Harrow 300 Review

[Jarick]

Harrow 300 Grip Shift Shaft (75 flex concave)
Harrow 300 Tapered Blade (#4 curve)

First impressions:

Looks very nice. Graphics are well done, lots of little touches, and I always love when they show a little of the 3k weave of the material through. There's a lot of little details going on that you can't see on the website, a little busy, but generally very nice.

The grip shift is interesting...it's a matte finish (like the Mission Fuel sticks) on the top and a glossy grip finish on the bottom. Personally, I like a grippy stick, and the matte finish didn't start until way too low on the shaft.

Looking inside the shaft, the walls seem a little thicker than I'm used to seeing. Probably why the durability/feel is supposed to be good and weight isn't. I also didn't see any rubber contraption like in the YouTube Harrow 300 video.

The concave shaft feels kind of like a cross between a Dolomite and a Vapor...the edges are a bit rounded like the Vapor, but it's a bit slimmer like the Dolomite and has the concave sides. Seems like something I'd like.

The shaft is VERY long...several inches longer than anything I've seen at retail. If the lines on the side are any indication, the 75 flex will be down to about 95 when it's chopped down to length, and I plan on trying it an inch longer than normal (nose in bare feet).

Flexing it, it feels stiffer than I hoped. The internet buzz was that it was whippier than normal to compensate for the long length, but it felt a little stiff to me. I flexed it a few times and it will bend some, but seems to have a little resistance and made a bit of a crackling noise. Could just be glue shifting around though. I don't ever get sticks to "break in" much, so maybe I'll just have to lean on it a lot. It's about the same as my 75 flex 7k Sickick OPS, which is a hair stiffer than I'd like.

The blade looks pretty standard, black 3k weave. I don't like manufacturers putting graphics on the toe of the blade, it looks odd when taped up, and there's a weird H symbol there. Weight of the blade feels a bit light, compared to the Dolomites I used to use.

Both the tenon and hosel seem a bit longer than average. I know the hosel is a bit shorter than a Dolomite blade (longest I've seen in a tapered blade), but the tenon looks like it's about an inch longer than any other blade I've use. I've actually cut about an inch off the tenon on previous Christian/Harrow blades. I'm not sure if it impacts flex at all...something tells me a very long tenon might move the kickpoint up.

The #4 curve is billed as a 1/2" toe 5.5 lie. This isn't a toe hook like the Shanahan, it's a very mild mid-toe that's slightly open. Closest retail curve would probably be the Dolomite Weight/Vanek without the heel twist. The lie seems a bit lower than what I'm used to, which is a P30 from Reebok (Bergeron).

Joining the two, it looked like a VERY tight fit, but it was perfect with no gap. I had to heat the glue and shaft up a bit more than normal, but I didn't have to really force it in. Should be a very solid joint, and possibly one more reason these things are supposed to have a good feel to them.

Once the two were joined, I was surprised by how much it weighed. I know these aren't supposed to be the lightest sticks in the world, but it felt pretty heavy. I'm not much of a stick weight guy, my main stick is a 7k Sickick that's not exactly light and my backup has a 3" wood plug in it. I'm guessing it's the weight of the shaft which is throwing everything off...I would much rather have a blade-heavy stick than shaft-heavy, which feels like my hands and moving through Jello.

All in all, it's a very nice looking stick that feels like a tank in more than one sense of the word. If I saw it in a store, I think the weight would scare me off...and as I've said before, I don't think I've used a stick under 450 grams. I know Harrow says they are trying to make the best FEELING stick rather than lightest, and for that I'll have to see how it does on the ice.

I've got a game on Saturday and intend to use this thing as much as possible. Hopefully the weight isn't an issue, the flex/kick feels good, and the curve doesn't throw me off too much.

Click to read more...

