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Hockey equipment can get expensive. It’s also designed to keep you safe, you are probably wondering how old is too old for hockey gear. The best time to replace your hockey gear is before it stops protecting you. Hockey skates should be replaced every 3-5 years with regular use. Hockey helmets should be replaced no later than 6.5 years after the date of manufacturing, you should buy new hockey gloves as the palms wear out which is typically 1-3 years of average use. sticks will be replaced as they break. Pants will last 5+ years. Shin, elbow, and shoulder pads will last 10+ years as long as they still fit you. We will discuss each piece of gear in more detail below. The above recommendations are with normal use which is playing adult league hockey 1-2 times a week. Obviously, as you play more, the gear you use will get used more so these timeframes are what the general beer leaguer will see. How often should I replace my hockey skates? Hockey skates for me on average have lasted 2-3 years. However, this time frame will differ based on how often you play and the quality of skate you buy. My first pair of hockey skates were the cheapest ones you could buy. They were Bauer vapors that cost me $60 off of hockey monkey. These were fine for first learning to skate. However, as I began to skate more they started to fall apart. Mostly in the ankle support and the blade holder. I bought another cheap pair of CCMs. The final blow to them was the rivets connecting the blade holder to the skate boot. The skate boot actually cracked. Again, these were $60 skates. It’s hard for me to complain about. Since then I’ve bought a mid-tier level skate. I spent $350 on the CCM Jetspeed Vibe skates. They are much lighter, proved more support, and have black steel for your skate blades. The benefit of black steel is fewer sharpenings. I suspect that these skates will last me much longer than my last pair. I also started taking them inside instead of leaving them in the elements. My old skates would actually start to rust on the rivets and wear out my laces really fast. I haven’t had this issue since I started bringing my skates inside. How Often Should I Replace My Skate Blades? The average beer league skater will see a life span of about 5-8 years on skate blades. You shouldn't have to replace your blades unless you notice that they are starting to rust or have large gashes in them somehow. If you bought a cheap pair of skates, it might just make more sense to replace your entire skates instead of the blades. Usually, blades cost around $100. I’ve actually had a skate blade crack on me. I block a shot and it must have hit the blade just right and it cracked down the middle. There is no fixing that, you just need to replace the blades at that point. But with average use and sharpening, you should see a good 5-8 year life span on your blades How often should I replace my hockey helmet? I still have my original hockey helmet 6 years later. However, this is the next piece I am upgrading. Hockey helmets are actually certified by the Hockey Equipment Certification Council (Hecc). They recommend that helmets be replaced every six and a half years. That being said, I play with plenty of guys that have had the same helmet since high school. This is beer league hockey, I highly doubt that we require the same helmet as somebody playing semi-pro hockey. We are all half-drunk out there and can’t shoot for shit (at least I can’t). But, also, your head is the most important part on your body. Some people might have a strong argument for a different body part, but thats a different discussion. I’m going to follow those rules and upgrade my helmet when they recommend it. Do what you feel is right for your brain and skull. How often should I replace my hockey gloves? On average a pair of hockey gloves should last anywhere from 1-3 years. I’ve played for a little over 6 years and I have bought two pairs of gloves. I only replaced my other gloves because the palms started to wear out. This seems to be the most common reason for replacing your hockey gloves. There are plenty of people who will re-palm your gloves for you. However, most people charge anywhere from $40-$80. I personally don’t see the point unless you have gloves that are $150+. At $80 to repalm your gloves it makes more sense to just buy a fresh pair. I have also read that what will help the life of your gloves is to tape the top of your stick with something other than the tape that you put on your blade. This tape is really abrasive and will chew through your gloves pretty quick. You can try using sock tape and then finish it with a tennis grip tape. This should help the life of your gloves. How Often Should I Replace My Hockey Pants A good pair of hockey pants will last you 5+ years. I’ve changed my pants once because I wanted to upgrade the padding. Cheaper pants will have a little less padding. I kept falling on this one exact same spot on my ass, which apparently my pants at that time had virtually no padding in that spot. I was so bruised up I couldn’t even lift my leg to put my shoes on! That’s when I finally caved and bought a new pair of pants. There isn’t much contact in beer league that will cause your pants to get worn out. You might cut the inseam with your skates on accident or get them snagged on a loose screw on the boards but besides that, you can expect your pants to last you a while. I play with a guy that has both inseams cut on his pants so when he skates it looks like he's wearing a cape. BATMAN! Just because you sliced your pants open, it doesn’t mean their life is over. How often should I replace my hockey shoulder pads? Hockey shoulder pads often have a very long life, it’s not uncommon to see somebody with hockey shoulder pads that are over 10 years old. This is especially true for us beer league players. We usually aren’t taking a ton of shots and hard hits to the chest. What will wear out first on shoulder pads is the velcro. The straps will start to get a little saggy and they won’t fit as tight. I just start twisting them to make them tighter. It’s slightly less comfortable but I honestly don’t even notice them during the game. You can always see if your local shop will replace the straps. Or, if you feel comfortable sewing, you can try to put new straps on yourself. How often should I replace my hockey elbow pads? Elbow pads will also last you quite a while. Elbow pads are much like shoulder pads, and it’s not uncommon to see 10+ year old elbow pads. The velcro straps will be the thing that goes out on these. I also twist the velcro straps to make them tighter as they begin to stretch out. How often should I replace my hockey shin pads? Hockey shin pads will easily last you 5-10 years with proper care. As with elbow pads and shoulder pads, the velcro will begin to stretch. You will probably notice some wear and tear towards the bottom of the padding where they rub against your skates. Something that could happen, if you play in a league with guys that can actually shoot the puck well, is the shin pads could crack or spiderweb. This is unlikely for beer league players. There are some people with amazing shots but you usually know those players, and I for one am not standing in front of one of those shots to block it. Sorry team, I’ll buy you guys a beer after the game. If you have a decent pair of shin guards then you can probably remove the inside liner. Washing that every now and then will help extend the life of your shin guards. How Often Should I Replace My Hockey Bag Hockey bags will last years. They might get a little smelly but for the most part, there isn’t much that should be tearing these things up. As long as you arent slicing up the sides of your bag with your skates you should easily get 5-10 years out of a bag. The only thing that I have noticed with my bag is a little corrosion on the zipper. This will eventually get bad enough to ruin the zipper from moving but it’s not there yet! You could avoid this problem by bringing your bag inside or at least out of the elements a tiny bit. Tips for extending the life of your hockey gear Set your gear out to dry as quickly as you can. This will help dry your nasty ass sweat off of the pads which will keep them smelling a little bit more fresh. We all know that smell of somebody who forgot to let their pads air out! Wearing some sort of dry-fit clothing underneath your pads will help keep some of your sweat off of them which will help pads last a little longer. Wash them every now and again. If you play a few times a week, I would recommend washing them maybe once a month or so. The best way I have found to wash them is by filling up a Rubbermaid tub with detergent and water. Give them a nice shake and a soak in there and then hang them out in a sunny spot to dry. You will probably also be interested in this article: How To Make Your Beer League Team Better