Anybody know if the face guards on helmets will interchange?

[Strike2]

We have the rule book memorized, the rules say the cage and mask MUST be from the same manufacturer.

And how do you determine that? Many brands are manufactured in the same place using the same designs.

Do you have all that "memorized"?

 

[Strike2]

Are you going to buy a car for your daughter and then install the seat belts and airbags yourself?

Lol...you really think that's the same thing as putting a new mask on a batting helmet??? One that properly fits???

 

[The Man In Blue]

And how do you determine that? Many brands are manufactured in the same place using the same designs.

Do you have all that "memorized"?

Like I said, tell-tale signs. If the same designs were used by everybody and there was a standard, it would be easy and everything would fit everything. There is a reason every manufacturer's holes and screws don't line up with others. It is to prevent untested mask-helmet combinations and to protect their liability.

I can provide you with a piece of equipment designed to be used a certain way to protect you. If it fails during proper use, I am liable. If you decide to misuse that equipment, I am no longer liable.

 

[The Man In Blue]

Lol...you really think that's the same thing as putting a new mask on a batting helmet???

I did not say that is the same hazard/risk. It is the same mentality.

Why do people not want to use the mask designed, tested, and authorized for their helmet? The only two answers I can come up with are cosmetics and to save a couple of dollars. Neither one is worth risking my kid's safety, IMO.

 

[Strike2]

Like I said, tell-tale signs. If the same designs were used by everybody and there was a standard, it would be easy and everything would fit everything. There is a reason every manufacturer's holes and screws don't line up with others. It is to prevent untested mask-helmet combinations and to protect their liability.

I can provide you with a piece of equipment designed to be used a certain way to protect you. If it fails during proper use, I am liable. If you decide to misuse that equipment, I am no longer liable.

Not talking about something obviously janky. I'm talking about things that obviously fit together, but might be sold under a different brand name. How do you tell? You have a every stock helmet/cage combo memorized?

 

[The Man In Blue]

If you want some insight into the purpose of these safety requirements and the results when you decide to MacGuyver your own, read through this site and the corresponding letters from the manufacturers. Granted, these are talking about C-flaps on baseball helmets, but hopefully it helps explain.

Modifying Helmets with Additional Attachments: What You Need to Know - Little League

The safety of all our participants is our utmost concern, and, like the vast majority of youth organizations, Little League® requires our batters to wear helmets that meet National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) specifications and bear the NOCSAE stamp. As the...

www.littleleague.org

 

[radness]

And how do you determine that? Many brands are manufactured in the same place using the same designs.

Do you have all that "memorized"?

As an example of how to determine something is different.

Batter after batter on the same team steps up with their helmet and mask combo. Then say batter #7 steps in the box and their mask is completely different than the combination of other helmet/masks on the team.
That might be one way of recognizing difference.


There are some pretty janky ways that people will try to fix stuff
think the first point is Safety.
The second point is when the Umpire says you can't use something you don't get to argue with them, it's just going to be a no for that game.

Whether everything reasonably can be done to show that it might be fine the Umpire doesn't like it it's a no.

 

[radness]

I can understand why some players would want to change their face mask because of visual obstruction.

That said,
This is one of those discussions of should everybody wear the same helmet combination on a team? Because they don't always fit every player the same. Similar to catching mask and helmet don't always fit every catcher the same.

When Force everybody into this 'one brand' fits all category I'm sure there are people that would want to make their own adjustments.
Hmmm think I could imagine whipping out a metal saw blade out of my bag...

 

[Strike2]

As an example of how to determine something is different.

Batter after batter on the same team steps up with their helmet and mask combo. Then say batter #7 steps in the box and their mask is completely different than the combination of other helmet/masks on the team.
That might be one way of recognizing difference.


There are some pretty janky ways that people will try to fix stuff
think the first point is Safety.
The second point is when the Umpire says you can't use something you don't get to argue with them, it's just going to be a no for that game.

Whether everything reasonably can be done to show that it might be fine the Umpire doesn't like it it's a no.

You just described my kid during her last five years of TB. Nothing at all wrong with the set-up, and nobody ever said a word about her mask being different from everyone else's. In practice, those looking to create issues seem much rarer than in the abstract.

I did help run a Tournament USA nationals where the umpires were dead serious about the pre-game equipment checks. Some of the parents were really pissed that their kids bat got disqualified, but I will say that I didn't find many DQ'd bats that didn't have an immediately obvious problem. It was mostly Ghosts with some very loose joints. Even in that environment, nobody was comparing helmets and masks.

 

[The Man In Blue]

When we were required to do equipment checks, we were required to check bats, batting helmets, and catcher's helmets. We are (thankfully) no longer required to do pre-game equipment checks.

Large, national tournaments will conduct bat checks coming in because your hot/broken bat can hurt somebody else. Your unapproved mask drilled into a batting helmet won't hurt anybody but your kid if it fails.