Team Wendy's UMPS Pads

As Bikerider has pointed out, I reviewed these pads earlier this year on Midwest Ump. I wore them once in the Spring and then in July. I also wore them with the Diamond iX3 DFM-UMP mask in silver. I think the look is terrific and I like the idea of a rugged mask coupled with a super-protective mask pad.

I did not shave the morning of my July game in order to test the comfort of the Team Wendy UMPs. There was no issue with skin irritation and the pads were comfortable. However, I observed an excess of heat from the pads, just as Bikerider noticed. I did not notice this during my Spring game with more moderate temperatures. I have no way of knowing whether the excess heat was due to the Zorbium foam or the cloth material, but I would guess the Zorbium is the culprit.

The jury is still out on the protective quality of the Zorbium. The lab tests look great and I am willing to give Team Wendy the benefit of the doubt that it has designed mask padding that is superior to others on the market. I hope to have additional opinions and feedback on this matter in the future.

I needed a set of new mask pads and decided to give these a try.  Test rig is a Diamond iX3 silver frame, I bought the black pads.  As info I have used the stock Diamond pads, the 50/50 Diamond pads and Wilson two-tone wraparound pads in this frame.

Pete Reiser also reviewed these on his midwestump blog, I used his review in my decision to buy these and will probably refer to his review a few times.

Concept:  Team Wendy's UMPS are different from traditional mask pade as they use a high-tech foam called Zorbium that is supposed to be more impact resistant and resilient than the foam found in other mask pads.  But I will leave all of that to the marketing types, onto the review!

Purchasing:  The cost of these is comparable to a set of Wilson leather wrap-arounds, $40.  Honig's is the exclusive supplier, and I had no issues with the order.  I ordered on Wednesday and the pads arrived at my NC home from Florida on Saturday morning via USPS.  The pads were packaged in a large zip-loc bag.

Construction:  The pads are covered in a microfiber fabric that reminded me at first glance at the stubble-rippers that originally came with my iX3.  Not so, the fabric does not catch at all and is a wicking material.  Midwestump's review brought up some constructrion issues related to loose stitching and excess fabric, I did not notice any stitching issues.  I will say that one edge of each pad has somewhat of an unfinished look (like they stuffed a pillow and didn't know how to seal up the open end), but the construction overall was solid.  The foam is much denser than normal mask foam, it had a gel-like feel that reminded me of memory foam.

Fitting:  No issues at all installing these in the Diamond mask.  The velcro straps are plenty long and there are three straps on each pad, they all lined up well in the frame.  I would classify these pads as 'standard' profile, they are not as large as the wrap-arounds but they may be a hair larger than the stock Diamond pads.  I like the way they look in the mask.  I did not have to readjust the harness at all from where it was with the Wilson pads in to get the fit right.

In Use:  Ok, onto the good stuff here.  I wore the setup for a 9U plate game, gametime temperature was right around 90 degrees.  First thing I noticed was that the mask felt very solid against my face, the pads are firm but seemed to conform to my face quite a bit (and I wear my mask very loose).  Second thing that I noticed was that with more contact came a bit of warmth as the game went on, but the fabric seemed to work very well as far as wicking sweat.  The feel of the cloth is certainly different from the leather that I have become accustomed to, but I liked how this mask setup felt and performed - the cloth did not catch on my 5 o'clock shadow.  The pads did not become wet or slick like leather and I liked that it felt the same at the end of the 5th inning as it did in the top of the first.  I did take one mask shot on a foul ball and the mask spun as I would have expected and I really didn't feel a huge difference from other shots I have taken this season.  Not sure if it was the fit of the pads around my jaw or the materials, but to my ears my voice was not as loud as usual. 

Care & Cleaning:  Team Wendy's claims that these pads will last longer than conventional pads - obviously after one game I can't say much about that.  I was concerned about the fabric picking up dust and dirt but after on game on a pretty dusty field last night I don't think it will be an issue and as far as I can see any dirt would be easily cleaned up with a bit of water and a washcloth.

What I like:

• Compact size
• Firm pads that feel like they will protect
• Wicking ability of the fabric, game-long comfort
• Unobtrusive logo on the pads (not a big gold "W")
• No long term maintenance/cleaning to get the pads to last

What could be better:

• Improved finishing on some of the edges
• Possibly a non-cloth outer surface
• Alternate sources to buy them from (sorry I am not a big fan of Honig's although I had no issues with this order)