I've gotten a lot of good gear info from here, so I thought I'd pay it forward.
Ordered some new gear to replace some worn out stuff. Everything arrived last night and I was eager to put it through the paces this morning. I went through my entire boxing workout and a short MT workout to see how my new gear fared. Here's what I discovered:
I ordered a pair of these:
Windy Super Bag Gloves
to replace an old set of hook and loop Top Contender bag gloves whose velcro had worn out. The strap would come loose during mitt and bag work which got pretty annoying.
I train boxing and MT, so I planned to use my new bag gloves for both workouts.
First impressions:
- very solid wrist closure. The velcro in my old Top Contenders wore out in a little over a year. The velcro strap on the new Windys wraps all the way around the wrist, providing great support. I can't imagine the strap coming open during my workout either.
- quality. The leather is very high quality as is the stitching. I won't lose any stuffing for awhile.
- flexibility. I'd expect thai-made gloves to be more flexible (my Kings sparring gloves are), but the difference between these and the Top Contenders is amazing. I was debating going thumbless, but I don't have a good reason to with these.
- fit. I'm 5'10, 185 with average sized hands. I ordered Large and these things fit like they were custom molded.
- size / weight. These come in Regular and Large. I don't know how big the Regulars are, but I'd guess the Large are around 12oz. They're a lot smaller than my old Top Contenders, but are still very soft and light.
- protection. I did a few rounds on the heavy bag at 100% and my hands felt great. I don't normally have any problems here, but given these gloves seems smaller and lighter than my Top Contenders I was a little worried. Looks like I have nothing to worry about.
Overall I'm very happy with this purchase. I paid just over $50 US + S/H. While you can certainly find decent bag gloves for less, I'm pretty sure these gloves will be worth it.
I also ordered a pair of these:
CSI Pro-Style Shin-Instep Guards
Originally I debated between the Windy and Fairtex Pro-Style guards. I chose the Windys because they seemed smaller and lighter, but they were out of stock. I had no idea when they'd come in and I noticed these, which seemed about the size of the Fairtex guards at about 1/2 the price, so I decided to give them a shot.
First impressions:
- size. I went with pro-style because I wanted something a bit smaller and lighter than traditional but with solid velcro and better protection than most of the grappling-style I've seen. These appear to be about the size of the Fairtex guards.
- weight. They're light enough.
- fit. The CSI's have 4 straps - an elastic foot strap, elastic ankle strap, and 2 velcro shin straps. I ordered Large and they seemed like a decent length though the velcro straps are pretty long - apparently to accomodate people with large calves. I had a bit of trouble getting them snug. The 2 elastic straps make them harder to get on and off, but definitely improve the fit.
- padding. These guards have a lot of padding. The instep foam is thick and comfortable and there's a big, fat ridge of additional foam along the length of the shin. I went all-out with these and felt nothing.
- quality. These guards seem well made. I'm a little concerned about the foot strap, but the leather and stitching seem quality and the instep guard seems well made.
Overall I'm
not happy with this purchase. Similar to the Fairtex guards, the CSIs have a ridge of padding along the center from top to bottom. The ridge on the CSIs is pretty pronounced, and as I put them through the paces I noticed they moved more than I wanted, especially on my sweaty legs. After 2 rounds on the heavy bag I had to take off my gloves and adjust, which I don't want to deal with, especially not while sparring. I plan to exchange these for the Windys.
I also want to note that I ordered directly from CSI and was very happy. Their website is laid out pretty well and they make it clear which items are not in-stock before processing the order (more on that below). I received a confirmation mail the next day, and shipment notification a few days later, and my gear arrived just over a week later. I had a couple of items to exchange and they were very responsive about returning my email. They also threw in a complimentary
SuperBrawl 39: Destiny DVD which I thought was pretty cool. I would definitely order from these guys again.
I mention they notify on out of stock items before processing only because of my last purchase from Title Boxing. I ordered 5 items. A few days later they sent me an email notifying me that one of the items (focus mitts) was backordered and asking if I wanted to wait or cancel that item. I told them I'd wait. My shipment arrived a few days after that missing not only the mitts, but a shirt as well. The shipping invoice indicated that the shirt order had simply been cancelled because it was out of stock. Strangely, Title's website still indicated both items were in-stock and ready to ship. They also appeared as available from Amazon.com (shipped from Title). They also didn't reduce my S/H fees despite not shipping all the items. I eventually emailed them and they shipped me the same shirt in a different size with no additional shipping. Problem solved but it certainly could have been better.
