We Broke the BRAND NEW 2025 Rawlings ICON USSSA Drop 5 (And Reviewed It)

[@phil8253]

Bro, my son’s 2023 Louisville Slugger select power just broke in half with a coach pitch - a bat I thought would resist breaking. Any bat can break, just hopefully some resist breaking longer compared to others

[@batdigest]

For sure.

[@kirkrivas8172]

I have a brand new 2024 Icon (in box) that Rawlings sent to me after my 1 week old Hype got banned. My son may use it for his 13u season next spring. I'm glad you think the 2025 and 2024 are too similar to make it a must buy. My son is swinging a 32" BBCOR "The Goods" two piece right now in the cages with 83 exit velo. He should be able to reach 90 with the ICON. Thanks for your review and hard work....

[@batdigest]

Thank you for watching!

[@nukeboys4080]

Best reviews on the tube!! Love them, keep them coming!

[@batdigest]

Glad you like them!

[@fitter5423]

Bat bros reviewed this bat, said it was 1a and 1b with the soldier tank. Didn’t break for them. Might be a defect. But either way I bought the warranty for my son’s 2025 icon. He plays 8 and 9u kid pitch travel ball.

[@dadbod4life]

My son wants to go from a -10 Zoa to the -10 icon next season. He still uses the gold and black zoa because it was $100 cheaper than the red. We will be going with last years icon because buying a repaint is a waste of money. But, he may consider the Soldier Tank as well.

[@batdigest]

Good stuff. Def go with the old one we say. We’re all about a deal. Our 11u used the gold/black Zoa too last year and ended up using the CAT X this year. Big change from feel, but he seemed excited enough.

[@mariomoralez691]

I think what’s being left out is that is a bat for a 13u maybe a 14u player. Not a college size player. It’s left out of the BB vids too. Few and far between 13u players have 100mph exo velo.

[@batdigest]

So true. We agree with 100% and have been saying as much for a few years here. Could have been more clear in the video.

[@mariomoralez691]

@@batdigest so the durability should with stand a 13u possibly a really good 14u power hitter.

[@batdigest]

We think that’s probably fair to say. When we do our data collection testing in the fall we’ll have age appropriate hitters. The 2024 had pretty good durable ratings, so it’s reasonable to assume this one is similar.

[@mariomoralez691]

@@batdigest regardless I’m buying this bat for my next season 14u player for next season. Good video

[@aidencarini3216]

@@batdigest yeah you should have me test them out lol

[@aidencarini3216]

im about to be starting up in travel ball again so i might wanna get this

[@Lionswinitall2025]

I’m waiting to get myself a soldier tank either 31 or 32 drop 8, as a drop 10 hype fire owner, hearing the soldier tank is MORE balanced I am excited, any thoughts?

[@batdigest]

Tank does swing lighter, for sure. But it’s pretty a pretty small amount. But tank still sounds like a good option for you. Let us know how it goes! Best of luck.

[@nynole1]

Do you know anything about the performance of the drop 10 version? Hype Fire drop 10 not as hot as drop 5.

[@batdigest]

We’ll be reviewing the drop 10 in some videos in the future! But you are probably right. Usually drop 10s aren’t as hot as drop 5s simply because it’s a lighter bat!

[@nynole1]

@batdigest I meant that I've heard the drop 5 hype fire is hotter than the 2024 icon, but that at drop 10 the icon is the hotter bat. Looming forward to that video!

[@batdigest]

@@nynole1 gotcha. We are on it.

[@greglanford4049]

My 12 year old sons icon 24 broke after the first month. His 2nd bat broke after 2 weeks. I'm thinking no on this 25 model

[@batdigest]

Certainly concerning.

[@shinbone25]

Have you swung the new DSB Bravo? Thoughts?

[@batdigest]

Not yet, but we got it in our list. Thanks for the heads up.

[@yantremblay-cote2597]

Will you review the USSSA bonesaber Hybrid -5 ??

[@batdigest]

Well put it on our list!

[@Tyty-m]

Where do you get the unreleshed bats?

[@batdigest]

You can get this on Rawlings website now! It’s released!

[@Editboy3027]

Is it because your using cage balls

[@batdigest]

Good thought. But These are real baseballs from the Mike Arm. NCAA Quality.

[@Editboy3027]

@@batdigest nice so if I were going to get a Rawlings icon should I get the 2024 or 2025

[@joshalpert5329]

The 2024 is far more delicate than the 2025. They are not the same bats. Do your research.

[@davidrobinson2005]

Its a shame that new paint on the same bat made it $50 more

[@batdigest]

Exactly….

[@michaelgideon8944]

I like the new irreverent editing style you are doing.

[@batdigest]

🙏🙏

[@iamswright1853]

But you’re older and it’s not made for you. You’re not 13 bro

[@batdigest]

💪💪🤣🤣

[@randomviewer9708]

Bore me with science on how you determine this is end loaded. Bat bros say this is more balanced than soldier tank and hype fire.

[@batdigest]

We could not be happier to talk to someone about the science of swing weights and how we actually measure them. Haha We measure the actual swing weights using the same methods as the certification labs, ensuring our numbers are quantifiable and replicable. (Pendulum period with a laser gate timer, weights at 6 and 24 inches, etc). We were trained by former industry lab professionals and acquired our equipment directly from them. You can read more about the process here: www.acs.psu.edu/drussell/bats/Papers/TPT-October2010.pdf. The pendulum, laser gate timer, and scales you see in that pdf are pretty much the same things we use in our lab. Unfortunately, simply shaking a bat cannot accurately assess swing weight. Many in the industry are overconfident in judging it by feeling alone. Check out our video later this week, comparing these bats head-to-head and demonstrating our measurement process. Below is the data we captured, with the last column representing the actual swing weight at 6-inches from the knob. As you can see, the Icon has about 5% higher swing weight than the Tank and the highest swing weight of the 4 drop 5 bats we talk about in the video. | BAT | Weight @ 6 inches | Weight @ 24 inches | Pivot to Top of Knob | Pendulum Period | ACTUAL WEIGHT | Swing Weight @ 6 inches | |-----------|-------------------|---------------------|-----------------------|-----------------|---------------|--------------------------| | ICON | 4.69 | 22.8 | 0.25 | 1.5742 | 27.49 | 8173.6 | | Tank | 6.19 | 22.2 | 1.00 | 1.53235 | 28.39 | 7752.9 | | Hype Fire | 4.44 | 22.9 | 0.25 | 1.5646 | 27.34 | 8012.5 | | Zen | 4.95 | 23.1 | 0.375 | 1.5624 | 28.05 | 8152.9 | We do a someone decent job of keeping up on our swing weight measurements on your members site you can find in the menu here: www.batdigest.com/ We've been measuring swing weights since we started Bat Digest in 2015. Also might be worth noting, Rawlings also claims the bat "balanced" with a "slight endload." They have these swing weight numbers when they get the test done. We agree with that. We'd put he Hype/Tank as just plain "Balanced." Hope that helps. Thanks for watching and asking. We always happy to talk shop.

[@Edp454_]

This is 2025 icon

[@millertime-lf8th]

Be sure to zip the bat bros pants up when you’re done

[@andydeligiannis1122]

So how does meta fit in when it comes to swing weight?

[@kirkrivas8172]

I thought they said the opposite, I understood they said the ICON was more endloaded.

[@conquermw991]

Wannabe bat bros 😂

[@batdigest]

🤣🤣. We’ve been doing this for longer than anyone. 😘

[@kirkrivas8172]

Dude, there is so much room for good content on KZbin. I'm afraid that Bat Bros might get bought/bribed.