Helmet advice anyone?

[MsDinosaur]

I thought I was finished buying gear for a while, till DD suddenly mentioned that her catching helmet has become painfully tight.

Back when I first got her one, she hadn't liked the hockey style, but really liked the Adidas Trilogy which is a one-piece cap/mask combo style. Dick's says its sizes run 6 3/8-6 7/8.

I measured her head and got 22.5 inches which is supposedly around a 7 1/8".

We went around town trying on helmets and none of them worked for her, so I turned to the web.

I thought the Wilson Pro Shock sounded neat, with its built in shock absorbers, so I ordered her a large (7" - 7 5/8"). It was huge! Her head swam in it. So I exchanged it for a Mizuno Samurai G4 Youth (6 1/2' - 7 1/4"). It arrived yesterday. She tried it on and said "it's too tight" and "Mom, I STILL really don't like the hockey style masks." I thought I had read somewhere that the Mizuno Samurais weren't styled as hockey-like as others, but that must have been wrong--it basically looked just like the rest.

So now I'm searching for a combo style that won't be too large or too small.

I saw a Rawlings Ai20S (6 1/2" - 7 3/8") and was very excited until I read a review that said the padding was inadequate. This person's daughter had gotten a concussion from her first foul tip. :-O

The Schutt Air-PRO looks nice, its reviews are very good and I have a good comfort level with Schutt. However, while they say the small is 6 3/8" - 7 1/4" and the large is 7 3/8" - 7 3/4", the reviewers generally talk about the large size working well for their children.

There's also a Diamond Sports DCH-Max Youth catchers helmet. I've seen the large size listed both as 7"- 7 1/2" and as 7 1/8" - 7 1/2". I haven't been able to find any reviews for it, so don't know how good it is--my guess is somewhere between the Rawlings and the Schutt.

Does anyone have experience with any of these helmets or know of another non-hockey option? I'm strongly considering ordering both sizes of the Schutt and simply being prepared to send one or both back.

 

[Fastpitch Mom]

My daughter is 14U and has one of the Shutt masks ( I don't have it in front of me so can't give you the model). She has a smaller head and was able to adjust it so it is comfortable.

The issue she had with the Adidas and an Easton was both were poorly made and the snaps would pop any time they touched anything or if she turned her head too fast.

 

[redhotcoach]

At the coach's clinic down there (kc), schutt was there. The air pro helmets looked really nice. Dd has a scorpion chest protector, great except the stupid valcro. They make the same thing now with parachute buckles instead of valcro, reversible too. I think dd will have a new complete set soon if she keeps growing

 

[Daddylawman]

My DD is wearing the Schutt and loves it. It's the only brand she's worn the past 5 years. She thinks it's by far the most comfortable. She has a lot of hair so the large fits great.

 

[MsDinosaur]

Thanks everyone! I've ordered the large Schutt. I saw a couple of sites with small Schutts, but both had restocking fees, so we'll try the large one first. I'm glad there's still plenty of time before our tournaments start up. :-D

 

[MsDinosaur]

Quick update: she tried the large Schutt. No good. Then she tried the large Diamond. No good. I now have four catchers helmets sitting in boxes ready to be sent back. House is turning into a helmet store!

Despite the bad review, I just ordered the Rawlings as an exchange (thank you SB savings!) so she can try it on and Amazon has the small Schutt back in stock, so I've ordered it too. If neither of those fit, she's going to have to keep jamming her head into the Trilogy or give up catching till her head grows. :-D

 

[marriard]

Have you considered going 'traditional' with an Easton Speed Elite (Easton Speed Elite Traditional Facemask | Softball.com), an Under Armor Pro or similar?

 

[BaldNBeautiful]

I would recommend Schutt. Had several different pieces of their gear over the years as my oldest moved from rec ball, to travel, to HS to college. Even Schutt's lowest priced equipment is just so durable and well made. Schutt Scorpion gear was great.
We have also has used some Diamond brand equipment over the last couple of years. One helmet held up (Edge iX3) great(HS Team helmet), light and comfortable. I bought two (DCH 3) for MS team. One actually broke where the backplate attaches, and on the other the padding all came out after one year. Numerous calls and inquiries to just get new padding has accomplished nothing.
I will be going back with Schutt from here on.

 

[MsDinosaur]

The smaller Schutt Air-PRO and the Rawlings Ai2OS arrived and she tried them on. The winner of all 6 mail order helmets was...the Rawlings. She said it was the most comfortable fit for her by far. So after trying everything else, we're going with the one I had tried to take a pass on.

I did notice that the foam layer on the forehead of the Rawlings is thinner than the the layers on the top and sides. There is a strip between the forehead foam and top of the head foam without padding. I'm wondering if I can't find some extra padding somewhere and add it there to beef things up a bit.

 

[MsDinosaur]

Have you considered going 'traditional' with an Easton Speed Elite (Easton Speed Elite Traditional Facemask | Softball.com), an Under Armor Pro or similar?

I had wondered about that, but her problem with most of the adult-sized masks was that the chin was too far down for her. The traditional masks all seemed to be adult-size and I figured they'd be too long as well. Are the traditional two-piece cap and mask set ups allowed in all the fastpitch orgs? I'm also wondering if there would be an issue there with the umps and coaches. I've always seen most girls wearing the hockey style and a few wearing the combos like my DD prefers, but I've never seen one with the traditional two-piece baseball set up.