Is it just me? (No seriously, if anyone knows, enlighten me.) I haven't seen anyone yet in Bare Knuckle using the Philly shell.
It will, for the most part, take away the problem of not having big gloves to hide behind. Fighting Bare Knuckle doesn't change anything about the arm and the shoulder, right? So why not use it as a guard?
Most of the punches that do come through the Philly shell are on the forehead and the top of the head. Ain't that a good way of increasing the chance of breaking your opponent's hand / wrist? If you've sparred before, you know that a punch on your forehead is not too bad to take if it's not coming from a much bigger opponent.
So why not?