Review: Gameness Platinum Weave Gi

EternalRag3 · 06:49 PM

Alright so this is my first review. I read alot about how great Gameness gi's are, and how comfortable they are, so I decided to get one.

ORDER DETAILS:
I ordered it off GroundandPound.com, cost $105, free shipping, got shipped out on a Monday from IL, got to my doorstep in Long Island two days later, Wednesday. The customer service by Jim at GroundandPound is fantastic, quick replies to inquiries as well as fast processing and shipping.

GI STATS:
I am 5'9, 141 lb, and I ordered an A2.

This gi comes pre-shrunk and mercinized. It fit decently anyway so I didn't feel the need to dry it to size before rolling in it. I called Gameness to make sure I didn't have to soak it in vinegar either, which they told me there was no need to.

A pic of the gi top:

The only other gi I have is the ATAMA gold weave, so all the comparisons I make will be to that model. The platinum is alot softer than my ATAMA, and the skirt of it felt a little fitter around my waist than the ATAMA.

Gameness is known for their thick collars, but at the same time the lapels feel more fitted around my neck (almost slightly choking if I had to close the gi tighter), which might be a tradeoff. We did gi chokes in a class I wore this to, and people didn't seem to have too much trouble despite the thickness, might be for the reason that the lapels are a little tighter.

Here is the lapel in comparison to the ATAMA (Gameness on top, ATAMA on bottom), note the major difference is the giant "lip" on the platinum:

A poster in another review of this gi asked for a closeup of the weave itself, I included it here:

The pants I like, because the width of the material ABOVE the drawstring loops is a little bit more than the ATAMA pants. When rolling, sometimes my ATAMA string will be tight, and the pants sneak under the tie, which is a little annoying. The extra material above the string on the platinum keeps the string from grinding into my skin.

A view of me wearing it, front, back, and side (sorry about the quality, my camera's ancient):

Overall, the gi is made well, and it is extremely comfortable. I've even had a couple guys in my gym ask where they could get one because they loved the feel of it, and they weren't even the ones wearing it.

I edited this posting to update, originally I had some problems with this gi in the lapel section. The customer service at Gameness.net and GroundandPound.com are fabulous, I was able to get a replacement and hopefully it will be problem free. Gameness guarantees their tops for 6 months, and their pants for 3.

irc · 04-01-2008, 04:10 PM

Man, I have had two Platinums, and always washed them on long cycles in a toploader. Never had any of the problems you mention with either of them.

infamous mattyd · 04-01-2008, 04:23 PM

I had my platinum since January of 04 and I never had any problems. Infact, I wore it this afternoon in class and it is still a great gi.

EternalRag3 · 04-01-2008, 05:03 PM

guess I just have terrible luck then

Aethyr · 04-01-2008, 05:09 PM

Just a warning - this gi may fail the GI check at tournaments. I have an A3 blue platinum, which is actually large for my 155lb frame. I had to cut the sleeves short to make it fit.

But at the pan-ams, it failed the GI check.

1) the slack at the elbow was too small

2) the patch at the knee is illegal

The patch you can simply remove, but the slack is impossible to fix. It sucks because I love this GI, but I can't compete with it.

EternalRag3 · 04-01-2008, 05:42 PM

Slack at the elbow? You mean how much material the opponent has to grip in that area?

Aethyr · 04-01-2008, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EternalRag3

Slack at the elbow? You mean how much material the opponent has to grip in that area?

Yeah, they have this little gi slack tool. Its basically a wooden fork with 2 prongs. You stick out an arm and your gi hangs down off your arm as usual. They then take that fork, placing the gi cloth between the fork and starting at the wrist, run it down the length of your arm. The tip of the fork touches your arm as it is run down the length of the arm and the gi cloth hangs down towards the bottom of the fork.

The fork has a line at the bottom. The gi cloth must meet or hang below that line throughout the entire arm.

My gi failed at the elbow point. I had plenty of slack before. My arms aren't thick at all and this is a gi one size larger than I would normally wear.

Its a great gi, but I'm just putting out a word of warning for anyone taking that gi to competition. I had to scramble and find a teammate to lend me his gi top.

irc · 04-02-2008, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aethyr

Just a warning - this gi may fail the GI check at tournaments. I have an A3 blue platinum, which is actually large for my 155lb frame. I had to cut the sleeves short to make it fit.

But at the pan-ams, it failed the GI check.

1) the slack at the elbow was too small

2) the patch at the knee is illegal

The patch you can simply remove, but the slack is impossible to fix. It sucks because I love this GI, but I can't compete with it.

That's weird. I see this gi probably more than any other at tournaments.

Ghosted-Barra · 04-02-2008, 03:11 PM

I dont know why, but there have been a few posts on sherdog amoung other forums saying that the patches are starting to come off after only a couple of washes. Hopefully it was just a bad run of a few since gameness has been a staple of the BJJ community for awhile now.

mrDonkii · 04-24-2008, 04:37 AM

I've had my gameness platinum for a year now, and my left sleeve ripped 2 days ago ;(
I only use my gi on average once a week. So usage hasn't been much. My pants ripped after 6 months. I never liked the pants though, didn't feel like I had full flexibility in them.

Although I love the thick, tough, feel of the gi top, It is very tight around the arms.

I'm 5'8" 165lbs 30" waist

Even with the pitfalls, I would love to buy a new one. but hmmm I think Im gonna go for something different.