Diamond Bag
 

I received my new equipment bag yesterday. I looked at the reviews of the Evans bag online, but I haven't seen one in person. I have a couple of buddies who have the Wilson, and they like it. One of my buddies has a connection who made me a good deal on the Diamond, so I bought it. I've never been excited about the look of the Diamond, but like I said, I got a good deal.

I bought the 36", and the thing is huge. "Bulky" is a good term for the bag. I use a garment bag for my shirts, pants, and jackets, so I don't need the top shelf for them. This gives me tons of room for caps, ball bags, undergear, etc.

I like the shoe compartment on the end. Very roomy.
The top flap is nice. Plenty of smaller compartments for accessories.
Zippers and rollers seem to be heavy duty.
All in all, I'm pleased.
Play ball!!!

How do you pack your shoes in the bag...i have a hard time fitting my plate shoes and base shoes in there?

Good choice!

The Wilson may look better, but the Diamond is made of a thicker material (850 D to the Wilson's 600 D), and I also think the zippers appear to be more durable. And those mesh pockets in the top flap also are a plus over the Wilson.

Buddy, the sense of security you gain is cool. If you have this one bag in your car, you have every piece of gear and accessories that you need to umpire a ballgame.

I was looking at this bag and the Wilson. Unfortunately, I cannot find a sports store around here that carries either. Who would have thought that :rolleyes: From the looks of the pictures of the Diamond bag on www.ump-attire.com, it looks like the chest protector is a soft-style that can be partially rolled up. I'm curious if my WV Platinum CP would fit in this bag with my WV Pro SG. Any opinions? Then again, I have that question about both bags

-Josh

Is the Diamond Bag garment compartment long enough that you can put your clothes onto hangers and then carry it around vertically? I just use a second hand garment bag where I put clothes hangers, and which I assume will also fit hats, ballbags and protective equipment. Then shoes I will put in a separate carryable bag. A much better deal in my opinion as I don't want to have to worry about folding all my shirts. Much better just to put them on hangers.

Answers to Questions
 

Yes, those items fit either bags. And in the Diamond, they'll fit in either the 30" or 36".

No, they're big but not that big.

Jim Kirk
Owner
www.ump-attire.com

Thanks Jim. Would it be possible to get a picture of the bottom compartment of the Wilson bag?

-Josh

The Platinum lays down on the bottom, with the shoulder area curved up the side, with the Golds on the bottom edge.
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...lparkguy/1.jpg

And on the 36-inch model, there’s room at the end for a HSM, and the space between the Platinum and the Gold Shins accommodates a pair of high tops and a mask.
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...lparkguy/3.jpg
(I normally keep all that stuff in bags, of course.)

The Diamond bag is nuts. In the top compartments, I put the following:
Left: Four Black caps and three navy caps in two Cap Keeps; Travel Kit with personal supplies
Center: Two pairs of leggings; one compression short; two cups; two belts; two knee braces; two ankle braces; two thigh braces; one back brace; two black ball bags; two navy ball bags
Right: Four mock-neck tees; four long-sleeve mock-neck undershirts; four crew-neck undershirts; gloves
And in that separate vented end compartment: Base shoes; sock bag
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...lparkguy/4.jpg
And in the flap, there are special open-end mesh pockets for your lineup card wallet and plate brush, and on either side of those, zippered mesh pockets for several indicators, stopwatch, pens, pencils, highlighter, patches, shoehorns, shoelaces, etc. On the bottom, there are two spacious closed storage pockets for wet bags, towels, and other foldable items, and in the center, a cell phone velcro pocket.
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...lparkguy/5.jpg

And on the front of this bag is a spacious instant access zippered pocket!

Those of you who are now sold on this magnificent equipment bag can obtain yours by clicking this link:
http://www.ump-attire.com/Merchant2/...roduct_Count=1

Geez, after being compelled to think about it: I have almost $2000.00 worth of stuff in that bag! I lose that and I'm out a who-o-o-o-o-le lot of game fees!

And, Josh,

The Wilson's bottom compartment is identical to the Diamond's.

Thanks for the pics. Too bad I didn't see those BEFORE I spent most of the night using the trial and error method! On second thought, I was like a kid at Christmas. It was fun.

I basically loaded my bag the same way, and ironically my wife looked at it and said, "You spend a lot of money on umpiring equipment!"

Looking at Kevin's bag makes me realize how much equipment we actually use in baseball. In comparison, I need so little for football. :o

... :D

And you're welcome on the pics. You gotta' love digital.