 

[wearethegreek]

Nice review, I was looking into getting a harrow blade in that same pattern so let me know how it works out

 

[Jarick]

For those of you who are curious, the shaft is 55" long uncut and blade is about 12" tall standing on its two, uncut stick measures 67"

I cut off 4.5" so the total height is now 59.5". Put my Tacki Mac grip on it, glued the end cap back on, leaned on it to flex and heard a loud CRACK. Checked it out, and it looks okay, but it flexes a little easier...makes me a little nervous.

It feels just a hair whippier than my Sickick after leaning on it a few times, which I like. Hopefully it "breaks in" a bit more. I will say it really SNAPS right back to shape after flexing it, which might mean good things about the kick of the stick.

Stickhandling with a Smart Hockey ball, it feels deadened, kind of like a One95 or a wood stick. There really aren't many vibrations coming up the shaft at all. Comparatively, my shaft with a Vapor XXXX blade feels a little pingy and my 7k Sickick OPS feels middle-of the road.

The weight might be the same as the Sickick, which is average weight, but it's definitely shaft heavy rather than blade heavy.

 

[Hockeyfan68]

For those of you who are curious, the shaft is 55" long uncut and blade is about 12" tall standing on its two, uncut stick measures 67"

I cut off 4.5" so the total height is now 59.5". Put my Tacki Mac grip on it, glued the end cap back on, leaned on it to flex and heard a loud CRACK. Checked it out, and it looks okay, but it flexes a little easier...makes me a little nervous.

It feels just a hair whippier than my Sickick after leaning on it a few times, which I like. Hopefully it "breaks in" a bit more. I will say it really SNAPS right back to shape after flexing it, which might mean good things about the kick of the stick.

Stickhandling with a Smart Hockey ball, it feels deadened, kind of like a One95 or a wood stick. There really aren't many vibrations coming up the shaft at all. Comparatively, my shaft with a Vapor XXXX blade feels a little pingy and my 7k Sickick OPS feels middle-of the road.

The weight might be the same as the Sickick, which is average weight, but it's definitely shaft heavy rather than blade heavy.

That cracking sound is the bladder stuff inside the shaft from the manufacture process. It goes away rather quickly after a few flexes.

I asked about that same thing from my friend who owns the hockey shop I bought them at. He showed me one and said don't worry about it, it'll go away and it did.

I have not heard that noise for quite some time now.

The weight of the two piece is 515g by the way, I read about your comments about the weight of them. I suppose if you are used to lighter than that they would feel heavy.

You should like the puck feel when you get it on the ice. Definitely a fine shooter too.

I also liked your comments about the feel using a ball, you'll like the puck feel and I have said in here it does resemble a wood stick. After using wood for 35 years or so I found these to be fantastic and my bauer One55 shafts are not even being used and feel like garbage now. I also have several wood blades lying around not being used as well. I'll probably eBay them or something.

Another note about the blades would be that they do not chip easily and are very rugged. I appreciated that aspect of these a great deal. My first blade by them lasted from April last year until about 3 weeks ago. Playing defense blocking shots and skate and puck whacking etc yadd yadda.

You know how some blades will get chipped on the toe and eaten up a bit? I have not had that with these .... after some time they get used obviously but it wasn't very quickly.

I had a few small chips from blocking shots around the heel area mostly. Nothing major however.

Funny thing earlier tonight too I ripped a great slapshot off the pipe in warmups and a friend who played semi-pro asked me about my stick as he had never seen them before. He thought it was a one piece right away because it does not have a logo on the blade hosel part.

Anyway he liked it and I mentioned their website has a sale right now. He said he might check one out.

 

[Mikeyplz]

I didn't even know harrow made hockey stuff, thought they only did lax.

 

[Hockeyfan68]

Jarick I read that you thought this was a shaft heavy stick so I took a picture of the balance point. I realize the tape job on the blade and handle alter the true balance but this is how it balances for me.

My finger is right in the middle pretty much and it balances perfectly. I am not sure what the true balance test is if there is one but this is the one I have used forever and a week.

