After training with these gloves for the past few weeks, I decided it was time to do a review. First, a link to and pics of the gloves:
http://www.combatsports.com/detail.aspx?ID=22663
When dealing with fight gloves, you generally have two options: There are the padded gloves with finger loops (e.g. CSI MMA, SSF Shooto, etc.) and the fingerless gloves with extra padding (CSI Hybrid, Primetimes, Fairtex, and most competition gloves). Now whether you prefer one over the other basically comes down to personal preference; my first pair was a pair of the CSI MMA gloves. However, after a while I decided I didn’t like the finger loops or the “pillow on the back of my hand” feeling... Hence my interest in the Hybrid.
I have trained boxing, wrestling, and done bag work over the past several weeks with these and they have held up great. They have ample padding and seemed to wear in faster than my CSI MMA gloves did. The padding is also very well distributed, with the bulk of the padding around the top knuckles. I was able to train pretty much like I always do, and my training partner said that the padding was almost as good as my 16oz gloves. Wrist support is good also; there is enough material to wrap about three times around the wrist, and unlike the MMA glove the hook and loop covers the entire strap (as opposed to having little sections of material that you have to try and line up):
Wrestling was even better. One of my issues with the finger loop-style gloves is that there tends to be a lot of padding near the front of the hand. This is fine for standup, but it makes grappling feel awkward sometimes. Because the Hybrids distribute the padding more towards the knuckles and you still have freedom of movement for each finger, the gloves don’t get in the way nearly as much when grappling.
Sizing: My hand measures 9” around the knuckles. Joe first sent me a pair of the Larges, however they were too small (to the point where my fingers would go numb). Once I bumped up to an XL, everything was good. One thing to note here however is that the XLs fit me great for training, but they are still too small for me to wear with wraps. So if you have ogre hands like me, take that into consideration.
Probably the only complaint I have about the gloves is that they use the same material as the CSI MMA glove for the inner lining. Some people (myself included) find this to be abrasive sometimes. It doesn't bother me a whole lot, but it's still a good bit of constructive criticism for CSI to start looking for an alternative lining, hehe. EDIT: I spoke with Joe at CSI and the reason they use this material is for its high durability. So that's definitely something to consider.
Oh yeah, and note that while CSI advertises this glove as being for both training and competition, these are 6oz (or 7oz in XL) gloves. If you are competing, make sure this isn’t too big or too small for your org.
In summary…
Pros:
Ample, well-distributed padding
Great wrist support
Better hook and loop design
Cons:
Uses the same material as the CSI MMA glove for the inner lining. Some people find this abrasive (I find it mildly abrasive).
Still no sizing chart on combatsports.com. Make sure you ask CSI for sizing help before ordering.
P.S. People may observe that these gloves are very similar to the Primetimes. I have never worn the Primetimes so I can’t fairly compare the two. However, I can say that these gloves rock and I won’t be switching gloves any time soon.
Also, thanks again to Joe at CSI for all his help. He is a class act and very responsive.
EDIT: Pic urls changed; updated accordingly.
