All-Star Cobalt Chest Protector vs. CPU4000 - Real-life experience

[Rock Bottom]

So, I was wondering if anyone had any actual experience wearing the Cobalt in games, who also wore the CPU4000? I saw some preliminary comparisons on Facebook, but was wanted to see if any actual experience is out there and could comment which they like better, etc.  (If the only comment is based on CPU4000 neck size, no worries - it fits me! LOL)  Thanks!

[wolfe_man]

@kylejtI believe has comments on FB and has both CP's.  I'll tag him and maybe he'll care to share here as well.

 

[Rock Bottom]

22 minutes ago, wolfe_man said:

@kylejtI believe has comments on FB and has both CP's.  I'll tag him and maybe he'll care to share here as well.

 

I saw his review on FB where his son beat him with a bat! LOL!!!! But I didn't see any real game comparisons (not that I recall anyway.)

Thanks!

[BT_Blue]

I believe Kyle wrote a brief comparison on here. You could probably do a search for the keywords. 

[Rock Bottom]

29 minutes ago, BT_Blue said:

I believe Kyle wrote a brief comparison on here. You could probably do a search for the keywords. 

I did do that first - just didn't find any comparisons between the two based on game experience.

[BT_Blue]

I would probably PM Kyle on Facebook then. Might get a fast response that sitting and waiting. 

[Rock Bottom]

On 12/11/2020 at 11:36 PM, BT_Blue said:

I would probably PM Kyle on Facebook then. Might get a fast response that sitting and waiting. 

Thanks - I went back and checked out his Facebook posts again. I decided to get another CPU4000 as a back-up to my primary CPU4000, I love it that much.  I see great reviews for the Cobalt, but I figure that if I have any problems better to have 2 of the same model, the old, "two is one, one is none" mantra applied to chest protectors.

[BT_Blue]

If that's the case. Then having 3 chest protectors i must be in great shape! Lol

I REALLY wanted to like the System7. But the issue with my neck barely fitting was a giant red flag. I went with a MaXV and liked it. But didn't love it (especially that CHEAP AND CRAPPY VELCRO!) I really like my All American. So much so, that I traded the MaXV for a Champion as a backup. 

Now, not one to look badly at Gilt Horses, I was offered a Cobalt prototype. This will become my main rig this season (fingers crossed). 

[kylejt]

Bat? Naw. Baseball Gorilla glued to the end of a graphite golf shaft, swung with glee by my 6'4" son. 

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/376616286660443/permalink/399206824401389

 

As for real world shots, it's really, really hard compare those as no two blows on the field are the same, and so much time passes between them. My study tried to get similar blows in a short period of time. 

 

 

[BT_Blue]

5 hours ago, kylejt said:

Bat? Naw. Baseball Gorilla glued to the end of a graphite golf shaft, swung with glee by my 6'4" son. 

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/376616286660443/permalink/399206824401389

 

As for real world shots, it's really, really hard compare those as no two blows on the field are the same, and so much time passes between them. My study tried to get similar blows in a short period of time. 

 

 

Still think he took pitty on his old man. 

[kylejt]

Those pops I took on camera were nothing like the good blows I had taken earlier, to do some proper comparisons. The kid didn't want those filmed to be later used against him to answer to charges of elder abuse. 

[BT_Blue]

I'm here for the major bruising! Lol

I believe I made this joke when you first posted it. But good job picking the boy to give you the whacks. When I was trying to find a replacement for my Gold (of which the System7 was one of the options). I made the mistake of handing SWMBO the baseball tipped golf club! #NeverAgain #NeverForget lol

[humanbackstop19]

OK, got my first in-action game test of the Cobalt vs System 7 in Saturday night and here are the main thoughts.  First, compared to the System 7 (which I absolutely loved for 4 years), I could barely tell I was wearing a CP most of the game.  It is much lighter, lower profile, and breathed very well.  Even throwing balls back to the P was a helluva lot easier.  I kept my System 7 just in case, but I think it's gonna hit the secondary market soon. 

[BT_Blue]

1 minute ago, humanbackstop19 said:

OK, got my first in-action game test of the Cobalt vs System 7 in Saturday night and here are the main thoughts.  First, compared to the System 7 (which I absolutely loved for 4 years), I could barely tell I was wearing a CP most of the game.  It is much lighter, lower profile, and breathed very well.  Even throwing balls back to the P was a helluva lot easier.  I kept my System 7 just in case, but I think it's gonna hit the secondary market soon. 

Did you make any adjustments to your Cobalt? Or use it as is out of the box?

[humanbackstop19]

On 3/1/2021 at 12:46 PM, BT_Blue said:

Did you make any adjustments to your Cobalt? Or use it as is out of the box?

I'm only 5'10" so took the abdominal extension off naturally.  I took the should plates off as well, but kept them in the more marrow position.  

[BT_Blue]

5 hours ago, humanbackstop19 said:

I'm only 5'10" so took the abdominal extension off naturally.  I took the should plates off as well, but kept them in the more marrow position.  

That reminds me... I want to take the extention off and try that this weekend. 

I too took the gap plates off. But moved in the shoulder plates tested the gap. AND WOULDN'T YOU KNOW IT! Fastball from a kid in the mid 80s, misses the shoulder plate and glances right off the outside of my arm. Still not going to move them out a spot. But I will have to fashion a gap plates before I do.

[Thunderheads]

16 hours ago, BT_Blue said:

That reminds me... I want to take the extention off and try that this weekend. 

I too took the gap plates off. But moved in the shoulder plates tested the gap. AND WOULDN'T YOU KNOW IT! Fastball from a kid in the mid 80s, misses the shoulder plate and glances right off the outside of my arm. Still not going to move them out a spot. But I will have to fashion a gap plates before I do.

