Dirty South KAMO BBCOR Review

By Bat Digest | Last Updated November 17, 2022

After discussing with several players that have used the BBCOR Dirty South KAMO and measuring its exit speeds and swing weights, we write this review.

Price Check

2019 Kamo Video

2019 Kamo Video

2019 Kamo Models

Generally, our hitters liked the pop off the bat when they squared one up. Few bats did better in those terms. And, despite being a one piece, the BBCOR KAMO felt manageable on mishits too. We think the heavier swing weight contributed to that as well as a proprietary composite DSB uses. Bigger, stronger hitters who want a stiff feeling bat that transfers max energy to the ball will like the KAMO. As well, those looking for something a bit different, and want to stand out, might find the Dirty South Kamo just what the doctor ordered.

Note: Dirty South does NOT claim this is a 2019 bat. That is fair and reasonable. That said, our site uses a hierarchical structure that requires some year categorization because just about every other company does use the year. As such, forgive the references to “2019” below. We simply want our readers to know this bat is relatively new and they wouldn’t be able to find it in our database and searches without a year attached.

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Model Recommendations

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Comparable Bats

On the market today the only real competitor to the Dirty South Kamo BBCOR is the Mizuno Power Carbon. Both bats are monster barrels on a single piece composite bat. Both feel great when you square one up. However, in terms of swing weight the Power Carbon is much lighter. Considerably so—almost 8% which is just about the difference of an Inch. In terms of swing weight you’d compare consider the 34 inch Power Carbon to 33 inch Kamo.

Both the Kamo and Power Carbon are first year iterations (meaning they have no predecessors).

The other bat, which the Kamo reminds us of, is the Combat Maxum. The Maxum, you recall, is a single piece full composite bat. Combat went defunct and was absorbed by Easton. You can still find a few of the older models floating around. Some are still new in wrapper.

Also, new for 2019, Louisville Slugger upgraded their Catalyst into a bat called the Prime One. This is a single piece composite bat. However, it does NOT come in a BBCOR version.

Construction

The Dirty South Bat KAMO is a single piece composite bat. That is, it is made of one piece and out of a material that, to the layman, might best be described as a plastic. Composite barrel bats are not new to the industry. Some of the best we’ve ever hit have a composite bat. But the DSB Kamo is unique in that it is made of a single piece instead of two.

DSB claims the KAMO’s impressive feel is created by a unique composite built with a softer feel. We don’t know have any particular insight to the manufacturing process of their composite versus another companies, but our experience with the bat did feel kinder on our hands than we first expected. In fact, of the 6 hitter we had use the Kamo BBCOR not a single one of them complained about hand sting.

Overall Ratings

The overall rating uses seven different weighted metrics to determine our overall score. Half of total rating comes from the player and our exit speed tests (Player Rating: 25%, Performance: 25%).The other categories are Relevance (20%), Demand (10%), Durability (10%), Resell Score (5%), and Tech Specs (5%).

*: When a bat is denoted by a star (*) it is a preliminary rating. Expect it to be updated as we learn more about the bat and gather more data.

(PlaRa) Player Rating: We measure player rating from user reviews. Those users include our own hitters that we test at the lab as well as reviews we find online.

(ExVe) Performance: Performance measures the exit speeds and distances we capture in our hitting lab with HitTrax using these bats.

(Relv) Relevance: We measure the number of sizes and the MOI of the bat. Bats with a wider range of options get a better score.

(Dmnd) Demand: Demand is measured by consumer sentiment and the buzz around the bat.

(Drb) Durability: A bat’s durability is measured by user reviews as well as feedback from manufacturers.

(ReSl) Resell Score: Based on the price the bats go for used. Higher prices mean greater user demand which means, generally, a better bat. A resell value closer to its original price means a higher score.

(Tech) Tech Specs: We rate the bat on its technological advancements from previous years and compared to the industry at large. This is our chance to reward companies who are trying to innovate.
MOI
MOI or Mass Moment of Inertia is a measurement of bat swing weight. This quantifies how difficult it is to swing a bat. The industry often refers to this as things like End Load or Balanced but those words have been overused to the point of meaninglessness. We measure the actual swing weights of each bat we test using the industry-standard pendulum period, balance point, and scale weight. You can read more about that here.
Price
The price is the original MSRP price of the bat.
Type
The types of bats are single-piece alloy (SPA), two-piece composite (TPC), single-piece composite (SPC), hybrid (Hyb.), and wood (Wood). Hybrid bats are made of composite handles and alloy barrles.
Date
The estimated date the bat began distribution.