Hitch Shin Guard

I don't recall having ever seen anything like this on the forum, but there is enough stuff here that I could easily have missed it (and it takes way too long to search through everything to be certain).

My in-laws know that our lifestyle (living full time in our 550) doesn't allow us to accumulate stuff, so at Christmas time they need to keep that in mind. The easy way out is to find something edible, but they are a resourceful bunch, and I'm often impressed by what they come up with. My brother-in-law hit one out of the park with this Fastway Shin Guard:
Amazon.com: Fastway 82-00-3127 Shin Guard, Yellow: Automotive

It slips over the hitch ball and wraps around the edge of the stinger, offering protection from walking into it when you are unhitched. It does OK at that, though our ball is close to knee cap high, so it isn't fool proof in that regard. But the bright color (yellow or orange), makes the hitch more noticeable when we open the back of our van to fish something out, and thus less likely to abuse ourselves on it.

The REAL benefit to us has to do with our rear view camera. It is pretty tiny, so long ago we put some reflectorized yellow tape on the trailer tongue to make it easier to line up on the ball. With the shin guard on the stinger, it makes lining things up on that cellphone-sized screen a breeze, even with a fogged up camera or in awkward light conditions.

For those of you who aren't concerned with maximum practicality, there is a company that makes a similar product in black or glow-in-the-dark white:
Amazon.com : Hitch Guard SS Marine Tow Hitch Protector, Black : Sports & Outdoors

And for sports fans, the Shin Shield appears to come with all the major pro and college sports logos (though unfortunately only in black, not in team colors -aside from the logo):
Amazon.com : NFL Arizona Cardinals Shin Shield Class V Hitch Cover, Black : Sports & Outdoors

 

Wish we had seen this 10 bruises ago!