How long do catcher's bags last?

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

May 15, 2016
926
18
DD seems to go through catcher's bags every two years. Her twin sister's over the shoulder bag seems to last a lot longer. Do catcher's bag inherently wear down faster because of the particulars of the equipment? How long has your DD's catcher's bag, or yours if you are a catcher, lasted?
 
May 6, 2015
2,397
113
I think it is highly dependent on the bag. One of my biggest issues with catchers bags that last two teams selected was they really were not big enough (boombah beast and demarini momentum). because of this, lots of strain on zippers. Also, boombah beast would not stand up or even lean up against something unless it was front of bag towards vertical surface (kinda defeats purpose). this led to lots of the bag being twisted around while held upright, net closure on bottom compartment (for cleats I assume) got all torn up, never used it anyway. demarini was simply too small, she transitioned back to boombah as it was a little better as soon as she left the second team.

beast also would have been better off not having two side compartments, just make the middle one the entire width of bag. neither bag really fit well all my DDs gear (and she is 11, so she is using gear on the smaller side). Leg guards with knee savers, batting helmets with face guards, seem to just not be taken into account by bag manufacturers.

if current team decides to do bags (not certain they will), already told coach, please let me know first, if new bag is not a boombah brute or something similar in size, just deduct what you would have paid, and we will get bag ourselves (black/gray/nuetral colors).
 
Dec 14, 2018
7
1
My son and Daughter are both catchers so we have used a few bags. For my son using a team equipment bag instead a specific catchers bag worked much better and lasted a lot longer.

My son is a senior catcher and has been using the Mizuno team equipment bag since his sophomore year and it's held up great. The only down fall to team bag is there usually doesn't have extra pockets so he uses a extra bag to throw his hitting gloves and extras in. My daughter got a new Mizuno catchers bag last year for her team bag and the zippers already broke. No one makes the zippers large enough to handle the stress. The only bag i have seen that is with larger zippers that is specific for catchers is the No Errors bag but you'll spend $200+ for one.

This year i will just pay the extra for her to get team equipment bag so we have room for everything and it will last more than one year. Also some of the team bags don't come with bat compartment but the bags area usually large enough to throw your bats i the bag compartment area.
 
Sep 17, 2009
1,637
83
Until they rip at a corner and stuff starts falling out. Or until you can't get the smell out anymore such that you can no longer drive with the bag in the hatchback :)
 
May 17, 2017
51
8
My dd has been using Maxballbags Cobra XL since 2013 for travel ball, winter ball and hs ball ,,, over the years i have restitched a few seems ,,fixed a bent handle ,,and replaced the wheels from her taking it out of my Suv and dropping onto the pavement many times (not the bags fault) service has been great the times i have called for replacement parts ,i see they now make the Cobra XL III with a 3 wheels system which will improve the strength and durability of the bottom of the bag .DD is off to college now so she can use there bag for the season :)
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
My DD has used Maxball, Boombah, and Easton catcher's bags. The Maxball bags were awful. I suspect it was an issue with the the red fabric which failed within months on every bag on the team, and every replacement (about 20 bags total). Boombah Beast was solid for over a year. Last Easton E700C was used for a year, and had minimal wear. Current Easton E700C doing great, but it's still new. For the layout of compartments, my DD has liked the Easton best of the ones she's used. One of her teammates opted for the larger E900C. It's pretty massive.
 
Sep 29, 2010
1,082
83
Knoxville, TN
First Cobra XL made it three years. The second one less than a year. Not sure what changed, but I wasn’t giving them anymore money. DD is on second year with the Boombah Brute with no issues. Huge single compartment with a FEW small pockets. Enough for keys, phone and batting gloves. Still tough to get 33” bats in the bag with gear already in. The quality has been beyond what I would’ve expected for a bag under $100. Boombah has more color combos than anyone, if that is important to you.
 
Jul 3, 2013
438
43
Two years of use for any softball equipment is actually pretty good. There are some higher end gloves that can exceed that with care and relacing.
 
Feb 19, 2016
280
28
Texas
Catcher's gear is pokey and hard. It's tough on bags.
Oh, and dragging the bag half on and half off the concrete side walk while the corner of the concrete cuts through the bottom of the bag. That's my favorite.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,478
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top