Fairtex Bag Gloves
I ordered these gloves from www.KarateDepot.com (http://www.karatedepot.com/bx-gl-154.html) and received them within 3 days, extremely fast shipping in my opinion. The gloves were packaged nicely in a heavy, thick Ziploc type bag with padding around them to keep them secure. I would order from them again with confidence.
Initial Impressions
I took the gloves out of the box and unbagged them. I was instantly impressed. These were the best bag gloves I’d ever personally owned from a quality perspective. The white leather was clean and free of scuffs and marks. The branding and logos were all centered and cleanly printed on the gloves as well. The Fairtex patch on the wrist strap was sewn on neatly as well. The Velcro spans the whole width and length of the wrist strap and connecting portion on the glove as well. The thumb has a leather covering but isn’t padded. I don’t see this as a negative in a bag glove. The inner lining is the traditional Fairtex lining with the Fairtex logo which is quite comfortable to wear if you’ve had the pleasure of wearing Fairtex gloves before.
Sizing
I ordered XL gloves because I’ve got pretty big hands. They fit great out of the box but I wanted to see what they were like with wraps as well. My recommendation would be to stick with standard wraps if you order the gloves in your normal size. If you like the easy wrap/neoprene type wraps I’d get a size bigger, mine (which I don’t wear much) smashed up a bit inside the gloves. The hand compartment is nice and snug – a shade small in the finger tip area due to the curvature of the end of the glove, but nothing that causes discomfort. The Velcro strap is extremely nice and locks up the wrist nicely so that even if you didn’t wrap up you’d get a decent degree of wrist support. The glove is X” long, Y” wide with a Z” long wrist strap.
Heavy Bag work at Home
I put them to work for 3×5 minute rounds on the heavy bag (150lbs) at home. They felt great to hit the bag and work some regular boxing angles with. Working jabs, crosses and hooks felt great. The wrist support was fantastic. There wasn’t any cracking in the leather from the initial session, but I had more planned for them.
In The Gym
I took them to an MMA class, a Muay Thai and a Boxing class as well. During the MMA class we had circuits where we went from various stations. I used the gloves at the “hands only” station and the “GnP” station. I also did a few rounds of shadow boxing with them on facing the mirror. In Muay Thai we worked with thai pads doing various drills incorporating all your standard fare of strikes. In boxing we worked on jab fundamental and hitting focus mitts in various boxing combinations.
Conclusion
These are fantastic gloves. The best ones I’ve used to date. With KarateDepot’s great price, shipping speed and price I feel it was a great buy. With the solid wrist strap and high quality leather and clean stitching you can easily see why Fairtex has gained the reputation that they have.
A supplemental video is coming review is coming as well!
