MadMax

Ruh-roh, Raggy! Based on your endorsement of another recent post on here, my guess is we're talking about a Wilson DynaLite, and when you further say it was $100+, that extends my guess to lean towards it being an Aluminum one. If that is true, call me Not Surprised. Aluminum doesn't bend, at least not to the same degree as Steel or Titanium. Like Titanium, it has low density (mass) and forms an oxidation layer on its surface (skin) shortly after exposure. This is why the two metals don't corrode or decay. This oxidation layer also hampers welding, requiring swift, precise, focused welds done with careful attention to time and temperature. Sometimes, when a manufacturer is in a rush to produce a mass quantity, these welds are not consistently perfected. Due to aluminum's low density and resistance to deform, that impacting force has to be transferred somewhere. Eventually, it gets transferred to the pads, and then anything left over goes to your face, but what's the first thing that gets it? Yup, the welds. And if there is no elasticity in the welds, they develop cracks. And once aluminum cracks, it will shear (or shatter). Don't think that this doesn't affect Diamond aluminum masks either, because it does – I've got three weld-busted Diamond DFM's here to prove it.

@csabo17 (and @humanbackstop19), was this a straight DynaLite Steel (alloy), or a new DynaLite Aluminum (which I nickname the DynAlum)?

... or at least 3 umpires who are used to doing nothing but Fed, being UIC (at their own previous games), and pedantic upon the belief that, "That call is mine."

The entire industry and market for HSMs is oriented the wrong "direction" in regards to umpires specifically. The driving force behind HSM production is to satisfy NOCSAE, the NFHS board, and the insurance underwriters for amateur athletics. Secondary to that, acting as the driving influence to HSM development is the set of requirements and traits that constitute a top-notch catching helmet. Last, but not least, there are factors regarding costs that have to be negotiated and woven into the process. Often, imitation is not born out of flattery, but out of necessity – it is less costly to utilize an existing, approved planform than it is to engineer a new, unique one. So with all that said, the Force3 Defender HSM attempts to address both catcher and umpire roles, and in doing so doesn't stand out in either one. One of the critical problems is its use and dependence upon an existing HSM planform – one that several companies utilize for their "common", stock-standard HSMs. Then, the trademark spring-and-shock assemblies are bolted on it, and further reinforced inside the HSM shell. This adds considerable weight. Because it uses a catcher's HSM planform, there is a heavy dependence on chin contact, and the shell is styled to allow the wearer (catcher) to drop his chin. Furthermore, the cage is projected in a way to deflect an impacting force, but still allow for sightlines when the chin is dropped. The shell planform is a "universal" one-size-fits-most approach, and since Force3 cannot afford (right now) to make differing-sized molds, it relies on generous space inside for sizing contact pads, and one rather tenacious back plate, which, if you get the elastic straps twisted around, becomes a rather painful experience, like having your head in a vice (ask @KenBAZ). In order to give a firm foundation and allow the springs and shocks to do their job, the forehead pad is really stiff and follows the shape of that common shell... which we've already identified is, again, for catchers. In one fellow umpire's Defender HSM, I've taken that pad out and really worked it by using a technical soap, working and rinsing it, repeatedly, until it's softer and springy-er. Between the two – the Wilson Shock FX and the current Force3 Defender HSM – the Wilson is actually better suited for umpires. The sole reason Wilson ceased production of the Shock FX is because it is a cost-and-profit liability for them for catchers. It would just take a bit of tweaking and design progression to make it into a market-leader for umpires, but Wilson isn't interested in umpires – they are interested in maximizing corporate profits, and they're losing market share every day they don't have a HSM out on the shelves that catchers are purchasing. By contrast, I would suggest to Force3 to focus on umpire needs for a HSM first and foremost, leave catchers to be covered by existing HSM -producing companies (such as All-Star and Easton), and design and build a full-coverage hel-mask system that is built around, and optimizes, their spring-and-shock mechanicals. Parallel this thought process to the A-10 Warthog GSA. Instead of trying to fit the largest gun possible onto a hardpoint of an existing airplane, and causing all sorts of problems with flight performance and characteristics of that aircraft, you take the meanest, nastiest, most devastating gatling gun ever produced and design and build an aircraft around it.

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.

