Gait Torque Head Review
Weight- Before purchasing my Torque, I did a bit of research and talked to some Torque owners here on TLF. I was expecting a very light head, something that matched the weight of my P2, and maybe even my friend’s Answer. Well, of course, that expectation was fulfilled. This head is light. And I mean REALLY light. Weight-wise, this head feels as light as even the lightest heads out there. I can’t ask for anything more in the weight-field. Its light. Plain and simple.
Flexibility/Stability- Now that you’ve just read the weight part of this review, you probably thought to yourself, “Ok so this head is light… thus it has to be really flimsy.” Well, this is no Truth, no Truth at all (sorry to all Truth fanboys). This thing is STIFF. And I really mean STIFF. Somehow Gait did a spectacular job with having an awesome strength to weight ratio. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve face offed with this head, and it’s great. Its stiff, but not rock-hard. It’s flexible enough to take a face off, yet stiff enough to avoid easy warping at the sidewalls near the throat (ahem Evo Pro ahem).
Stringing- My second favorite part of this head. Please read the following statement over and over again: THERE ARE 15 SIDEWALL HOLES!!! And not just any sidewall holes, actually large sidewall holes that are really easy to string through. You don’t have to use tweezers anymore. Just put the string through and that’s it. No tape, no tweezers, no using scissors or a knife to scrape off plastic to make the hole bigger. No nothing. Just put the string through. All of these extra sidewall holes gives any stringer (mesh or trad) tons of options. You can literally string this to your absolute personal preference. But, with virtues comes vices. With such large holes, the sidewall strings tend to get a bit loose after some prolonged use. Not a huge problem, they’re still supportive, just a bit loose. Also, there are two sidewall holes near the throat where you’re supposed to tie the knot. Unfortunately, they are really small, so this time, you have to use a blade or scissors to grind through them to make them bigger.
Pinch- Another good part about this head- it’s pinch. Now, you’ll notice it doesn’t have an extremely tight pinch like that of the E3, Primer, etc. But, it’ll get the job done. It’s offered me great control in my games, offering a great catching area and great protection. It’s nice and narrow (but not too narrow) near the throat and opens up to be pretty wide near the scoop. Since this head has such a small face size, I do not recommend this to beginners, only to a bit more advanced intermediate players and experienced players. I've also heard some things about this head being legal even after the 2008 rule changes, so that's a plus.
Scoop- Now, I have to admit. This is my least favorite part of this head. But, it still has a great scoop. Using Gait’s patented V scoop, it allows ground balls to enter the head in the middle. To players who scoop the right way (knees bent, butt of stick low, upper hand choked near the throat), this is no problem. But, if you scoop standing up and/or with one hand, you might have to learn how to scoop the proper way (in my opinion). Nonetheless, it has a great scoop. Ground balls are easy, and it also allows for less fraying of the topstring (because of its shape, really only the middle part of it makes contact to the ground, allowing the outer parts to be virtually untouched).
Offset- This is my absolutely favorite part of this head. I bow down to the person(s) who thought of Gait Canted Technology (was it Paul himself?). I have never owned a head with more offset. Only my E3 can match it. It is AWESOME. Restating what I said in my E3 review, “cradling is a dream.” Of course, for anyone that’s unfamiliar with offset, it allows for more centrifugal force on the ball when cradling. And with more force, comes more protection. I can’t say anything more about it. The offset is sick. Period.
Overall value- Ok, compared to a lot of other expensive heads, this head is actually very reasonable. On online lax websites, it goes for about $70-$80, but you’ll be able to find Torque’s for a much lower price on ebay.
Final thoughts- Now I've owned many heads, including the E3, Proton Power (in some of the pics above actually), Evo, Evo Pro, Revo, and the Truth. Out of all of them, this one is my overall favorite. Buy this head. You don’t get anymore bang for your buck.
