Davis MK2 Chest Protector

[umpintosh]

Since there's nothing really here discussing this, I thought I'd be the first to, well, talk about it.

The chest protector is pretty darn nice comfort-wise. The neck area has some padding that won't rub my neck as much as my old Champro did. The hooks are pretty nice, and I adjusted to them pretty quickly. The rest of the chest protector is pretty much a normal chest protector, apart from how thin it is. Davis is not exaggerating when they say this is low profile, and as a skinny teenager, this fits me pretty well and doesn't make me look like I am a balloon about to pop. 

tdlr: love it, thanks @DerekGDS

[Marcus6]

Davis has filled a glaring need for us - innovating products with modern materials

[umpintosh]

2 hours ago, Marcus6 said:

Davis has filled a glaring need for us - innovating products with modern materials

Agreed, interesting to see what other innovations they create

[WIUMP]

I picked up the Enduro to replace my venerated Schutt VX. I don't have the fit dialed in quite yet but the amount of R&D they put in to the product is evident. I wonder, however, how they can do this with no other markets. The other big companies' R&D budget encompasses both their player and umpire lines, with the player line being much more lucrative. Realistically, the typical entry level umpire is probably choosing the $100 Champro or Champion off the shelf at the local sporting good store. The market Davis is shooting for seems exceedingly narrow. Plus, and I may be wrong about this, many umpires (not the ones not on U-E) keep their gear forever. 

[DerekGDS]

1 hour ago, Matthew Turner said:

I picked up the Enduro to replace my venerated Schutt VX. I don't have the fit dialed in quite yet but the amount of R&D they put in to the product is evident. I wonder, however, how they can do this with no other markets. The other big companies' R&D budget encompasses both their player and umpire lines, with the player line being much more lucrative. Realistically, the typical entry level umpire is probably choosing the $100 Champro or Champion off the shelf at the local sporting good store. The market Davis is shooting for seems exceedingly narrow. Plus, and I may be wrong about this, many umpires (not the ones not on U-E) keep their gear forever. 

[DerekGDS]

In all seriousness, I don't think any company serving both the player and umpire markets has put real R&D into the umpire side. It's almost entirely player oriented. It varies but a lot of their umpire gear is just relabeled or tweaked. In other cases, something is developed and not even touched or looked at again for a decade. And honestly, for those larger companies, the total addressable market for umpires is too small to justify dedicated investment.

Now, the Enduro does operate in a narrow segment within an already niche market... no getting around that. But our full lineup does cover the lower-mid/mid market, so we're not just chasing the top end.

I think the real gap isn't product, it's distribution and education. Two of our admittedly weaker areas that we're working on improving. 

[umpintosh]

13 hours ago, Matthew Turner said:

Realistically, the typical entry level umpire is probably choosing the $100 Champro or Champion off the shelf at the local sporting good store. The market Davis is shooting for seems exceedingly narrow. Plus, and I may be wrong about this, many umpires (not the ones not on U-E) keep their gear forever. 

Champro umpire packs are insanely popular among new umpires in my org, and most guys (unless mentioned by a boss or someone) have never heard of Davis as it’s easier to just search on amazon for umpire gear. Heck I didnt know about them until i joined UE. Hopefully this changes.

[wolfe_man]

13 minutes ago, umpintosh said:

Champro umpire packs are insanely popular among new umpires in my org, and most guys (unless mentioned by a boss or someone) have never heard of Davis as it’s easier to just search on amazon for umpire gear. Heck I didnt know about them until i joined UE. Hopefully this changes.

It's all our jobs to help get the word out.  Good umpire friends don't let umpire friends (acquaintances, neighbor, enemies, etc.) buy Champro.  We should always encourage other umpires to buy the gear that is going to keep them safe and be a good investment for their health and safety.

As the saying says, "buy once - cry once".  Get the best stuff right upfront and use it all the way through your umpire lifespan instead of buying cheap, uncomfortable and unsafe gear and then constantly needing to upgrade it - and in the end spending far more than just getting the best the first time.

[834k3r]

35 minutes ago, wolfe_man said:

It's all our jobs to help get the word out.  Good umpire friends don't let umpire friends (acquaintances, neighbor, enemies, etc.) buy Champro.  We should always encourage other umpires to buy the gear that is going to keep them safe and be a good investment for their health and safety.

As the saying says, "buy once - cry once".  Get the best stuff right upfront and use it all the way through your umpire lifespan instead of buying cheap, uncomfortable and unsafe gear and then constantly needing to upgrade it - and in the end spending far more than just getting the best the first time.

💯

When I started umpiring however many years ago, I received an equipment "scholarship" from Battlefields2Ballfields (great non-profit, BTW) and all the gear was Champro and 3n2. Then I found this site and saw the folks talking about better gear. I simply didn't know how much better the gear was or where to find it.

