Camo overpants

Hi Obo, I thought of a great idea about a design for your overpants that cover the hotpants. I saw to the Camo gear pics and noticed that there weren’t any camo overpants. I noticed that perhaps wearing the camo smock could look a bit goofy sometimes, why not make a over pants with the Camo design? They’re less noticeable yet at the same time you get an awesome design to wear.

It’s just a thought…

KanuckKeeper

ROBO Bodi Arma Review

Hi Amazing Guys and Girls

I’m going to keep this short and sweet, just like me 🙂

I’m the proud owner of Obo ROBO Bodi Arma, well let’s just say when the parcel arrived I was like a small child at Christmas, and was soon bouncing about in my new toy.

Why do I think it’s so great???

1) When I’m wearing it I don’t look like a midget sumo wrestler!!! ( that’s because it’s super slim lined).

2) Those occasional blows to the chest dont’t feel like bullets and take my breath away; rendering me useless and the goal open to those goal hungry forwards.

3) I can move and jump around without it getting stuck on my shorts, (making it hard to get up fast from a slide), riding up (not covering tender parts) and twisting, which my previous body armour did (not sure about the make and model it was one I lent off my club).

4) It looks good with or without a a smock, also lets me have more choice on the smock front (well we all know how us girls love clothes). No need for super baggy or boring, I can becomne an individual with awesome designs :).

What’s not so great???

I have a real problem with the shoulder pads, they seem to rub and dig into my skin, especially if I’m not wearing a long sleeved top. They seem to over lap the main body of the Arma. I’ve tried to bend and mould them to no joy :(.

I think the main reason for this is that I’m a girl, which means I have those things men don’t have but love lol. This seems to push the Arma up and out causing gapping around the area (see pictures) meaning that the shoulders don’t sit in the right place.

But hay I think I can get over this small niggle.

Maybe Obo could think about making a Bodi Arma just for us girls????

Enjoy 🙂

My Robo Bodi ArmaMy Robo Bodi Arma
Side View of Bodi Arma
Side View of Bodi Arma
View from shoulder
View from shoulder
Gap between chest and Bodi Arma
Gap between chest and Bodi Arma
Better view of the gap
Better view of the gap

Well Equiped; What The Pros Are Using

Here is a oldie but a goodie from a South African magazine named Sports Illustrated.

This magazine featured an article that makes a comparison of kit worn between Shankar Lakshman, who was goalkeeper in the 1950’s and Chris Hibbert the current South African.

Shankar Lakshman was nicknamed the rock of Gibraltar…

well-equipped

Downloaded the article here.

You will need the free Adobe Reader to open the PDF. .

New Idea For Kickers

OBO kickers are awesome ! I have tried all series of kickers and you get what you pay for in performance and quality as you move up the range. I don’t want to review all the kickers however for a long time now I have been thinking of a way to design a kicker that has a specific inner bootie instead of regular hockey shoes. The idea is like my motor bike boots. You put on the inner bootie then slip your inner bootie into the outer which is the protection layer. Velcro or other similar product could be used to attached to two eliminating the need for straps etc. The booties could be washable and both new inners and outer could be sold. The idea is only in a thought phase but I would love to develop it into an OBO product. Just a thought!  🙂

 

Obo Robo Hot-Pants Review

Yes yet another review from me!

This time however I’m going to review my Obo Robo Hotpants!!!

2007_obo_robo_hotpants_2001

Before I got these pants I was using my clubs (So ice hockey brand that I can’t remember)

And will if I may they were RUBISH! (Compared to the hot pants)

They were heavy, loose around the thighs, the system for tightening the waist loosed and even when it was tight enough to stay up, it hurt!

They only offered protection to your thighs leaving your hips and parts of your groin that the cup doesn’t cover open.

This though is a thing of the past with my Hot-Pants!

They first few things I noticed when I took them out of the box was the same nifty buckle on the belt as is on the leg guards and robo kickers meaning no more loosing!!!!And plenty of padding between you and the belt (One problem solved instantly!)

77767064-100x100-0-0_2blackplasticsidereleasebuckles50mmwebbing

I also noticed the Velcro straps for the thighs meaning you could tighten them eliminating the annoyance of them flapping about and getting caught as you run out to cream somebody.(Yet another problem solved)

leg-straps

And the big cup like pads for your hips meaning lots of protection from shots and less pain when sliding and diving.( all four of my major problem with my old pants solved)

pants-hips

On further examining I found that the inner leg which is often hit was also covered!

