best headgear

**TigerFly** · Posted On: 10/26/2003 5:54pm

Djimbe is right about Pro Force. at ONE tournament this year we saw DOZENS of them break! It was such an awful display that we were compelled to actually FIND one to make sure we knew the brand to NEVER purchase again. This was a FC tournament.

**Punisher** · Posted On: 10/26/2003 6:11pm

Which style of ProForce headgear was it?

There are several types, including one that says:

"Plastic face-covering cage limits access to the face and helps absorb blows during LIGHT sparring"

If people were wearing that type I'm not suprised it broke at a full contact tournament.

**TigerFly** · Posted On: 10/26/2003 6:26pm

These were the required head gear for the tourny... I believe they were FC, I didn't see any disclaimers on it we looked at it pretty close.

**Punisher** · Posted On: 10/26/2003 9:07pm

What I wanted was a description of the headgear. Wear they foam, vinyl, or leather? Did they look like amateur boxing headgear? Did they have face cages, cheek protectors, or were they completely open in the face?

For example, these are all ProForce brand headgear, there may be more.

**Djimbe** · Posted On: 10/26/2003 10:41pm

I saw #1 , & #4 both getting Shredded .

**TigerFly** · Posted On: 10/27/2003 7:02am

they have the same warning on ALL their head gear, full contact or not

Warning Boxing and martial arts are contact sports.Users of this gear are subject to personal injury.These products offer a degree of protection but are not warranted to protect the user from injury.Wearing a mouthguard is always recommended when using this equipment.

**Punisher** · Posted On: 10/27/2003 7:20pm

Warning Boxing and martial arts are contact sports.Users of this gear are subject to personal injury.These products offer a degree of protection but are not warranted to protect the user from injury.Wearing a mouthguard is always recommended when using this equipment.

I believe this warning comes from the equipment website not directly from ProForce. Several other websites reference this model as being for light contact.

I've never bought anything from ProForce so I don't know what documentation accompanies the gear. Based on looks, the only one I would even consider using in a full contact tournament is #1, although Djimbe said that was one of the models that broke.

I'm not saying you guys are lying, but I find the mass failures you guys are describing a little hard to swallow. Why did all of them magically break at the tournament? Were all the headgears brand new? If they were really that bad, wouldn't they break in training for the tournament, prompting people to purchase a different brand? The only time I have ever seen anything like you guys are saying is when people are using gear for purposes it wasn't intended for.

**TigerFly** · Posted On: 10/27/2003 8:41pm

many of them were bought there... a lot of people in CMA (the NON "sash" ppl) don't train with head gear, but for insurance purposes it was required for the tournament.

**Ice Queen** · Posted On: 10/27/2003 11:00pm

Do any of these places have head gear with a face cage on them? I've been looking for one of those since I was a kid. And not a plastic face cage.

**Punisher** · Posted On: 10/27/2003 11:21pm

Why not plastic? If it's done right its likely to be lighter and stronger than metal.

Macho offer a metal face cage attachment for their foam headgear, but it costs $72 and you still have to buy the headgear separately.

Tiger Claw has a similar product for for around $50.

And again, what is your goal? My school uses one type of headgear with a face cage to protect against light contact to the face during normal sparring and another when sparring full contact with safety weapons.