Equipment Bags?

[Rags11]

Fellow Umpires:

My first investment for 2009 is a equipment bag. Right now, I'm a coin flip away from the Wilson model, and the one Jim Evans carries.

They both have a handle, wheels, and are relatively close in price.

Any opinions?

Thanks

AR

[Stan W.]

This is on my list to replace this year as well.........I currently have the old wilson bag with the WV logo on it. It is narrow and basically one compartment.....

I love the new versatility of the new bags. Having not seen the Wilson or the Jim Evans bag up close, the pictures of them seem to be quite similar....they also resemble the diamond bag as well.....could they be made by the same manufacturer?....is there any significant differences?.....

One of my partners has the Diamond bag and likes it very much....if anyone has had the opportunity to see them side by side a review would be great....

Edited January 8, 2009 by Stan W.
spelling... what else....

[Umpire in Chief]

I believe Dave our Equipment Chief/Chef wrote a post a year or so ago elsewhere about the bag he got from Jim Evans. He could possibly lend some light to the subject. Or it could be another crack dream....

I personally do not have an equipment bag. I have been very interested in them , but I'm sort of uncomfortable buying sight unseen. I want a compartment/separate compartments large enough for both my base and plate shoes, I want it breathable, yet tough and roomy enough so I'm not squeezing my stuff in.

[Majordave]

I have the Jim Evans Academy bag. I really like it. It is heavy duty cordura nylon with a top compartment large enough for all my plate gear (as many as 3 masks), GD 17.5 shins, WV Gold, two pairs of high top shoes (NB 350 and 450), two honig's ditty bags-1 for plate accessories and 1 for shoe shine stuff, 8 hats (folded and stored in zippered pockets along inside of top). I put ball bags (black and navy-two of each color) in the outside zipper pocket on front of top compartment.

Bottom has elastic straps to hold down items. It comes with two folding bags/covers-one for pants (it held three pairs for me) and one for shirts (held five for me). Sandals, ditty bag with shower stuff, towels, hats, febreeze bottle, bath mat, socks, 3 pairs tights, hexpad shorts, cold weather gloves, water spray bottle, 5 or 6 undershirts of varying colors. I don't carry my pants or jackets or plate coat in the bag anymore. I use a Honig's garment bag ($20). It folds and handles hook over the Jim Evans Bag telescoping handle. Nice professional looking way to move from auto to locker room.

Big deal here: If you fly to games (looking to future as D-1 conference umpire-my goal/dream) It is within checked baggage size limits without paying extra.

Drawbacks: zippers inside are weak-mine stripped but not a big deal. No shoe compartment-again I knew this and bought Honig's shoe bags so no big deal. Inside compartment is black so sometimes hard to find items-I will put a small LED flashlight in ditty bag to overcome this problem this year.

Wilson bag-I had a partner with this bag at Music City camp. He used to live across the street from Joe West in Florida. Joe gave it to him before it went up for sale. (The partner was a Katrina refugee from New Orleans and Joe comped him a complete set of gear-that's what he told me, anyway.) It was not as good a fabric as the Jim Evans bag. It was thinner with large gaudy Wilson and MLB logos which screams umpire! when you travel with it. It is 36" long and can get really heavy and does not meet current airline restrictions for regular checked baggage per the guy who had it. It does have compartments in the top section (they are adjustable). One of them is designed for shoes.

It was my second choice because of price-CAT sports has it for less than $100.

Diamond bag-It comes in 30 and 36 inch lengths now. It is nice but I just did not like the white/grey piping on it. It has compartments in both top and bottom. It is heavy duty. It is expensive-I think it is the most expensive but the guys I know that have it (at least 6 or 7 guys I have worked with) really like it.

There you go. I guess that's all there is to say about Umpire Equipment Bags (my apologies to Bubba from Forrest Gump).

Edited January 8, 2009 by Majordave
add more facts.

[The Officials Locker Room]

Introducing The Official's Locker Bag....just kidding. I use a Victorinox bag that the PCL guys were issues 4 years ago. Jason Klein @ Jimmy's took that bag and had it re-created. I recommend Jim's bag..

[Majordave]

Introducing The Official's Locker Bag....just kidding. I use a Victorinox bag that the PCL guys were issues 4 years ago. Jason Klein @ Jimmy's took that bag and had it re-created. I recommend Jim's bag..

Actually that is not a bad idea. A whole line of officials accoutrement. Even the Evans bag could use some tweaking. Honig's used to have a 30" bag that looked a lot like the Evans bag does with a light gray interior. That is what I wanted but they don't sell it anymore so I got the Evans bag. I have even thought of painting my Evans bag interior white but I would probably end up ruining the bag.

I spoke with Jason and had several e-mails with him about the bag before I bought it. He is very involved with the project and will convince you if you aren't convinced yet. It is a very nice bag.

[BrianC14]

The Evans' bag is on my Christmas list for '09. :clap:

[Rags11]

Especially Major Dave for his "compare & contrast" review. Sounds like the Evans bag is the one for me.

As an aside, Jason Klein, who seems to be Evans' "go to" guy is GREAT to deal with.

Thanks again.

AR

[blue32]

I have the 36" Diamond Bag. It's bulky, but holds everything I need it to hold, and I am very happy with it.

[celt62]

I got this last year on Ebay and love it. It's a Reebok hockey goalie bag. Heavy duty with airholes and heavy duty straps and a ton of pockets. The interior has enough room to put everything you could possibly own including plate and base shoes and cap keepers. I paid $45 on Ebay and reccommend it to everyone.

[slo8140]

Just got the Evans bag from the family for my birthday. I love it. It replaced my old large rolling suitcase that I got at Sam's club years ago. I love the separate clothes and gear compartments. I am not using the bottom for uniforms, but I put my two cap caddies, 3 ditty bags, and about 10-12 undershirts (2 of each color in short sleeve and a couple of color LS ones). I also keep my spray bottle for shoe cleaning, belt and a couple of cups. The top holds all of my gear. Base and plate shoes, West Vest Gold chest and shins, traditional mask and a wilson shock FX. Currently the inside pockets are empty and I keep my ball bags in one of the outside pockets and sunflower seeds in the other.

I will play around with packing it differently, but so far I love it. My old bag had lots of pockets and it was hard to remember where everything was. This bag is so wide open that I can see where everything is. Not sure how to use the inside pockets since I like the convenience of keeping my indicators, brushes, and little wallet in a ditty bag.

My choice came down to the Evans bag vs. the large diamond, but from other peoples reviews it sounded like the evans was better put together. I am extremely happy with it.:home:

[Bigdog]

Hey all,

I use the Diamond umpire bag (36" version). I have room enough to keep everything in there that I need. You can see my review here.

Bigdog:cool:

[mazzamouth]

I have the Wilson bag and love it. It has a compartment for shoes on the top, and a very big top compartment with 3 dividers. The bottom is a open compartment and all my plate gear sits in there, I have had 2 mask and WV Gold, and 2 sets of shin guards in there. I always put my plate shoes in the top and my base shoes in the big open top compartment.

The zippers are big and tough. it does have 2 handles to carry. the Material is not as thick around the outside, but do you really need it to be as thick as the Evans bag? There is a small zippered compartment on the very top for things like Rule books, CCA manuals, chapstick whatever you want in there. i have traveled on a plan with it and the guy said it was close, but then again people travel with Golf clubs as well. Overall I like my bag and don't think about getting another one.