Mask soft armor question

[Calvin]

I am coming back to the sport at the age of 53 after raising my kids (who have absolutely no interest in PB). Luckily, I am blessed to still be in good running shape. The only gear I didn't sell in 2008 was my masks, pods, and harness. My two Vforce profilers are still in good shape. I played from 1988 till 2008, so my masks were as vintage as I am. My first great mask system was my Predator Vents. When replacement lenses were no longer available for the Predator, I moved to a Scott Badass system, but moved the throat guard from the Predator to it. When I later moved into the Profilers, I moved the Predator throat guard, and the lower side neck armor from the Badass to one of my Profilers. I now want to replicate that on my backup Profiler. I went to Hobby Lobby and got some 5mm foam sheet in brown, as it's the closest thing I could find locally to the original soft armor material. The original is 3mm in thickness, and feels like it is the same foam, but with a rubber additive of some kind in it. I think this 5mm material will work, but will shred after a few ball hits and need to be replaced with new pieces. Does anyone know what the addon armor material from these older mask systems was, and if it can be sourced in sheets? I will have many more questions as I go through this re-equipping process, but masks are the foundation. Over 20 years of playing, I learned what I like, and that is having good neck and throat protection.

[nerdcore]

Neoprene foam rubber, maybe? Neoprene foam types for all applications-What foam is right for you?

[Cyberpyr8]

Gatormaille. Just order the stuff from him at that link and call it a day. While I like your effort, this will be better and more practical. He can do your colors you want and the stuff is great at protecting you. I have the head gear from him and I take head hits from close range now without hesitation. Plus, the chainmaille looks better.

[Buff_phroggie]

I was about to suggest this. I have been thinking about making some of my own as I have done a bit of chainmail stuff before.

[Calvin]

Aluminum chainmail is crazy work! Yesterday I researched neoprene foam and purchased a roll that is 1/8" thick. According to the reviews, it is reasonably hard and tough. We will see, but it wasnt much money to purchase, so little risk. If that fails to be acceptable, I just might try that aluminum chainmail, but it is pricey!

[Cyberpyr8]

To be fair, he does it all by hand. I felt guilty paying $90 for the hats he does. It's a lot of manual work. I had a guy at my field buy the materials and tried to make his own. He gave up after a few days realizing how much work it is to bend them all. I will say though, it protects better than anything else I have bought for my head. I have tried bump caps, dreads and a few Exalt bounce caps. This chainmaille is legit protection. Here's my buddies and another that I saw where he did it higher and put a logo in it.

[nerdcore]

Gatormaille. Just order the stuff from him at that link and call it a day. While I like your effort, this will be better and more practical. He can do your colors you want and the stuff is great at protecting you. I have the head gear from him and I take head hits from close range now without hesitation. Plus, the chainmaille looks better.

Wuuuttt! That's pretty dope. And the Ballwall is an amazing invention.

[Cyberpyr8]

Wuuuttt! That's pretty dope. And the Ballwall is an amazing invention.

Yeah they make great stuff and I love my caps. I have 3 so far. The mask guard is probably next for me.

[Daltech]

Lol Ball wall. That’s fresh.

[Daltech]

https://www.wescoperformance.com/cro...kaAgFBEALw_wcB


But you would have to get a fan in the mask to deal with the heat.

[Calvin]

For me, its about confidence. A good quality mask with protection for your throat, sides of the neck, ears, and forehead changes the head from a bad place to be hit into the best place to be hit. At that point you can concentrate on gaining fire control over a corridor without thinking about safety one bit.
I also played Ultimate Frisbee at the Nationals level for 20 years, and I was just as dilligent about cleats. Certain field conditions demand certain cleats. You get the best ones you can afford for all possible conditions, and you take damn good care of them. Same reasoning as having a great mask system for paintball.

[Daltech]

I’m gonna something to this thread. Buy a cup. I got shot in the groin by my best friend because the gun went off when he bumped it. If I didn’t have on a cup I would have been in trouble for real. Wearing a cup is the real armor.

[chplnstone]

I've been low-key searching for foam as well, I have a couple jt spectras using vents lowers, one has the original foam but the other doesn't... I tried Michael's for craft foam but it's either too thin or too thick. I'll second the maile option, I made a maile lower a couple decades back & it's still kicking

[Calvin]

I looked through tons of listings for neoprene rubber foam on Amazon and ordered the one that had reviews making most likely to be what I am looking for. Turned out to be same as I got from hobby lobby. I returned that, and I am going to use the 5mm sheet I already had. I made templates from the original pieces I had, and will be using my hole punches to ventilate the new panels. I'm going to use small brass grommets to reinforce the mount points. At the price point to make them, if they wear out faster than the originals, I'm fine with that. I will crank out a few extras and put them in the field box with some extra zip ties. I just got 2 new tanks this weekend, and have a bunch of minimags on the way. Re-equipping project is accelerating in pace.

[chplnstone]

minimags are a good call, I run one as my primary hopper fed semi