Howdy, I’m the new resident stringing and dying writer for Lacrosse Playground. The Falcone Zone will feature my work, the work of other great stringers, and reviews of new products coming to the market. I’ll be sharing tips and tricks as well, of course (how else are you going to get started?).
The first head I’m showcasing is my Under Armour Charge 2 U that I dyed with a Buffalo Bandits theme and strung up. I’m a huge Bandits fan and this head was on my game stick for about nine months until I warped it too much using it for face-offs.
For the dye, it was semi-inspired by the head that Dhane Smith used in the NLL, which Greg from East Coast Dyes did for him a few years ago.
On the front of the scoop, I put pre-cut vinyl lettering that you can buy anywhere on the head for “BANDITS,” as well as “EST. 1992” and “NLL.” On the back, I put good ol’ “93,” which is my go-to jersey number.
Next, I put marbling on it and did an orange to purple fade with orange on the scoop and purple at the throat. I did the marbling by spraying the entire head with Krylon webbing spray before putting it in the Rit dye, then used a Brillo pad to take all the spray off when the dye was all done, leaving the head with a cool marbled look. The dye came out sweet, if I say so myself.
For the stringing, I strung it up with Jimalax‘s 20mm Jimawax mesh and all Jimalax materials. It is a deep pocket since I play box and like a lot of whip and a good channel that’s not too tight. The pocket is a shifty mid pocket that will shift high right under the shooters when shooting but shift low when I am cradling one handed. I used SI’s (special interlocks) in the middle of the head so that the ball could pop out of and in the head easily on faceoffs. For the top string, I used a triangle top string to keep the mesh tight to the head. Usually I use a double string for the main portion of the nine-diamond top string, but for the Charge 2 which has tiny top string holes I had to use a single string top string. I used three rolled shooters which reduced the whip a little bit since the pocket itself had a lot of whip. Overall I love the whole setup.
Have any questions? Have / know about a sweet string/dye job that should be featured here? Give us a shout on Insta (@lacrosseplayground)