That's one of the principal reasons I don't do football. ;)

Not enough things to spend money on? ;)

That is correct.

nicely packed gear bag...i'm going to try my plate shoes on the bottom...that will probably clear things up a bit.

Thank you, sir. And glad to help.

How do you keep the NB plate shoes so shiny. They look so nice.

Thank you.

That shine? Believe it or not, it's Dove!
(Don't we sound like two women in a beauty care commercial?)

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...dreams/300.jpg



(You clean them off with a mild Murphy's Oil Soap solution and dry them off. Spray generously with the pump spray--including the sides of the soles--and let dry. It washes off each time with the Murphy's. And a $3.00 bottle gets you 25 or 30 shines.)

Are you serious? Hair spray shines shoes? I'm a shoe polish based spit-shiner (Esquire) but if this really works, I'll give it a try!

It really works. It's girly, but it works.

Hey Ozzy,

I don't know how well you can tell, but I trimmed the bristles on my plate brush per your suggestion. Best plate-brush-related move I ever made, in terms of ease of pocket extraction and plate area dirt control. ;)

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...arkguy/5-1.jpg

I'm not trying to beat a dead horse Kevin, fyi. The only picture I've seen of the Wilson has the equipment in the top compartment. From what you've said, they are fairly identical in relation to the top and bottom compartments. From what I gather, the biggest difference in the two bags are the material (Diamond being heavier) and the inside pockets on the Diamond.

Looks like a great product to me. It will definitely be on my order for the beginning of this season

-Josh

My wife looked at my bag last night and said, "That's a big bag. You could hide a body in there."
I responded, "Yeah, but if I stuff a coach or a fan in here, where would I keep my gear?"

:eek:

Baseball starts here this week, but I won't finish basketball until the end of next week. I'm ready for SPRING!!!

I call occasionally with a guy who works some bigtime college ball. I once commented on his worn out plate brush.
He explained why he had it trimmed. Then I watched how he could quick-draw the brush in & out during the game. I went home and trimmed mine!

Did she happen to take a life insurance policy out on you recently? :eek:

Correct. Picturing the gear on the top was stupid of them. The guy I saw with it had all the gear in the bottom, the garments and caps in the top and the accessories in hidden pockets, rather than the easier-to-access mesh pockets on the Diamond.

I'm a Wilson guy as you can tell by the gear in the pic, but when it came to this choice, even though the Wilson looked better and said Wilson on it, the Diamond was more durable and accommodating. If something's that much better at anywhere near the same price, I go with it.

Buddy, this stuff gets pretty nuanced, doesn't it?

I went the other way a long time ago, i trimmed the handle, I'll get a pic tonight.

And KF check your PM

Trimmed the handle ... hmmm.


"Honey, have you seen the damned Skillsaw?"

Well now I won't sleep good tonight :(

At least you know you'll be riding in a very durable bag! Good chance that IF the police ever find you, there may be a chance to recover evidence :p

-Josh

That doesn't help if a goal is to have stiffer bristles.

My wife's favorite shows: Law & Order (all three); CSI Miami; Cold Case Files ... it took me a while to realize that she is quite possibly searching for the perfect technique.

Never had a problem getting bristles stiff, but I hear they sell a pill for that. And the goal was to make the thing the right length to fit well in the Honig's ball bag that has the 3 inside pockets, one is small for just a pen. had the same brush for over 12 years, and the bristles do just fine, even at full length they were never flimsy.

My bag was free!

I came in early from work today and thought I'd look for an indicator and lineup card folder that I couldn't locate as I transferred equipment from the old bag to the new bag.
I found the indicator and folder hidden in a side pocket... along with a check for $125 that I got last October for working a NAIA fall game!

I hope I don't have any problems cashing the check. Life is good!

Living in an area with moist springs, mud and caked dirt can be an issue. The stiffer the bristles the better.

I've trimmed my plate brushes for 30 years for that purposes alone. Never heard of trimming a plate brush just to make it shorter. Now I have.

I don't think anyone is going to be smelling my shoes. :eek: I don't even want to smell my shoes!
I'll pick up some and try it on my base shoes. Oh, do you spray it on then wipe it or just spray it on and leave it?

Glad the plate brush tip worked for ya.

I just wanted you to know that we A) Read your suggestions, and B) follow them.

And, yes, just let it dry. It doesn't shine as much as when it's wet, but what does?

Just posted <a href="http://forum.officiating.com/showthread.php?t=51766">this</a> on the Softball board about mine - wish I knew who made it for ASA...its a real trouper!

