MadMax

One of our rookie umpires selected a +POS ZRO-G Chest Protector at the refurb price and has recently received it and we'll be fitting it to him this week. I'd like to give you a report on what this CP is like.

First off, I think we're out of the woods on +POS's order fulfillment woes. Mario (the new umpire) ordered the CP and received it four days later. What surprised me was his ready trust in a +POS over a Wilson. He did note that while the Gold is out there at $120 – $200 (retail store), the ZRO-G is, in brand-new condition (manufacturer refurb) at $69. The two look similar, carapace-wise, and Mario did favor what looks to be better ventilation on the ZRO-G.

He's right, it does. The ZRO-G achieves its marked lightness by doing three things very well. First, the carapace plates are not thick, dense ABS plastic. Instead, they are (likely) a PVC plastic, akin to molded fenders on modern cars and lite vehicles. The plates are there for structure, not for energy dissipation, because of the presence of the second thing – closed-cell foam laminated to open-cell "sizing" foam. The closed cell foam is doing the bulk of the work on energy absorption, while the sizing foam creates that standoff "contact zone" between your body and the closed-cell foam. The foam sandwich is then encased in an open-lattice wicking mesh that promotes airflow. The third feature is the "focused, tactical layout" of the foam vest's segments. Instead of employing one unilateral, blanketing foam section – like our friends at Wilson lazily do – the ZRO-G arranges its foam into segments, with channeled joints and seams, which again promote airflow and ventilation. It isn't to the same engineered extreme as an All-Star System 7 CPU, which features a heat chimney cut right down the center of the chest plate, but the ZRO-G has an impressive degree of thought put into these pad-pod placements.

The fasteners are formidable 1.5" side release buckles (same as All-Star and Force3), there are removable / repositionable pectoral wings, and robust shoulder ailettes and pauldrons. The harness is a bit fussy, being a simple T-harness, but it would be able to take a Flex harness (a RayFlex, to be sure) with no problem. +POS has addressed this in their latest CP design, the Cobra, which utilizes an X-style four-point harness.

So in the next few days, we'll get this dialed in for Mario specifically, and he'll have one impressive CP to not only start the fall tournament season with, but to have for Umpire School this winter.

Can't say this is "high end", but definitely niche. Gerry Davis Sports is like any other online outfitter-retailer, peddling the same gear at nearly the same price point as everybody else. Where they make their bread, though, is locking in Association contracts such that umpires (and other sport officials) in those associations have to are brainwashed are encouraged to buy their gear from Gerry Davis Sports, whether by discount or association logos / patches.

The problem with this is the gear (aside from the pants, which I'll address below) is mediocre at best. Gerry Davis Sports would be aptly served to sever its contract with Wilson and take the DavisShield concept somewhere else that would actually champion and progress its development. As it sits in Wilson's lineup, both the CP and the shinguards are woeful, paltry tinkertoys. I liken it to getting GenCon / cosplay / adult Halloween costume versions of Batman's or Darth Vader's armor. Looks like an umpire's protective gear, but nearly worthless when facing actual impacts. The CP, in particular, is a model of great intention but pathetic execution.

But, of course, this isn't all that Gerry Davis Sports puts their name on or sells. The "Gerry Davis mask" is simply a Diamond DFM-UMP with the "Davis" logo stitched on the chin tab. The Davis umpire shirts are re-labeled Cliff Keen shirts, and as a consequence, are trapped in the past both in style (has Cliffy even seen a modern baseball game?) and materials used. All the other accessories – ball bags, brushes, indicators – are all re-labels of existing, chotske-like Chinese-made crap that all the online suppliers and retailers sell. Nothing is unique. Oh sure, Gerry Davis Sports even sells Force3 masks and the brand-new New Balance plate shoes!... but at the same price as everybody else. Ho hum.

The thing that is keeping Gerry Davis different than all the rest is their line of umpire pants. Wherever they arrange to have them fabricated, they have an exclusive contract, because the pants are as instantly recognizable as Walkmans to Sony or iPods to Apple. The all-poly standard pants are typically darker than competitor pants, and this is where most of the stigma about them comes from. Their real crown jewels are the PolyWools, produced through an exclusive arrangement between Gerry Davis Sports and Fechheimer. They are durable, breathable, hang smartly, and look dead-on right. Best in their class.

