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New equipment bag


JasonPalo
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Mine has always been a tight fit. I put all of my clothes in the top, about 4 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, belt, socks, hats, undergarments. Put my brushes, indicators etc in the web pouches on the top. I put my base shoes in the side compartment and plate shoes in the bottom with my equipment. I fit my two CP's, shins, mask in the bottom with my plate shoes without much room to spare. It's a great bag and I use every bit of it. I don't like a separate bag for my shirts and pants because that was kind of the point of buying the big bag; being able to put everything in one bag. 

This isn't just directed to you, but to everyone...Why do you need to pack 4 shirts? I understand 4+ game tournaments, but if you're working a DH, do you really need 4 shirts? Can't you contact your partner in advance and determine what the flavor of the day will be and only pack what you need? I know I only work at the college level, but even at the HS level and lower someone needs to be the crew chief. Contact your partner in advance (at the college level the CC does this on Monday for a weekend series) and decide what you're going to wear and all the other particulars.

 

I've beat this dead horse before, but also, why do you need to pack 2 chest protectors? Or 2 of anything besides ball bags??? I just don't get it. If you feel the need to have "back up" equipment with you, why not just put it in a duffle bag and keep it in your trunk?   

 

 

Sorry, messed up the quote a bit there. No I don't need to pack as much as I do but I like having a bag that allows me to do that. I don't usually pack 2 CP's but wanted to point out that the bag will accommodate them if you wanted to. I use my bag as a rolling umpires closet. I pack it up on Saturday or Sunday (I don't work on weekends), load it into my truck and work out of it for the 2 or 3 dates I have each week Monday-Friday. It stays in my truck all week. Also all I work is HS ball and in Iowa that means every date is a doubleheader. If I work the plate the first game on a humid 90 degree plus day I'm not wearing the same soaking wet uniform the second game in the field. I also don't have to worry about forgetting something each day I work because I packed the bag and double checked it prior to the week of games on Sunday. I've had a hem fall out of my pants before during the first game of a double and was really glad I had spare pairs in my bag. If someone prefers carting stuff in and out of their vehicle every single day go for it, I know guys that do. I also know guys who do the same thing as me and carry a full bag in their vehicle all week.

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I carry quite a few shirts in my car. I work for 2 assigners generally, and other than my high school games, I don't always know when I leave for work if I'll get a call to do a game that night. That means I don't know my partner when I'm leaving home, I don't know what league/assigner I might be working, so I need them all. Even during high school season, I might get a call while at work to do a travel or LL game later that night. Different shirts for each possibility. 

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Mine has always been a tight fit. I put all of my clothes in the top, about 4 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, belt, socks, hats, undergarments. Put my brushes, indicators etc in the web pouches on the top. I put my base shoes in the side compartment and plate shoes in the bottom with my equipment. I fit my two CP's, shins, mask in the bottom with my plate shoes without much room to spare. It's a great bag and I use every bit of it. I don't like a separate bag for my shirts and pants because that was kind of the point of buying the big bag; being able to put everything in one bag.
This isn't just directed to you, but to everyone...Why do you need to pack 4 shirts? I understand 4+ game tournaments, but if you're working a DH, do you really need 4 shirts? Can't you contact your partner in advance and determine what the flavor of the day will be and only pack what you need? I know I only work at the college level, but even at the HS level and lower someone needs to be the crew chief. Contact your partner in advance (at the college level the CC does this on Monday for a weekend series) and decide what you're going to wear and all the other particulars. I've beat this dead horse before, but also, why do you need to pack 2 chest protectors? Or 2 of anything besides ball bags??? I just don't get it. If you feel the need to have "back up" equipment with you, why not just put it in a duffle bag and keep it in your trunk?