I might go out on a limb and say the Diamond bag is the best piece of equipment I own. I love my mask, CP, shins, shoes, etc., but they all have <i>something</i> that could be better. I don't know what could be made better about the Diamond bag. The bottom compartment is the perfect size for me and what I carry. The top compartment, and sub-compartments, are also the perfect size for me.

Hold that - if I could make it better I'd add a cooler compartment to hold a 6 pack (water, of course...)

I think you can put your base shoes in the bottom and fit a collapsible thermos soft thermal can [or water bottle] carrier in that "base shoe" compartment. So you see, it is the perfect bag!

Difficult Pocket Extraction
 

The first time I posted this, someone asked why?
10) You haven't reached an age, when the john is the first place you visit.
9) Some people have a greater urgency to urinate than others.
8) Its not like a guy would ask a related health question without it being turned into a joke by another guy.
... .

I once had a hard time removing the cup while wearing the jock because of those attached rubber edges on the cup. Each time I would pull the cup out , it would stretch out an elastic strap. Soon, a strap would bust and I would have to replace the jock.

Then I took an old jock and cut the pocket out. I placed the cup inside the old pocket and then slid it into the new jock. Wallah, it easily slid into and out of the new jock. No more tearing jock straps. One less inconvenience to worry about on my way to the facilities. Best move I ever made. ;)

Here it is. Works well for me. But ok, I need to work on the sizing of pics thing.

http://i39.tinypic.com/25rfjty.jpg

http://umpire.org/vb/attachment.php?...9&d=1235106444

Durham, you won't be able to post attachments from Umpire.org directly in the thread. What you can do is upload the photo to www.tinypic.com and then you can post that link here.

Tiny Pic is nice because you don't need to create an account and you don't have to worry about managing an album if you just want to throw a quick picture online.

Thanks man!

Thanks & Thanks

Anyone else use a can of scrubbing bubbles to clean their shoes? A lot of us out this way do, and it works great, as soon as the bubbles are done doing their thing just wipe dry and shine.

http://www.scrubbingbubbles.com/

Absolutely. It's effective, but I use the weak Murphy's solution because it's milder, but mainly because I keep my supply kit in the back of the SUV and in Southern Cal in the summer ... not a wise thing to have aerosol cans in the ride. At the house, though, I use the scrubbing bubbles, especially on the soles and if there's stuff in the seams and cracks.

Pardon my ignorance, I'm assuming you are speaking of Colgate Murphy's Oil Soap? What type of dilution do you use? Learning all sorts of tricks from this thread

-Josh

Fill a spray bottle and throw a couple capfuls of the concentrate in there. I haven't bothered to calculate it, but it's somewhere around 100 times less costly than Armour All, but it works in a similar way. It even leaves the shoes pretty shiny by itself.

I have used it for about 3 years to clean my NB 450 & 350 shoes. I highly recommend it.

Evans Bag
 

I sold my Diamond bag last Fall, and decided to try an Evans bag. It is smaller than the large Diamond bag, but it has some very nice features to it. I am a little hot and cold on the bag, because I use a bucket and have size 15 shoes, so I need a lot of room. But it was designed to be used by people who fly, so size is limited by that constraint.

But it is a very, very nice bag, and one worht looking into. I owe the Evans boys a full review, so when I send it to them I will post it here too.

Everyone is affected by their personal experience...here's mine:

I've had to fly with my gear at times for tournaments or just working games with friends while on vacation. My Diamond bag did not stand up to the rigors of baggage handlers and pick-up trucks. In less than a season, tears in the fabric developed and zippers failed.

My Evans bag, which has had no problems holding everything, including when I double up on some equipment, is easier to carry and manuever, gets no hassle over its size at airports, and is entering it's second season of service with no tears or sign of wear.

You'll enjoy it.

For a less expensive gear bag...
 

I've been really happy with this one.

Champion Equipment Bag

It doesn't have all the small compartments or a divider, but it's so large that I use a few (of varying sizes) of those Rubbermaid or Sterlite plastic cases with the snap lids. A Sterlite 1960 model is 35" x 17" x 6" and fits--tightly--in the bottom. It holds all my clothes and hats, and one other small plastic box with all the small accessories. The front and end pockets are huge. I can fit both plate and base shoes in the end (only size 9 low tops for both, though; YMMV), and leg guards of any size fit in the front with room to spare. All I have to put in the main compartment with the large Sterlite box is the mask and chest protector, which leaves plenty of room for additional small boxes, whatever you want to carry loose, or one pair of shoes. If you have larger feet or wear high tops, you won't get two pair in the end pocket.

