units, the H5 lace in arms provide a bit more mobility then the Brown sewn in arms. I find I can reach a bit further in the H5 because of the laced in stuff up there, whereas in the Brown it is a bit tighter. This is personal preference though.

How I got the Unit:

I purchased the unit on here in pieces, thinking I would use the pieces to modify my Brown 2200 [thanks Butrflyr!]. It came as a chest piece, elbow floater [one was missing], and arms all separate. This was fully disclosed to me, I was looking for an old c/a to cut up and make patterns from. Well, when I got the unit in the mail after grumbling over the UPS extra customs charge [doh!] I opened the box and was pleasantly surprised as to the condition of the unit. It was brand new.

[a] Comparing Protection/Foam Composition between the 2200 and H5

I examined the arms and chest area; the arms offered significantly more protection then the Brown 2200 or 2100, mainly, the plastic and foam inserts on the bicep and forearm were about a ½” thicker then on my 2200. The 2200 arms were identical to my old 2100 FYI. The chest blocks are composed of one layer of sponge, two layers of LD45 [one was a full sheet covering the chest] and one layer of HD80 on the outside. In comparison, the Brown 2200 was a layer of sponge [I know I cut off the last row of blocks on my old unit], one layer of LD 45 [sheet covering the chest], two more layers of LD45 blocks with a plastic insert in front of it. The plastic insert also had felt glued over it to provide some cushioning. Comparing the chest of both units, the Brown had plastic and was the same thickness as this H5. I was pretty confident in the chest protection of the H5 so, I ended up selling my 2100. Finally, the elbow pads were also of a higher grade plastic and foam. They were significantly more solid then the ones on my 2200. So basically the arms of the H5 were superior to my 2200, but, some protection in the chest was lacking.

[jf-laflaire]

I concluded that this could not have been a stock H5 unit… it was too beefed up. And then I began to work on improving some areas on the H5.

[b] Soft Spots on the H5

Shoulder Floaters and Should Caps

The H5 lacked a bit of shoulder protection. Comparatively to a stock 2200, which had a soft spongy foam pad, and a plastic shoulder cap in addition to the shoulder floater, it was weak. A second set of caps were missing from the H5, and, the shoulder floaters were very thin and flimsy so they didn’t provide much protection.

As some of you know, my 2200 was modified quite a bit. In the shoulder area, I cut out the spongy foam stuff on my 2200 and found that a beefed up shoulder floater, with only the plastic cap was more then sufficient protection against even the highest caliber shooters. I use this guy I used to play with, Darren Banks as the standard. Would I face Bank-sie without those caps and would it hurt a lot if he tagged me? If the answer was no, then I removed them. I’ve been tagged by Banks with just the plastic shoulder cap and a beefed up shoulder floater with no problems. But, the H5 is a different story. There is no way I would face Banks with the stock shoulder floater and lack of extra shoulder caps.

Upper Chest

The upper chest on the H5 was a bit soft, but, not unbearable. It was still thicker then the Brown 2200 without the chest plate [I removed mine, too bulky IMO], but, I felt that something less invasive had to be done. The Brown sort of made a pocket in the upper chest because of it fitting a bit looser up there, and, with a Farrell shirt and Maltese collar, I felt was more then sufficient protection. The H5 though, would be a different story, as it fit very flush against my chest. Again, using the Banks-Test, if he tagged me in the upper chest on the H5, because the unit fit more flush against my chest, it would sting quite a bit. I needed a little something for more protection. I love how flush the H5 fit against my chest though, it allowed me to see better and move. Again, mobility comes at a price.