All the criticism I espouse is not to say that the staff at Gerry Davis Sports are inept at their job – they're not; they are very personable and accommodating. I'm all for supporting a Wisconsin -based company. It's just that, pants aside, their catalog is underwhelming and indistinguishable from the rest of the herd, and once you get past the lock-step group-think of associations, you can do much better and more effective gear purchasing elsewhere.

Pants aside. These Davis-by-Fechheimer pants are excellent.

3N2 Reaction Low Plate Shoe

Due to the utter failure of my New Balance MU460's, I was cast into a predicament; with a substantial number of games left in the year and the release of the forthcoming New Balance MU460-V3's expected in January of 2017, I had to find something to serve as a plate shoe. So disheartening were the MU460's (more like, what they had become – abject terrible monsters) that I even started combing through eBay looking for Reeboks. Anyone who knows me will attest, I physically cannot wear Reeboks without my back seizing up. It's that dire of a situation.

I knew that 3N2 made plate shoes, but I had no knowledge of how they fit or how they felt. 3N2 had supplied the footwear to the staff of Cooperstown Dreams Park, but they (the staff) didn't praise or slam them, so I was only familiar with the look of the shoes. With that, I put a call into Ump-Attire, and they gave me all the necessary info and encouraged me to try a pair out, if only to hold me over until the MU460-V3's were ready for sale.

Immediately upon delivery, I noticed something pleasingly tangible – the Reactions are very light. Significantly lighter than even a brand-new MU460. This lightness carries over into the performance of the shoe, as they don't retain sweat in swampy, bucket-filling amounts (like the MU460's), nor do they get soggy in damp conditions. The only thing that occasionally weighs them down is the mud clinging to the bottom (more on that later). It is comprised of genuine leather, with a thermoformed toe cap and a carbon-fiber metatarsal guard. While it lacks the gleam of the polished synthetic leather that is the MU460, it does take a shining and polishing rather well. Keep them clean and conditioned and give them a shine and polish ever so often, and they'll look quite top-notch.

The interior isn't as cavernous as the MU460, but it certainly is spacious. As advertised, the midsole is exceedingly comfortable. It may just be the low-cut, but I feel much more nimble and athletic in these than the boot-like New Balances. There is no lack of protection in these, either.

Only the outsole, the tread, is what is questionable about these shoes. The very deliberate abundance of studs on the tread of the shoes brings to mind that these shoes could double as landscaper's aerators. In most sand and loose dirt surfaces, these could definitely suit the bill; otherwise, on hard surfaces, they are overkill, and when that ground is watered either by groundscrew or rain, and becomes muddy, the shoes tend to hold that mud rather tenaciously. Certainly spraying the treads with something like Anti-Static-Cling spray does help.

In summary, don't count out these shoes just because they don't come from a marquee name like Reebok or New Balance; they're more than adequate and nearly exceptional, given the price. They certainly let you operate as a properly equipped plate umpire, yet will allow you to maximize your budget and resources to purchase other good quality protective gear.

There are two titles that apply to an experienced review of these shoes:

• 10% Less Is Still Too Heavy
• Perception Is Not Reality

Out of the box, the MU460's looked every bit the champion over their MU450 predecessors and their Reebok rivals. Firstly, like any umpire can attest, they "look the part", giving the impression of a substantial work boot rather than a flimsy training sneaker. The rivet-less, held-on-by-a-hidden-strap metatarsal guard seems to float (it does) effortlessly (it doesn't) above the laces like a great armored edifice against wayward pitches, foul balls, flung bats and the occasional klutz catcher stepping on it. For a keen observer, they really hold a polish well, and gleam in the sunlight or lights of a forthcoming game, ready for action as soon as this plate meeting ends.

After calling "Play Ball!", the MU460's are quite protective, granting the utmost in confidence to the umpire wearing them that (s)he can lock in and take a pitch or a swing without having to have "happy feet". The protective toe box cap is comprised of a dense, unyielding plastic instead of steel, and is likely fused to the pleather (yes, you are reading that right) with adhesives. Steel is heavy, but when it is made thinner so as to lighten it, it has the potential to deform. So too, movement of leather upon steel causes abrasive wear, and eventually the steel cap tears through the material. This plastic plating is also carried into the metatarsal guard like an armadillo's shell – there is pleather clad to it like an outer skin. Beneath the plastic plate, there is a cellulose pad, and then a taut mesh netting to act as a liner and aid circulation.

