Category: PRODUCT

With so many manufacturers, brands and product offerings – what’s the difference?

Conditioning robo hi rebound kickers

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Question:

Just bought new Robo HI REBOUND kickers from Cranbarry, your USA distributor. No info was included on how to condition them. Called Cranbarry and they couldn’t help. Can you reply with instructions? Thanks, Mark and Libby.

Answer:

Hi Mark and Libby,

Conditioning the Robo HI REBOUND Kickers is fairly straightforward. The first part is shaping the kickers (if they were received flat). To shape the kickers, you’ll basically fold them to the shape that you want them as they’ll sit on your foot. I like to bend them ten or fifteen times and then wrap them with an elastic bandage and let them sit overnight. Take some time and make sure the straps are properly adjusted for the shoes you’ll be training. The first couple of times you wear the kickers be aware of hot spots on your legs from the kicker’s rubbing as you can blister. I sometimes wear two pair of socks for those first sessions in new kickers. Make sure the kickers are properly fastened. Make sure the rear buckle and straps are pulled all the way back so that your foot is sitting all the way back in the kicker. The Robo HI REBOUND kickers break in quickly. Hopefully that helps, give me a shout if you’re looking for more,

all the best,

Jon

Here’s a video that might help…

We need your advice!

We have an idea to improve the ROBO left hand protector but need your help.

At present we supply the left hand protector with the wrist elastic threaded over the sides of the edge of the wrist protector … like this …

A few of you suggested the LHP is more secure on the wrist if the elastic sits closer to the wrist and is strapped like this ….

Have any of you tried this approach, and if so do you think its better ? Even if you haven’t tried it you may care to do so and give us your opinion. We listen.

Cheers… OBO New Zealand

Project: HotPants – April

In the past I have modified gear and tried many makes and of course when it comes to innovation and design OBO are at the top of the pile …

This is my first real blog post for OBO and I hope it isn’t full of spelling errors (I’m English so cheap viagra canada colour isn’t spelt color!)

In the past I have modified gear and tried many makes of gear, but of course when it comes to innovation and design OBO are at the top of the pile, that’s the obvious bit out of the way.

That said I have now tasked myself (with OBO’s blessing) to modify the existing HotPants to make them better, it’s a hard task I admit but I’m up for the challenge. I’m doing this in the off season, the main aims are to sort out the upper thigh and inner thigh protection and throw in a little bit of extra adjustability, bob’s your uncle, fanny’s your aunt, hopefully this isn’t gonna be a faceplant!

If there’s anything that anyone wants me to try and do let me know, leave a comment on here or head over to fieldhockeyforum.com and send me a pm.

That’s all for this post but check this space cos this s**t’s gonna get real!

(P.S. I have the Chelmsford Summer League (Div 1) to test my additions etc. If any of you are playing in it I’m the keeper with the fluorescent helmet, hard to miss I know)

 

New robo chest and short sleeve tight fit shirt reviews

NEW ROBO BODY ARMOUR
The Protection of the new body armour is better then the older OBO armour, especially around the abdominal and clavicle area. The shoulder pads are shaped to the fit the shoulder and are far more comfortable and best of all easier to move in. I am of tall stature and feel that the ability to securely tie the armour closer to my body enables me to be more confident in making saves. Overall much better than the older armour in terms of protection and aesthetics.
Fred Whitfield L’boro Students GK
OBO GK

The new body armour offers great flexibility and increased protection to the stomach and chest areas. It has a great fit to the body when the straps are fitted tight and sits in the body better than previous body armour. Shoulder and collar bone protection is excellent and a big improvement from previous versions. Having tried which arm protectors fit best with it, I preferred to stay with the the Robo full arm protectors ( though the OBO elbow guards will also work fine.
Ali McGregor
OBO GK

