Quote:
Originally posted by Kaliix
...if they are cooler, do you get a better view of the strike zone, etc.?...
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Of the top 10 umpires in our association, 8 wear these masks.
I purchased mine this year and fell in love with it immediately. I had a completely different view of the strike zone and yes they are cooler. Temps here in the summer run in the high 90s with 90-99% humidity.
As for protection - My mask paid for itself the first game I worked with it on and two times since then. While wearing the old style mask this year (before I bought my helmet) in a HS Varsity game I took a foul ball off the side of the head where the ear protector is. It dazed me and knocked my mask off. This hit was different because I was kind of out of it for about 20 minutes.
My first game with my mask, I took a foul ball off the chin portion of my mask, the impact was distributed around the helmet, the mask jerked, but then quickly returned to position and I had no adverse effects. The same type situation has occured on two other occasions and I have experienced the same results.
One word of caution - don't do like I did and try your helmet out during a game situation. Go to the cage and spend some time working with it. Your perception is different with the helmet and game time isn't the time to be playing with it.