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I've been using a drilled out baseball glued to a stick for years as a teaching aid. When umpires are behind the plate, it's easy to demonstrate ball position, to make sure they aren't blocked out.
I had an old graphite golf shaft hanging around, so I Gorilla Glued (good stuff) a ball to the end of it. It's got a nice grip, and works well for instruction.
When I got the Davishield, I really liked the fit and construction. But, I was dubious of the thickness of the padding, and whether the panels would lock up on impact. I could have had someone throw balls at me, or fired up the Jugs machine and hope for the best. Naw. To test it properly I needed to take hits in specific places.
My son is a decent golfer, and a long (300+ yd) ball hitter. So I had him dial in on certain parts of the chest protector, and increase the velocity of the shots. The Davishield worked okay at straight blows to the sternum. It seemed to flatten out, lock up the plates, and spread out the energy. But shots to the rib cage, or off center shots, had painful effects.
So here's my take on the testing. If laid flat, the Davishield will interlock the panels, and disperse the energy as designed. But, if wrapped around a torso, the side shots won't lock up the panels, and one small panel will transmit the energy through the thin pad. So I can see where the Davis will out perform the WV, but only if laid flat. Unfortunately.................
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