Now I’m no Pamela Anderson when it comes to cup size, but if I did have ‘plastic fantastics’ to look after I would be confident that this piece of kit would look after my investments nicely. I have been using my new chest protection since August 2011 and have a zero bruise count during that time. The armour wraps around the torso giving excellent protection for the ribs. The wrap around means I can safely dive or drop for smothering saves without exposing myself. And let’s face it, no one wants to expose themselves mid game. The collar is more substantial than previous models without being obtrusive, offering improved protection of the clavicle bone. The shoulder cup seems to sit in the right place and stay there while I move around, unlike some where they seem to be after thought pads stuck on top and making some goalkeepers look like Ming the Merciless. Looks are important, let’s face it, 99.9% of hockey spectators will look at two goalkeepers and assume the one with the best looking kit is probably the better keeper. What makes good looking kit? For me it’s the gear that makes me look and feel more athletic. The first time I wore my new OBO chest protection I turned to the nearest person and asked “Do I look slim in this?” I was joking of course. Mostly. The strapping to secure the chest piece is fairly heavy duty elastic which means it will sit flat across your back and not bunch into a thin uncomfortable ridge. It’s adjustable of course and if correctly set up, will hold the chest pad down and prevent ride-up.
The only concern for me was the length of the front section. I hear this has been addressed in the latest batch to hit the market. So overall this protector gets a thumbs up from me.
Bianca Russell
Goalkeeper
New Zealand Black Sticks

NEW OBO GK TOP
At last a GK Top that actually fits me correctly and is light weight. For too long GK tops have been like wearing a flag made of mesh with no real shape to them.
The new top feels very supportive and i really like the tight fit. The elasticitiy in the top allows for full freedom of movement. Even when wet the top is still very light.
Great work OBO on another fantastic piece of GK kit.
Harry Gibson

Helmet Cage Colour??

Recently we were asked…

Hey Guy’s,

I need to order a new cage for my OBO Helmet. I once remember someone telling me that silver was the best colour to get for some reason, but not sure why. OBO has 4 colours for sale Black, White, Silver and Yellow.

Anyone got any advice on what would be the best colour to order?

Cheers

It’s an age old question but one worth mentioning again. So we had a chat about this in the community and here were some of the responses…

  • Pick a retro as colour just to distract your opponent.
  • In all fairness I’d take the silver a sand it back then paint it rainbow colours just to really distract the enemy.
  • Black as it is more subtle and does not obscure vision
  • Black, to reduce glare and be less intrusive to my vision.
  • Black, no reflections.
  • Black Helmet- Black Grill and so on. Spending all our hard earned cash on goalkeeping products it has to look aesthetically pleasing.
  • Silver or like a copper but that’s for indoor because the lighting sucks.
  • I’d love a chrome/silver grill, look modern and very swarve!
  • I currently have a silver one and the glare isn’t noticeable and doesn’t get in the way of vision. so probably silver or black depending on colour of my helmet at the time.
  • I have a silver one and would have it again, I feel it mirrors the surroundings so its not like wearing one at all.
  • Yellow cos there’s no point in hiding from the ball!
  • Yellow, because I don’t feel I get enough attention whilst wearing bright blue pads…

Re-Strapping the OBO Robo LH glove

If you have NEVER had your Robo left hand glove blasted off when saving a rocket then you can stop reading this article now.  If this has happened to you and you would like to know how to adjust the glove without any cutting, glueing or taping then read on.  It will also take you less than a minute to make the change.

Below are some pics of how the OBO Robo left hand glove arrives out of the bag.

Now lets get onto the hack.  Simply undo the elastic strap and pull it back through the two slits in the foam padding.  Now thread each side through the slits again from the bottom so they meet in the middle. You may need to turn the buckle on the side to slide it through.  It is tight, but it will slide through.  Now just slip the elastic strap through the buckle and adjust for comfort.

You should now find that when you slide the glove over your left hand that the elastic will need to stretch a little to get your hand in.  This is perfect as it will stop your hand slipping out easily.

The pics below should give you a good guide.  If you love the change keep it and leave a comment.  If you hate it you can simply change it back.

Tight shirt review

OBO Short sleeve goalie shirt review.

So, here it is. The new Goalie shirt from OBO.

