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Titanium Mask


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I am incredibly skeptical that this really is Titanium. At first blush and first glance, this looks exactly like the Easton Speed Elite planform, and indeed, after a few more clicks, I located this mask's – called the DefCon – chromium-alloy sibling... which is the Speed Elite's planform exactly [ed. So did @BT_Blue, who types briefer posts than I typically do]. The Speed Elite and the DefCon CA are both offered in the same array of pad colors (black, red, royal, navy), with Easton taking the commission one step further and offering pads in purple and kelly green. Easton does have a significant grip on the college market, with catchers from marquee programs – otherwise sponsored by Nike or Adidas – outfitted completely in Easton gear with a Speed Elite as the mask.

The Speed Elite planform is rather appealing, especially for catchers. It is a very light hollow steel (Chromium Alloy, specifically), with the same traditional bullring-&-wicket style of the Nikes and Wilsons. Unlike these two, it is a "full-profile", meaning it is a deep half-sphere. The ear-guards are enormous, allowing catchers and umpires alike a better chance to survive a "mistake" if they turn their head in a flinch. The chin guard is exceptionally brief, though, primarily to allow a throat guard to be attached easily and "high and tight".

It looks like this DefCon "titanium" has different pads, surely (different material, and I do so very like the silver smoke / fog color). The pads in both of these masks are voluminous, providing their absorption defense in big-time standoff distance instead of using anything latest-gen (like Zorbium, Memory Foam, or D3O). But this claim of "titanium" unnerves me, because... well... $99 is not high enough in respect to other true-titanium masks (Nike, Wilson, Rawlings and All-Star, chiefly). I am tempted, though, to purchase one just to test it and potentially call shenanigans; it would be a minor game-changer if this really is, in fact, titanium.

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31 minutes ago, MadMax said:

I am incredibly skeptical that this really is Titanium. At first blush and first glance, this looks exactly like the Easton Speed Elite planform, and indeed, after a few more clicks, I located this mask's – called the DefCon – chromium-alloy sibling... which is the Speed Elite's planform exactly [ed. So did @BT_Blue, who types briefer posts than I typically do]. The Speed Elite and the DefCon CA are both offered in the same array of pad colors (black, red, royal, navy), with Easton taking the commission one step further and offering pads in purple and kelly green. Easton does have a significant grip on the college market, with catchers from marquee programs – otherwise sponsored by Nike or Adidas – outfitted completely in Easton gear with a Speed Elite as the mask.

The Speed Elite planform is rather appealing, especially for catchers. It is a very light hollow steel (Chromium Alloy, specifically), with the same traditional bullring-&-wicket style of the Nikes and Wilsons. Unlike these two, it is a "full-profile", meaning it is a deep half-sphere. The ear-guards are enormous, allowing catchers and umpires alike a better chance to survive a "mistake" if they turn their head in a flinch. The chin guard is exceptionally brief, though, primarily to allow a throat guard to be attached easily and "high and tight".

It looks like this DefCon "titanium" has different pads, surely (different material, and I do so very like the silver smoke / fog color). The pads in both of these masks are voluminous, providing their absorption defense in big-time standoff distance instead of using anything latest-gen (like Zorbium, Memory Foam, or D3O). But this claim of "titanium" unnerves me, because... well... $99 is not high enough in respect to other true-titanium masks (Nike, Wilson, Rawlings and All-Star, chiefly). I am tempted, though, to purchase one just to test it and potentially call shenanigans; it would be a minor game-changer if this really is, in fact, titanium.

Look at the reverse image, particularly the lower U-bar. No way that's titanium. That weld has too much of a gap in between the pieces and too much filler. That would have oxidized excessively during welding and failed.

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There's Chinese websites you can browse (dhgate, alibaba, etc) where you can get titanium frames for under 30 bucks. You have to buy 300, though. So this is not surprising, as all that stuff on the boombah site is coming from over there. And I'm sure that Wilson, Nike, etc. all get their frames coming out of different doors of the same factory. This shouldn't be a mystery.

