Why eliminating the Koho 3360 Skates was Maska's biggest mistake
Written: May 03 '04 (Updated May 03 '04)
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Pros: Awesome comfort, great components, sharp looking skate
Cons: Forward pitch of the holder takes a little getting used to, plastic outsoles
The Bottom Line: If you can find a pair and they fit, snap them up. These were possibly the most comfortable skates ever made.
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| puckmugger's Full Review: Koho 3360 Ice |
Back on February 25 (2004) I wrote my first epinion, not so long ago I guess. I was looking for a solution to my perpetually backordered Graf Goalie skates and searched Koho 560 Titanium Goalie Skates on the web. The search engine, as nonsensical as search engines can be, pointed me to the Koho 3360 reviews on epinions. Let me point out that the 3360 is not a goalie skate. Still, I was mildly intrigued to read the pair of reviews that had been written as I happened to own a pair of 3360 for use in those moments I was pretending not to be a goalie. After reading the first reviews, I figured I could do better. I started my epinions account and wrote an express review. Well, I’m pretty sure I can do better than that paragraph I wrote back then.
The spellbinding tale of why a goalie bought forward skates
After I had been playing goalie for about a year, it came to my attention that I had been doing so without an ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament). Now an ACL might not sound like an important thing, but it does do a rather nice job of holding your knee together.
After a rather painful end to my hockey game one Wednesday, I decided that maybe I should visit the emergency room since I could only use one leg. Three weeks later I had a rather intensive surgery in which I got a brand new ACL (fabricated from my very own hamstring). I also got few bonus repairs thrown in for the price.
They tell me that it takes about six months to recover from the surgery that I had. I worked hard and did my physical therapy. But I felt the call of the frozen pond all the while. I determined I would be playing hockey before a full six months passed.
Still, the rigors of playing goalie had me a little nervous, so I opted to spend some more hard earned cash on forward’s gear. I picked up all the protective, a new stick a couple jerseys and a pair of Salming Skates. The skates were on my feet for an hour of pre-break in time around the house when I decided they had to go back. Fortunately I hadn’t sharpened them, they were as comfortable as putting my feet in a vice it turned out.
The disgruntled shop owner took them back and was mildly relieved as I spent almost the cost of the skates on gloves, a helmet and a few other odds and ends I still needed. I then headed over to the ice rink where they had brands of skates that I had actually heard of. CCM, Easton, Bauer, Koho . . .
I put on the 3360’s and sighed in relief. My goalie skates at the time were Koho 460’s and I loved them. The 3360’s hugged my feet where the dreaded Salming’s had pounded them with a sledge hammer. Yep, these were the skates for me.
The 3360 Skates
Unbeknownst to me at the time, Koho had been purchased by the mighty hockey conglomerate of Maska (a.k.a. The Hockey Company). Maska would slant Koho more towards a goalie and medium level protective brand, discontinuing all Koho forward skates a year after I picked up my 3360’s. It wasn’t one of their better decisions.
• The Boot
The 3360 is a great looking skate still. It has a nice black synthetic leather upper with silver trim. The quarters are suede with gold trim. Yes you read correctly, suede. Alright, I am pretty sure that it is a synthetic suede, but it is still very cool. The toecaps are uncovered plastic, a bonus as covered toe caps always shred and look horrible.
The lining of the boot is a synthetic suede like material as well. I cannot confirm or deny the existence of Clarino in the liner. It looks like Clarino, but more fuzzy, hmm. Imitation Clarino? Anyway, the liner is comfortable and it dries relatively quickly.
The tongue is a pro style tongue. This means that the felt liner is stitched with a nylon shell around the outside. Not only does a pro style tongue look better than a standard one, it is a little more durable than raw felt. Raw felt will tear more quickly as it rubs on the laces.
The outsole is plastic. Plastic is more or less the old standby material, it works but it isn’t as stiff or as light as fiberglass or carbon fiber. The inside of the outsole is plastic as well. I mention this because some older skates used a chipboard material that was prone to rotting from perspiration.