Elbow Floaters

Initially to get this unit on the ice, I just copied the left elbow floater and made an identical one for the right side. It was made out of HD110 [1/8” thick] with a layer of 1/8” LD 45 behind it. The floater was encased in black nylon. Underneath, there were some inner and outer elbow protectors [oval shaped] that protected the forearm when you would flex the bicep area. Brown elbow floaters do not flex in this manner, and are significantly stiffer. Brown elbow floaters are made of plastic, 1/8” LD45 behind it and felt in front of the plastic. The Brown elbow floaters are superior in terms of protection, but, the H5 ones kill them for mobility. Also the durability on Brown elbow floaters in the 2200 series is not very good… something John addressed in his 2300 series, where he reinforced the inner and outer break of the elbow with Jenpro. The H5 is designed to allow the inner and outer elbow floater to break apart, thereby getting more flex. I still felt that the composition of the H5 floaters was too soft for facing heavy shooters, despite the higher dense foam. I feel that key areas of a c/a should be reinforced with plastic, and the elbow floater being one of them.

[jf-laflaire]

[c] Modifications to the H5

So in order to address the soft spots, I started modifying the H5. I ended up building new elbow floaters, new shoulder floaters, a heart guard and shoulder caps.

Shoulder Caps;

I built these out of some hip pads from an old pair of pants. I used nylon for the front of them, and black Nash for the part against the shoulder. The theory is that I didn’t want the caps to move around too much when against my skin. I used two layers of 1” sponge foam behind the plastic part, and sewed it all together. This provided a nice hard cap in the front and spongy protection against the shoulder. I feel that this is the idea behind good c/a protection and movement; you need a hard stiff part to protect against the puck and really soft stuff against hard bones such as the shoulder… LD 45 foam doesn’t cut it alone. I punched holes in these to lace into the unit where the arms lace in.

I found that these caps in conjunction with my redesigned shoulder floaters were too much protection in the shoulder. So, at the moment I will be using just the new shoulder floaters. The spongy cap provided fantastic protection; I am inclined to remove the stock H5 ones for this cap, but, those caps are tied into the other parts of the unit too much.

Heart Guard;

I took a while to pattern this part properly. On my BHG H5, I had Brian Heaton build something like this and lace it underneath the chest. It was the most favorite mod I’ve ever made or did to a c/a. I made something similar but improved it, using two layers of LD45. I used Diamond Grip material against the chest to prevent slippage, and black nylon elsewhere. I bound the whole thing with white Jenpro. I also had some Jenpro left as an overhang to fasten to the c/a easier. When skating on the ice, I didn’t notice the heart guard at all. The LD foam compressed enough to be comfortable, but did not get in the way too much. I was cognizant of the binding and placed it high enough so that this would not dig into my chest on a shot.

Elbow Floaters;

I built and designed this over this winter. I used them on my Brown 2200. They are made of properly trimmed Smooth Paxon plastic, HD110 [or HD 80 along the front of them], and LD 45 behind them. I also used Jenpro and high quality nylon to add durability. They are NHL spec based on Brian Heaton’s interpretation of the rules. A caliper would be taken to which they cannot exceed 7” in width. They were built at 6.5” in width just to make sure. They were designed to provide significant elbow flexibility. Because of the break in both the outer and inner elbow, they flex extremely well, about 33% more then my broken in Brown 2200, and even more then the stock H5 setup. I sewed the elastic portion of them right to the edge of the arm flaps and let be a bit free. This allows for the added flex. Although they look too loose and sloppy in the pics, when a jersey is over them, they stay in place better. I developed this design after seeing Hasek’s Brown c/a, and modified the shape of the elbows to provide more flex. My BHG H5 unit had floaters designed in the exact same way and this worked tremendously. I really like my elbow floater design, not only for the added movement, but the added stiffness and protection in using thicker higher quality foams.

Not only is the movement increased, but, the elbow floaters stay squarer to a shooter when you take your stance. The pieces articulate in a certain manner in the butterfly that provides a solid blocking surface for the puck. This works great, especially with today’s trend of using the elbow more to stop pucks. I like the stiffness and confidence I get when pinning the puck between or in front of the elbows when coving the 6th and 7th holes.

