I train Hapkido and at our club we are looking to do more pressure testing and scenario based training. We’re looking into getting a couple of protective suits for the club to use but it’s such a hard call to make without firsthand experience on what they’re like. I’ve seen some comments on here before regarding the suits from JWT and Moosey and would love for anyone else to comment if you’ve come across or used any of these suits that you think would be worthwhile. Ideally we would love the Tony Blauer High Gear suits… http://www.jols.com.au/secure/product.php/3367/227/high_gear_training_suit but and nearly $2k a pop we won’t be getting them. This link looks like a copy of the high gear suit but I haven’t seen any reviews and don’t know about the quality of the material. Has anyone had any experience with the SMAI protective suits? http://www.smai.com.au/products/Pro...y-Contact-Suit/744/Full-Contact-Training-Suit http://www.universalselfdefence.com.au/products/full_body_guard_protective_training_suit/801/1 There’s also this one which I don’t really know anything about but looks kind of pricey too… http://www.spartantraininggear.com/store.php And the red man suit which I’ve read both good and bad things about… http://www.blackbeltshop.com/red_man_instructor_self_defense_suit.htm The other option I’m considering is to create my own. I already have a Kudo style space helmet and was having a look at the following page for buying separate items. Doesn’t look too expensive compared to the suits. All I’d be interested in is protecting the chest, shins and feet, hands and forearms and head. I was having a look at the following page for that… http://www.sakuramartialarts.com/Ma...8.htm?searching=Y&sort=3&cat=8&show=20&page=1 I would love some feedback on what you guys have used before and what has worked for you and what hasn’t. Also, what you deem necessary for this type of training. We want to be able to get a lot more serious about our training without absolutely destroying each other. I know this is a long post so thanks in advance for taking the time.
I have used Fist and Redman, and out of the to prefer Fist. With Fist you may find the actual suit bulky, but you can certainly haul off on it That said High Gear, was on my list of "want it!" until I saw that spartan gear which actually looks very nice kit. On a lower budget I would probably go with that
Cheers. Thanks Hannibal. Yeah the High Gear was the same here. I've actually spoken to someone yesterday who has the SMAI and says that it's pretty much an exact replica of the High Gear suit so we might give that a shot and see how it goes. We can probably get 2.5 SMAI suits to 1 High Gear ones too!
In all honesty the Spartan gear looks like a very cheap copy. You can't tell from pictures of course but I'd be surprised if the foam used is anywhere near the standard used in High Gear, it looks much flimsier. The big determinant for me would be the helmet. The High Gear helmet is a brilliant piece of kit, which is presumably why it costs so much! If the foam in the helmets of these copies is not as good, or the design has been changed, then that could be a major weakness. There certainly seems to be an opportunity to mix and match though, which might be a good approach, eg High Gear helmet with SMAI body. Mitch
Thanks for your help guys. We've decided to go with an SMAI suit for the moment so have a look. It has a 14 return policy if we think it's not up to par so we'll see how we go. I'll post a review once we get it and have a chance to beat the tar out of each other.
I've just made an investment in some of Spartan Training Gear's Hoplite Armour to supplement the High Gear suits I have. At DART we've moved to the stage where having scenarios with a maximum of 6 people in full training armour was not enough to meet the complexity of some of the situations we wanted to recreate in simulations. I know Marc Joseph, the President of Spartan Training Gear, from when we were both with Blauer Tactical Systems. He has a passion for improving the training of martial artists, LEOs and military personnel. I'm really looking forward to trialling the armour.
Good stuff JWT. Please let us know how it goes. We are nowhere near that level of complexity but would be interesting to hear about it nonetheless.
