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[tim2000s]

RE softs, I think it's probably the case that people see a bat as something that might benifit from the extra care, attention and personalised service you expect to get from a smaller company, whereas with softs being from (on the whole anyway) manmade products that that sort of a service isn't really on offer?

I was going to comment on that point as well...

I have actually tried the Aero gloves, and sadly the OSM ones were too small, but that is an interesting attempt to really do something different. The reality is that whether softs come from Instinct or GM, they don't protect vastly differently at the same price, and generally you are buying on different appearance rather than anything else.

On the bats side, I'd hazard that the main difference between a number of the brands on here and the big boys is that you can get a bat made to your specifications at a price that you are comfortable with as opposed to getting an off the shelf product that you have to go through a few in a shop to get what you want. The confidence thing.

Ultimately though, I've seen someone borrow one of my custom bats and fail to find the middle for 6 overs, give up and swap to a different bat saying mine was s**t, and then I used it to score runs. I think that's the point of a custom bats...

Having said that, I should answer the questions:

What do you think the % of sales are from CBF?
Honestly, it's a small place and for any brand with AOC coverage if it reached 5% I'd be surprised... I'd expect, aside from one that's really new, to not account for more than 1%.

What do you know about bats other then saying ping?
A bit, but I'm not a podshaver. It's something I'd like to do and I think I understand materials and engineering to have a very rough idea of what could and couldn't work. I've only gained that through discussions on here with batmakers though. I know how to use one to score runs, and I've used enough to know when one doesn't suit me...

Why should anyone care what you state about a piece of equipment?  Why is your opinion any good?
I like to pontificate. Does it mean my opinion is any good? No, but it's just that, an opinion. So far, I've had other people use kit in the nets and they've agreed with me, so I think I'm not too bad. Ultimately though, like any review, it's an opinion so people can take it or leave it. I'm simply a bat geek who likes to share!

[jonpinson]

Although bat makers probably know more about the process than their customers, if a customer is sure of what they want then surely the bat maker should follow the instructions, even if it is done under protest. If i asked for a bat to be replicated and the bat maker agreed to undertake the work, I would expect to receive a copy of the bat. Plain and simple. Not necessarily because the bat maker has made what he thinks to be the best fit for the player, but because that was what he was asked to and agreed to do.

[Lekka Global Alliance]

Although bat makers probably know more about the process than their customers, if a customer is sure of what they want then surely the bat maker should follow the instructions, even if it is done under protest. If i asked for a bat to be replicated and the bat maker agreed to undertake the work, I would expect to receive a copy of the bat. Plain and simple. Not necessarily because the bat maker has made what he thinks to be the best fit for the player, but because that was what he was asked to and agreed to do.

Which bat maker ?

[jonpinson]

Any one; if a similar agreement is made.

[Lekka Global Alliance]

Fair comment.