Since I already owned all the plastic boxes, this was a great choice for me at less than half the cost of the Wilson, Diamond or Evans bags. It won't be for everybody, but I didn't find the additional features of the more expensive bags to be worth that much extra cash. If you have to buy the boxes, though, the more expensive bags might be a better choice for you.

The Champion Equipment Bag, with shipping, plus a Sterlite 1960 and a couple of other smaller Sterlite boxes, can be had for about a hundred bucks. What I can store therein gets me through a six-game stretch (three on the stick, three on the pads) with no problem.

I received the Diamond bag today and like it.

One question is what do you do with the dividers as they gave me 3.

Any help be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ted

my wife says the same thing...LOL


I also have the Wilson bag and love it.. I have travel with it, no problems there. It has a lot of room I have a CP and 2 pairs of shinguard, 2 masks in the bottom alone. Its easy to get around.

I was also told to try aquanet...LOL I had a buddy who did this..

I prefer Dove.

Mr. Umpire, I need your help
 

I love the bag, it is great. But, I can't get all my gear in the bag. I am repacking it again for the fifth time, so I will work with it. I have not found success yet.

Send me a PM with the gear you pack in the bag, and how you pack it.

Sure will. Never had an issue with both gear and uniform. When I get home later this evening (EST), I'll send my packing list and sequence.

PM, heck post it on here for all to read...if you're having issues, you're probably not the only one!

Evans bag
 

I don't think the Evans bag has room for your caps. That might be the only drawback. I stack both plate and base shoes on one end of the bag. Shin guards - turned up - next to the shoes. Chest protector on top of the shin guards. The mask fits next to the cp. Folding bags are great for two pairs of pants and a couple of shirts on the bottom level of the bag. I really like the bag, sometimes I do wish it was a bit larger.

Evans bag
 

Correction: Shin guards turned down!

I have a Victorinox bag. The Evans bag has the exact same dimmentions. The following easily fit in my bag:


TOP COMPARTMENT
CP
shins
2 pair of shoes
mask
belt
dopp kit
cup
cap caddy from Honigs
belt
mud
flip flops

BOTTOM
2 jackets
towel
2 slacks
undershirts
undergarments
socks
4 polos

IMO, everything you need to take to a game will fit in a Evans bag. And @ under 140 bucks..it's the best deal out there.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the information. For me the biggest problem is the bucket I wear. Still working on it. the other thing I have noticed is that the small pockets are not real useful. But I have only used the bag for a short time.

Sorry I didn't get to PM last night...got home very late.

Allow me to do it here. My list:

Top compartment.

Hard shell CP
Shin guards
cup
two masks
plate shoes (in shoe bag)
base shoes (in shoe bag)
small container of mud
cap caddy with two caps
belt
sandals
Can of scrubbing bubbles
cleaning rag
spray bottle of Nature's Miracle

Lower Compartment:

Two windbreaks
one longsleve turtle neck.
Base slacks
Plate slacks
compression shorts
two pair of socks
four UnderArmor under shirts
six umpire shirts (2 black, 2 polo blue, 2 cream)
towel

Front side pockets (2)

Ball bags
2 Plate brushes
four indicators
Line up card folder and a half dozen pencils
small box of raisins
shoelaces


This is for local games. I'll add more uniform items when I go out of town.

very nice looking bag (diamond). I can't decide between the 30 vs the 36 in.
I also do football and was wondering if anyone out there uses either for football as well, or thinks the smaller one would suffice for baseball and be better for football.

IMO, both are way too big for football. no shins, no CP, no mask, no plate shoes...

Not that you couldn't use it...but a duffle bag hold all my football stuff.

Always good for a hot day on the bases.

Must be a Canadian thing. To each his own.

I use them in the locker room after the game and sometimes for the drive home.

I love my sandals, esp when I have just my socks on and trying to get things in order...they feel pretty good for the drive home...we only get to wear them three months of the year! Pretty easy to fit in the equip bag as well.

Middle-aged (if I live to be 90) guys can learn new tricks!

I trimmed one of my plate brushes after seeing the tip by KF on this thread. I love it. No more tugging the brush to get it out of the pocket in my ball bag! And it sweeps the plate as good, or better, than before.

One thing: I'm the only guy in our association who has done this... but the word is spreading quickly. They think I'm a genius! Yahtzee!

You're welcome! But thank Ozzy. It was his deal. We'll just call him the king of trim. I just repeated a little mention he once made on the brush thing to thank him for making it. It's a little thing, but it comes into play all the time, and like you mentioned the benefit is two-fold.