Nike V-10 Elbow Pads: When did Nike get so good at this hockey stuff?
Written: Apr 18 '04 (Updated Oct 05 '05)
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Pros: Flashy good looks, ultimate comfort, good protection
Cons: Nike is too proud pricing their #2 with most brands top of the line
The Bottom Line: Nike has a good product here, but the price will push a lot of players to go with more recognizable brands' reasonably priced elbow pads
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| puckmugger's Full Review: Nike Quest V10 Junior Hockey Elbow Pads |
Nike is hungry to be a force in hockey as they are in football and basketball and . . . well pretty much any sport that you use any kind of gear. Their early attempts to shoulder in on the ancient powerhouses of CCM and Bauer were received with less than a great deal of enthusiasm. Buying Bauer Hockey was an admission that they needed help as well as a huge step in the right direction. For 2003 Nike finally tweaked their skates enough to bring them to par with market leaders. What about their protective equipment?
The V-10 Elbow Pad
Nike’s V-10 is one step below their top of the line V-12 gear. The V-10 elbow pads are not quite as futuristic looking as the top of the line V-12. The V-12 has a four ribbed translucent blue forearm strap that I actually found a little too stiff in comparison to the V-10’s more traditional straps.
The V-10 is perhaps only the second best looking elbow pad on the market after the V-12, but hey, no one sees your elbow pad except in the locker room. For the most part fellow players don’t care what you’re wearing or at least don’t care.
The V-10 has a hard elbow cap that is covered with a heavy nylon shell that should outlast the typical elbow. It is a three-strap elbow pad, with a cuff for upper arm protection. The forearm protection is long enough to align nicely with most gloves offering a reasonably full range of protection.
The nicest thing though about Nike’s new protective, is the comfort factor. The V-12 is a pretty comfortable elbow pad. While not quite as full featured, the V-10 has the edge on comfort. Both elbow pads are lined with Nike’s Dry-Fit material. This is a very nice wicking material that is even more comfortable than WSI or Under Armour’s materials. It is substantially better than the industry standard Cool Max lining.
The protection in the Nike V-10 and V-12 elbow pads is outstanding as well. Nike learned a great deal about variable density foams when designing their skates . . . come to think of it they might have know something about that from making shoes. This translated to a great foam padding in their elbow pads.
From the skate manufacturing side of things they did learn a bit about memory foam. The high tech memory foam in the V-10 and V-12 elbow pads conforms to the shape of the player’s elbow ensuring a perfect fit and improved protection. Even the hardest collision with the ice will be absorbed in the V-10 elbows.
The V-10 elbow pads me fit nicely. The straps are good as well. There is no feeling that they might turn over during play, a common complaint if players. Further, they fit snuggly enough to not worry about them slipping, without compromising flexibility as some of their competitors that offer similar levels of protection do.
Final Thoughts
Having tried on almost every brand and model of elbow pad in my time working hockey retail I found the V-10 to be the most comfortable of the lot. The V-12 is close as are a few other models.
Nike’s gear does still have a couple issues, most of them rooted in Nike’s arrogance. They are bit overpriced in my opinion. At $65 the V-10 is competing with the very best on the market. Yeah, they are well made and comfortable, but until Nike proves themselves and starts taking market share from Jofa on underprotective gear, they might need to consider lowering their prices.
Also Nike still has something of a stigma in the hockey world. Even when they built that first pair of skates with a swoosh on the side for Sergei Fedorov and paid him a lot of money to wear them, he didn’t skate much in them . . . of course they were white, hmm. Anyway, the point is that there are still some guys out there who won’t try on any hockey gear that has a swoosh on it.
Perhaps it’s time to start thinking outside the box. Nike has changed the way skates are made forever. Their comfortable and highly effective underprotective gear might just do the same thing for elbow pads, shoulder pads and shin guards.
Like so many pieces of hockey gear, the best advice that I can offer on the V-10 Elbow pad is to make sure that they are comfortable for you before buying them. What fits my elbows my not be as comfortable on yours. Hey, don’t feel bad, not everyone can have guns like a goalie. The bottom line is that if the V-10 is comfortable to you it’s a good elbow pad.
© Scott Noble – Unauthorized use prohibited
A few of my other reviews that you might find helpful:
Fitting and Selecting Hockey Protective Gear
Mission Sub 0 Elbow pads
Nike THG V-Force Skates
Nike Quest 3 Skates
Nike Ignite 3 Skates
Recommended:
Yes
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