There is a gap for your cup, making them more comfortable.

cup-hole

They offer Brilliant protection and I must emphasise BRILLIANT!!

And I have proof.

One day in training one of the coaches (David Hobbes 120+ Ireland International. Still playing)

He was warming me up. We had done the pushing, flicking, slapping and were about to move on to hits. I had just kicked the last of the balls over to him and was waiting for it to begin. I had just said Okay Go!

When one of the bungle out field players calls me to pass them a ball,

As is natural I looked over to see who it was and WHACK!!!

I get a full force strike from the man himself straight into the thigh!

As I was off balance I fell back onto the ground much to the amusement of the other goalie and some of the outfielders.

When I had come back to my senses I noticed it DIDN’T hurt one bit!( thinking back to it now I was lucky I didn’t have my old ones as the ball would have probably gone through my leg! haha

And so ends my story.

I’ve been hit in the leg a few times with no pain whatsoever but this one sticks in my head.

All in all Robo hot pants are Amazing and if you’re willing to spend a bit extra.

Do as I have never had a single flaw.

Please leave a comment!

Thanks

James

Which Kickers for Cloud Legguards?

cloud legguards
It has come to that time of year again where i have to look at my kit and ask myself whether or not it’ll survive another season of punishment. This time round it’s my kickers that are being called into question. My trusty Cloud kickers have started disintegrating at an alarming rate after 4 seasons hard work. While they may well survive another season i will be moving up a division with my school and club so i’m not sure if that’s a risk i want to take.

cloud kickers

So this begs the question; What do i replace them with? Well the obvious answer is another set of Cloud feet friends but given my imminent change in level i think it’s time to upgrade. So my next thought was either the Hi Control or the Hi Rebound Robo models. the problem with this choice is that i play on a sand pitch and i’ve heard that the HR kickers (which i would prefer) disintegrate rapidly on this kind of  surface. And given the cost of Robo kickers i’m not sure that i can justify this. Similarly i’m not sure that i could fork out all that cash for the HC kickers if they’re not exactly what i want.

hi-r kickers

So another, more unusual, option that i have heard of is using Tk Gx 1.0 kickers with OBO legguards. Given that these cost something similar to the Cloud range they are a tempting option. they have a similar tongue system too so i think that the  loking system would still work.

compare the tongue to the Cloud Kickers

If you look closely at the Unusual Diving Syle video (below) i think that that keeper is using Gx 1.0’s with Robo legguards without any twisting.


So does anybody have any thoughts on this? I’d really appreciate some advice. if you have any experience of this or know of anyone using this system please leave a comment.

Cheers,

Cormac Deasy

OGO Kickers Review

OBO OGO Kickers

After writing a review about the leg guards, I thought I should make one about the OGO kickers as well – because (as I said with the leg guards) OGO is sadly misunderstood…

In my other review I covered four major subjects; weight, rebound, protection and drawbacks.  I’ll try to do the same with this review.

OGO Kickers
OGO Kickers

Weight:

Being one of the smallest pieces of your kit, it has always seemed to me like kicker weight makes practically no difference to a keeper’s game. Well, so far I’ve played around 15 games with these kickers and I think now I can safely say I’ve changed my mind.

Kicking is arguably the most important part of goalkeeping and I believe that, no matter what level you play, there is always room for improvement in this area.

Because of my OGOs’ light weight, I’ve noticed I’m actually growing substantially more agile on my feet, allowing more controlled foot saves and quicker, easier running.

Rebound:

Well, what can I say? I remember on my very first save with these kickers I was amazed by their great rebound, which sent the ball away from the goal with almost the same speed as it came in with.

Needless to say, good rebound is an extremely helpful aspect of foot, leg and hand saves because it means that clearing a moving ball does not require a whopping great kick/punch.

Protection:

I play under fifteens, and during a club game I have never once been hurt through the kickers. I say club, because to tell the truth I have once or twice experienced a bit of pain from the occasional shot during southern and state training. But hey, that’s part of goalkeeping. Let me know what you think about this…

With my old kickers, I would often find (usually after running) that the strap at the back would slip down underneath my foot, allowing the kicker to slip forward, and expose my ankle. I can remember numerous times when I have been hit in the ankle due to this.

Well, I don’t know why, but this has never happened with the OGOs… Whether this is because of some amazing technology, or simply because they fit me better, I can’t tell you how much more confidence this has given me in the goal.

