Need new shin guards

[Mister B]

So my Diamond Featherweights have served me well, but are a little short and have a cracked knee plate. So it's time to upgrade. I know the Force 3's are all the rage, but I have some concerns about the knee straps. I really liked that the diamonds didn't have a knees strap, as I can get pretty sweaty. I was a runner and did some bike racing in my younger days so I have fairly large quads and calves. 

Can I wear the F3's with the top strap very loose? Any other models to look at? I do like the plastic clips but I can work around that. I also loved that the Diamonds were so light, it didn't feel like you were wearing them. 

I could also take up Muy Thai and kick trees with my shins to build them up.

[umpstu]

8 minutes ago, Mister B said:

So my Diamond Featherweights have served me well, but are a little short and have a cracked knee plate. So it's time to upgrade. I know the Force 3's are all the rage, but I have some concerns about the knee straps. I really liked that the diamonds didn't have a knees strap, as I can get pretty sweaty. I was a runner and did some bike racing in my younger days so I have fairly large quads and calves. 

Can I wear the F3's with the top strap very loose? Any other models to look at? I do like the plastic clips but I can work around that. I also loved that the Diamonds were so light, it didn't feel like you were wearing them. 

I could also take up Muy Thai and kick trees with my shins to build them up.

I wear F3's and wouldn't see a reason why you couldn't wear the top strap loose.  I wear them all tightly though.  Really like the F3 shinguards.

[ArchAngel72]

I wear F3's love them and I wear the top strap looser than normal. on mine the top knee I set up a little high so when I put my hands down my hands tuck right in behind that ridge nice. It pretty much protects up my hand right about to the wrist that way.

 

[Mister B]

3 minutes ago, ArchAngel72 said:

It pretty much protects up my hand right about to the wrist that way.

I wish it would go higher, my forearms have been targets for foul balls this season. 

[noumpere]

If only this site had an "Umpire Equipment" forum ...

[GreyhoundAggie]

F3's for the win. You will love them. 

[ArchAngel72]

43 minutes ago, Mister B said:

I wish it would go higher, my forearms have been targets for foul balls this season. 

Oh I hear yah

 

although this year I am very thankful for the way F3's shrug off fouls and balls in the dirt. I have had them whacked and nicked and dinged so many times I cannot count and I barely feel a thing in them. Most times I hear it and do not feel anything but when I do its barely a hey you got hit there and I feel pleasant knowing it protected me so well.

not to mention how comfy soft and pillowy they feel.

so between that and my cup ( 12 hits so far this year)

I thank them profusely

[The Man in Blue]

1 hour ago, ArchAngel72 said:

so between that and my cup ( 12 hits so far this year)

 

[Velho]

I haven’t tried the F3 but got the Wilson Platinum new this year and like them. I was one 10U teams RBI machine the other night as F1 pinballed some impressive 15 foot high shots off the kneecaps. I didn’t feel a thing. 

[SeeingEyeDog]

2 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

 

Sounds to me like he's working games with catchers that like...can't catch, mannnnnn.

But, hey that's just like my opinion...I could be wrong.

~Dawg

[Aging_Arbiter]

I use the F3's, but I cross the top 2 straps 

[Richvee]

I wouldn't spend a dime on anything but F 3 shins

[The Man in Blue]

Those shinguards really tie your gear together.

[umpstu]

On 5/28/2021 at 12:56 PM, ArchAngel72 said:

Oh I hear yah

 

although this year I am very thankful for the way F3's shrug off fouls and balls in the dirt. I have had them whacked and nicked and dinged so many times I cannot count and I barely feel a thing in them. Most times I hear it and do not feel anything but when I do its barely a hey you got hit there and I feel pleasant knowing it protected me so well.

not to mention how comfy soft and pillowy they feel.

so between that and my cup ( 12 hits so far this year)

I thank them profusely

Get rid of the magnetic balls.  They are no longer the rage.

