ISO Force3 CP shoulder caps

[BT_Blue]

I'm looking for the shoulder paldrons for the Force3 chest protector or something else along those lines. I was inspired to try and put together my own chest protector, like the one pictured below, by a minor league umpire and Facebook friend.

If no one has any they want to part with. Do you know if you can get "replacement" chest protector parts or ones that are not sellable on a full piece from Force3?

[mbkcoach]

Call force3 tell them you want to buy a pair or your broke. They sent me a pair of the pec pads cause I lost mine. They should help you. 

[BT_Blue]

9 minutes ago, mbkcoach said:

Call force3 tell them you want to buy a pair or your broke. They sent me a pair of the pec pads cause I lost mine. They should help you. 

That's a good idea. Did they chane you for them?

[BT_Blue]

Does anyone know if there are a difference between the shoulder paldrons for the v1,2, and 3?

[mbkcoach]

No they were free. The caps all look the same to me. 

[BT_Blue]

2 hours ago, mbkcoach said:

No they were free. The caps all look the same to me. 

Thanks, I thought they might be. I'll lob them an email or phone call this weekend.

Now to figure out the base protector. The example is a Riddell (the reasoning being he wanted a Riddell of his own. But got tired of looking.) I was thinking something with a memory foam base like a Mizuno Samauri or All Star/Under Armour System7.

Thoughts? 

[MadMax]

On 5/17/2018 at 10:27 PM, BT_Blue said:

Now to figure out the base protector. The example is a Riddell (the reasoning being he wanted a Riddell of his own. But got tired of looking.) I was thinking something with a memory foam base like a Mizuno Samauri or All Star/Under Armour System7.

Thoughts? 

A Schutt Scorpion CP. All D3O baby.

[BT_Blue]

3 hours ago, MadMax said:

A Schutt Scorpion CP. All D3O baby.

Have a photo of one of those suckers?

[MadMax]

19 minutes ago, BT_Blue said:

Have a photo of one of those suckers?

 

And it’s on sale? Hot damn. 18” of coverage, too. Natural abdomen extension.

http://baseball.epicsports.com/prod/90206/schutt-s3-softball-baseball-chest-protectors-co.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkdbv78yV2wIVCtvACh0y8Q84EAQYBCABEgK8KPD_BwE

[BT_Blue]

Good golly! 18 inches!?

I do see it comes in a 14 and 15 inch. Which would be more my speed.

Now the next question... how do you attach the WV plates to a non Wilson padding?

[wolfe_man]

5 hours ago, BT_Blue said:

Good golly! 18 inches!?

I do see it comes in a 14 and 15 inch. Which would be more my speed.

Now the next question... how do you attach the WV plates to a non Wilson padding?

Rivets/Chicago screws through the padding?  Unless you have someone who can sew Velcro on there and use the holes from the WV plates for straps again.  It'd take a pretty heavy sewing machine/rig to do it though.... shoe cobbler/luggage repair?

[BT_Blue]

5 hours ago, wolfe_man said:

Rivets/Chicago screws through the padding?  Unless you have someone who can sew Velcro on there and use the holes from the WV plates for straps again.  It'd take a pretty heavy sewing machine/rig to do it though.... shoe cobbler/luggage repair?

I was thinking the same thing regarding Chicago Screws. I was just worried about putting holes in the plastic as well as the padding.

Also thought about the Velcro idea. I have a really good shoe cobbler I go to for the crazy stuff. So that was always an option as well.

[MadMax]

You could also go the Douglas / Schutt route, and buy some really strong Velcro with adhesive backing. Take the (mini)hook side, and adhere it to the underside of the plates. Have your cobbler or seamstress stitch on the loop (brush) side upon the CP padding in strategic spots. 

Stick the two together.

I mean, the looping of Velcro tabs through slots you’ve cut in the carapace plates is a great idea... I’d just hate to see a C&D letter and suit of patent infringement dropped on you by the Big W.

[BT_Blue]

I've been finding myself getting lost into a search vortex on Epic Sports looking at chest protectors (thanks @MadMax!) I've been wondering... I don't want, or need, an 18" protector. 14 or 15 inches are more my speed. But that means I am getting into the "Intermediate" area of gear. Now that begins to make me worried about coverage width wise.

Is that a worry? Or, like umpire gear, do I just need to think about length?

[wolfe_man]

I spoke with F3 and you can get their shoulder caps sent to you for $39.  They were going to send them out for free and asked what happened to mine (so they could fix it if possible), so I explained I didn't have one of their CP's but was thinking of putting them on another CP.  If you have a CP, they will replace for free.