 

[Clarkington III]

actually looking to pick one of the shaft/blade combos (i think black shaft with 4 blade) and am very excited to see what it does.

 

[DogFoodEnforcer]

my order got delayed a day (they tried to charge my canadian credit card on an american machine.lol) so it will be here on monday or tuesday. looking forward to trying them out.

 

[Jarick]

I may be wrong, but I believe that the balance point is the halfway point of mass, and the closer that halfway point is to the blade, the more blade-heavy it is (heavier blade = more concentration of mass).

Most composites I've had balance about 3/4 or 2/3 the way down the shaft, so if yours balances halfway down, that supports the shaft-heavy theory of mine.

That's personal preference though...guys used to wood would be much more comfortable with a shaft-heavy stick than guys who have been using light composites.

 

[Skraut]

Got mine in the mail last night. It was my first 2 piece stick and I assembled it "upside down" in my haste to get it together so that all the words are upside down when held in my hands. It looks like it says molleu with the L's backwards (see Hockeyfan's picture above) I'll probably get around to flipping it back around tonight.

Went with the box shaft with my big ol paws, and started to worry because people were complaining about how big it was, but I actually found it comparable to the TPS OPS I had been playing with, so I had no issues there.

Not sure if I'm going to cut any off. I'm 6'4 and it's just a half inch above my nose barefoot. A lot better than most of the OPS' that come up to my chin.

Heard the same cracking on my first few flexes, but nothing since.

The only comment on the graphics I have is that on the black stick they wrote the words Grip Shift with the G and S in dark blue and the rest of the letters in white. Looks like it's a "rip hift" stick.

 

[Hockeyfan68]

I may be wrong, but I believe that the balance point is the halfway point of mass, and the closer that halfway point is to the blade, the more blade-heavy it is (heavier blade = more concentration of mass).

Most composites I've had balance about 3/4 or 2/3 the way down the shaft, so if yours balances halfway down, that supports the shaft-heavy theory of mine.

That's personal preference though...guys used to wood would be much more comfortable with a shaft-heavy stick than guys who have been using light composites.

Hmmm all of my sticks have always balanced this way.

Sticks (wood sticks mainly, some aluminums) have balanced like this for me since I have been doing this balance thing for 20 years or so I think for the most part.

In any case it certainly feels balanced when playing with it so assess that whatever way you wish to I guess. My finger coincidentally is about where my lower hand is to make a fulcrum point for most slapshots I take. it doesn't feel shaft heavy to me seriously.

Maybe because I have used wood and/or aluminums for about 35 years that this feels normal? I went into my attic and grabbed 2 Montreal sticks I still have as woodies and they balanced the same way as this Harrow.

You have me thinking now maybe these feel balanced to me because I used wood for so many years.

Who knows .... I don't.

 

[simnorm]

Any of you guys ordered from Canada?
How bad was shipping, UPS fees?
Do they ship canadian orders from the US?
Thanks

 

[Jarick]

Well I checked and it's about the same as the other stick. So I don't know.

Did plenty of stickhandling and with a variety of balls it's definitely the best puck feel I've experienced in a stick. It's like the one95 but even more solid feeling because of the additional weight. I thought my sickick was decent but it feels terrible compared to the harrow.

 

[Skraut]

I helped out at a youth hockey clinic this morning and brought my new Harrow 300. I haven't been playing long and don't have a ton of experience, but the puck just seemed to be glued to the blade receiving passes and blocking shots. (I ended up being the "street clothes goalie" for the kids) It just really felt solid with nothing pinging off the way my other OPS did.

Didn't get the opportunity to shoot much with it, so I'll have to wait for the game tomorrow night.

But it was the topic of conversation. A youth team coming in from Pittsburgh had the ice after we did, and they all had warmup suits by Harrow (assume a team deal) but none had seen a Harrow stick before and were all asking about it.