My new bag showed up yesterday. Now I have to wait until Christmas to open it. I am hoping to put all of my gear and clothes in it. Just so I don't have to hang my clothes any more. We will see. As far as wrinkles go, I have seen more D1 umpires who wear uniforms out to the field that I would never consider wearing. But then again maybe they have made it where they want to. I am still climbing the ladder.
You're still climbing the ladder and having figured out yet that only you and your partner really care about a wrinkle in your shirt or a fold in your pants. Yes, we want to look professional, but if a college coach says our stuff is wrinkled after driving or flying with our gear packed, they will be promptly told to provide us with an iron and ironing board. Most D-1's provide laundry service for the weekend. If our clothes come back from them wrinkled, it's on them. As I wrote earlier...No one will remember that your pants had wrinkles, but they are going to remember the calls you miss. Guys, let's all understand we're talking about our pants or jerseys having fold lines in them where whey been folded in our bags. We're not talking a wrinkled up mess that looks like they've sat in the bottom of a gear back for 3 weeks, pulled out, shook out and thrown on. I appreciate you wanting to have professional looking creased/starched pants, but my pants that have been in my gear bag for 6-7 hours (or longer) aren't going to look any worse than yours if you've hung them in your car or garment bag. I've had guys put their stuff in a garment bag, fall off the hanger and get completely wrinkled up in the bottom of the bag. Something I say all the time, if you think that anyone focuses on you, the next time a batter is out by 30 feet at 1st base for the 3rd out, don't make a call and watch what happens. The defense will leave the field, the offense will take the field and the game will move on. Or, ask the coaches at the plate meeting during the 2nd game of a DH what color uniforms you wore during the last game. Unless they're OCD, they aren't going to remember.
I agree with what you are saying. I don't think the coaches care unless we look like we slept in our clothes the night before. But it's not them I have to worry about. It is the Evaluator in the stands watching my game. My first year doing High School Varsity Baseball, in my first game I had an evaluator at the game. His first comment to me after the game was that my pants didn't have a noticeable crease in them. I asked him what that meant(I could see the crease). He said from the stands my crease should stand out. I just said ok. But from that point on I decided I would never let that happen again. Especially since he gave me a 1 for my uniform that day. But that's what we have to deal with when we are moving up the ladder in High School or junior College baseball.
Please tell your little ole High school evaluator to contact me...and i will fix him... at the high school level most of those guys dont really know what they are looking for. Case in point. My varsity football crew go evaluated and the guy gave us a average on uniform...but all of our stuff was clean and looked great... stupid ass high school people.
Haid that is exactly it. One of the reasons I ran for the Board was to get things changed. To get people to stop focusing on the things that weren't important and to focus on the things that were, like mechanics. Now that I am a highly rated umpire in out Association, I don't have to listen to these guys tell me what I should and should not be doing. And the old regime is starting to see things as I do. They are starting to understand what is really important in a game. I am not perfect by any stretch, but I never walk out on the field with dirty shoes. My shirts are always clean and free of wrinkles. And I always have creases in my pants. Just because they don't meet your specs doesn't mean they aren't good enough. Now focus on my ability and give me feedback. Stop worrying about my uniform, unless it is atrocious.
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  • 2 weeks later...

I use a Plus POS equipment bag that has wheels and a handle. It holds a ton of gear. I also use a goings garment bag.it keeps all your shirts,grouse r s,backpackers neat and on a hanger where I put them after ironing them myself. Works great an lasts a long time. Appearance to me, is vital to maintaining a command presence. But ultimately it's you knowledge o the game that Will see you through.

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  • 1 year later...
On 12/16/2014 at 10:11 AM, MidAmUmp said:

2 Questions...

 

@JasonPalo - How much stuff are you putting in the bag that makes it a tight fit? I had room to spare in that bag. That's why I got rid of it...it was too big.

 

And for the rest of you - Where do you guys put your clothes if you don't put them in your bag?

I use a Honigs suit bag for all myuniforms, and extras. I also use the old Plus POS equipment bag. It's huge and you can fit anything in there. I often wonder if I would be better with either a new Wilson, Diamond, or Force 3 bag. Having compartments would help. But I don't change on site enough up here in the northeast so, putting uniforms in a bag may be counterproductive. Besides my uniform bag has 15 hangers of clothing. That will never fit in any bag out there I'm aware of.

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