Koho is one of the only brands that spend the few extra cents to put waxed laces in their boots as well, Graf being the other. I far prefer waxed laces as they don’t slip back when you tighten them making lacing skates much easier.
• Boot fit and comfort
The Koho boot fits wider feet well. It is perhaps even a little wider than a CCM skate which is the widest of the big name brands. Certainly the instep is much higher than the CCM and Easton skates. In short these boots will fit people with wide and/or fat feet more comfortably than a CCM skate.
The break-in time of the Koho 3360 is negligible. I found them comfortable right from the start. They were in fact so comfortable that I had to recheck my fit a couple times to make certain they weren’t too big. I had no slippage issues with my foot in the boot and the length is perfect, so I can definitively say these are comfortable.
I sold a number of 3360 skates and had outstanding reports on all of them. The only issue that a couple people had complaints about was the high arch of the boot. This problem was easily fixed by punching the skate at the arch.
The 3360 doesn’t seem as stiff as some comparably priced boots. However, I think that this is a misconception caused by the slightly different boot design that Koho used. The heel counter in the quarters is very stiff and the rear uppers of the heel are equally stiff. Closer to the eye-stay the 3360 becomes quite a bit more flexible. This actually enhances the stiffness of the boot by ensuring a better wrap of the upper portion of the boot and tighter fit. While the 3360 doesn’t feel stiff, it performs like a much stiffer boot.
• The Holder and Steel
Koho utilizes their own holder, the Excalibur, on their skates. The Excalibur takes the best of Bauer’s TUUK and combines it with the best part of CCM’s Prolite. The Excalibur is a closed design carrier, which unlike CCM’s Prolite is very stiff. It is not prone to breakage.
Compared to Bauer’s TUUK holders and CCM’s Prolites, the Excalibur does have a good deal more forward pitch. This is not a bad thing as being on the balls of your feet is a much better skating position. It also allows for superior balance and reaction times when skating. However it did create some complaints among the Bauer and CCM faithful who found the skating position a little odd at first. My pledge is that once you get used to it, you will wonder how you skated flat footed in CCMs or on your heels in Bauers for so long.
The only other complaint that I have heard about the Excalibur's appearance is the silhouette cutout of the word Koho just above the place the blade rests. I guess that it was the first attempt at weight reduction. Personally I don’t mind the look, but some have called it corny.
The blade is a standard CCM stainless steel runner. The graphics painted on the Koho blade are the only thing that differentiate them from CCM steel. The eleven-foot rocker is identical and the screws match up exactly. If you need a replacement, Prolite stainless will work perfectly. Koho also used CCM’s much easier to replace blades with exterior screws rather than through the sole anchors.
Bottom Line
The 3360 was one of the most comfortable high performance skates ever made. It is still a unique looking, and in my opinion, very attractive skate. The holder is superior to both CCM’s Prolite and Bauer’s TUUK but takes some getting used to.
I skated on my 3360’s for about a year before Nike was kind enough to comp me a pair of their new V-12 skates. My 3360 skates look like new still having held up to over 100 hours of ice time remarkably well. When the Nikes give up the ghost, I have every intention of switching back to the 3360 skates.
Honestly the 3360’s are every bit as comfortable and good as the $450 Nike V-12 skates that I am currently using, maybe more comfortable. Calling the 3360 more comfortable than Nike’s V-12 is a big deal too. Nike’s goal is the most comfortable skate on the market and “Game Ready Fit.” It took about 3 hours to break in my Nikes, which is pretty impressive. The Kohos were perfect the first time out.
Maska discontinued the Koho player skate line in 2001, eliminating the 3360 and making their biggest mistake. There might be a few of these lingering about on the internet or in your local shop since they didn’t have the greatest sales record. I would highly recommend this skate if you can find a pair that fits.
A few of my other reviews that you might find helpful:
Hockey Skate buying demystified
Koho 460 Goal Skates
Nike THG V-Force Skates
Recommended:
Yes
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puckmugger
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Location: wandering the fringes of the goal crease
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