 

[Superstar Treatment]

Used mine last night. Good feel on shots. Blade felt a little ceramic at first but that's probably just 'cause it's something different. Shots were very nice though, better than any two piece I have other than the one95 tapered. Killed my 8k and R8.

 

[Jarick]

I've heard of teams with Harrow clothing sponsorships but no equipment. What a weird thing to do.

 

[Hockeyfan68]

Used mine last night. Good feel on shots. Blade felt a little ceramic at first but that's probably just 'cause it's something different. Shots were very nice though, better than any two piece I have other than the one95 tapered. Killed my 8k and R8.

I am trying to picture what a ceramic feeling to a blade would be like. Do you mean the blade felt hard? I like it when they have feel and are hard blades, I think some people call them lively blades but it does not really feel like that as it has good puck feel and controls it easily. it doesn;t spring off the blade when getting a hard pass and is easy to cradle a pass.

I have an RBK Prostock blade and it feels like that one to me which is also hard. One the other hand I have a Bauer One90 blade and that has a softer feel to it and is kind of springy.
The Bauer blade is a good shooter but it sucks taking passes with it.

The worst feeling blades I have are 3 Montreal graphite blades with a wood hosel. They weigh a ton and I never use them. You can't feel the puck on them.

I'm very happy with the Harrow feel and it will take something special for me to change that.

 

[Jarick]

It's hard to describe but I'd say a pingy blade vibrates and buzzes a lot. Graphite is super hard but light weight and that makes it really feel like a bouncy, buzzy mess. Putting foam or silicone in the blade helps dampen things. The harrow has foam to absorb the vibration and the thick walls and fiberglass help too.

Probably the worst sticks are cheap composites that have plastic feeling blades that vibrate plus shafts that don't have any kick. I never understand why people buy 50-70 dollar composites. They feel and shoot like crap and are heavy as wood.

My friend with the harrow rig has gotten pretty used to his, although he saidh prefers the dolomite shaft for shooting. My favorite shooting stick was a dolomite shaft and favorite blade was a Christian torch. I keep reading about how great Easton are for shooting and I've had synergy shads three times now. A goalie friend said I had my best shot with an Easton but they always felt off to me. I'm still tempted to try it again though.

 

[Hockeyfan68]

It's hard to describe but I'd say a pingy blade vibrates and buzzes a lot. Graphite is super hard but light weight and that makes it really feel like a bouncy, buzzy mess. Putting foam or silicone in the blade helps dampen things. The harrow has foam to absorb the vibration and the thick walls and fiberglass help too.

Probably the worst sticks are cheap composites that have plastic feeling blades that vibrate plus shafts that don't have any kick. I never understand why people buy 50-70 dollar composites. They feel and shoot like crap and are heavy as wood.

My friend with the harrow rig has gotten pretty used to his, although he saidh prefers the dolomite shaft for shooting. My favorite shooting stick was a dolomite shaft and favorite blade was a Christian torch. I keep reading about how great Easton are for shooting and I've had synergy shads three times now. A goalie friend said I had my best shot with an Easton but they always felt off to me. I'm still tempted to try it again though.

Goalies always tell me I have a very shot but that is with anything I use, I think they just don't like getting bruises ... the wussies.

All kidding aside the cheaper composite thing ... I bought two One55 shafts in december of 2008 to see if I would even like a composite after using aluminum shafts and wood sticks for most of my life ( A good 35 years worth of woodies and aluminum with wood blades) and did not want a large $$$ investment.

Even those cheaper shafts were lighter than wood and the aluminum shaft setups.

The last game I played this week a guy had an Easton S2 or something, forgive me if I am wrong on that model, but he said he paid $60 for it and I tried it out. it felt like it weighed almost as much as three of my sticks and had NO feel at all.

Another guy had an X20 earlier this year and it also felt terrible. It felt like it was made out of hard heavy plastic.

So yeah I agree with what you said about the issue. get a decent stick at least and you will see the difference.

