EvoShield Mask or Helmet?

[Rock Bottom]

Has anyone tried out the EvoShield mask or helmet yet? The ones with the Windpact pads. If so, how do you like them and how do they compare to others? Mask price is decent, helmet is crazy high.

 https://www.evoshield.com/en-us/catcher-s-gear/head-protection/pro-srz-catcher-s-facemask

 

https://www.evoshield.com/en-us/catcher-s-gear/head-protection/pro-srz-catcher-s-helmet

[tpatience]

The mask is super heavy. Cool looking but it probably weighs as much as a F3

[Rock Bottom]

21 minutes ago, tpatience said:

The mask is super heavy. Cool looking but it probably weighs as much as a F3

Wow! That's surprising! I guess I just assumed air bag pads would be light.

[tpatience]

38 minutes ago, Rock Bottom said:

Wow! That's surprising! I guess I just assumed air bag pads would be light.

It’s not necessarily the pads. It’s the frame. It’s hollow steel but for some reason, it’s super heavy 

[The Short Umpire]

The traditional mask seems like it would have great visibility. I think it looks cooler than the Under Armor too. 

[Chris Hickman]

On 11/3/2020 at 9:58 PM, tpatience said:

It’s not necessarily the pads. It’s the frame. It’s hollow steel but for some reason, it’s super heavy 

So I have actually seen this mask in person… Quality is outstanding. I think the Pad technology is the future however this mask just doesn’t work for an umpire. It is super heavy… and believe it or not it’s not a hollow steel… It is solid steel… I weighed it and it  actually weighs more than a F3.  Because the way the frame is designed, The view bars are higher up so it doesn’t work for an umpire however I’m sure they will come out with something much lighter down the road. They actually put silicone beads on the inside of the harness so it grips.  Great quality.

[wolfe_man]

1 hour ago, Chris Hickman said:

So I have actually seen this mask in person… Quality is outstanding. I think the Pad technology is the future however this mask just doesn’t work for an umpire. It is super heavy… and believe it or not it’s not a hollow steel… It is solid steel… I weighed it and it  actually weighs more than a F3.  Because the way the frame is designed, The view bars are higher up so it doesn’t work for an umpire however I’m sure they will come out with something much lighter down the road. They actually put silicone beads on the inside of the harness so it grips.  Great quality.

Chris,

Would the pads work on another frame or does the design make that improbable?  Thanks!

[Chris Hickman]

Just now, wolfe_man said:

Chris,

Would the pads work on another frame or does the design make that improbable?  Thanks!

No, the way the pads are designed they only fit in that mask…

[Chris Hickman]

So the information I have is that Wilson is getting out of the equipment business… Just hear me out, anything protective related down the line is going to be Evo shield, which Wilson owns. Wilson will concentrate on gloves… Louisville slugger, DeMarini, Bats.  My gut tells me in the next three years Evo shield will design a umpire protector.  We will have to see....

[wolfe_man]

On 11/5/2020 at 11:56 AM, Chris Hickman said:

So the information I have is that Wilson is getting out of the equipment business… Just hear me out, anything protective related down the line is going to be Evo shield, which Wilson owns. Wilson will concentrate on gloves… Louisville slugger, DeMarini, Bats.  My gut tells me in the next three years Evo shield will design a umpire protector.  We will have to see....

Somewhere in Phoenix, @MadMax just lost his mind!

[The Short Umpire]

So I was so intrigued by this mask that I decided to buy one. Here are a few of my thoughts. After initial inspection, the mask does not fit well with a traditional hat. This is due to a few factors. As stated above the eye hole is very high up and the pads cause the whole mask to climb up. Now this is a problem when used with a hat. So the way I found to fix this is using the mask with my Cobalt Skull-Cap. I think the two pieces of equipment work very well together. The harness is alright for a stock harness. It has a few positives. 1. it has silicon grip strips on the the inside. It also has a built in strap retention system so that electrical tape is not required. The negative however is that the harness has very little stretch. But this is a positive when dealing with the skull cap. The other negative is that if you buy the version with grey pads, the harness comes grey as well. 

 

The mask itself is textured similarly to the cobalt skull cap. Which I don't mind. The great thing about the mask is that the solid steel wire is a very thin gauge. This provides great sight lines when tracking pitches through the portion of the mask below the eye opening. I've only tried it for about 1.5 innings of a freshman game but was very happy with it.