 

What mystifies me still is the fascination with Ti. Now that magnesium frames are lighter, and hollow steel is really close, why are we still ga-ga about Ti, at three times the price? Cool factor, in full effect, I recon.

 

Now, here's my proof that this company is a thin front for Chinese manufacturer.

xr7WOa1bHyw8.jpg

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7 minutes ago, kylejt said:

There's Chinese websites you can browse (dhgate, alibaba, etc) where you can get titanium frames for under 30 bucks. You have to buy 300, though. So this is not surprising, as all that stuff on the boombah site is coming from over there. And I'm sure that Wilson, Nike, etc. all get their frames coming out of different doors of the same factory. This shouldn't be a mystery.

 

What mystifies me still is the fascination with Ti. Now that magnesium frames are lighter, and hollow steel is really close, why are we still ga-ga about Ti, at three times the price? Cool factor, in full effect, I recon.

 

Now, here's my proof that this company is a thin front for Chinese manufacturer.

xr7WOa1bHyw8.jpg

The reason I prefer titanium is still the same...the bars are thinner.  More visibility.

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1 minute ago, acpar72 said:

The reason I prefer titanium is still the same...the bars are thinner.  More visibility.

Fair enough. But I'm going to get a Champro magnesium stripped and powdercoated next year (I agree that the rubberized plastic coating does block out a bit of view), and it'll be pretty close.

I also get the cool factor in Ti. I've had plate coats, Riddells, +POS SULs, Carlucci's, etc, all for the cool factor. So I get that. I also had a titanium bicycle, when that was all the craze in the '90's.

But at some point, carbon fiber will come into play, and we'll all wonder why we wore these metal contraptions for so long. Imagine a Force 3, two piece design, made of carbon fiber, with some sort of elastomer bumpers, instead of steel springs. What we, and catchers wear, is very low tech, and our market is so small that not a lot of R&D money flows into it. But some day, hopefully not through some tragic event, we'll get a better solution.

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23 hours ago, MadMax said:

I am incredibly skeptical that this really is Titanium. At first blush and first glance, this looks exactly like the Easton Speed Elite planform, and indeed, after a few more clicks, I located this mask's – called the DefCon – chromium-alloy sibling... which is the Speed Elite's planform exactly [ed. So did @BT_Blue, who types briefer posts than I typically do]. The Speed Elite and the DefCon CA are both offered in the same array of pad colors (black, red, royal, navy), with Easton taking the commission one step further and offering pads in purple and kelly green. Easton does have a significant grip on the college market, with catchers from marquee programs – otherwise sponsored by Nike or Adidas – outfitted completely in Easton gear with a Speed Elite as the mask.

The Speed Elite planform is rather appealing, especially for catchers. It is a very light hollow steel (Chromium Alloy, specifically), with the same traditional bullring-&-wicket style of the Nikes and Wilsons. Unlike these two, it is a "full-profile", meaning it is a deep half-sphere. The ear-guards are enormous, allowing catchers and umpires alike a better chance to survive a "mistake" if they turn their head in a flinch. The chin guard is exceptionally brief, though, primarily to allow a throat guard to be attached easily and "high and tight".

It looks like this DefCon "titanium" has different pads, surely (different material, and I do so very like the silver smoke / fog color). The pads in both of these masks are voluminous, providing their absorption defense in big-time standoff distance instead of using anything latest-gen (like Zorbium, Memory Foam, or D3O). But this claim of "titanium" unnerves me, because... well... $99 is not high enough in respect to other true-titanium masks (Nike, Wilson, Rawlings and All-Star, chiefly). I am tempted, though, to purchase one just to test it and potentially call shenanigans; it would be a minor game-changer if this really is, in fact, titanium.

Honestly, I would bet that if I was on a bigger screen, I would have noticed the look of the Easton catcher's gear. I sold a ton of it (but no where near how I pushed the All Star/Under Armour stuff) when I was working at a sporting goods store.