[umpstu]

On 5/28/2021 at 4:49 PM, SeeingEyeDog said:

Sounds to me like he's working games with catchers that like...can't catch, mannnnnn.

But, hey that's just like my opinion...I could be wrong.

~Dawg

The dude abideth.

[umpstu]

3 hours ago, Aging_Arbiter said:

I use the F3's, but I cross the top 2 straps 

I cross those as well.  Had to tighten them up this year as I lost leg mass during the pandemic.  I believe it shifted upwards to my fat muscle.

[ArchAngel72]

On 5/28/2021 at 5:46 PM, The Man in Blue said:

 

On 5/28/2021 at 7:49 PM, SeeingEyeDog said:

Sounds to me like he's working games with catchers that like...can't catch, mannnnnn.

But, hey that's just like my opinion...I could be wrong.

~Dawg

Um well yeah.  You stand in the slot with a 8 yr old catcher trying to catch for his 1st time ever,  even some 10 yr olds do not have the hang of it.   But occasionally the foul back will be right there on an inside "fastball" from a 12 yr old.  MOST of those hit the non protected "dad bod". occasionally though  there is a whack. that hits carbon fiber.  If I am lucky its a full on shot and not a glancing blow. full on that thing stops everything and its more of a "ShocK" to me than anything else.  Its the slight grazes and or glancing blows that jar the cup up down or sideways slightly that "take my breath away"...  think top gun "maverick" on the crotch rocket sound track.. 

🙉🙊🙈

 

[beerguy55]

Normally I'd say two-by-fours and duct tape...but right now it's cheaper to buy a Tesla than a couple of two-by-fours.

[MadMax]

I put @Razzer’s UmpLife SHarnesses on my Force3 Ultimates, like this:

... and I don’t need to even touch ‘em during the game. 

[ArchAngel72]

5 minutes ago, MadMax said:

I put @Razzer’s UmpLife SHarnesses on my Force3 Ultimates, like this:

... and I don’t need to even touch ‘em during the game. 

ewe, those look DIRTY!

[MadMax]

2 minutes ago, ArchAngel72 said:

ewe, those look DIRTY!

Over 150 plate games per year for the past 8 years (at least) of having these shins. 

And we have fields so dusty down here in Arizona that kick up choking, pneumonia-inducing clouds of dust... on every pitch in the dirt!!! 

I’ve called games where my cup has dust clinging to it afterwards. No joke. 

I’d rather get the details of a call right than worry about the cleanliness of my well-worn shinguards. 

[ArchAngel72]

10 minutes ago, MadMax said:

Over 150 plate games per year for the past 8 years (at least) of having these shins. 

And we have fields so dusty down here in Arizona that kick up choking, pneumonia-inducing clouds of dust... on every pitch in the dirt!!! 

I’ve called games where my cup has dust clinging to it afterwards. No joke. 

I’d rather get the details of a call right than worry about the cleanliness of my well-worn shinguards. 

 

Heh mine look similar after two games in one of the dust bowls I ump at.  The sandy soil mixture they use there is AWFUL. 

But I try to keep up and clean them at least every other game. 

[HokieUmp]

1 hour ago, MadMax said:

I’ve called games where my cup has dust clinging to it afterwards. No joke. 

I mean, I don't want to tell you how to do your job, and you do you, and all of that, but:

........ you could wear pants, Max.

[Razzer]

Max, this is the best way to wear my shin harnes

 

[SeeingEyeDog]

Obligatory...

~Dawg

[The Man in Blue]

On 6/3/2021 at 10:53 AM, MadMax said:

I put @Razzer’s UmpLife SHarnesses on my Force3 Ultimates, like this:

... and I don’t need to even touch ‘em during the game. 

Sorry Max, that looks like how most 10u catchers wear them ... just attach the strap to any damned point that will hang on ... then wrap it around twice and duct tape it.  🤣