Easton Stealth - Worth the price or a waste of $200?
Written: Mar 20 '05 (Updated May 02 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Lightest and possibly best shooting stick on the market
Cons: Very expensive!
The Bottom Line: If you have the shot and the money, why not?
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| puckmugger's Full Review: Easton Stealth One Piece Hockey Stick |
Sticker Shock?
It seemed shocking when Easton slapped a price tag of $165 on their SiCore sticks a couple of years ago. Still, it didn’t deter them from leaping off of the shelves. Apparently the Easton name is closing in on Rolex in ability to separate the public from their disposable assets. What seems further astonishing was when Easton announced the Stealth would be selling at over $200. The new stick was reported to be lighter and stronger than anything they had built before . . . that sounds like what every stick maker claims when they build a new one. I had to wonder what $200 would buy in a player stick
Keep in mind that all hockey sticks are disposable. Even the $150+ sticks will not typically last the accomplished recreational player more than a year. This means at $200 the stealth would need to last as long as 8 to 10 traditional sticks to add up. Of course there is more to value than simple longevity or the calculations would be simple. But $200? Owch!
The question burning in the mind of every parent of a twelve year old who would die if they didn’t have one had to be, “Is this some sort of electronic goal scoring machine?” To every rec player keeping an eye out for something that might give him an edge, the question was more likely, “How good is it really?”
New and Improved?
Easton has made some of the best one piece sticks on the market for a while. The Synergy changed the face of hockey as the first “one piece stick” The SiCore was the first answer that they came up with to the issue of puck handling. So the first question that you might ask is, what have they done to improve on the SiCore and Synergy sticks that were already arguably the best products on the market?
First off, the notion that the Synergy is truly a one-piece stick isn’t quite right. The stick is technically 3 pieces. The components that make up the Synergy are a separately molded shaft and blade and a cover that makes the stick appear to be a single piece. Competitor CCM was the first company to point this out when they introduced the Vector OPS (OPS is short for one piece stick). The CCM Vector was the first actual one-piece stick and was followed shortly thereafter by Innovative’s True One.
Now don’t go running off thinking that Easton is trying to pull a fast one on us. The simple truth is that all the “one-piece-sticks” made before the Vector’s appearance actually were permanently bonded two-piece sticks. Everyone did it so it couldn’t be wrong . . . uh, wait a second, that excuse stopped cutting it in second grade. Nonetheless, let’s move on.
The big difference between the Stealth and the other true one-piece sticks is the type of manufacturing. The Kevlar in the aforementioned one-piece sticks is rolled, creating thin sheets of paper-like material that are bonded together in layers. This makes for a strong and fairly light stick. However, the quality control on this sort of process falls short of Easton’s woven Kevlar shafts. Next time you see a Vector break, take a look inside of it. The interior of the Vector is very irregular. Compared to the smooth, symmetrical interior walls of any Easton product, it appears to be made by a first grader.
Easton’s Stealth is made in the traditional Easton method. Kevlar is made into strands rather than sheets. The strands are woven into a single unit (which perfectly resembles a hockey stick). When a Stealth breaks, after consoling the victim of such a loss, take a look at the interior of it. The Stealth is perfect on the inside as if it were built by . . . an engineer.
Now I know what your thinking and you’re right, “Who cares what the inside of the stick looks like?” Honestly, the inside of the stick is about as important as the inside of a sausage. If it works, you might not really want to know what’s in there. The point is simply that the manufacturing techniques are different and this is what makes the Stealth unique.
The barrier that the Stealth has crossed is a significant weight barrier. A few seasons back any stick under 500 grams was considered extremely lightweight. Most of the composites were running about 485 to 520 grams. Progress has continued to push that number lower. The Stealth is the first to go below the 400 gram mark, weighing in at a remarkable 395 grams.
Lightweight does not always a great stick make
Indeed! Bauer has proven time and again that there are more important things than being trim. I for one am pleased at them continuing to demonstrate that heavier can be better since I weigh in at a solid 200 pounds . . . but enough about me. Bauer's Vapor XX Stick was the reigning lightweight stick for a few months until Easton put the Synergy on a diet. While the Vapor XX was light, it was also highly disposable.
This of course brings us to the next question. If the Stealth is lighter than the Synergy, can it last as long? The logical answer would seem to be, “Probably not.” However, we have to go back to the construction process to see where Easton saved some of the weight. Remember that the Synergy is actually a 3-piece stick? When you start taking some of the parts away, the result is a much lighter weapon of mass destruction.
The blade of the Synergy had a rather weighty solid core that added quite a bit of heft to it . . . OK, it was 450 grams so it really didn’t have any heft, but you get my point. The new process of making the Stealth a true one-piece-stick eliminated a good deal of material. This is probably why durability hasn’t been quite the issue it might have.
Early reports have been that the Stealth is lasting about as long as a Synergy. For those who find this a poor frame of reference, the Synergy was on the high side of average for longevity. CCM’s, ugly on the inside, pretty on the outside, Vector and Mission’s M-1 tended to be the toughest sticks on the market. The Synergy was a close third with everyone else struggling to keep up.
