We will speak about some very important part of the floorball goalie’s gear today. Let’s take a closer look on Optima pants by renowned floorball brand Unihoc.
These pants are part of the new Unihoc’s high end collection for 2015/2016 season called Optima.
Unihoc Optima Pants – Front View
Unihoc Optima Pants – Back View
Pants are made of 55% cotton and 45% polyester and seems and also feels to be very durable. The basic material is strong cotton, the knee area is protected with Cordura nylon for longer durability and optimal slip. There is some flexible pad above the Cordura area, some breathable fabric at the back of the knee and crotch is made from elastic knitwear. Whole legs are protected by nice robust padding. There are two Velcro straps and adjustable belt with plastic buckle for fitting the waist. You will find plastic robust SBS Velcro zipper secured with button at the bottom back of each leg for easier access to the kneepads.
Unihoc Optima Pants Detail – flexible pad above the knee area
My first impressions when my pants arrived was wow, this looks so big. I was also surprised about solidity of the padding. For the first weeks of use, the trousers were a little bit inflexible and felt hard. This feeling disappeared after first month. Well, the approx. 8 mm thick padding still keep the good shape memory (bought them online on Sept 2015 so I use them for six months now, 4-10 hours per week) so the pants always feel, looks (especially the white-yellow combination) and actually are very robust so they cover a lot of space in the goal. And also keeps weight a little bit higher then another pants I tried. The pads are sewn only around they’s rim so they are not tightly connected to the outer fabric. This makes some free space between the two materials. Result of this construction is nice absorption of power of the shots, so no pain after hard shots and it is also very easy to keep the ball under the control because the rebounds are slowed down a lot.
Unihoc Optima Pants – Inner Front View
Unihoc Optima Pants – Inner Back View
Whole front part of the pants is protected, only weak point is between the crotch and leg padding. It is not a big deal because usually that area is taut distanced of your body a little bit and also this place is mostly protected by your jockstrap. But two times during those 6 month I received two painful shots to this place. It is compromise between protection and comfort/ventilation I think. Definitely I never met a trousers with better protection in this or any other place. Yeah, sometimes, no pain, no glory!
Unihoc Optima Pants Detail – Zipper with the button
There are two Velcro straps and adjustable belt for fitting the pants in the waist. Nothing to say about, just it works as it should and it is perfectly designed so there will be no accumulated waist padding when you are a thin one. The plastic zippers at the bottom are big enough for easy manipulation and looks very durable. Never had a problem with it. The button securing the zipper from accidental opening do the job and is also nice design stuff.
Unihoc Optima Pants Detail – Unihoc logo on the shin
Well, Optima Pants are the modern hi-end in piece of goalkeeper’s gear both on the quality and price scale. If you are looking for well designed durable trousers, this is definitely the way. It is available in two color combination – white/yellow and black/orange – as the all Optima collection products so it will fit perfectly with your Optima jersey, mask and even the U3 Goalie shoes.
