Gerry Davis Sports

This is the high end of umpire equipment. The selection is good and the quality is fantastic. The one drawback is the price. Everything is top dollar but you definitely get what you pay for in this equipment. The Gerry Davis pants are the gold standard of umpire pants. Everything else, I do shop around because of the price but you can't get this quality of pants from anywhere else.

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.