 

And here it is in action:

 

When it comes to keepers shirts there isn’t a lot on the market that takes my fancy, for the last 2 seasons I have been using a Nike Dri-Fit running shirt which has served me well. I’m always on the hunt for new products and equipment so after sending a few emails to Simon enquiring about testing future products, he came back to me with this.

I’ve been using this shirt for many weeks now and I can safely say it is one of the best shirts I’ve worn. It keeps my armour tight to my body yet still has enough stretch in the material for it not to be uncomfortable.

Firstly I’ll start with the style, every keeper wants to look good, right?

As you can see I have the Black and Silver top, It is very similar in design to my Nike top which is what I personally was looking for. I really like the 2-tone colour option and as it’s OBO I would expect to see numerous options available, like with the rest of their products.

How does it fit?

Me and Simon were in discussion about which size would be best for me. We were deciding between a large and an extra large and settled on the XL. If I was to re-order another one I would go for a large as the XL is just a bit too big for me.

I guess it’s all down to personal preference, I prefer my shirt to be as tight as possible, whereas others like it slightly baggy.

After a couple of weeks, I decided that I would mod my shirt to make it more tight fitting, around the chest and arms.

It could also depend on which body armour you use, Iam currently wearing the Mercian Xtreme with the bicep protection cut off. This armour is quite slim fitting with fairly small shoulder caps, some other armours are more bulky which would fill the shirt out more than my one, so take that into consideration when buying!

A fairly obvious point to make is that this shirt is definitely not an option for goalies in full body armour as your arm protection will be ruined from diving around.

Material & Breathability.

The materials OBO have used for this shirt seem to be of a very high standard, the Black material on the front is stretchy and feels very durable. The Silver material used on the back feels very strong, it almost looks similar to the material of my old long sleeve smock.

I really like the idea of having a vented back, but could see others disagreeing. Maybe there could be an option to have the shirt made entirely of the black material alongside the tops with the vented back?

Because the material of this shirt is of a very high quality, it hasn’t lost it’s shape, frayed or shrunk in the wash, other shirts I’ve had haven’t held us aswell.

Summary

In short, I think OBO are onto a winner with this top, it’s comfortable, looks good and is specifically designed for keepers. Good job guys!

 

HI CONTROL vs HI REBOUND

Right Guys and Gals,

There is a massive debate over the Hi-Control vs Hi-Rebound and being an owner of the HR and having tried out a friends HC I think that I can enlighten people as to which kit is best for them. I will start by giving a rough diagram of the rebound levels so you can picture it in your head, I will then say which game style each of the kits suit.

CLOUD |||||||||||||||
HI CONTROL |||||||||||||||||
HI REBOUND ||||||||||||||||||||

As you can see the difference is not that big. Also the HC has more rebound than the Cloud so it certainly isn’t lacking.

Hi-Control
HC suits a agressive player who kicks with conviction and also likes to log at short corners. The pads are narrow allowing ease of movement when going down or getting up. Essentially the design of the kickers is identical to the HR-only the foam density being different. The hand protectors are different from the HR ones, the left  HC is identical in design to the HR except in cosmetic appearance, the right is the traditional tube style for logging.

Hi-Rebound
The HR kit is suited to the more modern player who stays upright for as long as possible and likes to use a passive deflecting type of kicking. The pads are wider than the HC giving a bigger area against attackers, they have stiff wings to delfect the more slowly to be cleared with the feet afterwards. Again, the kickers are the same design as the HC but with more rebound. The hand protectors are a different design to the HC. The left HP is very similar to the HC, the rebound is obviously higher for a more deflecting style of play. The right HP holds the stick at a different angle to the HC for a more upright style of play, it also has a much bigger surface area for reaction saves. The different angle takes some getting use to but works great for me.

Wear
The HC will last longer than the HR especially on sand pitches. However, most of the games is now being played on water-based pitches, here the wear difference is much reduced. even if you do play on a sand pitch do not get the HC purely because of its longevity, get the kit that is right for you. Also, duct tape on the bottom of the kickers will increase their life greatly.

A.T