Only thing that I didn't like about the Easton protectors for catchers. And @MadMax will be familiar with this feature. Is that they have the padding continue over the top of the shoulder. (Sound like any umpire CP that has been discussed on these forums recently?) This makes it so that only a certain body type can wear this protecor. 

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  • 2 months later...

As I understand it "titanium" the metal is quite expensive to process. There were some retailers several years back that sold a "titanium" frame although it was only that in color, not metal. I can't speak for Boombah's titanium catcher mask.

You guys have been smart enough to realize that silver frame masks are not made of silver and Wilson chest protectors are not made of gold.

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1 minute ago, JimKirk said:

You guys have been smart enough to realize that silver frame masks are not made of silver and Wilson chest protectors are not made of gold.

Wait.... what? When did that change?

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If you do some digging on Chinese websites (Alibaba, etc.) you can order Ti masks in big lots. Pretty dang cheap, too. And they're probably coming out of the same places the "big" name makers are contracting through, just shipping out a different door.

But, are they trustworthy, for something protecting your brain and eyesight? You be the judge. I do know they also sell a ton of fake stuff that are quite substandard.

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4 hours ago, Jdc03270 said:

Hmmmmmmmm.

Hi Justin.
The titanium mask is approximately 6.7 oz. with all of its components. Have a great day!

Thanks,
Boombah Support

Again, I emphatically doubt the Boombah Defcon mask is actual titanium. I just don't have the $99 and a file or hacksaw to prove them wrong.

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18 hours ago, MadMax said:

Again, I emphatically doubt the Boombah Defcon mask is actual titanium. I just don't have the $99 and a file or hacksaw to prove them wrong.

"Hi Justin.
The titanium mask is approximately 6.7 oz. with all of its components. Have a great day!"

 

That should be your red alert!  The lightest complete rig I've ever heard of was the Champro Mag, at 15.5 oz. And that was with worthless pads.
 

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1 hour ago, kylejt said:

"Hi Justin.
The titanium mask is approximately 6.7 oz. with all of its components. Have a great day!"

 

That should be your red alert!  The lightest complete rig I've ever heard of was the Champro Mag, at 15.5 oz. And that was with worthless pads.
 

I was thinking that too.   The Nike Ti and Zro-G's are like 12-13 oz WITHOUT pads and harness - and this is less than 1/2 of that really low number!   That has to be a false reading or misunderstanding of Justin's question by the representative.

Not to be snobby, but not sure I would put my face and trust in a mask called ZOOMBAH either.  It just sounds cheap. And we all know that if a deal sounds too good to be true, then...

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1 hour ago, wolfe_man said:

 

Not to be snobby, but not sure I would put my face and trust in a mask called ZOOMBAH either.  It just sounds cheap. And we all know that if a deal sounds too good to be true, then...

I get that. I've avoided anything "Smitty", because that's umpire slang for ol' dumbass. But with these new pants, I've given in.

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On March 21, 2017 at 0:03 PM, kylejt said:

I get that. I've avoided anything "Smitty", because that's umpire slang for ol' dumbass. But with these new pants, I've given in.

Smitty is also the nickname of a gentleman with the last name Smith who invented an officiating product widely used today and started a company that eventually became Smitty Officials Apparel. 

I'm glad we've all outgrown the other non-related reference.

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  • 2 months later...

It's horrible one of my umpire buddies ordered it to see for himself, I took one look and told him to send it back don't even put himself in harm. The pads are crap it's like you won't even be able to take a hit from it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

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1 hour ago, mk0614 said:

It's horrible one of my umpire buddies ordered it to see for himself, I took one look and told him to send it back don't even put himself in harm. The pads are crap it's like you won't even be able to take a hit from it.

And this is the Boombah Defcon "Titanium" mask we're talking about, yes? We need to ask two things from you and your buddy there – is it hollow or solid-wire? And then, if you get to a postal scale (like for packages), could you please weigh it?

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And this is the Boombah Defcon "Titanium" mask we're talking about, yes? We need to ask two things from you and your buddy there – is it hollow or solid-wire? And then, if you get to a postal scale (like for packages), could you please weigh it?

I'll get back to you


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