Markwort Youth Heart-Gard Protective Body Shirt

I have purchased at least five or six of these over the years in various sizes as my boys have grown. I have two sons in baseball, and this helps me feel that they are safer and more protected. As others have noted, the sizing is off. It seems that you would want to order one size smaller than their typical size. They hold up well in the washer and the dryer and have lasted multiple seasons of use and have been handed down from one brother to the other as well.

I purchased this item for my son. He wears a Youth Medium size 8-10 in normal clothes...however when I looked up this item on Heart-gard website and it said he should order a youth small. I read the previous review here and went ahead and ordered my son a youth medium thinking it would be tight fitting like his UnderArmour shirts. It was too big and the chest plate was too low on him. Returned and got a youth small. Perfect fit! Here is the sizing info from the Markwort website. Youth Sizes: YXXS (Chest 27"), YXS (Chest 27.5"), YS (Chest 28"), YM (Chest 28"-30") YL (Chest 31"-33") YXL (Chest 34"-36") However, the same shirts, I found this sizing info which may help better:(Sizing coordinates with weight:)XS (approximately 30-55 pounds)PS (approximately 55-80 pounds)S (approximately 80-125)M(approximately 125-150)L (approximately 150 and up)

I ordered this for my soon to be 6 year old who has graduated from t-ball to baseball. He's more likely to be abducted by aliens in left field than hit w/ a ball but I'd rather err on the side of safety. The shirt is exactly as described, was sent quickly, and is a great price. My son is a size 5/6 and the shirt is a bit long, meaning the guard part is a bit lower than I'd like. We purchased the xxs. It would be great if this product was made in an even smaller size. My son doesn't mind wearing it and says it's comfortable. We wash on a gentle cycle and air dry per the directions. I hope we wear it every time but never need it. I hope he's never abducted by aliens either but they don't make a shirt for that.

I had such a difficult time actually finding a heartguard that was built into a shirt - the plastic ones were just not comfortable for my son at all!I found this one and decided to give it a try. I actually ordered the Child's L and XL because I was unsure about the sizing. The sizing is actually very true to size especially because it cannot be worn big or baggy or your are defeating the purpose. He wore the L for the rest of his season and all-stars and I decided to keep the XL for next season! Good quality and washes well - DO NOT put in the dryer!

I am writing this review about a month after i bought Heart-gard because today it worked for my 12 year old son. It will sound weird and I dont know how it really happen but he was hit in the chest while batting, i know it sounds impossible to happen because most batters get hit in the side or back. i guess it was one of those freak accidents but my son was hit with a fast ball right in the chest and the heart gard protected him. I know this because i heard it and due to the sound of the ball hitting the heart gard the umpire thought it hit his bat and tried to call it a foul ball till i explained what he was wearing. Hope this review helps.

The shirt is comfortable to my son and gives us comfort that his chest and heart are protected. The fit is OK. We bought the size for my son based on the size chart but it is a bit large on him. Wearing a second shirt under hsi jersey helps it stay in place but can make him hot in warm weather. The durability is the biggest disapointment. With in 2 weeks the fabric around the protective piece was tearing. I would expect a product like this to last for at least a few seasons.

It's the second one I had to order because they have no size chart to view while ordering it, you just have to guess at the size. When you receive it the package has a very pacific size chart in it and that should be shown on line because it is not any where near the size they normally wear and being this is a hart protecter it must fit properly. Other then that I am really pleased with the quality of it.

Ordered a small, which fit. However the entire protective padding was over the stomach and not over the sternal/thoriac area. Did not provide protection in the needed area for my average size 71/2 year old. I felt it was unusable for the purpose intended and felt it provide no protection for the chest area. Returned and will reorder another brand. A larger size would have padding even lower than small. 1 star for material and shirt fit, would have gave negative rating for padding placement.