EvoShield Batting Helmet Review: The XVT for Head Safety

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When someone first starts to play baseball, it’s natural to think about safety — especially when it comes to the head. That hard 5-ounce baseball certainly can do some damage, both physically and mentally, especially when it strikes a body part straight-on at a high velocity.

Considering this, here we offer an EvoShield XVT Batting Helmet review, including product details, because these head-protection units produced by Wilson Sporting Goods are designed with safety top-of-mind. This protective gear model seems to serve as an example of attention to safety.

That the EvoShield XVT is manufactured by Wilson actually says much, because the well-established sporting goods brand has a history of providing solid baseball gear, including baseball gloves and practice equipment. It seems to take safety to another level with its EvoShield batting helmets, and let’s find out why.

Performance

Baseball batting helmets mainly serve to protect the head (namely the brain, but also face and skull bones, and facial soft tissue) from errant thrown pitches. Baseball history reflects that players not wearing batting helmets can suffer severe injuries, to their brain as well as possibly their eyes, eye sockets, or jaw.

The EvoShield XVT Batting Helmet addresses safety in two ways:

Padding

The padding inside the EvoShield XVT Batting Helmet is quite impressive. Any veteran baseball player will marvel at the padding at the very first glance, because:

Ear Pads depth. Those are huge pads over the ears — the area where a pitch could cause significant damage — and the pads are protected by a sewn-over cover for durability.
Wide Front and Rear Pads. Ample coverage of the front and back with pads, especially the very front which is important for the most comfort possible. It’s not just a 1-inch strip beneath the brim.
Diamond-shaped Top Pad. Whereas most batting helmets have a single small square pad or strip at the very top, the EvoShield XVT features a big pad shaped like an elongated diamond, providing more comfort and protection and most likely preventing the helmet from slipping around during intense play.

Profile

Profile means how the helmet looks from the side, or straight-up front or back. A lot of cheaper batting helmets tend to stand high on a player’s head (think Barry Bonds late career), making them more prone to fall off. They often don’t fit well, and look terribly huge to boot (the movie “Coneheads” comes to mind). The EvoShield was designed with a sleek low profile to ensure the snug, ultra-protective fit the product is marketed as.

More on the Padding

The width and wrapped style of the ear pads are important because on many older-style batting helmets, the padding can either get squished down to nearly nothing, or hardened, or both. Also, again, without the wrapping, many open foam or sponge-like pads wear away.

Little can be worse for a player than grabbing the last team batting helmet left in the bag — and it has little or no ear padding. Players will love the thick padding on the EvoShield.

Using the EvoShield XVT Batting Helmet

To use the EvoShield batting helmet, first ensure proper sizing. A snug-but-not-too-tight fit is best, as loose helmets tend to fall off during baserunning — when they’re still needed for protection from balls hucked by fielders. Note that EvoShield helmets are known to size a tad big for some people, so if your player is a tweener — in-between hat sizes — it’s okay to go with the smaller size.

Too tight, and a helmet distracts the batter during the most difficult single action in all of sports: striking a round ball flying at your head at a high speed with a rounded stick.

Product Features: EvoShield XVT Batting Helmet

This batting helmet comes in 3 sizes: Youth (for head sizes 6.5 to 7); Small/Medium (head size 7 to 7.5); and Large/XL (head size 7.5 to 8). It weighs 1.47 lbs., and runs 12” in length, and 9” in both width and height (12 x 9 x 9). It meets NOCSAE protection standards.

Pros

Dual-density padding around the ears, and diamond-shaped pad at the top, for a comfortable yet firm fit.
Fully wrapped ear pads are less prone to wear down (or off completely) over time.
Premium glossy finish and low-profile shell for an exceptional look and fit.
Light at 1.47 lbs.
Specially engineered venting system to avoid overheating, or potential fogging of eyeglasses.
Looks pretty cool with its high-gloss finish and multiple venting holes that gives it a Star Wars-like appearance.

Cons

Reports that some sizes “run big”; suggestions to possibly order a size down.

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Final Words

The EvoShield XVT Batting Helmet (learn more) is a superb choice for baseball players, primarily for the protection, but also for comfort and style. The manufacturer’s attention to player safety is commendable, and players should appreciate all the padding inside.