Welcome to our review of the Vaughn Velocity V9 Pro Carbon Goalie Chest Protector.
As we all know, chest and arm protectors are sort of an important piece of equipment to be wearing. They can be the difference maker between pure confidence and flinching in the net. You are at a huge disadvantage when you can painfully feel the pucks bouncing off of your chest or arms.
It’s a good idea to invest into a high quality goalie chest protector.
Vaughn Velocity V9 Pro Carbon Chest Protector Review
We here at Goalie Coaches are huge fans of the Vaughn chest protectors. Now, that’s not being biased or anything, they really do make incredible chest protectors. And as far as being biased goes, their chest protector game is a whole lot better than their leg pads and gloves game. At least in our opinion. Let’s get into the review.
Here’s what we did and didn’t like about the Vaughn Velocity V9 Pro Carbon Chest Protector
Advantages:
- Extremely protective
- Lightweight
- Highly adjustable
- Very mobile
- Good ventilation
- Great construction and quality
Disadvantages:
- Expensive
Advantages of the V9 Chest Protector
There are quite a few advantages in getting the Vaughn V9 Pro Carbon Chest Protector. The first off, and probably the most important – protection.
Protection
There is no doubt that this is one of the most well protective goalie chest protectors on the market. It features new, pure carbon inserts and kevlar throughout the chest area for impact absorption. Yes, kevlar. The material that is used in bullet-proof vests.
Vaughn used lightweight HD foam for the remainder of the chest.
HD foam is pretty standard for chest protectors, although there are different levels of density and weight between different models. The V9 HD foam is super light and offers supreme protection.
Compared to previous Vaughn models, the V9 Pro Carbon has a couple of other new upgrades as well.
The chest area of the protector has been redesigned to offer better protection and allow for better movement. It’s also been increased in size to prevent stingers off the side of the body.
And by increased in size doesn’t mean that it’s going to be extremely bulky or illegal for your league. It still plays by the rules – Vaughn has just created more padding in terms of protection.
The rib cage area has been extended as well. Vaughn has essentially taken a really good goalie chest protector in their previous models (SLR2, VE8) and made it better.
Not only has Vaughn upgraded the protection in the chest area, they’ve also improved the arms and shoulder areas.
The floaters are large and now secured better than previously. This seems like it isn’t that big of a deal, but the new floater design creates consistently square shoulder protection. Players are always shooting pucks up high these days, so this is an awesome way to combat high shots.
And without actually having to do any more work either.
The floaters are made up of HD foam with pure carbon inserts. The shoulder area also has shoulder caps to help with the impact absorption.
The arms now have deeper side profiles for better protection and coverage. They also have flat facing floaters to create a larger figure in the net.
The elbow caps are molded Zote foam and HD foam. Similar to HD foam, molded Zote foam is really popular in chest and arm protectors. It’s a hard material to deflects pucks easily.
You getting the picture yet? This chest protector is an absolute tank.
And lastly, pure composite has been implemented into the areas where pucks are most likely to hit. It’s to reduce the impact and let you do what you do best, stop pucks.
You are going to be playing with a lot of confidence in this chesty.
Yes, protection is the most important aspect of a chest protector, but the next most important feature to look for is the mobility of it.
Mobility
The mobility of the Vaughn V9 Pro Carbon Chesty is great. Overall it’s been designed to have quality movement, but a huge advantage is that this chest protector is super adjustable.
The arms, chest and back pad are all adjustable, allowing for you to change everything for your liking.
Thus allowing for ultimate mobility and movement. Because nothing is really getting in your way, or restricting movement.
But, Vaughn didn’t only want to leave the mobility up to the goalie using it. They’ve also engineered this goalie chest protector to move with the goalie. The vision while using this protector is wide open. The arms have full range of motion and the chest has quality movement as well.
The arms also use a mesh base which allows for supreme flexibility.
And while yes, the V9 Pro Carbon is meant to be very mobile in terms of design – the lightweight construction also allows for supreme movement. Pure composite, carbon and lightweight HD foam are the main materials in this protector.
Those are very lightweight materials.
But highly protective.
The result?
A lightweight, mobile goalie chest protector with top of the line protection.
Vaughn has covered nearly every base in terms of what is needed in a great goalie chest and arm protector. The last and also very important part? Durability.
Durability
Ahhh yes, durability. One of my favorite parts of goalie gear.
I’ve been known to go with Bauer goalie pads over the past couple years. The Bauer Vapor 2X Pros and the Supreme 2S Pros have both been used in my name.
I loved them.
Extremely lightweight – high performance.
The only part that I disliked in them was the durability.
And as a result, I look for durable goalie gear now.
The point I’m trying to make here is that you can get elite goalie gear and yet it might break down on you in a single year.
This is not the case with Vaughn goalie chest protectors. I’ve used several of Vaughn’s most elite chesties over the past several years, and not a single one them has broken down.
Such is the case with the new Velocity V9 Pro Carbon Chest Protector.
I’ve already shown you what it’s made of. Pure composite, carbon, HD foam, mesh and so on.
But, the most important factor to consider is how these protectors are being made.
Vaughn’s Pro Carbon gear is all hand crafted in the United States.
This is important to know as it will affect how long it will last.
I’ll give you a hint – a long time.
If you are considering get a durable goalie chest protector, Vaughn creates the most reliable and durable. And their track record proves it.
Right now, Vaughn is the most popular chest and arm protector brand for goalies in the NHL.
This isn’t an accident either.
I know this probably sounds like an ad, but it’s truly me telling it like it is.
Disadvantages
The only true disadvantage you will find in the V9 Pro Carbon Chest Protector is that it’s quite expensive. No, really expensive.
And if you can’t afford the price, well that’s sort of a disadvantage.
But, if you can afford it, it’s the best goalie chest protector that you can get.
Vaughn Velocity V9 Pro Carbon Chest and Arm Protector Review: Conclusion
Well that brings us to the end of this review. There isn’t a better goalie chest protector on the market, compared the Vaughn V9 Pro Carbon.
It covers every aspect that you could possibly look for in a quality protector.
It’s highly protective.
It’s very lightweight.
It’s adjustable.
It’s mobile.
It will keep you cool while playing hockey.
It’s very durable.
It’s amazing.
Thank you for reading and I hope it helped you out!
