RockeTech Innards

[Renntiger]

Anderson calls its end cap "bullet proof". Since even bullet proof ceramic plates can only take so many hits before giving in, I guess it's not all that shocking that bullet proof end caps would disintegrate after one too many collision with a pitched ball.

My dd's treasured RockeTech stopped being bullet proof yesterday, after just over one season of heavy use.

Since no one in his/her right mind would take apart a healthy RockeTech to peek at the inside, many of you RockeTech fans have probably never seen those mysterious arches that are supposedly responsible for the trampoline effect along with that unique RockeTech sound. I myself was half expecting to see a skeletal matrix of miniature St Louis Arches and Golden Gate Bridges. Instead I was treated to a rather subtle version of a corrugated tin can:

Presumably, the amplitude and frequency of these ridges are tuned to help generate maximum legal speed when the barrel collides with a softball. I think it's a simple, robust, and quite elegant solution.

I wonder what the next level is beyond "bullet proof"...

 

[Immortal1]

Well, maybe the end cap is not bullet proof but maybe the rest is Eitherway, thanks for sharing a sneek peek inside the mysterious Rocketech.

 

[chinamigarden]

Did you shoot a bullet at it to test the claim?

 

[Renntiger]

Even though the cap appears to be made out of polycarbonate, I don't think it's thick enough to survive a frontal hit by anything more substantial than an air rifle pellet (these days, plenty of air rifles can launch a pellet at well over 1200 fps and do some significant damages down range). Regardless, I had neither the curiosity nor the budget to test the claim (I'm not a Myth Buster); this was simply the result of my dd swinging too early on way too many outside pitches. Below are some clearer views of the destroyed cap, which shot out from the bat on her last swing. You can see that the cracks developed dead center in between the reinforcement ribs, in the thinnest and weakest areas of the cap. Anderson could make this cap a lot stronger by doubling the number of ribs, or making the thin areas between the ribs a little thicker:

 

[amanda_cake]

Must say I don't hear of a lot of RTs breaking, so it's nice to see the insides! Was it still under warranty?

 

[Renntiger]

It's an '09 bat bought in late '09, Amanda, so the one year warranty would have expired even if we had bought it new. This was actually a craigslist find in near-new condition. It had served my dd very well up to just a few weeks ago, when it seemed to lose some of its pop. I don't know if this was due to the cap having lost its integrity or my dd's swing getting worse, but she was becoming very frustrated that she was no longer able to send those waist high meat balls over the fence. She was very attached to this bat; she went from hitting mostly singles to leading her team in slugging average with it, and hit her first legitimate homer with it in the process. I am sure some of this was psychological (she gained 10-15 lbs of muscle during that same period, so objectively, it probably wasn't 100% the bat's doing), but there is no question that the RT made a difference in her batting.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Are you certain that the end cap hadn't been taken off of that bat, prior to your purchase? Do you have pics of it's original condition?

 

[Renntiger]

I don't have any picture of the bat before the mishap, Amy, but it was in almost pristine condition when I bought it (the seller's dd switched to a longer bat). To me, it looks like the cap is crimped in place by that groove just below the lip of the barrel, so it's impossible to take it off without damaging either the bat or the cap. I also don't see how a replacement cap could have been put on without getting rid of that groove first, which would have left behind all kinds of signs, given how easily the paint on this bat is chipped.

Basically, I think the cap design on the RT is tamper-proof (rather than bullet-proof); which also makes it repair-proof in the event of a cracked cap, unfortunately.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

There is an Anderson rep that posts at SBF and there are lots of Anderson fans there, that know everything there is to know about Anderson. You have to register, to post or read the comments though. Scroll down the page to find Anderson.

Plus, it is worth asking the company for a replacement. All they can say, is "No."

 

[Greenmonsters]

I don't have any picture of the bat before the mishap, Amy, but it was in almost pristine condition when I bought it (the seller's dd switched to a longer bat). To me, it looks like the cap is crimped in place by that groove just below the lip of the barrel, so it's impossible to take it off without damaging either the bat or the cap. I also don't see how a replacement cap could have been put on without getting rid of that groove first, which would have left behind all kinds of signs, given how easily the paint on this bat is chipped.

Basically, I think the cap design on the RT is tamper-proof (rather than bullet-proof); which also makes it repair-proof in the event of a cracked cap, unfortunately.

The cap is an integral design component and affects the performance of the Anderson bats. The pre-breakage performance drop was indicative of cap damage prior to it being broken/dislodged. Call Anderson customer service at (888) 777-HITS (4487) and ask for Vince to see if they wouldn't install a new cap for a modest fee. If you're looking at new/newer/used bats, the '10 and '11 RTs should swing much the same as the '09 and both had minor design tweaks that supposedly increased performance.