The Holy Grail of umpire gear

[BigUmp56]

Wasn't the carbon-fibre mask pulled from production because some of them shattered?


Tim.

[Emperor Ump]

Originally Posted by BigUmp56

Wasn't the carbon-fibre mask pulled from production because some of them shattered?


Tim.

That's what I was thinking.

[mrm21711]

Originally Posted by Emperor Ump

That's what I was thinking.

And Kyle admitted he got a concussion while wearing one.

[kylejt]

Originally Posted by mrm21711

And Kyle admitted he got a concussion while wearing one.

Two successive blasts during a game. The flatness of the mask didn't help either. Instead of deflecting the balls, it absorbed them. It went up for sale the next week.

[johnnyg08]

I did get blasted a couple of times last year...

do you have a link of the mask that you claim is lighter than this one...I'd be interested in getting one of those...I had to take my lower pad to a leather shop to have him patch the holes in my mask because I couldn't get a replacement lower pad.

[JJ]

I used one of these for four years - got a free replacement when they were recalled - and never had a problem with them. Other umpires would marvel at how light they were. I went to a single bar two years ago and like it, as well.
A buddy wearing one of these +POS masks got drilled two years in a row and got a broken nose EACH TIME. +POS paid the doctor bills (I was surprised). I called my buddy Pinnochio for a year after that

JJ

[Matt]

Originally Posted by JJ

+POS paid the doctor bills (I was surprised).

I'm surprised, too...that the doctor wasn't backordered indefinitely.

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by johnnyg08

I did get blasted a couple of times last year...

do you have a link of the mask that you claim is lighter than this one...I'd be interested in getting one of those...

Be careful. Light is good to a point, but so far, each of the popular "ultra light", "feather light", "Zero Gravity", etc masks have been found to have weaknesses.

Most are made of aluminum alloys, or are constructed with hollow metal tubes, or both, and have had issues.

A possible exception may be the Nike titanium mask, which so far, has only been made available, I believe, to MLB umpires.

I have owned the Plus Pos Zero Gravity, (bent to hell the third year) and the flatter profile lighter Wilson mask that was the rage last year (a couple of headaches...the flatter profile doesn't deflct the ball or spread the impact as well). I went back to my old West Vest midway through last year.

As backwards looking as it may be, the best combination of safe, light and accessible might be that old West Vest.

[MadCityRef]

Perhaps gentlemen it is not the masks but your positioning.

A full-on hit to any mask can cause a concussion. A glancing blow to a properly fitted/adjusted mask should cause it to move (spin).
Take any hit to the mask and it doesn't move, it's on too tight. The energy of the blow is being absorbed by your head, not the mask.

[BretMan]

Garth, I believe that you are right about the Nike titanium. As I mentioned here last week, our local association was lucky enough to have MLB umpire Tim Timmons address our last meeting. Tim is from this area, his father was a longtime member of out association and both came up through our ranks. Both remain honorary members. Tim is kind enough to stop in each year before heading south for Florida.

The subject of masks came up last night and we were told that Nike produced a limited run of only 300 titaniums. Most all were earmarked for use in MLB.

Tim also told us that he went to a helmet a few years ago, but found it personally uncomfortable in the heat. He went to a lightweight mask and got his bell rung a couple of times, then switched the Nike mask and hasn't had any problems.

Being exotic material and in limited production, we were told that the NIKE's ran $1000 a copy!