While the Easton Stealth RS shoulder pads may be one of the hot new products on the market, people are beginning to question their durability for high end performance.
Coming in at $119.99, the Stealth RS shoulder pads are priced below some of the top of the line pads from Bauer and Reebok. Being a top of the line product, however, requires a bit more from the shoulder pads. In fact, they should be able to stand up to use and abuse for at least a year before the foams begin to break down and become more fragile.
The problems that have been reported to us, on the other hand, have occurred within a short enough time of purchase that they were taken back to the store for a refund or exchange. Oddly enough, the problem has actually been the same on each return. The main area of concern seems to be the shoulder cap itself. In both cases which one of our Twitter followers sent us, the shoulder cap shattered. It’s not just the plastic which breaks either, it is the foam underneath breaking along with the plastic.
Besides an unusable product, this could lead to much bigger issues for Easton. With errant pieces of plastic hanging around after shattering, the next hit a player takes could result in one of those pieces of plastic piercing their skin.
While the shattering issues at this one particular store have been quite similar, the incidents might not be related in any way. The breakage could simply be a coincidence and have a small chance of being a recurring problem. If they are related, however, and can be pin pointed to a single manufacturing issue, Easton may have to go the route of a recall on it’s Stealth RS shoulder pads.
Help us track down these problems if you can. Leave us a message in the comments if you or someone you know has had a similar issue with their Stealth RS shoulder pads. If there is a bigger issue here, we want to help make sure its tracked and taken care of.
Stealth RS shoulder pad with broken shoulder cap
#1 by Juan on February 22nd, 2012
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I got the elbow pads and the same thing happen to those. The part that is the same material as the shoulder cap broke. I’m trying to get an exchange. Hopefully I get one…and hopefully it doesn’t break again…….
#2 by paul on February 23rd, 2012
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seems about on par with the rest of the stealth line. are the caps made of the same material the sticks are made of?
#3 by mike on February 23rd, 2012
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my shoulder pads brokeon the shoulder part im 13 in travel hockey… those things shouldnt break at my age… we had a checking practice and it broke and i didnt know i got huge bruises on my shoulder blade and shoulder and i also got bruises on my shoulder even on the side that didnt break… so one shoulder pad broke the other one has a dent and the chest has a dent…. DONT GET THEM they look cool but i mean the material is awful!!! they use this material in their helmets to!!!!!
#4 by Keegan Dew on March 14th, 2012
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I bought these & within 3 games the shoulder cap broke in half, got them replaced for free & they broke 2 games after that, the same way. Easton needs to recall these.
#5 by chris on April 1st, 2012
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from Facebook when you first posted about the new product
“Chris Rowan I saw this last week. Very light. Deff an upgrade over the s line. I do see the shoulder caps having problems at use of high levels. No rigid enough
December 13, 2011 at 11:50am ยท Like”
told you so! the “plastic” on these is a laminated styrofoam, its the same on the elbow and shin, all these pieces will break in a contact hockey game.