The other battle we have to face is that the allure of a "starter kit" (cheap and convenient) is immensely attractive to a prospective umpire.

[wolfe_man]

18 minutes ago, 834k3r said:

💯

When I started umpiring however many years ago, I received an equipment "scholarship" from Battlefields2Ballfields (great non-profit, BTW) and all the gear was Champro and 3n2. Then I found this site and saw the folks talking about better gear. I simply didn't know how much better the gear was or where to find it.

The other battle we have to face is that the allure of a "starter kit" (cheap and convenient) is immensely attractive to a prospective umpire.

And I understand why it's appealing, plus I believe some gear is donated by large vendors/manufacturers also.

I started with Champro too, but quickly found this site and realized I needed better gear than I had purchased initially.  Many years later, I'm with the "buy once - cry once" crowd.  Yes, it's expensive but you can perform better, and get better games as a result, when you're not worried about getting hit by pitches.  The right gear helps you to calm down and see everything better.

[WIUMP]

10 hours ago, wolfe_man said:

And I understand why it's appealing, plus I believe some gear is donated by large vendors/manufacturers also.

I started with Champro too, but quickly found this site and realized I needed better gear than I had purchased initially.  Many years later, I'm with the "buy once - cry once" crowd.  Yes, it's expensive but you can perform better, and get better games as a result, when you're not worried about getting hit by pitches.  The right gear helps you to calm down and see everything better.

My first gear actually came from a local sports complex trying to lock in new umpires for their “daddy ball” leagues—they were handing out free sets through a deal with Wilson. It came with a Wilson DavisShield.

That abomination is actually how I found this site… because I couldn’t believe it was supposed to protect me from anything north of 60. 😅

Upgraded pretty quickly after getting some good advice here.

Makes me wonder how many guys actually took the field with that thing—and at what level.

**I am assuming that #12 had very little to do with that chest protector besides cashing the endorsement checks.

[The Man in Blue]

Um … I did.  😁

I wore it for many years up through Varsity baseball.  Derek can vouch for me, as mine became an organ donor or lab rat or something of the sorts.

Was it the most protective CP?  No, but there were lessons to be learned from it.  I found the fit, flexibility, and comfort to be superb.  I liked the plastic “slide knob” instead of clips.

More importantly, I loved the first time my wife saw me putting it on to adjust it in the living room.  She took one look and said, “What the hell are you supposed to be, Batman?”

[MadMax]

2 hours ago, DerekGDS said:

I think the real gap isn't product, it's distribution and education.

 

18 hours ago, Marcus6 said:

a glaring need for us

I picked these two buzzwords because they are indicative of one of the problems facing us – 
"Education" is NOT some umpire (regardless the level they work) standing at the front of a group of umpires, pointing at the MLB logo on a (30 year old design!) Wilson CP... or Mask... or Shins (all 30+ year old designs!) saying, "This is all you need!"

Wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong! 

Education begins with fit (this is something that @kylejt would preach on, IIRC).

I'll expand "fit" to include "purpose, level, and (relative) location" used. Purpose, as it relates to gear selection (aside from the obvious), is an important factor when one is looking for particular features. For example, are you choosing taller CPs (15"-17") because you need it, or because you want "tummy coverage"? Have you considered an extension? 
Also, are you ruling out certain types or models of CPs because they include / don't include such features as bicep guards, or the mythical "gap protection" (ailettes)? 
What level of baseball are you working? Granted, the advice of "get one model, the best that can do everything" does hold a modicum of validity to it. Nothing, at any level, is going to insulate us from impacts. However, there's a certain amount of "ridiculousness" that manifests when you wear "pro-grade" gear for a 12-year old game event – especially when worn improperly fitted, and you yourself are... of an exaggerated size (either over or under). That genuinely is 1 of "The Main 3" Reasons why there aren't a great deal of female umpires (or officials, for that matter). For the sake of this thread, I won't detail the other 2, but improperly designed and fitted gear (and uniforms, et. al.) is a significant challenge to being effective in umpiring (officiating), and progressing your proficiency. 

