Diamond Masks

[blue23ll]

What are the differences between the Diamond iX3 mask and the Big League Ump masks? 

[harrisonj23]

Just the pads I believe.. Leather on the Big League and their cheaper cloth type pads on the IX3

[BT_Blue]

As far as I am aware. That is the only difference. I believe the frames are the exact same.

I also want to say, somewhere on here, @MadMax went in depth about the difference. But I am not sure where. 

[LineyNinja]

Not a fan of the Pads in general for the IX3. I replaced mine with Team Wendy and love the pads

[Tksjewelry]

I have the ix3, decent mask but the pads are crap. My first concussion was with those pads. Replaced with the team wendy pads but I'm not a fan of them either because of our cold weather. I'd go for the leather pads.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

[Mister B]

I've got an ix3 as well with Wilson wrap arounds, but I don't like the way those feel either. I may try the honig's calf-skin. 

I use the ix3 as my backup. I actually prefer the honig's lite-weight with their micro-fibre pads. The ix3 is lighter but the honigs feels more balanced, I think it sits slightly closer to my face and the eye slit is slightly taller. But it is about being comfortable out there. 

[MadMax]

Found it!

 

and...

 

 

[blue23ll]

So a follow-up question. I have  black and silver Diamond iX3 masks with Team Wendy pads.  They are light and comfortable to wear. My question, what would be the cost/benefit of going to titanium, magnesium or other alloy metals? Is an ounce or two less weight worth $100 or more dollars? Is the protection level that much better??

[boyinr]

On April 21, 2018 at 1:40 PM, blue23ll said:

So a follow-up question. I have  black and silver Diamond iX3 masks with Team Wendy pads.  They are light and comfortable to wear. My question, what would be the cost/benefit of going to titanium, magnesium or other alloy metals? Is an ounce or two less weight worth $100 or more dollars? Is the protection level that much better??

Think of it this way.  Some people drive to work in a Nissan Altima.  Other people choose to drive in an Infinity.  Both are sedans and both have airbags. Some people apreciate the difference and others don't.  I think in all the games I have done I have had only one person who wasn't an umpire about my mask (All Star FM25TI).  Catcher picked up off the ground after being knocked off.  

The frame is there only to physically stop the ball, the pads are there to absorb the impact of the ball hitting the frame. You have great pads and your frames are likely sufficient for what you need.  

[BT_Blue]

See... I went the other direction. I went back to my Diamond after giving a Nike a try. Now I kind of wish I had it back to give it another go. Also want to give a steel a try and see what I think there. 

[Thatsnotyou]

Hold on a minute - what’s wrong with my Altima?

[tpatience]

1 hour ago, BT_Blue said:

See... I went the other direction. I went back to my Diamond after giving a Nike a try. Now I kind of wish I had it back to give it another go. Also want to give a steel a try and see what I think there. 

I have a Nike steel for sale if you want it

[BT_Blue]

16 hours ago, tpatience said:

I have a Nike steel for sale if you want it

Interesting... how much are you looking for it.

[boyinr]

17 hours ago, Hkepuck said:

Hold on a minute - what’s wrong with my Altima?

Not a thing.  I owned one for many years.  A great value.  Just using it as a metaphor. 

[tpatience]

34 minutes ago, BT_Blue said:

Interesting... how much are you looking for it.

Don’t want to hijack this thread. It’s posted in BST

[midtnump]

On 4/21/2018 at 12:40 PM, blue23ll said:

So a follow-up question. I have  black and silver Diamond iX3 masks with Team Wendy pads.  They are light and comfortable to wear. My question, what would be the cost/benefit of going to titanium, magnesium or other alloy metals? Is an ounce or two less weight worth $100 or more dollars? Is the protection level that much better??

@boyinr was speaking the truth about the masks. The only thing I would add after owning and wearing the AS 4000 and Nike Ti, is that the vertical eye opening height is larger on the two masks that I have worn versus the Diamond. That is the one of several things that I truly enjoyed about both masks. 

[MadMax]

On 4/21/2018 at 10:40 AM, blue23ll said:

So a follow-up question. I have  black and silver Diamond iX3 masks with Team Wendy pads.  They are light and comfortable to wear. My question, what would be the cost/benefit of going to titanium, magnesium or other alloy metals? Is an ounce or two less weight worth $100 or more dollars? Is the protection level that much better??

Outright protection-value of the frame? No.

What @boyinr said is true – the mask frame is performing a relatively simple role in protecting your face/head, with its composition being largely arbitrary (as in, it doesn’t matter). In fact, the lighter and less dense the metal – titanium, aluminum, magnesium – the greater the load it places upon the pads. Indeed, it’s the pads, pads, pads.

With regards to the frame, though, the reason why a designer/manufacturer will opt for one metal over another has more to do with profitability than with protection. Titanium has the wonderful qualities of being incredibly strong, incredibly light, resisting corrosion (doesn’t need paint), and allowing for exceptionally thin (solid) wires. Its detractors, though, are that Titanium itself is not readily available, it is challenge to work with, tool-wise, requires precision welds, and it does deform (bend) under abrupt loads. Is the metal compromised or weakened? No, but it’s really hard to repair / make right.

Aluminum has its own desirable qualities. Like Titanium, it’s incredibly light, very strong, and resists corrosion. It is readily (and widely) available, and easily recyclable. It’s easy to work with, tool-wise, but does require meticulous welds, as its propensity to deform is different than steel and titanium. When placed under an abrupt load, it is more likely to shear than bend. Is the metal compromised? Yes, and it’s pretty much impossible to make right (cost effectively; less costly to get a new one).

Magnesium is a really odd duck. Like the other two, it is incredibly light and strong; in fact, it is the lightest structural metal. Magnesium alloy is extraordinarily puritanical to weld because it can only be welded to homogenous material (or the same alloy variety). Because it doesn’t deform (bend), it is not easy to work with – tool wise – but lends itself rather well to die casting. Certain alloy additives can be controlled to introduce its dampening characteristics (has to do with its hexagonal structure instead of cubic, but that some serious material science talk), but magnesium is best employed where mechanical (repetitive, cyclical, varying, etc) stress is at a minimum, but you still need optimum tensile strength.

The point in all this is found in how these mask manufacturers view these metals in the “big picture” of the development - manufacturing - order fulfillment - use - warranty & customer service process. It has very little to do with protecting you, and more to do with protecting their bottom line at a/the price point.