Side Effects
By creating an actual one-piece-stick, Easton also engineered some nice side effects besides lightweight into their product. The molded blade of the Stealth with its hollow core, gives the stick a supreme balance. Where typically a one-piece-stick has been blade heavy and detrimental to stick handling, the Stealth is phenomenally light in the blade. Easton claims that only ¼ of the stick’s weight is in the blade. Some older composite sticks felt as if ¾ of their weight was there.
The other nice effect is added rigidity. This is very similar to that of CCM’s Vector. Essentially the rigidity of both sticks translates into higher torsional strength. While a shaft must flex to enable a shooter to send the puck with power, if it twists, it robs some of that power and a good deal of accuracy from the shot. Lowering the amount of blade twist is one of the benefits of the actual one-piece-stick in general and the Stealth specifically.
Enough Science
All that science is about as important as what the chemical composition of the blue paint that Claude Monet preferred if you don’t like the way it works. But hey, it’s a $200 stick, I felt a little explaining was in order. Since Easton didn’t do it, I felt that I must. Nonetheless, before I get too far off track, here is the important stuff:
Stickhandling
I’ve always said, “If you cannot carry the puck who cares if you can shoot it?” Of course that is something I say mostly to make up for my lack of shooting prowess, but it does seem to be an important skill.
The lightweight blade of the Stealth, much as expected, excels for puckhandling. While some competitors have a heavy feel that makes it hard to tell where the puck is, the Stealth gives plenty of feedback.
I will make one disclaimer here. I’ve been playing for a time with composite sticks now. When I made the switch to wood, I found that the puck bounced off the stick quite frequently, quickly and profoundly. It took an adjustment period. Switching from a wood stick or blade might still take some adjustment time. However I found that the Stealth I used was easy to handle in comparison to the other one and two piece sticks that I’ve used.
Shooting
This is where the Stealth really amazes. This isn’t a stick, it’s a biscuit shaped rocket launcher! My first shot hit the goalie so hard that it knocked him into the net, took the net off its moorings and into the boards where it cleanly broke through the wall continuing on at a high rate of speed through the outer walls of the building until puck, goalie and net were out of sight. Please call if you spot them, we’re getting worried.
Oh, you caught me. It isn’t quite that dramatic. I did feel like there was substantially more power and control with the Stealth than I had felt before. It is just like any other stick in one respect though – if you cannot shoot, it won’t change that. It will however add a little hot sauce to most player’s shots. Admittedly, I don’t have a great shot to start with. However, the pucks aimed for the corner most certainly were closer to it, and arrived with more velocity than with other sticks.
Durability
I already wrote about durability. You just skimmed all the technical stuff and skipped down here, didn’t you!?
Choices, choices (Curves and Flex Ratings)
Easton still has the best assortment of curves on the market in my humble opinion. Yes, I know I’m not that humble, but humor me, I’m trying to pretend. The Stealth comes in nearly the full bevy of Easton endorsees. These include Foresberg, Drury, Sakic, Iginla, Lidstom, and Gaborik. If you want Yzerman, too bad. Interestingly and somewhat irrelevantly, when Iginla first signed on with Easton, they pronounced his name incorrectly on their hold message.
The Stealth comes in all three of the Senior Easton flex ratings. These are 85, 100, and blue. Blue is of course 110 in old Latvian.
Easton is also making intermediate models now with 65 flex ratings and junior Stealths rated at 50 flex. The Intermediate comes only in the Foresberg and Sakic curves. The Junior comes only in Yzerman and Iginla.
Feel
The outside of the stick is the typical silky smooth Easton finish. The Stealth isn’t coated or grippy. However, in true Eastonian fashion, they have introduced the Stealth Grip, which, as you might guess, is grippy.
Final Thoughts
I guess the final thing to discuss is whether this piece of hardware is worth $200+. For me the answer was no. But a big part of that for me was the fact that I’m more serious about keeping my marriage intact than I am about shooting a little better. The Stealth seems to me to be the best stick on the market for pure shooting. For puckhandling, it is probably the best of the composite sticks whether they are one-piece, two-piece or so called, “one-piece” sticks.
You still have the same 30-day warranty on the Stealth as you did on the Synergy. The durability of the Stealth isn’t any better than that of the Synergy, but that isn’t what you’re really paying for. The average recreational player will get a fair amount of time with this stick barring someone falling on it or an angry wife cutting it to bits on the table saw. (good news is that most wives fear table saws, bad news is that Kevlar and Carbon fiber will ruin most saw blades).
Is the value there? I would say absolutely yes for serious players in travel hockey leagues, college and any pro level hockey. High level recreational players that don’t mind burning a few extra bucks will also likely be pleased with the Stealth. Novices who want to look cool by having the best stick will actually have the opposite result. There is nothing more silly than a man (or woman) with a $200 hockey stick who cannot shoot. Remember that all hockey sticks are going to break. Wait to buy the best one until you know how to use it!
© 2005 Scott Noble – All rights reserved. Unauthorized use prohibited.
You might also enjoy my book on hockey, Hockey for Weekend Warriors. Click here to read the reviews.
Other Reviews you might find helpful:
Hockey Stick Buying Guide
RBK 7K Stick
Easton Synergy Grip Stick
CCM Vector Stick
Bauer Vapor XX Stick
Recommended:
Yes
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