[greymule]

You really should pick up one of each (Kevlar and the less expensive one)and compare them.

That's the problem. Although I live in the most densely populated state and in the virtual center of the Boston-Washington corridor (and this, Scott, is just as "left" a coast except that is happens to sit on the right of the map!), not one of the many sports stores in the area carries any All-Star helmets. The selection of umpire equipment—masks, indicators, pads, chest protectors, shoes, etc.—runs from cheap to cheaper. Therefore, I have to shop on the web.

Actually, one local store does have the POS+ plate shoe—for 225% of the cost from POS+ itself, and only in size 9.

The stores do stock expensive softball bats, though.