Guys, I'm resurrecting an old thread for a reason... 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.

Better not be your gum on the bottom of my plate shoe!!

Remember, @midtnump, working to our advantage is that we have (or should have) hardshell carapace plates that take most of the abuse. The foam(s) is/are there for energy absorption. What we also require is ventilation, so be receptive to ideas on laminates of different foams and moisture-transportation fabrics.

Completely foreign concept here in Arizona. It's grass or bust. ... it's the "bust" that worries us.

On second thought, I hope Adidas signs Lonzo Ball. I wouldn't want two of my favorite and preferred brands, Nike and UnderArmour (in that order), to be affiliated with such a demeaning, egotistical name as the Balls. I hear the term "misogyny" thrown around, but I think that's a bit too far and overstated. Quite simply, Lavar Ball is a megalomaniac, and fosters the "Me (coach) versus Them (Officials, "Lesser" Coaches, Players, Parents, Media, Nearly Everyone Else)" mentality / personality. If you think he did this only because the Referee was a woman, think again. He holds all officials in contempt, regardless of gender.

@Umpire in Chief... Can we please fix this one? and this one? and this one? and this one? and this one? and this one?

FIFY- Needed to be bigger... and BLUE. @Jimurray, are you saying you don't clean up after yourself??? Tsk tsk! I'm with @Mudisfun on this one... many, many of us hang water bottles / coolers on the backstop, often with the faces of fans just scant a few feet from it. We don't get blessed with personal attendants bringing us water, cooling towels, etc. between innings, nor retrieving our accessories for us after the game. And while you shouldn't engage the fans through the fence, you can at least be civil / cordial and nod an acknowledgement or politely say "Good day" when they say, "Good game, Blue" or "Thanks Mister Umpire" or "Good job ref!"... ... although on that last one, I'd probably be tempted to ask if they just watched a volleyball game.

Never could do the (sunflower) seeds thing, neither while playing nor umpiring. Nowadays, I'm watchin' 12-to-14-year old kids at bat, catapulting seeds across the plate between pitches. Heck, I've even seen catchers propel shells out their masks while between batters! Then, I've got BU partners wolfing down whole bags of seeds during a 7-inning game. I notice their hands move, thinking they're giving me some advanced signal, but instead it's them shoving a handful more of seeds in their mouth like loading a cordite bale into a cannon. With some of these snoozers games, I can see why you'd want something to pass the time, to get your mind off the misery monotony of station-to-station walks. Occasionally, as BU, I'll rope me a bag of pistachios. Get crackin'.

I'm intrigued to hear what transpires from your work, @midtnump, and admire what you're undertaking. Another opportunity struck me as an idea the other day. Perhaps we could license and source Zorbium from or thru Team Wendys. We'd need an arrangement and contract negotiated by a lawyer, such as @lawump, that likely details we would need X quantity, with Y liability, and that we would not re-market, resell, or resupply it to anyone else. Also, that we would not produce any products that are in competition to products that TW currently produces or has interest in producing. We might be able to persuade them, over time, to take the mask pads production off their hands.

