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[WalkingWicket37]

I saw the following on Facebook, and instantly thought bad idea!
If you apply one of these it will be solid, and if a ball hits it there won't be any give - meaning that toe will have to go with it.



Am I being stupid, or is this not a very good idea?

[smilley792]

I had a experimental carbon fibre toe on an old b3.

It had no detrimental effect. And fell off after a while as per usual

[WalkingWicket37]

I had a experimental carbon fibre toe on an old b3.

It had no detrimental effect. And fell off after a while as per usual

That's the other thing, functionally it be no different to a normal toe guard and have no detrimental effect, in which case it's a very expensive alternative!

[smilley792]

I don't have a pic when new




But as you can see, as and when it needs to break it didn't take willow with it.

[Seniorplayer]

A guy at our club rather than buy a new toe guard  cut up a leather belt and glued a strip onto his bat works a treat.

[WalkingWicket37]

A guy at our club rather than buy a new toe guard  cut up a leather belt and glued a strip onto his bat works a treat.

Leather has some give, the stuff pictured appears not to.

I personally gave up on toe guards when I discovered varnish, and I only apply that when I remember/can be bothered now.
I don't think they're essential to be honest, oil/wax on the toe is sufficient for most people

[edge]

It's not a good idea, but because it's a toe guard, not because it's hard. Being hard won't have any disadvantage at all...

[WalkingWicket37]

It's not a good idea, but because it's a toe guard, not because it's hard. Being hard won't have any disadvantage at all...

Would having a hard thing stuck to your bat not be more likely to break on impact than a soft thing?
And being stuck to the bat, it it breaks and has no give then the bat will go with it.

Julian Millichamp said a resin toe guard was a bad idea as it took the bat with it, I thought this may be the same

[WalkingWicket37]

http://youtu.be/Z_e3AFndzmM

Fast forward to about 9.30 for the bit about resin toe guards.

I know the impala product isn't epoxy resin (or doesn't look to be anyway) but I thought a similar principal may apply when digging out a yorkers

[edge]

Would having a hard thing stuck to your bat not be more likely to break on impact than a soft thing?
And being stuck to the bat, it it breaks and has no give then the bat will go with it.

Julian Millichamp said a resin toe guard was a bad idea as it took the bat with it, I thought this may be the same

Well it would have to be harder to break than either soft rubber or willow, otherwise there would be no point. And if it requires more force to break than the willow, then any impact that breaks the toeguard would have been strong enough to break the willow if there was no guard anyway. Plus if the guard has broken, it has absorbed energy in breaking that hasn't been transmitted to the willow, good news.
No reason at all why something breaking that is stuck to something else should make the thing it is stuck to break, this just doesnt follow?

A "resin toe guard" could mean different things - if shoe goo kind of affair then of course it won't 'take the bat with it', that would probably imply that breaking the toe guard somehow releases extra energy upon breaking which would then snap the bat. If it means that the toe of the bat has been dipped in resin (and the willow has absorbed some of it), that could change the properties of the willow in that area, perhaps making it more brittle and less able to absorb cricket ball impact without breaking.

[Cin88]

That Jullian Millichamp video is where I got my misaprehension about shoe goo, somehow I forgot that epoxy and shoe goo aren't the same thing.

As for toe guards in general I don't think it makes a blind bit of difference what they're made of, they all fly off in the same hilarious fashion eventually anyway...Unless they take the toe with them, then they are not funny in any way, shape or form.

[edge]

Ah I see he means just a toe guard made of resin. Talking out of his backside I'm afraid, just how on earth does the toe guard 'take the bat with it'?

[dt-second-hand-cricket]

i think he just means that if the toe guard made of resin cracks and has attached itself that tightly to the wood, that because resin is that hard/tight a stick it may take willow with it - this would really only be an issue when you put resin on a rough bit of wood - can't see it being a problem on smooth 'fresh' willow - i did have a similar issue on a edge crack/split - i put in resin and when the resin/split got hit by a 'brick' ball i had to take out some willow as well as the resin had stuck so well that it made the split bigger - this was 3 years after i fixed it - so the resin had done a fantastic job until then!

[skip1973]

Opinion is a bit divided on the hard toe, it's generally does as a repair rather than pre-emptive measure.

[sarg]

Ive been experimenting with polyurethane glue as a toe guard. You need a bit of moisture on the toe, but the glue wicks that up and uses it as a catalyst to start expanding. If you treat it like silicone and use a wet finger you can shape it as it dries. Takes 20 mins for the reaction to stop.

Unlike epoxy it is more a hardened foam than a epoxy and should wear away like the willow. It is also waterproof. It appears it will tear with a crack, rather than break the toe off like epoxy.