Concrete Panda

I have this brush, as well as a wide Japanese style brush. i will post a photo of all of them later. The one thing I noticed about the Mizuno brush, it’s very small compared to the wood handled brush.

MIght I suggest this for the padding? https://www.waveinn.com/nautical-fishing/musto-d3o-recoil-pad/137081987/p?utm_source=google_products&utm_medium=merchant&id_producte=8262097&country=us&gclsrc=ds&gclsrc=ds

@MadMax, I just got a XV and nowhere on the unit could I find any sort of tag showing the padding is D3O. I suspect, it's just a generic EVA foam. Regarding the LP, see attached photos. It seems to be it would be more of a softball oriented CP, possibly lower lever baseball. The padding isn't very thick or dense. The plastic is not very thick either. For the same price as a XV, it does not seem to be a good value.

I have seen this up close and personal https://www.baseballmonkey.com/equipment/homerun-umpire-equipment/homerun-umpire-chest-protectors/adams-baseball-umpire-chest-protector.html It's only $70, same price as the XV. So I cant explain the price differential. it's basically perforated soft foam with perforated hard plastic plates for flexibility. It's kinda on the larger size, width wise. But considering it's essentially the same price a a XV, I passed.

Mad Max, I haven’t seen any info from Schutt that specifies the use of D3O on the VX. Mine is on order from Hibbetts and will be here in a week, so I will be able to see one up close and personal.

Well said, I used the term rubber to describe to material loosely. You missed a 3rd reason for the neoprene, is also helps distribute the force of the ball. My main beef with the use of neoprene, lack of ventilation. And as I said, thee use of kevlar is not the proper material for the intended use of distributing the force. Regarding the use of kevlar in bullet proof vests, the soft vest used for most patrol officers use kevlar exclusively to stop virtually all pistol calibers. It will not stop a rifle rounds nor a knife. The trauma plates worn by SWAT and soldiers are there to stop the rifle rounds and prevent the "wind" from being knock out of someone, reduce the chance of broken ribs, or organ bruising. Just as an aside, the soft Level II and III vests must be replaced every 5 years or so, as the fibers breakdown/get brittle. That is not helpful for an umpire, as many of my colleagues have had their uppers for years. Regarding open vs. close cell foam and trying to make the padding thinner. Two products, either Poron or D3O. The Hart foam by UnEqual must be a similar type material. These two high tech (and expensive) foams will do the job, be much thinner, but the margins for the manufacturer's would be smaller or the upper would will cost more, like the Force3. I would love to see a perforated D3O or Poron retrofit for the Schutt VX. Based on my inspection of the upper shown above, I did not feel any holes in the plastic, but I'm not surprised as the neoprene cover would prevent evaporation. I guess Schutt could place some sort of low friction material over over the plastic to reduce damage to shirts as they could also use chicago type screws to allow separation of the padding from the hard shell. It just a matter of the final retail price and the number of units they anticipate to sell. Team Wendy had retrofits for the West Vest and I'm sure got out of the business do to low margins, low volumes, or price resistance. I think the neoprene cover and blast plate for more to absorb the energy than the kevlar. Kevlar needs to be "anchored", "stretched", and have significant displacement to be effective. Moving a 1/8" to 1/4" may not be enough.

Get your winter stuff in the summer and your summer stuff in the winter. Plus, the suppliers are putting all the baseball items on sale now as the HS season has ended. It’s the best time to buy.

Honigs has some convertible jackets for sale as part of their “Flash Sale.” Most are under $20. I do like Mad Max’s suggestion of a long sleeve shirt, as I agree the jacket is just a plastic bag over your upper body that just collects sweat.

Looks like Dowd Soorts and Hi bett’s has them in stock as well. I just ordered one from Hibbert’s with free shipping and $10 for being part of their frequent buyer program (I do have to pay for sales tax), I think it came out to be $73 to my door.

They got plastic in all the critical places, basically the entire frontal area

I saw Force3 V3 CP in a local store the other day. Please see attached pictures of the front and back. You can see the green "Hart" padding in the places they deem as critical. The plastic inserts ("Blast Shield,) seems to be stiffer and thicker. That is going to spread the force of a baseball out much more. But, I couldn't find or see any difference in the shoulders. It is well designed and thought out. It is MY OPINION, that they should eliminate the rubber cover and kevlar, double the thickness and perforate the foams and "Blast Shields," to make the CP more breathable. It is MY ENGINEERING JUDGEMENT that kevlar is not being used in the properly, in this application. Kevlar is meant to stop bullets, not baseballs. I think the foam is still too thin.

The discount only applies to purchases over $100, so you have to order a few more things, plus, depending on where you live, you may have to add sales tax.