Drawbacks:

One problem I’ve found with the kickers (which, after reading other reviews, I know other people are familiar with as well), is that after a bit of action the front strap will slip in between the kicker and my shoe, actually raising the kicker high enough to expose my toes.

I asked OBO in NZ if there was anything I could do to stop this from occurring, and they got back to me quickly with three great suggestions, one of which is working beautifully (Figure eights).

figure 8
figure 8

I love this integrated locking system, although one problem I’ve been having is that the tongue tends to digs into my foot, which can be a bit awkward and sometimes slightly painful.

One solution for this is to wear shin pads underneath your leg guards, which I like to do because it makes my leg guards in general more comfortable. Another solution involves over-bending the tongue forward, holding it forward with tape, and blowing hot air on the inside of the tongue.

-Detailed instructions on how to do this on second page of PDF. [Link]

In conclusion, I’d like to say that some people will like these kickers and some people won’t (I think most people will). Personally, because I prefer to play a more agile, attacking game, I like them.

I hope this review has changed your perspective of OGO, like one training session changed mine.

Cheers,

Ozzie

Shoulder Pads

Without any protection to the shoulder areas when using a solo body/chest pad, separate shoulder pads can be used in conjunction, to protect your joints when you hit the pitch when landing a save, or challenging on the ground. Increasing your upper body protection should be considered if you are concerned over the level and types of shots you will face.

Ice hockey shoulder caps

To cover the space above the chest pad and around the shoulder joint, which is not covered by the armour, some form of protection is needed for the vulnerable shoulder areas, when landing a save, risking knocks and bashes when scrambling around the goal mouth, or facing a direct shot to the top of your body. The padding often extends around the biceps (top of the arm) to take the sting out of shots.

Wearing ice hockey shoulder pads (worn by outfield players) on top of the body pad is a great solution to this problem of missing padding on the shoulders. You will find a number of reflex orientated goalkeepers at international wearing them in conjunction with a body pad, providing adequate protection that they need for the upper body (which the chest pad does not cover).

Some hockey shops will sell ice hockey shoulder caps, and Mercian have gone as far as making their own version. Some on-line shops like the Hockey Factory Shop (www.hockeyfactoryshop.co.uk) stock ice hockey player’s shoulder pads, like the CCM and Reebok ranges. Again, Ebay is an idea, and you can find suitable first or second hand padding, by doing a search for “shoulder pads” in the ‘Ice Hockey section’ in the ‘Sporting goods’ area

Pros

  • Combine well with field hockey body pads

  • Add protection to vulnerable shoulder joints and upper body

  • Moderate, affordable costs

Cons

  • Harder to find – specialised stores

  • Potential to be bulky (depending on preferences/upper body strength)

  • Can limit arm protection at the shoulder cuff rotator muscle (but only slightly)

OBO Cloud Leg-guards Review In A Short Story

Hey Everybody,

When I read through the other reviews for the kit competition, which were all very good, I noticed that nobody had really been that creative and that I might be able to fill this gap. Either way, I hope you enjoy:

I waited anxiously on Monday morning, staring out the window till about 2 o’clock, when, suddenly, I saw a flash of light come down the road. As it came nearer and nearer, I got more and more excited, wondering what was going to happen and whether my life would change after this momentous event. Then the man walked towards me, dressed completely in red, and said “Please sign”. I could barely write as my hand was shaking so much due to the exhilaration. I managed to do so after 5 minutes, giving the red man his lovely pen back, soaking in sweat. He passed the package over to me and walked off. I did not know what to do; I was just so thrilled that it was finally here. I stayed, standing, at the front door for another 5 minutes, motionless, not knowing what to do. I then decided to rush into my bedroom alone to open the package. When I arrived in my room, I threw down the package, searching for a pair of scissors of anything sharp. There was nothing anywhere. I ended having to use my bare hands and teeth to get in. But it was worth it. When I opened the package, a huge light stared at me, almost blinding me. What was it? It was my new set of obo cloud leg-guards.

As soon as I saw them, I was in love. I knew these were my dream leg-guards. The colours, weight, durability, protection and rebound were everything I wanted. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen in my life. I felt like going round my street and kissing anyone I saw, I was that happy. What was there not to like? Nothing. In my eyes, nothing could beat these. The yellow made me look like a bird…

I had my GCSE English Oral in 2 hours, which I had to attend. But I could not leave them. How could I bring them with me when I was going to talk about how John Steinbeck creates a feeling of sympathy for Lennie in “Of Mice and Men”? I just could not put them through it; I didn’t want to see them in pain. So, I took a bold move for the sake of my precious jewels, and chose to do my English Oral on the OBO Cloud Leg-guards. My teacher was amazed, saying she had never seen anybody so enthusiastic about a subject before. I got an A*, for which I took my leg-guards out to the local public house to celebrate.