Shoulder Floaters;

Patterned directly off of the H5 floaters, I beefed them up. I used Smooth Paxon plastic in front of the foam [to prevent denting and breakdown], HD 80, LD 45 and some soft camping foam directly behind the shoulder. Again, I encased this with a Jenpro front, and nylon back. The floater measures just below 1” in thickness and being NHL spec. The sheets of foam flex quite a bit. I haven’t gotten to use this mod on the ice yet, but, from doing something similar to my Brown 2200 I found that thickening up the shoulder floaters a bit is a way of removing other padding that does nothing… such as the extra shoulder caps.

Conclusions;

I find that a lot of stock c/a’s have too many extra flaps that don’t do much. I’m a firm believer that you can omit the extra flaps on arms used for protection if you stiffen up key areas such as the shoulder floaters, elbow floaters and upper chest.

[jf-laflaire]

Pics;

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v209/jf-laflaire/

[GoodToBeLucky]

AHH at least 1 person watched my Video glad I could help lol
GTBL

[jf-laflaire]

The video was great. Thanks for doing that! Much appreciated.

[Law Goalie]

Brilliant review, Franco.

Do you find the hard-cap elbows at all useful? I have a set that I pulled off an old pair of Bauer players elbows, with the intention of sewing them onto my Brown, but I couldn't quite convince myself it was worth the extra bulk.


I really must add a little extra HD80 to the wrists, elbows and uppers arms of my C/A - I suspect even a 1/4" under the plastic would be an enormous improvement.

[Dave_Wells]

Darren Banks... now there is one BIG S.O.B.! Not the kind of guy you would want to piss off, although he's one of the nicest guys you could meet. And I agree, having faced Banksie on many occasions, he does have a cannon of a shot.

[jf-laflaire]

Thanks for the props on the review. Sorry I didn't get back to this, I'm a working man now!


Darren Banks... now there is one BIG S.O.B.! Not the kind of guy you would want to piss off, although he's one of the nicest guys you could meet. And I agree, having faced Banksie on many occasions, he does have a cannon of a shot.

Banksie is a great guy. You know there is a God up there in charge because he doesn't have hands. You know he's shooting! Definately a big boy. I miss Banksie. He didn't play much this winter, messed up his leg or something. How tall-heavy you think he is?

On a side note, I've been skating with this Mario guy from Trilage sticks [owner or rep], and its been great.


Brilliant review, Franco.

Do you find the hard-cap elbows at all useful? I have a set that I pulled off an old pair of Bauer players elbows, with the intention of sewing them onto my Brown, but I couldn't quite convince myself it was worth the extra bulk.


I really must add a little extra HD80 to the wrists, elbows and uppers arms of my C/A - I suspect even a 1/4" under the plastic would be an enormous improvement.

Thanks. The c/a is ignored alot, but, it has had a tremendous impact on how goalies play!

I thought about doing the same with my old Brown. I never liked his elbow pads and was always inclined to using player ones. I sew in the elbow floater and elbow pad on my c/a's, helps with movement and flexibility while providing the same protection. I cut all of those useless straps too! The hard cap is definately not too bulky. I've thought about redesigning the back part to be flatter and more puck-stopping friendly, as guys are using their elbows alot.

1/4" HD80 may even be too much. I would consider the soft stuff if that layer is against your skin. If your firing it right under the plastic, HD80 is the best against plastic. It will form a bit over time as well, especially at 1/4".

I find the H5 is not protective enough against shooters of that calibre, not in practice/pickup environments. You would think with all of my school, you know a good job, etc, that I would be smarter about protection, but I'm not. I just don't want to go to a bulkier unit, and have paid the price, usually once a session for it! The problem is that I don't mind, and one day, I'm going to get it real good.

[jf-laflaire]

Oh yeah, I forgot, the redesigned shoulder floaters were too stiff. I need to rebuild them. I used layers and duct tape to hold it together, which may have had its impact on things. We'll see how things go. I need more shoulder protection though.