I can take a hint, I’ve been MIA for some time now and I needed some motivation to get back on here and put my blogging hat back on. I found that motivation in my gear bag this evening as I was investigating what that smell was. That motivation was not the Under Armour mid-calves that were ready to walk out of the bag on their own nor was it the half empty bottle of Gatorade/mold experiment from Ocean City….2010. No, I’m talking about the sweetest shaft you’ve ever laid eyes on.

I’ve journeyed back to cyberspace to talk to you about the custom C-12 Lacrosse carbon fiber shaft that I’ve spent the last four games testing out. I’m here to report that in the 4 games that I used this shaft, I scored 17 goals and had countless assists. It’s turned me into a whole new player. 17 goals in 4 games! I know what you’re thinking, and you’re absolutely right. I am full of it. I still suck, but it has nothing to do with the shaft. The shaft performed flawlessly and while it didn’t turn my game around, it certainly turned plenty of heads.

Disregard my obsessive compulsive need to tape

C-12 Lacrosse sent me an attack shaft from their Dirty line. Dirty. That’s what the kids are saying now-a-days and it translates roughly to “neat” for you readers in Woody’s demographic. Their shafts are certainly not a one-size fits all proposition like most other handle manufacturers. In fact, they are position specific. C-12 offers an attack, midfield, LSM, and defense shaft that weigh in at 180, 210, 360, and 420 grams respectively. They even offer a goalie specific shaft. Position specific shafts with a strength to weight ratio designed specifically for their role on the field?!?! Dirty!

C-12 also offers sticks in their Sweet line that are more budget friendly and designed for the youth/middle school player. The Sweet line shafts have a different strength to weight ratio than the handles in the Dirty line. In other words, they are suited to the player that doesn’t need to stop a bull dodging 200 lb. middie with subtle cross check. They are also suited for the parent who doesn’t want to spend premium money on a shaft for little Johnny when his last two were left at the field.

C-12's fully customizable film

I could go on and on regurgitating some of the egghead technical specs such as the patented woven tube of carbon vs. competitor’s sheets of wrapped carbon or the proprietary method for applying resin to the carbon fiber. I might even sound convincing extolling the virtues of one method of pre-preg versus another. Who am I kidding? I couldn’t even solve 2 sides of a Rubix Cube without taking it apart first. I’ll stick (no pun intended) to what I’ve learned firsthand in using this handle for the last couple of weeks.

Don't try this at home, I nearly killed myself

This shaft is strong. Really strong. I had been using a Warrior Titan Classic before the C-12 shaft. The Warrior titanium shaft isn’t the lightest thing on the market, but I’ve hit the gym once or twice back in the day and I wasn’t worried about a couple of extra grams. What I was looking for was a shaft that wasn’t going to break or get dinged up easily. For the most part, the Warrior shaft fit that bill. The C-12 Dirty Attack shaft purports to do the same. A quick weigh in on the old Biggest Loser scale, shows that it also does so at a much lighter weight. With a comparable additional few grams of tape, the C-12 shaft is considerably lighter than the Warrior Titan Classic. For comparison, I threw in a couple of other shafts and you’ll note that they are lighter than both exhibits A and B. However, I can tell you that the 1996 era Kryptolyte and the Katana aren’t in the same class when it comes to strength or durability.

Unofficial weigh in

Chew on a these statements by C-12 for a moment. “C-12 Lacrosse handles will not dent, bend and are engineered not to fail in the field of play.” In fact, in 3 years of testing, there has only been a single “field failure”. Stop the clock! What? Only a single field failure. That statement alone would have me reaching for my checkbook if I didn’t already have a C-12 in my arsenal. Since C-12 was kind enough to provide me a Dirty shaft and fueled me with statements such as the preceding one, I was on a mission to abuse this shaft on the field of play. I threw checks as hard as my girly arms could throw them. I cross checked as many middies as I could square up on. I even ran through ground balls and got the crap checked out of me. The shaft held up beautifully even if my body did not. There are no dings, dents, or other defects despite the abuse. The only evidence that it was even used were a couple of small nicks in the film wrap. C-12 has this under control if you opt for their Re-conditioning Program.

No worse for wear

I’m old school, so the nicks and scratches in the film don’t bother me at all. In fact, I think that they add a bit of a tackified grip to the handle. The grip was the only problem that I encountered with the C-12 Dirty attack shaft and that probably had as much to do with my old school gloves as anything else, hence the tape. Come to think of it, I have this problem with all my shafts, so I don’t necessarily view this as a knock on C-12. If anything, it’s an indictment on my gloves. I’ve noticed that most of the newer gloves have some kind of grippy palms which mine lack.

Let’s get to the fun part, shall we. C-12 shafts are fully customizable. That means you can put your name, mascot, date of birth, or design of your choice on the film wrap. Consider the possibilities. Blarney can put photocopies of our IDs on the shafts so we can show the competition that we are as old as we play. For you younger guys, you can put your favorite Ke$ha lyrics right on your stick! Dirty! Sweet! There are plenty of ideas for those who need a nudge in one direction or another on C-12′s Facebook page. In fact, that’s probably the best place to start the design process.

A few facts about C-12 Lacrosse from C-12

We are adding new teams daily to our C-12 family. In the works is a new high end D1 college sponsorship as well as many smaller DIII mens and womens programs. We have pros that endorse and use our line up but with professional rules they are unable to use them while playing on TV. We are the new kids on the block but we are bringing the best and newest technology to this great game.

We are just starting to push into the world of retail. By the end of this month, we will have 7 authorized C-12 Lacrosse dealers at 17 different locations in 6 states.

We are bringing to the industry the most advanced carbon fiber technology. We have figured out what others have not, and that’s how to a make carbon fiber handle that can withstand the physicality of the sport at the highest level of play. We are also proud to be the first manufacturer to make a handle for every position on the field (Attack, Midfield, LSM, Close D, & Goalie).

What makes our shafts unique?
C-12 Lacrosse handles increased ball speeds of up to 5% on attack shafts and up to 10% on long poles.
First in the industry to have a handle engineered for every position on the field (Attack, MF, LSM, Close D & Goalie).
Highest strength to weight ratio in the industry.
Custom graphic designs for individuals and teams.
Industry leading 12 month warranty.
Invented by Americans and Made by Americans.

There you have it. If I didn’t convince you that C-12 makes a great product, perhaps they did. With the holidays right around the corner, I can’t think of a more useful and unique gift for the laxer in your household. Happy Thanksgiving everyone and be sure to “Like” C-12 Lacrosse on Facebook for the latest.