The next day, I had my first match with them. I was in heaven. This was my paradise, forget about rehab, treat ecstasy addiction with obo leg-guards. They were so light, weighing nothing like any other pads I had ever worn. When I put them on for the first time, I was amazed by the comfort. I did not expect it from such a hard outer foam. Fortunately, OBO put a different inner foam in, and this made them unbelievably comfortable. I loved the way they hugged my legs, as if they were actually moulded on my legs. When taking shots to them, I felt no pain, even when playing against the ex-international, who had injured his goalie before the game. This was amazing, I was playing the game of my life, I was on cloud nine. When I had a one-on-one just before half time, I slid out, and my leg-guards did not twist slightly. This was due to the right leg-guard being slightly narrower than the left and also the wing hinging system, obo have in place on all leg-guards. Then after the break, I went down to log at a short corner, which the top of my left leg-guard saved, showing how useful the extra width on the left leg-guard is.

After the match, I noticed how for the first time in ages, none of my straps had come undone, unlike the opposing keeper, who was not wearing OBO, who had managed to become undone 5 times and lose one of his straps. I also realised that I had had no fear during the game of getting hit on the ankle or the knee, due to the design of these leg-guards.

A month later, it was time to wash my darlings. I made sure the water was warm for them, the way they like it, before adding a cup of borax. I then decided to do the same with fabric freshener, just to make sure that their skin was not irritated. It also made them smell great, ready to play their part in the club day the next day. Everybody commented on how good they looked, and although they did not say so, they were really chuffed.

A few years later, it was our anniversary and I was offered robo hi-control leg-guard’s. I said “Pah! No, how dare you even insinuate that! I will never leave them”. My pads had held up well over the years and there was no way I was leaving them now. Even though the inners had started to split and the outers and inners had started to come apart, these could easily be fixed with glue. And, either way, I had become attached to them, we had gone through a lot together, and I would only let them go when the time was right.

In the future, I would buy these again, and would be perfectly happy to play senior international matches with them in the future. Everything is great about them, I cannot fault anything. They are even easy to repair, even though they are very durable. I would recommend these to anyone, who wants a good set of leg-guards at a reasonable price. Although they may be more expensive than some other brands, in the end they last longer and are better.

Having told you this story, I would like to say that I would expect this from OBO, after all, “Goalkeepers are Amazing People”. You said be creative, I was creative. I hope that this included everything that is supposed to be in a review. Any questions, please ask? If I could put pictures in, I would, although maybe I should not, after all, the point of stories is to enlighten your imagination…

CLOUD Legguards Review

Well I chose to review my OBO cloud legguards

2007_obo_cloud_legguards1_200

Before I got my Cloud I was using my clubs leg guards. But I found that even on a nice slippery water base pitch you COULDN’T slide!

When I first ordered them I was regretting not getting the ROBO, as I heard rumours that cloud was useless!!

On the day they arrived I was surprised at how light they were!

I noticed that they looked the same as the ROBO hi-control but presuming with slightly softer foam and a few less perks. But still have a lot of good ideas that you won’t find on many other brands

-The left leg is wider than the right for some reason (probably for extra height when logging or something)

-The wings at the side are lower to the ground which really helps to stop balls just sliding past your foot.

-The straps are hiding so there is wear-n-tear when sliding.

-The oddly shaped buckles help to stop the straps loosening during a game or training.

-The great idea of the tongue that helps stop the leg guards from twisting!

(yes I know these are not cloud but it’s the same idea)

kl_oboroboset_big-1111

The only flaw I can see with the leg guards is that the area around the knee (highlighted)is quite more built up more than the rest of the pads so when I log there is naturally a gap between them making a lovely target for a good striker. Maybe that is only me as I have short-ish legs but, I have no idea that could help stop this without reducing protection. (yes lets laugh at the very badly drawn picture)

My funky drawing

To finish it all I would like to say that I would recommend cloud leg guards to any keeper as they have absolutely excellent protection, are light and easy to move in and have never caused me a single problem during a match.

By the way if anybody else has had the problem with the built up knee please leave me a comment! and if you dont, leave a comment anyway!!

Thanks!!

Hillmonger!