Circulation and ventilation is at a premium in these shoes. The only venting of the boot shoe itself is done through pinholes on the flanks of the shoe and through two "radiator grills" on either side of the laces. These radiators are, unfortunately, covered by the metatarsal guard while in use, thus, the guard needs that mesh inner liner to promote airflow. This becomes a factor because... these shoes are synthetic leather (ie. "pleather"), don't breathe like true leather, and hold in all that perspiration from your feet and get really, really heavy. Get the emphasis? Again... heavy!!!

The footbeds get absolutely thrashed. Not only do they get compressed by repetitive use, but if there are any sand grains or tiny pebbles in the shoe during use, they start to tear up the footbeds. So too, when these footbeds get soggy (and they do get soggy), they retain moisture for awhile, as well as stink-&-funk, and just contribute to the general unpleasantness of carrying them home after a two-or-three-plate-game stretch, or worse, having to put them back on again after having a lull or base duty.

Pleather was likely employed for ease-of-polish retention, cleanliness and durability. Leather gets fussy and expensive, prone to damage from cleaning agents that are otherwise used in-a-hurry or to remove some tenacious mud / dirt / clay that oft plagues the fields these are worn on. Leather also is prone to decay when damp, or drying out, cracking or splitting in high-heat environments. With these variables facing New Balance, it made sense to do this in pleather, and still makes sense today.

Internally, the MU460's are quite roomy. This is very likely to accommodate the varying thicknesses of socks umpires wear, as well as encourage and allow umpires to take out the stock footbeds (do so!) and replace them with third-party footbeds or orthotics. The tongue is exorbitantly oversized, though, and while the mid-cut / mid-top style may be supportive to some, it presents a challenging (and frankly, annoying) interface between shinguards and shoe. Then, throw that plump tongue into the picture, and it gets crowded at the ankle. Something will begin to be abraded, whether it is the inner lining of the shinguards or the tops of the shoes (or both!).

The soles are one of the redeeming qualities of the shoes. Devoid of big nubs or lugs, they are equally adept on garish mud pits behind the plate or FieldTurf. New Balance was sure to employ their AbZorb technology, so they are rather cushy, and weight aside, don't feel like stiff, clunky boots while standing in them. Treads hold up exceptionally well, and won't be affected by the walks on pavement that need to be undertaken while going to-from a ballpark.

But lets not kid ourselves – they don't handle like trainers or athletic shoes. They are likely the most un-athletic pieces of footwear in an otherwise very athletic sport (scratch that, have you seen the Pentagon plate shoes??). So while the perception is that the MU460 is the pinnacle of plate shoes, the reality is that New Balance – and other companies, to be fair – have some work to do, starting with taking the "work boot" aspect out of the equation. 

The XV is the best of the sub-$100 chest protectors, and can very much wade into the same waters as the more expensive hardshells. It is the 3rd iteration in Schutt's AiR Flex line, using the same carapace pieces as its two predecessors, this time in jet black, with a better fitting layout (the shoulder arches are angled differently to create a larger neck opening, the ailettes are positioned more strategically, etc.).

The major change is the padding vest, this time using Schutt's D3O foam, an advanced TPU-EVA foam, as hole-y bricks arranged with tactful thought. If you thought the AiR Flex I's and II's were well-ventilated, this padding has more holes in it than a Swiss Cheese Contest. Let me assuage your concerns though, these holes do not compromise protection... in the slightest... at all. In fact, the D3O bricks are nearly twice as thick as the Brock Bead tubes of the AiR Flex II, while being around 3/4th's the weight. The foam is _that_ good. And just like the AiR Flex II, there is an abdomen extension included. Ventilation and weight-less-ness of the XV are its real key strengths, allowing for less heat fatigue than the suffocating WestVests, especially when doing multiple-game tournaments.

The only negative of this entire rig, and the only reason I withhold that 5th star, is the harness. It is terrible. I am known locally and here on U-E for removing the harness completely and retrofitting XV's to use Flex-style harnesses, whether they be the UmpLife RayFlex, the DeltaFlex, or Force3 Flex. This is the only way to really get that optimum, effective, conforming fit you need so as to take this CP into the same territory (game level) as the WestVests, UnEquals, and System7's. I've had my XV for four years now, and I've done MSBL, NABA, NAIA, High School, Showcase, College, Minor League, and Extended MLB Spring Training ball with the XV, with no consideration of switching to anything else any time soon.