Firstly, thank you to Oneiric for sending me the Genesis hockey & goalie base layer pants to review.

The Genesis hockey goalie base layer pants have built in cut resistant materials around the ankle and lower calf/shin to help protect from skate cuts. They also come with a built in jock/jill, velcro to hold up socks, grip to help hold up knee pads, and padding on the back of the leg to protect from wakes and pucks.

Oneiric also sells a player version that is simply called the Oneiric base layer. The player version features the same built in jock/jill, cut resistant material, padding on the back of the thigh, velcro for socks, but also features a sleeve that allows players to slide in their shin guards. The sleeve helps keep the shin guard in place and should remove the need for tape while keeping the shin guard tight around the leg and keep it from moving.

The Oneiric base layers are made of a stretchy nylon material, I found the Genesis base layer to fit a bit longer than I was expecting. Usually I wear an XL for my base layer pants, but found the XL Oneiric to be a bit longer and looser than I’d prefer. I would recommend sizing down, even with my size fitting perfectly in the XL on their size chart, I feel a Large would’ve fit me better.

The material on the Oneiric Genesis base layer is a bit thicker than most of my base layers, so it added a bit of padding on the knees when I’d drop into the butterfly as a goalie. For a player it meant I found the shin guards to not fit as tightly as I’d have preferred. It wasn’t an issue while playing but I noticed it when putting the shin guards on. I did have an issue with not being able to keep my jock on tight when playing as a player. I use a unique jock (see my video for more info) and I need a very tight base layer in the crotch area to make sure everything is tight and secure. The material and design of the Oneiric Genesis base layer didn’t allow for me to keep my crotch area as tight as I wanted and I found that my jock would shift during play and wasn’t as secure as I am used to and prefer. If I used the included jock I am sure I wouldn’t have had an issue.

Because of the thickness and padding on the back of the leg, the Oneiric Genesis base layer played hotter than my favourite base layer pants. While this isn’t an issue when I play out in player gear, I can overheat when playing net and these base layer pants played a bit too hot for my liking.

I am very picky and particular when choosing and wearing base layers for hockey. So much so I have a video could over a couple of dozens of pairs I have. Unfortunately the Oneiric Genesis base layer didn’t quite fit my needs. With that said I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the Oneiric Genesis and player focused Origin base layers. The cut resistant calf and ankle material is a great feature and can save you money on cut resistant socks (which can retail up to $50 Canadian). The Oneiric Origin base layer has a shin guard sleeve that would be extremely beneficial for kids ensuring their shin pads keep in place and making it easier to get dressed. The Oneiric Genesis and Origin base layers are made of high quality materials and the Genesis goalie version has nice protection on the back of the leg.

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