[BT_Blue]

Wonder if I can tell them the caps are cracked and want to replace them. 

But first thing first... I would need to figure out the base layer.

[BobUmp]

If I was Frankensteining a CP I would try to velcro the base padding and the hard shells. That way it is machine washable whenever it gets sweaty. One of the big reasons I love my Schutt so much. Whenever I feel its getting offensive, right into the washing machine it goes, and comes out smelling brand new..
My two cents. Good luck!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

[MadMax]

13 hours ago, BT_Blue said:

I don't want, or need, an 18" protector. 14 or 15 inches are more my speed.

Nonsense! Everybody seems to want a taller CP to cover their precious lil' tummies! "Ohhh, if only my CP covered my last rib!", they whine.

I mean, why else do they let their $150+ WestVests slump down their fronts? "Ohhh, my association president / vice president / trainer / buddy said this is the only CP I should be getting, but it doesn't cover my tummy! I need something to cover my tummy when those 11 year olds bounce those pitches in!"

If I was to conduct Lesson 1 of Gear Fitting, I would absolutely shock the majority of novice (or even "intermediate" ) umpires because they would come to the cold, chilling realization that the WestVest doesn't cover their tummy, was never designed or intended to cover their tummy, and that it was designed – all those 15 or so years ago – to be used with a somewhat capable catcher in front of them.

Let's turn this issue upside down (or inside out) – if the standard WestVest was to be offered in a taller model, keeping to the same construction methodology it is now (and has been for over 15 years), does anyone realize how heavy, bulky and cumbersome that sucker would be??!! Here, the advantage of using a super lightweight catcher's CP, with full torso coverage, as the foundation for affixing hard carapace plates only where you need them has few rivals. 

[UMPCourse]

So you’re saying having full rib coverage is not necessarily needed?

[BT_Blue]

2 hours ago, BobUmp said:

If I was Frankensteining a CP I would try to velcro the base padding and the hard shells. That way it is machine washable whenever it gets sweaty. One of the big reasons I love my Schutt so much. Whenever I feel its getting offensive, right into the washing machine it goes, and comes out smelling brand new..
My two cents. Good luck!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
 

Only issue I have with the Velcro on the Schutt is that it is very thin on the base padding. Also that the glue doesn't seem to be especially strong. So pulling the plates off, the whole Velcro strip comes with it.

[BT_Blue]

2 hours ago, MadMax said:

Nonsense! Everybody seems to want a taller CP to cover their precious lil' tummies! "Ohhh, if only my CP covered my last rib!", they whine.

I'm hurt you would include me in this little grouping of yours.

In all seriousness... could one wear an intermediate chest protector? I don't need a 17-18 inch chest protector. But a 14-15 inch works for me.

[MadMax]

7 hours ago, jwclubbie said:

So you’re saying having full rib coverage is not necessarily needed?

You’re a long-torso’ed oddball, Clubbie. And sure, you can get as many ribs covered as you want/need to your heart’s content. I just once again point out that certain companies focus more effort on making 3 (actually, 4) different models of CP to the same 15 year old design, without improvement, rather than making one “perfected” or “ideal” design in multiple sizes, or feature the ability to expand to suit differing needs.

7 hours ago, BT_Blue said:

I'm hurt you would include me in this little grouping of yours.

Do you wear your CP like a shop apron? No. You’re not included in “my focus group”.

The reason the padding jacket on a Schutt is so thin is because it doesn’t have to be thick. It’s D3O, TPU-EVA foam instead of open cell upholstery foam. Half the volume for the same (or better) absorption.

Heck, get a shorter one (catcher’s CP). In another vein, the Wilson Guardian might actually be a really good candidate for something like this. You’d likely be doing Wilson’s R&D department’s work for them!

[BobUmp]

I added little dabs of Gorilla Glue to the velcro on the hard shell, and it seems to hold well. Give that a try. Nothing beats washing the padding in the washing machine!

Only issue I have with the Velcro on the Schutt is that it is very thin on the base padding. Also that the glue doesn't seem to be especially strong. So pulling the plates off, the whole Velcro strip comes with it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

[BT_Blue]

I looked at the Guardian... and of course it only comes in 13". As if the brain trusts at Wilson would take into account the need for a longer protector than 13.5"!

Also, the price. The idea behind this is to put this together for as low a price as possible. Otherwise I might as well just get the Champion P2xx or check out the Champro hard shell.

[blue32]

You guys and all your concern about CP's being too short. If you just put on an extra 50 to 60 pounds, you wouldn't need the extra protection, it would be built in. Geez, you make things so complicated sometimes.