Hockey Fan Forums banner

Blades: wood vs hybrid vs composite

1.1K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  imported_BladeTape  
#1 ·
OK here's the deal. I just recently decided to try out these two composite shafts I've had sitting in the garage for over a year now. One is a 100 flex Synergy ST that was broken at the blade, and the other is a Mission L-2 that was also broken at the blade. I cut them both off, and went off in search of blades. I have never used ANYTHING but a full wood stick before (Titan/Jofa is what I always used).

So in my searching I discovered that there are 100% wood, Hybrid wood/composite, and 100% composite blades.

I ended up purchasing two easton hybrid wood/composite blades in the interest of cost and hopefully durability.

Anyone want to chime in on the differences they've experienced between blades of different types - not talking about blade pattern here - I already know what I like in that department - but rather blade material. Better feel, shot power, durability from wood, hybrid, or composite blades, etc?
 
#2 ·
Wood blades have the best feel of the puck. The downside is that they will go soft and break quickly. Composite blades are more expensive, but they last longer and are stiffer which will give you a harder shot. Hybrid blades are desgined to give you the feel of a wood blade, but the strength of a composite blade. Unfortunately, they don't always succeed, some hybrid blade are fairly decent, others are complete garbage.
 
#3 ·
Wood blades have the best feel of the puck. The downside is that they will go soft and break quickly. Composite blades are more expensive, but they last longer and are stiffer which will give you a harder shot. Hybrid blades are desgined to give you the feel of a wood blade, but the strength of a composite blade. Unfortunately, they don't always succeed, some hybrid blade are fairly decent, others are complete garbage.
Which hybrid blades in your opinion fall into the decent category and which are crap and should be avoided in your opinion.
 
#4 ·
It will depend on your preferred balance of the stick - I have used Sherwood Axions. They don't last very long, but more importantly, they make the lighter composite blades so end-heavy it screws up the balance completely. The Easton Ultra-lite is ok, as are the Bauers and Jofas.
 
#5 ·
Wood blades have the best feel of the puck. The downside is that they will go soft and break quickly. Composite blades are more expensive, but they last longer and are stiffer which will give you a harder shot. Hybrid blades are desgined to give you the feel of a wood blade, but the strength of a composite blade. Unfortunately, they don't always succeed, some hybrid blade are fairly decent, others are complete garbage.
We have a new product to help with all the above. It cushions passes on those stiff composite blades and repels water on wooden blades (keeps them from de-laminating).

BladeTape - http://www.bladetape.ca
 
#6 ·
It will depend on your preferred balance of the stick - I have used Sherwood Axions. They don't last very long, but more importantly, they make the lighter composite blades so end-heavy it screws up the balance completely. The Easton Ultra-lite is ok, as are the Bauers and Jofas.
BladeTape - http://www.bladetape.ca

Our product is also less than half of the weight of traditional cloth tape and once cloth tapes get wet, our product is about one-third the weight.