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[sarg]

Ok. Cricket season is over here in Australia and I'm just killing time. And boredom leads to strange ideas.

So in January I purchased a slazenger kit bag with no bat cave. Its a two pocket configuration where either the boots or helmet lives in a smaller pocket and the larger pocket is where the bats and pads live.





So i worked out that the bats need to fit on the sides with the bat handles along the sides of the smaller pocket.

But I'm not content with having stuff hitting the bats. I loved the duffle i had with two bat pockets, and therefore no need to use a cover. I hated the duffle itself. 

So it got me thinking about those nice camera cases with foam padding to protect the an expensive camera or lense. Well bats are also bloody expensive these days and us bat geeks/ aficionados  like to look after them. SF Stanford make those lovely bat coffin cases. But you can't buy them without the $400+ bat.

So why not DIY?

So i took some measurements and went down to the local (clark) rubber shop and walked out empty handed after they were charging $1.30 per 10cm square of foam.....wtf.

My dreams in tatters i looked around the shed and saw the discarded foam play mats we purchased when our 2 year old was  a baby. Its eva foam.

So the tools : contact adhesive, stanley knife or band saw or steak knife.

Cut the jigsaw ends off. Then cut them into 50 x 9 cm strips. Glue them together.



Then draw a rough outline of the bat and cut out the bat shape. Bandsaw was great for this. But a serrated knife will do the job fine. Then glue a base on it with one of the strips.  This one is the first prototype and I ran out of glue as because it was a almost empty tube, but presto:







The next step is to get some more glue , make ano and velcro tape these inside the bag. I'll post and update.

Thoughts?

[radiomark]

That's genius and cheap as chips.

[WalkingWicket37]

Why not just buy a padded bat cover? 

[smilley792]

Why not just buy a padded bat cover? 

because they are rubbish.

[WalkingWicket37]

I've got a couple of very padded ones I'm more than happy with (having had some really crap "padded" ones that I'm sure breached trading standards!)

[sarg]

I have a beautiful B3 padded cover. That cover will work. Others i have are crap. I wanted people's thoughts and value every opinion.

This is also about organising the space in the bag and stopping the bat from moving around. Anyway its not finished yet and I promise I didn't run out of glue because I was sniffing it. It's just a project born out of boredom and I am trying to stop buying more bats......

I want something that i can remove and reuse in other bags....like the B3 one I plan to purchase when my local B3 rep "Duffers" returns from his next UK trip in July. By having the bats on their sides i get a few cm space.

[Number4]

Isn't one thickness of high density enough? I think it's a bit too bulky and impractical as is but with one thickness may work better. I think it's a bit of an overkill.

[sarg]

Possibly, but I don't have any that size, so it's cheaper to recycle old mats. A old foam mattress would do the job brilliantly. I'm eyeing off my daughters mini mattress/couch. Only problem is we haven't given it to her for her birthday yet and I like my life atm

[MrCricket321]

I have the SF ones and they are pretty good, saw SG doing it on some of their top end bats

[Chalkie]

I like the idea here, but not sure i would have the patience to cut and stick several sheets together to get the right thickness.

I have started looking around the house for foam, and will also be keeping an eye out in any builders skips nearby for some.

[TBONTB]

I got a cover the other day that was very similar to the SF coffins with the padded insert. Really great protection, just slightly shoddy glueing but nothing really to worry about. I looked at making my own too but I was shocked at how much foam cost. The only way I could see to do it is to buy one of those huge bags of foam off cuts and glue them all together then cut them, much in the way you have. But I have no place to put that much foam for a few weeks while I do it.

[sarg]

Ok. Project complete.

Two protectors made. My cheap bandsaw didn't allow enough clearance and i was too lazy to cut it in half, cut properly and reglue. So i resorted to a knife. Also by stencil work was shoddy the second time around, and i had to cut a bit more. Not really too fussed, as its not for display.



So fitting was dead easy with velcro tape. I plan to make a third and just swap it out if i need too. The tape can be removed from the bag if I need too also.

Before shot are in my first post.


Installed and the organisation i wanted is demonstrated. Other benefits are the bag is better balanced and the bats are not as easily exposed to moisture from the pads. I plan to leave the bat covers at home. The protectors themselves are really light, maybe 100 grams each.

[Neon Cricket]

Good effort that! Certainly helps solve the issue