My One55 shafts are backups which I probably will never use now. I have read in here from many about how they prefer wood, tried a composite and did not like it and had to wonder how many tried a crappy composite instead of something decent?

I use a composite and would not like most of the cheaper composites out there.

 

[Skraut]

That's why I like the Harrow so much. I'm moving from a cheapie OPS to a "Real" composite for only $20 more than I paid for my cheap OPS, thanks to that discount code. (HKYRINK if it still works)

 

[Jarick]

Didn't get a lot of shooting in tonight's game...forgot that we do a different drill for warmups with more passing. I took maybe four or five shots on my goalie, everything seemed like it had noticeably more velocity but accuracy was off. That's to be expected with a different curve I suppose (flatter mid-toe versus huge mid hook).

In the game, I didn't notice the weight at all. I play D so I do most of the passing, don't get too many hard passes my way, so that was hard to gauge. I did however knock two pucks down for breakways, one I got a very good shot off but goalie got a glove on it and nobody on my team was around to get the rebound, the other one I got hauled down and drew a penalty.

Shooting was pretty crappy though, I had maybe three good point shots and all of them went about 2-3 feet wide right. It's odd too because this is a flatter curve and I'm a lefty, so I should be shooting them to the left if anything. I think it might have to do with the longer stick though (an inch longer than normal) and possibly the lie as well.

Other than that, I played a pretty terrible game, probably more to do with my skates not being profiled at all and losing edges than anything. I did whiff a couple easy clearing passes, which ticked me off. I guess I need to adjust.

I ended up taking 1/2" off the stick and we'll see how it goes next weekend. So far I think it's great, I just need to adjust to the curve. If that doesn't work, maybe I'll order a #2 curve from them (the big mid hook).

 

[Jarick]

Alright, subbed a level up for a team that never has any skaters. I got a long warmup and a lot of ice time with this stick.

I must be dialing it in, because snappers are just coming off as absolute ROCKETS. Part of that is the flex, it's broken in nicely so I can get a good lean into it. Another is the curve, I just cup the puck in the mid-toe then rip it towards the net. End result is I'm getting a lot of velocity. Accuracy seems fine now, maybe the 1/2" shorter helped.

Slappers, I don't really have one, but they didn't seem any better or worse than normal. I also don't take many pure wrist shots either.

In the game, I must have had half a dozen shots, mostly from the outside (left handed shot on the left wing off the rush). I was surprised how quickly they were getting to the net, coming up really fast on the goalie, and I don't think I missed the net, which is a first. For as much as I shoot, I don't score often, and didn't tonight, so that's no surprise.

Puck feel is just fantastic. I'm really amazed by how well I can stickhandle with this rig...I was doing a lot more dangling around guys and through traffic than normal, which is nice because I can't skate well enough for this level and certainly don't have the conditioning for it either.

Also, catching passes is just perfect. Anything that hits the blade will at least knock down...I had a few really nice deflections (never happens) and was able to catch/corral pucks and turn them into shots.

Basically I felt I played really well given the circumstances (playing up a level, only 10 guys showed up, I'm battling lung issues and am on medication, confidence is very low right now, and I'm horribly out of shape).

I'm hesitant to say it, but so far this is looking like it might be my favorite stick yet. The weight is a non-factor, puck feel is just as good as anything I've used (including the One95), shooting is as good or better than anything I've used (including the Dolomite), flex is more or less perfect.

The only knock I have so far is that there's a little chip out of the toe after two uses. Not a big gouge, just a little chip. I rarely, RARELY chip blades, and I taped over the toe, so I'll just have to keep an eye on it.

 

[Hockeyfan68]

Alright, subbed a level up for a team that never has any skaters. I got a long warmup and a lot of ice time with this stick.

I must be dialing it in, because snappers are just coming off as absolute ROCKETS. Part of that is the flex, it's broken in nicely so I can get a good lean into it. Another is the curve, I just cup the puck in the mid-toe then rip it towards the net. End result is I'm getting a lot of velocity. Accuracy seems fine now, maybe the 1/2" shorter helped.

