+POS mask

[Kevin Finnerty]

It must be a real p.o.s. mask if you can get a concussion from a 10-year-old.

[johnnyg08]

did you turn your head?

[kylejt]

Originally Posted by johnnyg08

did you turn your head?

Yes, but I didn't cough. (no, I didn't turn my head, silly)

No, it didn't break.

The foul wasn't that hard, but I shouldn't have taken the brunt of that blow. IMO, the culprit was it's flat shape. It absorbed, as opposed to deflect. THAT was my problem with the SUL 100 I had. (That, and the huge planks you had to peer through)

[LDUB]

Originally Posted by SJUMBA93

With all due respect, I believe that anyone could get a concussion with any mask under the "right" circumstances.

Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty

It must be a real p.o.s. mask if you can get a concussion from a 10-year-old.

All any mask can do is to try to minimize the user's odds of getting injured. No mask will be able to prevent all injuries.

A few years ago many people had denting problems with the +POS zero gravity mask. There was one prominent poster on this forum who used the zero gravity and said that he had taken numerous hard shots while wearing it and had experiences no denting at all. Then one day he got hit and the mask was severely dented. The shot he took wasn't really any different than the others he had taken previously, but it just struck the mask just differently enough to cause a huge dent. The same thing happens with injuries. One can go a long period of time without getting injured, that doesn't necessarily mean the mask is safer, but rather that the user has not yet taken that one unlucky shot yet. I could go buy the $500 HSM from Honig's and go work a 10 year old game and get injured in the first inning. Does that make it a terrible mask? No, as no mask can prevent all injuries.

I believe that the SUL mask is flatter than the Wilson so maybe the Wilson would have deflected the ball differently, but any shot to the head is dangerous and has the potential to cause injury.

[Kevin Finnerty]

So you require an injury to determine a mask's safety?

[LDUB]

Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty

So you require an injury to determine a mask's safety?

No. Every shot a mask takes has the potential to dent the mask or to injure the user. A mask could get dented on the first blow it takes. That doesn't make it a bad mask as all masks (maybe not titanium masks) will dent if they are hit right. The right hit might be on the first hit the mask takes or the 100th.

The same thing happens with injuries. One could get injured using a mask then get a new one and then a 9 months have passed and he hasn't been injured again. That doesn't necessarily mean that the new mask protects better. It is quite possible that the old mask would have provided the same protection as injuries are freak things; they come up randomly. Of course some masks are better than others when it comes to dent resistance and protection but judging that by how long it takes to dent or to injure the user isn't the best grading system.

[johnnyg08]

was your mask fitted properly? the only reason I'm pressing on your concussion from 10 yr old baseball is that I've been blasted w/ my SUL many times, at levels much higher than 10 yr. old ball and certain shots will always sting...but the mask has deflected...not to say it couldn't have happend to me (see LDUB's post) I guess I just never saw or heard of any injuries that occurred simply due to the fact they the ump was wearing the SUL, not that it couldn't have happened because you never know

[kylejt]

Originally Posted by johnnyg08

was your mask fitted properly?

Plenty loose. When I bend at the waist, I'll get the chin pad 2-3" off my chin.

Here's my point: A flat mask, like the ol' +POS SUL, will tend to absorb, as opposed to deflect, square shots. My blow was totally absorbed by the mask, as the ball fell at my feet.

[Kevin Finnerty]

Originally Posted by kylejt

Plenty loose. When I bend at the waist, I'll get the chin pad 2-3" off my chin.

Here's my point: A flat mask, like the ol' +POS SUL, will tend to absorb, as opposed to deflect, square shots. My blow was totally absorbed by the mask, as the ball fell at my feet.

I had one like that with the titanium, and unlike the dynalite with the regular pads, the titanium with the wrap-arounds really made it much less jarring.

[Kevin Finnerty]

Originally Posted by LDUB

No. Every shot a mask takes has the potential to dent the mask or to injure the user. A mask could get dented on the first blow it takes. That doesn't make it a bad mask as all masks (maybe not titanium masks) will dent if they are hit right. The right hit might be on the first hit the mask takes or the 100th.

The same thing happens with injuries. One could get injured using a mask then get a new one and then a 9 months have passed and he hasn't been injured again. That doesn't necessarily mean that the new mask protects better. It is quite possible that the old mask would have provided the same protection as injuries are freak things; they come up randomly. Of course some masks are better than others when it comes to dent resistance and protection but judging that by how long it takes to dent or to injure the user isn't the best grading system.

It seems like the pads should be the thing we're discussing. Part of what makes it resilient to a blow is the constitution of the pads.

[kylejt]

I think a lot it had to do with how squarely it hits you. You can take shots all day at your cheek bones, but one on the nose will ring your bell. The flatter the mask, the more you have a chance for a square shot, IMO.

With the HSM, the bad spot is the top of the forehead, as there's little padding there. Luckily, my All Star is fairly pointed at that spot, and I've only caught a couple flush ones.