Surely there are, @mbkcoach, but they don't advertise it. Insurance underwriters and lawyers circle like buzzards above their heads, because while you will likely not sue if the reconditioned / rebuilt gear "fails" you, all it takes is the parent of an injured amateur athlete and they're finished. Two such outfits I know for certain are in the Great Lakes region – one in Chicago (northern Illinois), the other in Milwaukee. I worked a summer "kid" job at the Milwaukee place one summer in high school. One benefit was that I got the hook-up on all the latest football facemasks for our Varsity football team. All the "bada$$" facemasks major universities and NFL teams had, we had. Also, I picked out my shoulder pads and my QB's shoulder pads specifically for our positions (I was a WR, PR, KR) rather than taking whatever was there on the rack in our high school equipment cage. Years later, this came in handy when my youngest brother was gunning to be an All-state QB, and not only needed shoulder pads that allowed him to throw unencumbered, but also fit a rib-protecting flak jacket. Turns out that the shop called north to Green Bay and had one of the "spares" sitting around for Brett Favre sent down and fitted out for my brother. This place handled all the gear maintenance – repair, reconditioning, cleaning, refitting – for all of the professional teams and universities and colleges in Milwaukee. When the Bucks acquired a new player, you could expect to see their jerseys being configured that night on one of the work tables in that shop. So here's what I would recommend – you could approach one of these two places (I can supply their names in a PM) directly and discreetly, or casually inquire with one of your regional high schools or colleges (especially if they have a football, hockey, or baseball team) as to who does their equipment reconditioning. Then, approach that shop personally, explaining up front who you are, what you are (an umpire), and for what purposes you are requesting their work. Go in with a plan, even just sketched up on some basic notepad paper (I am willing to work with you on this), because while some of these folks are pretty engineering and imaginative, they don't have free time, or time to give you to innovate or trial solutions. I would also heavily recommend going in there with the necessary materials already, or otherwise indicated. Granted, they might have a wicking material available in their shop for just this purpose, in bulk, so it's kind of silly to try and get 2 yards of it from Jo-Ann fabric (you might have to, but that's beside the point). But I would point out they will not have the foam you want. If you were to say, "Make me a new foam vest for this CP", you'll end up with sofa cushion foam, right back where you started. Instead, go in with a plan, not only for the design, but for how/where to get the materials you want. If the shop reconditions and repairs Schutt shoulderpads, ask about how they would get replacement D3O foam (D3O is the TPU-EVA foam Schutt uses in their helmets and shoulderpads, and is in the XV CP). What this shop will have is craftsmanship and sewing machines, fasteners, and tools to produce a top-notch piece of gear. What they won't have is time, and while civil, they won't have patience. They are operating on the tightest of budgets in a very unglamorous industry, for clients (athletic programs) who don't like to hear of, or pay for, delays or unsolvable problems.

You'd get dismantled by Facilities Managers and groundscrew here, and then derided by "those in the brotherhood", after they collect themselves from laughing their collective a$$ off. High School facilities are the purview of the AD; some have a staff, while others charge the Head Coach with those duties. Most of the high school -age tournaments and leagues here are played on either the Major League Spring Training facilities, or on city -owned venues that themselves used to be Major League facilities. In the former, you will incur mighty wrath and will be chastised or removed if you mess with anything under their domain, regardless of you being an umpire. In the latter, you are treading on someone else's job. Despite the oppressive heat, maintaining a city park, as a city P&R employee, is not a bad gig, and you stepping into it to do "your thing" ain't going to sit well with those workers, or their supervisors. These tournaments and leagues command so much capital here in Arizona, the various facilities want to keep the TDs and LDs happy. LL and their facilities are another monster. In these events, the board members and the coaches go to great lengths to maintain their fields, themselves. If you were to show up, as an umpire, and start laying down chalk and cleaning bases, you've just screwed every umpire of LL games in the whole valley. Why? Because not only are you denying these parents and kids the opportunity to learn and be responsible for something, but you're setting the expectation that umpires may (or worse, will) do that in the future for them. We're already getting paid a pittance to get beat up, bruised, and verbally berated for 2 hours of babysitting, do I really want to have to show up 30-45 minutes earlier so as to chalk, spray, line and groom a field that should otherwise be done, by a community effort (at that)? NWIH. Oh, and you said something about college ball... Yeah, we really could have used you this summer, with your spray cans and sand castle play-tools... Arizona College Woodbat League, while one of the venues is a Major League facility, the other, just down the road, is a local (but very affluent) community college. Read this twice if you must – there wasn't a single speck of chalk nor spatter of paint anywhere within the entire ballpark. No foul lines, no 45' running lane, no batters boxes, no catcher's box, 3 beaten, anchored bases, a pretty sketchy hump of clay for a mound, and one of the most pathetic, scoured, brown plates you've ever seen. Also, the home plate circle was an island, lacking connecting dirt running paths to 1B or 3B. Once the regular season ended, the college left the field to go fallow, and mowed the grass unilaterally as if it was any other tract of grass on the premises. Know what was even more shocking? The HC of the college program was the coach of the summer development team in the league, and when questioned prior to the plate meeting, replied with an unapologetic, "So? Who gives a SH*#? It's just summer baseball."