Slappers, I don't really have one, but they didn't seem any better or worse than normal. I also don't take many pure wrist shots either.

In the game, I must have had half a dozen shots, mostly from the outside (left handed shot on the left wing off the rush). I was surprised how quickly they were getting to the net, coming up really fast on the goalie, and I don't think I missed the net, which is a first. For as much as I shoot, I don't score often, and didn't tonight, so that's no surprise.

Puck feel is just fantastic. I'm really amazed by how well I can stickhandle with this rig...I was doing a lot more dangling around guys and through traffic than normal, which is nice because I can't skate well enough for this level and certainly don't have the conditioning for it either.

Also, catching passes is just perfect. Anything that hits the blade will at least knock down...I had a few really nice deflections (never happens) and was able to catch/corral pucks and turn them into shots.

Basically I felt I played really well given the circumstances (playing up a level, only 10 guys showed up, I'm battling lung issues and am on medication, confidence is very low right now, and I'm horribly out of shape).

I'm hesitant to say it, but so far this is looking like it might be my favorite stick yet. The weight is a non-factor, puck feel is just as good as anything I've used (including the One95), shooting is as good or better than anything I've used (including the Dolomite), flex is more or less perfect.

The only knock I have so far is that there's a little chip out of the toe after two uses. Not a big gouge, just a little chip. I rarely, RARELY chip blades, and I taped over the toe, so I'll just have to keep an eye on it.

I didn't get chips that easily ... however I did get some but they didn't seem ridiculous in how many or how often. I used the same blade from April last year until last month when it finally broke.

The new blade has been in there for about a month and has a couple of small chips. I play defense though so I cannot really gauge it properly since the stick blade is either whacking something or getting whacked.

I seriously have NO complaints about Harrow sticks. they are lighter than wood but not as light as the super expensive highend composites.

For $140 I am absolutely thrilled. Both shafts coming up on a year are in great shape ... I have more damage from skate blades because I play D than anything else on the bottom section of the shaft and blade. I always get some serious skate cuts on my tape job from skate blades.

I was happy to say also that the last game I had a heavy guy fell right on my shaft while we were fighting for the puck and the shaft bent and bowed and didn't break. I have actually broken wood sticks that way before because a guy's wight broke them as he fell on the stick while I was holding it.

I'm thrilled, absolutely thrilled with these.

I changed hockey gloves this week to an older beloved CCM pair with a thinner palm and I was ripping some shots in wamrup that were just crazy hard slapshots. One hit the pipe elbow (I call it the macaroni) and came straight back to me at the blueline up in the air. We got a chuckle from that.

After the game we had extra ice so I was taking shots from the opposite goal line and hitting the net. I just love the sweetspot that is always consistently there.

We also practiced with me shooting snappers from the point for tip ins out front. Nice crisp ones that felt effortless.

My Harrow isn't cut at all and is a 100 flex I guess, I should be using a 115 or 120 but really cannot find that easily unless I get a one95 for tall guys that they make as an alternative to the regular One95.

Harrow doesn't make any and I do not feel like using a shorter stick to get that flex rating. 100 flex seems to be pretty good as I rip some great shots.

 

[DogFoodEnforcer]

my 2 harrows just came in yesterday. they're taped up and ready to go for my game on saturday.lol

ive been messing around inside the house with them (dont tell my girlfriend), and im amazed at the stick's light weight, and (seemingly) extremely sturdy build quality.

 

[Jarick]

I am pretty excited they are working out well, mostly because they're cheap, but also because I hate finding a good stick and then the manufacturer changes it. Like when bauer ruined the Lindros curve, or warrior keeps changing it's blades. Also, it's tough to find a whip flex tapered shaft. Dolomites seem to have gotten stiffer with the double d...easton has never felt right. I haven't tried a bauer tapered shaft because they're always sold out. And then I'd have to find discontinued tps or mission shafts.