[BJJ_addiction]

General Overview

A lot of people on the forums have a lot of interest about the quality and construction of one of the most expensive (if not THE most expensive) Jiu Jitsu gi's on the market: The Lucky Gi (Black). From reading past comments / reviews in other threads it seems like a lot of people are mis-informed about this gi. I hope this review can answer some of the questions people have about it.

This will be a continuous review over time to basically address how the gi holds up to wear and tear. I train 3-4 times a week and wash my gi's at least 3 times a week so I can definitely address the long term durability issues.

FightPlanet.ca: Customer Service and Product Transit Time

*Note: FightPlanet is located in Hamilton Ontario and I live in Vancouver BC Canada. Transit times into the USA will vary*

This is my 2nd purchase from FightPlanet in about 2 months. Their customer service is top notch! When I email them questions about products the general turn around time to receive a response is within 24 hours and they are patient enough to actually answer your questions by email. The guys there are great and provide awesome support on the products they sell. They seem to be quite knowledgeable about the products they carry which is a great thing.

I called up FightPlanet on Wednesday March 5th and submitted my order by phone. I paid by creditcard and opted for the Expresspost 2 Day shipping option. My order arrived right on time on Friday March 7th. WICKED that it arrived on time like they promised. A+ on that one guys.

Cost breakdown is as follows: *CAD Dollar*
Lucky Gi in Black - $259.95
2 x Sinister Tees - $49.98
Sub Total (Plus 5% Tax for Canadians): $325.43
Shipping Xpress 2 Day: $35.00
TOTAL: $360.42

So if you breakdown the shipping and divide it by the item value, the price of the Gi including tax DELIVERED was $299.44CAD. *cough* effin' expensive *cough*

Packaging and Initial Impressions

FightPlanet had the items boxed up really nice. They included a bunch of ad fliers and Sinister Stickers What surprised me most was that they included a FREE FightPlanet t-shirt! Great freebee and just made me smile. Last time I ordered some Sinister goods they threw in a free magazine.



The Free t-shirt




The Lucky Gi

The Lucky Gi came very nicely packaged in it's own custom drawstring tote bag. The gi top and bottom came in resealable plastic bags

[BJJ_addiction]

The Inner Lining

Unlike what many people have said about this Gi, the inner lining is NOT soft. It's not made of any special material. There's not an extra layer or anything. It has the full print graphics all on the inside. I'm not sure what the exact term is for how the graphics are layed on top, but maybe silk screening? The full print graphics don't look very durable, more on that later.




Size / Fit / Shrinkage

So just some basic information I am 5 foot 8 and walk around at 155lbs. I own an Atama Mundial #7 and an A2 fit me perfectly. So I went with the same size, A2, for the Lucky Gi.

The following pictures show a before wash and after wash length.

Wash cycle: Gentle cycle, cold water, using Tide Coldwater detergent.
Dry cycle: Normal heat, 40-55 minutes.

Overall the Gi top and bottom both lost about 1 1/2 to 2 inches of length in some areas, for me this was perfect.

BEFORE

AFTER



BEFORE

AFTER

[BJJ_addiction]

Lucky Gi Details / Reinforcement

I guess the selling point for the Lucky Gi are the minute details. There are a lot of neat little graphics all over. Not much to explain here.

Even the reinforced areas of the gi are structured with 'style' in mind. Take a look.



Gi Details

[BJJ_addiction]

Details Cont.

[irc]

Jesus that is a sick gi.

[BJJ_addiction]

Durability and Initial Impressions (Pre-rolling)

Durability

Right now my first impression of the durability of the gi is NOT very good and I'm going to tell you why. The first thing I did when I took it out of the bags was inspect the seams and how it was sown together. Being that this gi was $300.00CAD you would expect perfection. Not the case here... There were a few "loose" threads which were sown in improperly. One on the arm and one on the upper back. Basically if someone were to stick a finger between the thread, their finger would catch under the thread and rip it out or cut their finger. I decided to take scissors and cut the threads out.

Little holes and a small rip at the end of the skirt after the FIRST wash???

So this was something that I NEVER expected to happen. After putting the pants and top in the wash and dryer I took it out to exam. What I found was that on the top of the gi pants, the areas that crinkle over when you tighten the draw string, there were tiny tear holes forming. There were actually 3 different small holes developing. They were big enough to be concerned about. I mean, how does something like this happen after the FIRST wash????



This area is basically the end of the collar where the skirt is. You can see that somehow the end got frayed. Not a good first impression here... I'm very very disappointed that this could happen!! I wash my Atama gi 3-4 times a week and I see no such signs of wear at all.



Inner Lining Durability after heat cycle in dryer

As you can see compared to the pre-wash photo up top, after the 1st wash and 1st dry cycle the inner liner graphics have faded a bit. No surprise here. What I would suggest people to do after they shrink to size is:

1.) Dry in dryer only using 'air cycle' no heat
2.) Hang dry

I'm pretty sure the reason for the fade is the heat of the dryer and not the washing machine.

[BJJ_addiction]

Draw String Annoyances

One thing I always do when I wash my Atama gi is take the draw string out. I've had an episode where the draw string got tangled in the washer.

The Atama draw string actually has open loop ends on the string so you can basically stick a chop stick into the loop and thread your pants in literally 30 seconds.

The Lucky Gi doesn't have this feature. So in order for you to be able to thread it back through the Lucky pants, you need to pin the end with a safety pin and then feed it through. Just a stupid annoyance if anything....

Atama Draw String


Lucky draw string

[BJJ_addiction]

Alright well I gotta go out now but I have an update for the gi.

I know I've listed a lot of negatives but there are some positives that for sure.

I got a chance to roll in the gi today for about 2 hours. I have some VERY IMPORTANT issues to address that everyone will find surprising so look out for an update tomorrow.

Cheers

[BJJ_addiction]

... double post

[crossdx]

GREAT review. I'm not in the market for a gi, Lucky or otherwise, but I just had to say it.