Of course, "location" is the region in which you're predominantly working. As best example, relative to what we're discussing, the entire DX family of CPs use the exact same geometries, carapace materials, and accessories. The only difference is in the padded components. The Mk II and Kuta both use Davis' Covalta (catchy name!) crosslink foam, while the Enduro uses D3O. The D3O was employed for its proven performance in high-temperature / high-humidity environments, which a substantial number of us experience in the southern states, or the tropics (think Caribbean & Central & South American baseball), or right in mid-season summer baseball. But is the premium material cost necessary, for all environments, at all levels? No. We've already demonstrated that the Kuta and Mk II can thrive in similar environments, at similar levels. 
With that being said, frequency is going to be another factor. In the southern states of Florida, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, and SoCal, we have multiple games to do, nearly each and every day (if we want 'em). As such, we need gear to perform not only robustly, but reliably consistent, and the cost is offset by that frequency. If you're someone who utilizes this gear only occasionally, then you don't necessarily need to go with the premium cost. I wouldn't want you to compromise on quality of craftsmanship or any features that you specifically need, but I wouldn't want you to drop $150 more on a <ahem> name brand CP, just because some schmuck at your local association points at some yellow letter, when the exact same CP model is produced by a "less prestigious" company... at a much more realistic price point. 
Or, buy brand-new mask pads every year just because, again, some neophyte comes back from a <ahem> clinic or camp, and relays that he was told that we (collectively) have to change our mask pads every year... arbitrarily... without any regard of condition, location, or frequency. 

Whew!
So to bring it back to the Davis Mk. II, yes! it's an item I heavily endorse and it can be an absolute workhorse for most umpires. 

11 hours ago, Matthew Turner said:

a Wilson DavisShield.

 

11 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

I wore it for many years up through Varsity baseball.  Derek can vouch for me, as mine became an organ donor or lab rat or something of the sorts.

Was it the most protective CP?  No, but there were lessons to be learned from it.  I found the fit, flexibility, and comfort to be superb.

For its time, it was an effective CP. I've had this discussion with @DerekGDS and @wolfe_man (yes, we really do sit around and "talk shop"; it's hilarious... I don't know if we're like ol' mechanics, or farmers, or anglers, or table-top gamers) before, and posed this rhetorical question – what was the DaviShield's greatest flaw? 

My answer is simple – being produced by Wilson. Full stop. Not only was it handicapped by using open-cell foam (which decays and collapses over time), but there was no way that Wilson was going to allow the DaviShield – no matter how ingenious it may have been – to overshadow the Gold and/or Platinum. Absolutely not. 

I place it in the same sub-class as the +POS BB2000 "The Samurai" CP. All those interlinked, scale-armor-like segments in the torso. They both were trying to achieve this dexterity and articulation so as to conform to one's torso cylindrically, but not impede bending rotationally. All the other standard CPs, of that time, were like brick walls. The BB2000 suffered from over-complexity that absolutely suffocated breathability. By contrast, the DaviShield stitched the way-too-simple foam laminate directly to each plastic segment. With no way of being cleaned or (re) conditioned, and no way of being allowed to move or re-lofted, the foam crushed and collapsed, so after so many uses, the loft of the foam was gone, and the DaviShield felt and looked woefully thin. And, in this line of work, how you feel about the gear, the impression it gives you, matters... to your confidence with it. "Safety", in this context, is not an objective condition – "On" or "Off". "Safety" is an emotional condition – do you feel "safe" (or "protected")? 

Again, for its time, I would argue that it was waaaaay out ahead of the Gold, innovation-wise. The shoulders were far better molded, and the elastic connecting splines – while prone to wearing out and losing their elasticity – were much more effective than the Gold's method of a critical stitch conjoining the pad segments. The "slide knob" fastener was tremendously better than those barbaric T-hooks, and still are more survivable than Side Release Buckles (SRBs). What didn't help was the propensity for that elastic (back then) on the harness to loose its elasticity, with it being a substantial hassle to replace it. Furthermore, an entire back panel acting as the harness was a much more secure fit than the wretched yoke-disc Wilson (and other producers) used. It was the forerunner of the Flex harnesses we now have, thanks to @Razzer. 

[834k3r]

On 3/27/2026 at 8:37 AM, wolfe_man said:

I'm with the "buy once - cry once" crowd.

I am as well. But the crying isn't limited to once. I had my plate shoes shined by Leather Luster, and the JV F2 in front of me on Saturday stepped on one of them as he had to quickly move to the side as he stood to catch a ball well outside and high. "Did I step on your foot?"

[wolfe_man]

4 minutes ago, 834k3r said:

I am as well. But the crying isn't limited to once. I had my plate shoes shined by Leather Luster, and the JV F2 in front of me on Saturday stepped on one of them as he had to quickly move to the side as he stood to catch a ball well outside and high. "Did I step on your foot?"

Ugh, hate it when that happens.  I used to run an older pair of plates for JV games for that reason, but I've had Varsity F2's do it as well.

[834k3r]

Just now, wolfe_man said:

Ugh, hate it when that happens.  I used to run an older pair of plates for JV games for that reason, but I've had Varsity F2's do it as well.

That's my plan moving forward. I'll keep the gouged ones for JV games, and have another pair done for Varsity games. See, @Velho? This is why I have multiple pairs of plate shoes.  🤣

[Velho]

33 minutes ago, 834k3r said:

This is why I have multiple pairs of plate shoes

Trying to convince me or yourself? 😁