DE contenting a piece of protective equipment is like walking up to your partner about 1/2 way through a game between innings and saying ... "boy, this game is flying by!"   

[BT_Blue]

Lol... I have the material to do it. Just need to actually do it. (And let's face it... I probably am never going to)

[humanbackstop19]

Update:  Took the first direct hit yesterday in a JUCO game.  P was mid to upper 80's.  Foul ball caught me square in the right shoulder extension.  Big plastic "whack" ........  Did not feel a thing!  Loving this thing more every time I wear it.

[BT_Blue]

I've mentioned this on Facebook multiple times. But I think my prototype is ball resistant! Not to the point where the ball misses ME. But that the ball doesn't hit the Cobalt itself!

So far, it has hit me in places where I have either moved or removed padding! 

Examples (and it is a small sample size since I can only work weekends):

Game 1: removed gap plates and moved shoulder plates in = take glancing blow to outer upper arm from kid sneakily throwing mid 80s 

Game 2: removed lower extention and moved pec pads to bottom of CP (think padding configurationon the System7) . Forever referred to by me was the @kylejtModification = take foul ball to exact location where pec pads was on right side.

Game 3: no further modifications = take foul ball ricochet off ground to gut... tight where extention would have been.

I can happily say I will not be making any more changes. But plate game #4 is going to be an adventure into the unknown! Lol

[kylejt]

1 hour ago, BT_Blue said:

 

Game 2: removed lower extention and moved pec pads to bottom of CP (think padding configurationon the System7) . Forever referred to by me was the @kylejtModification = take foul ball to exact location where pec pads was on right side.

 

@kylejtModification™ is a registered tradmark, so.........................

 

[BT_Blue]

10 hours ago, kylejt said:

@kylejtModification™ is a registered tradmark, so.........................

 

I think I might be the "modification name giver" in the group. I was also the one to coin the term "MaXV" for the Schutt mod.

[boyinr]

Any more updates to this since the seasons have started?  Thinking about pulling the trigger on this exchange once they are back in stock at U-A.   

[MadMax]

While I've not actively used either of them (still loyal to my Schutt MaXV), I have tried both of them on and have fit-adjusted both of them to their owners. 

As a cohesive unit, the System 7 CPU4000 is more protective, because it's just plain larger and enshrouds more of the torso. The shoulder arch plates are pre-curved, and the embracing fit is enabled by the inclusion of a DeltaFlex harness – standard (how's that, Wilson?). Clavicle protection is at a premium, with the shoulder arch plates connected to the cuirass (breastplate) with overlapping, pivoting pins instead of the typical vinyl hinges (as nearly every other CP does). This does impinge on the neck opening, so it does get a little cramped on thick-necked guys. Despite the relatively vast amount of plating for protection, it is countered by an incredibly innovative heat-chimney design, with the foam jacket built in segments around sandwiches of advanced foams and wicking meshes, all channeling heat away from the wearer's body. It's not quite like the "cheese grater" Schutt, but it's a helluva lot better (and cooler!) than the sweltering sofa-cushion foam blob that is (still!) on the Wilson CPs. 

With that said, the CPU4000 is a bit of a weighty beast. It reassures you of its protection by embracing you with its mass (as opposed to smothering you, like a Wilson). 

This trait alone is what sets the Cobalt CPU5000 apart from the CPU4000, it's sooooooo much lighter... er, less heavy. You get the idea. The carapace is comprised of High Density PolyEthylene (HDPE) instead of Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), which not only saves on weight, but allows for flexibility. Because the underlying foam segments are primarily TPU-EVA foam (of similar origin to my vaunted Schutt's 3DO foam), the carapace doesn't have to be as dense, nor as rigid, so as to resist impact energy and distribute it... like on Wilson's CPs. 

The Cobalt CPU5000 also has the distinction of being a true(r) "one-size-fits-all" CP... more truthfully, it's a "one size adapts to most", but really, this is accomplished without having to produce 2-4 differently sized units, and having to compromise coverage, or having to eschew parts. It's perhaps the first CP that adjusts its width inherently (the Platinum can have its width adjusted, but it's an undertaking that only a modder can do). If additional height is needed, it not only comes equipped with an extension, but the extension actually fastens on (with fasteners akin to Chicago Screws) and is hard-plated itself! Not even the Schutt-Adams XV-HDX offers that in its included extension. All of the Cobalt's carapace plates are segmented and pre-curved, leading to a unit that embraces you even more conforming than the CPU4000. But don't think that that increases the heat; instead, the foam jacket is divided up into individual segments. These segments are encased in a technical, airy wicking fabric, while the foam matrix inside them is TPU-EVA foam sandwiched to a modern open-cell foam, arranged in an "egg-carton" structure to introduce air pockets. 

Ask @tpatience... I tried his Cobalt CP on, and within seconds I said, "Game. Set. Match." (If you Wilson apologists can read the irony... your preferred company puts more effort and attention into tennis than they do into umpire equipment). Is it enough to move me away from my trusted Schutt MaXV? Ehhhh... not quite. My MaXV has been heavily modified, but it has survived 6 years of 120+ plate games per year, with many of them being MLB-quality velocities. I have no doubts that the Cobalt is up to that sort of expectation and performance. Since its only true rivals in class – the Power, Gold TWretro and Douglas TWretro – are relegated to the "collector's circuit", this is probably the best CP on the retail market. 

Is it perfect? No. It's not sized for everyone who umpires. It also isn't quite suited for women umpires, despite there being opportunities to accommodate. The Force3 UnEqual CP just needs a few design alterations and these two will be intense rivals. 

[Aging_Arbiter]

well, it would appear that @MadMax had a couple of extra minutes on his hands.