well, lets see. Ive had a few different gi brands, LA, Atama, Keiko Raca, HCK, Vulkan, KF, Rickson Mizuno, SSF (pants). Thereare somethings I like about them all.
The LA is made from stong material. Its cut pretty tight. It just shrinks alot, and I dont like the pants drawsting, its too thin. Its a rope strnig, but it still bunches. I dont like the gold lettering on the ass either.
Atama, feels ok in the beginning. After some use though, they start to get real baggy and the material seems to be kinda cheap. They use to be good gi when they were cheaper, at their current price, not worth it. My pants ripped real fast. On a side note about those though, they are having new gi's coming out that are made with that "rip stop" material that is used in things like BDU's. At least the pants anyways. Unfortunatly you can only get them in Brazil right now, I think.
Keiko, the top has a wierd cut. The chest always opens, Im not too fond of that, Im not trying to show off my chest rug. The pants suck, the cratch is cut too low, limits my mobility in the open guard.
HCK, I have the comp single. Way too heavy, other wise the jacket has a real good cut. I want to try the summer gi. I love the reinforcements oin the HCK thoiugh. I hate HCK pants though, same prob as the Keiko. So the summer gi is a little pricey just for the top.
Vulkan, for some reason has standed the test of punishment. I wash and dry the hell out of it, still hasnt busted yet. Almost 2 years. It feels like it should, but wont. Im not too big ont he cuts but I like how fast it dries in the dryer, I tend to forget about washing my gis so its easier for a quick last minute wash.
KF, very similar to atama. I hate the pants though, straight up, rough azz demin, gave my knee's ingrown hairs. No thank you!
Rickson mizuno, very good pants, in fact awsome. The top is good too but cut for someone with a bigger chest and shoulders than I have.
I mention the ssf pants because they are by far (along with the rickson pants) my favorite. Perfect fit in everyway.
Now the Fuji compared to all of these. The fuji seems to be made from very strong material, but way softer than the LA and hasnt shrunk an insane amount. The cut is actually similar to the old school atamas, thight yet roomy enough room and wraps to the hips. Even Saulo said this, he likes the gi as well. The cut is way better than the keiko, it stays closed relatively well. Being that Fuji also makes judo gis, its not suprising to see that the gi has good reinforcements, just like the HCK, no where near as heavy though. The gi is very light, not as light as the vulkan, but light enough. Which brings us to the pants, the pants are number 3 for me, right behind the SSF and Rickson pants (they tie for number 1.) The cut seems to be high enough and not too baggy but not too tight. The drawstring is a flat cord, but works well so far. The biggest point that seperates this gi from the rest, is that you can get a gi that is just as good, even better than the rest, for way, way cheaper. I dont think I will venture into other gis unless I get hooked up on them. I just dont see the point spending over $100, shoot even $80 for a gi that might not be as good when I can get an awsome gi for $60. If Fuji can make a great gi for a great price, so can the competition.
Now, that is in no way ment to be a stab at the competing manufacturers. I know there are some awsome companies out there especially the ones that frequent this board. Made props to Ron at SSF, he makes good stuff. Im merley trying to explaine why I dont think I will need to look at another gi manufacturer. I would like to try the SSF gi, but need to save up and I will do so. The Kikskin seems to be a nice one, baught one for my dad, he seems to like it. Just dont want to spend the green on one though. Ive heard these gis are awsome, and they have a great price too
www.matrat.us its the Padilla and Sons gi. They use to be around back in the day, I will save for one of these too.