Go right to the source – Corporate Greed and Invasion into amateur sports. Adidas desires, so very badly, to land the Ball Brothers as the faces of their brand, they have no scruples in dismissing (or in influencing the dismissal of) anyone who hampers the King of Clowns, Papa Ball. Can you imagine if/when UnderArmour is our sponsor / supplier, and they deny funding or supply to us, or one of our fellow umpires, because one of us dumped Bryce Harper? Extreme hypothetical, but a close parallel to what just went down here. Lavar Ball is an egotistical monster and a sexist POS. He's also a narcissist, elitist, and a whole bunch of other -ists. I'm done with basketball.

We're thinking too limited. We could revive an entire, closeted industry and cult following... I give you the 1970's / 80's Panel Vans – I mean, those Wilson Golds have so much real estate to put your ultimate mural on, one that really speaks about you and your personality! Me? I own a Schutt, and am from cheese-y Wisconsin, so something akin to this makes sense:

Have you considered sending it to Tony at MaskIt? He started his Shop because one of his Titanium masks got bent. He has a machine press to bend it back out. Necessary because Titanium takes such a mammoth force to bend back out, equal or greater than that which created it, applied just as abruptly. http://www.maskitsports.com

You are a very strange man.

Well, this may very well be my next Experimental CP... https://www.pluspos.com/baseball-umpire-equipment-umpire-gear/chest-protector/cobra umpire Chest protector factory repair It's the +POS Cobra... and it's on s-s-sale!!!

Could we please do two things to improve the Ask the Umpire segment? Request Moderators to re-title questions that are "Mr." or "Ms." or "Mrs." (or "Dr.", I suppose) to more relevant descriptions ("Interference at 2nd Base in a LL game?")? Could we change the default field format of the Ask the Umpire form to read "Question Title" or "Title of Article" or "Subject"? People are thinking that "Title" means "Mister" or "Miss"...

Spence, I'm actually Max Kellerman... original host and point distributor of Around the Horn... before that goofy kid Tony took it over. –200 points for making this an issue.

Why navy blue? We know why navy blue! Ask Dalco and Cliff Keen! Navy blue was the shirt color (and, more importantly, the plate coat color back in the 80's and 90's)!! Look at the carapace design / planform @mbkcoach... where have you seen that before? Yup... Wilson Golds, Champros, Champions, Riddell Powers, heck even Schutts... they all use a similar planform. In fact, if you didn't have the All-American stickers on it, I'd tell you that was a Champion CP. Wilson's dependence on open-cell sofa cushion foam and nylon has to do with cost vs. durability. Memory foam is expensive. Sofa cushion foam is cheap and readily plentiful, especially when you source it from an upholstery company, and don't tell them it's headed for use in sporting goods (which drives the cost up, because the sports industry is perceived to have lots of money to throw around). Oh sure, memory foam has become / is becoming less expensive and more plentiful due to the increased competition in the mattress industry. All-American was, at one time, one of the Big Names in football equipment, specifically helmets and shoulder pads. Helmets started to use memory foams, while shoulder pads followed soon after once players demanded a lower-profile silhouette, and one that retained less heat and promoted breathability. Each year, though, there is a fresh crop of youngsters who need new (or refurbished / reconditioned) shoulder pads and helmets. Thus, there is a dependable, captive purchasing market (often in the form of HS and College AD purchasing agents). How often do baseball umpires buy new gear? This is why we're in the odd predicament we're in. We need football's more progressive technological advancements and much greater capital resources to drive our own gear development, but we need a company that actually caters to us primarily – not as an afterthought, token, or line-item on a corporate financial report – to actually design it.

Gentlemen (and Ladies) of Baseball... If you have a favored team, and are actively following them through the course of a Major-league season, setting your hopes of a post-season appearance upon their able shoulders... ... and you hear that @Stk004 is going to be attending one of their games... Be afraid. Be very afraid. Fear the worst for your team. Spence just attended eight games in the Northeast corner of the USA, four of them involving my beloved Milwaukee Brewers... ... and the Brewers went 0-4 for Spencer-attended games. And, to add road salt to an open wound, likely boosted the Wellbeing Index of Washington DC by several percentage points by losing in colossal fashion to the Nationals, who belted out 8 Home Runs, with 5 coming in one inning. And, to make matters worse, each of the other three losses by the Brewers were CFB wins by the host teams. Spencer is obviously putting that Brewers Bobblehead Voodoo Doll to good use. I give you, the albatross!