Sunday, July 14, 2013

Sher-Wood T100 Review


Stiffness - 95 flex
Pattern – PP01 Smith Curve

Grip finish


Reviewer has been doing Gear reviews for over 7 years and
Has a decent food belly from “Killing it at the buffet”

First Impression
Most of the time I spray paint my sticks White, bottom half and blade, white.  Getting this stick right out of the package I was very impressed with the graphics, clean black, you can see the weave, one side of it is black lettering the other side is red. It’s actually really cool!   The length of the stick was perfect, no need to cut it or add one of the many 25 different sized end plugs like I have to with Bauer and Warrior, so out of the box I basically had no issue with length.  All I had to do was put a Tacki mac and tape the blade, and SET! 



Blade - 10/10


One thing that I really judge a stick by is the blade stiffness.  There is nothing I hate more than being able to flex the blade backwards with my hands and nothing is more frustrating than taking a shot and feeling the backflex of the blade.  Or taking a faceoff and seeing the blade flex and the puck whip in the wrong direction.
The T100 blade is the stiffest blade I have ever used, but this blade is better than other “stiff” blades.  One thing about it is it doesn’t lose the feel of the puck, which is amazing.  You still have that pop when getting the puck and shooting.  Once that pop and stiffness go away, that blade is dead to me because I can’t feel the puck.  After over a month and twice up to three times a week of heavy-duty abuse, this stick refuses to die.  I love it.  The foam core really reduces the vibration but doesn’t kill the feel.  Like I said it has that pop to it, but it doesn’t vibrate to where you feel it badly like some other brands.



Shaft/Flex/Balance - 10/10


I haven’t used many shafts that always or ever felt right on my hands.  Some shaft shapes were just bad.  The T100 is a more, square shaft but it’s a very soft square (similar to my beloved RM19), one that doesn’t punish my hands after a while. Another factor is the shape of the shafts will make the flex whippier or stiffer.  With the more square shaft  the blade becomes a bit stiffer.  So a 95 flex will feel more like a 97 in a sense.  

One thing people always comment is how light the stick is.  Yes, its an extremely light stick, but that’s not to take away from the rest of the stick.  This is a high end performing stick, don’t be fooled that just because its light that there’s no other factors to it.

The carbon weave caught my attention as far as looks to this shaft.  It looked similar to the Bauer G3.  Which is kinda cool but as a former user of the G3, that stick didn’t have the feel and performance I expected out of such a highly praised stick.  This stick however blew away all expectations.  The one thing that also caught my attention was when the person at Sher Wood told me the shaft runs through the heel of the blade so the shaft is on contact with the ice all the time.  This gives you better feel for the puck and the ice since you’re always in contact.  More control=better shooting and puck feel.

Another feature they offer is a “Flex Free Zone” Which allows you to cut up to 4”s worth off the stick without affecting the flex.  This is great for me because I use tall sticks and I didn’t even have to cut this one, this one was the perfect length right out of the wrapping paper.

The balance of the shaft is phenomenal!   Sher Wood uses what they call “Pro Balance” which provides a full balance of the stick wherever your hands may sit. 
Its not blade heavy, its not top heavy, its in the middle just like a stick should be.  I didn’t have to add a plug just to add a balance to it, it came at the right grade.  They did this just right for this part.

Stickhandling/receiving passes – 9.8/10


Like I said the blade is very stiff, has a great pop thanks to the highend carbon fiber used for the blade plus the foam core.  It gives a really good feel accepting passes and stickhandling.   I have used certain sticks that stickhandling I sometimes lose feel for the puck and have to look down, rarely do I need to do that with this blade.  When receiving passes with other sticks I’ve seen the puck just bounce right over or away with this stick I get a pass and SLAP its on my blade and that’s it.  Great feel, Pure control.



Shooting – 9.9/10


The stick is rated as a High Kick-Point.  But honestly the flex profile of this shaft feels more in the middle/low-mid of the shaft, so the kick point is explosive on all shots, wrist, slap, and one timers.  I prefer to take wrist shots and one timers and this stick far exceeds the tone set by most other shafts and one pieces I have used.  If you put your weight into the shaft to build some power and torque, this is the stick for you, as quickly as the puck comes to you, even quicker does it fly right off.  If you have an already hard shot, this stick will put a bazooka on your shoulders.  This stick allows you to really put more and get more out of it. 

On another note the taper to the stick is quite peculiar, I loved the taper to the Widow but it had no durability, the kick to it was great but it didn’t hold up to any torque and would back flex the blade on its own.  This stick has a bit of that Widow taper but stronger, and more durable to any slash or skate.  The top of the blade towards the shaft it has a Torsion control Area, it keeps the blade and shaft straight without flexing back, it allows you to take any heavy shot and not allow the accuracy to suffer.  This is in comparison to three other sticks I shot next to so I could grasp a better feel.  One was a Bauer TotalONE and the other was a Warrior AK27 pro stock, and a G3 Bauer TotalONE, this stick far FAR outperformed all of these.

Durability - 10/10




Intangibles


I'm a huge fan of the clean graphics, this is one of the best looking sticks in the market in my opinion.  The red on one side, and the dark on the other just looks perfect.  Like a Suit.

Conclusion


This is the best stick I’ve ever used.  I’m a firm believer that nothing is perfect, but by far this almost comes close to it.  Its great for any situation and shooting style, it shoots like a laser and for those of us with already hard shots, it shoots even harder.
The Balance and shaft shape are perfect, it has a very natural feel and it's very hard to find any major faults in it.

Would I recommend this stick to anyone?  You bet!
Matter of fact, GO GO GO GO GO GO GO, at the price you can get it, compared to Bauer and Warrior and the ever non performing RBK sticks, this one is High Way Robbery.

Sher-Wood did it right like they always have and have since given me a stick that is my number 1, 2 and 3.  Because nothing beats this!

Overall score - 9.9/10