High Gear armor evaluation

[tallgeese]

Alright, this afternoon I got the chance to go in and trial the new Blauer "High Gear" armor that his company sells. Our department just got a set in so one of my friends in training called me up. This was so worth going in for on a day off.

You should google it and check out the videos if you haven't.

First off, a description. It's a suit consisting of headgear, body armor, shoulders, elbows and forarms, hip and quad protection that's integrated into a slide on girdle, and knee/shin gear. It also comes with mma type gloves. The helmet features a removeable eye shield. For those invovled in le and military appications, it is also capable of being used with sim rounds for force on force training.

I was doubious that this thing could be as good as the vids made it look. Mobile and protective it was the next step in sd sims evolution. I had liked the concept of the red man, but despised how it acutually moved. More like a determined zombie than an attacker and if you wanted to cuff people, forget it.

Mobility was not a problem in this suit. I felt like I could move almost as well in full armor with this as I do without. You could spar in this with little loss of efficiency.

It seemed very durable. Construction was top notch and I saw no parts where I thought undo wear would occur. It was a bit harder to get on than the website suggested and there was a tad of fiddle factor with getting everything in place. Once there however, it stayed there thru our sims.

As for protection, I thought that it was very good. You could eye gouge the face plate full tilt and I was never afraid that it was going to give. The head gear was great as far as visualizing your opponant and covered everything very well. The additional c-spine pad was a nice touch as well.

The gorget, or collar was a bit uncomfortable, but I suspect this was more due to the newness of it than any design flaw. It added another level of protection around a very vunerable area that really let me feel like you could target this area with less to fear.

The body armor was, I thought, most impressive. Simply because I have never found a set I liked. You can easily lay into it with elbows and be adaquately protected. The kidneys are covered as well, allowing you to tie up and swing away.

The girdle is well made and padded enough to take the sting off stuff to the legs. When used in conjunction with either your advasery haveing shin or knee gear it worked really well. It was comfortable as well. Personally, I'd wear a cup with this eveytime. You have some padding, but not enough to target direct strikes to the region without causing damage. With a cup, however, the padding is a welcome addition and lets you strike to the groin activaly.

The shin/knee gear, and the elbow/forarm set up is fine. They work and are padded well. Nothing here you haven't seen before. I did like the attackment system and they are easy to get on and off.

The glove are gloves. Take 'em or leave 'em.

For a couple of things. You won't have the same protection as red man. Not even close. Howeveer, there's enough and the ability to actually move like a real person is a more than adaquate trade off. The realism with our impromptu tests were far higher instantly than with red man. I tested it by taking some good knees to the body, kicks to the quad and elbows to the head and it's good.

Personally, if I had uke san in the suit, and a strong defender, I'd put elbow and knee pads on the defender as well. MMA gloves as well.

For heavy training in the thing, I'd also throw a set of kempo gloves on the suit, just so he could go harder at the defender. But that 's a minor quibble.

All in all, I give it high, very high marks. The 1500 dollar price tag is steep, no doubt, and the wait is pretty good, they make these things custom. Still, they are very high end products that do pretty much what they say they do. They would be a very good addition to any schools arsenal of tools.

It would be hard to tell people to go buy it if they have and ad hoc set of armor they have peiced together, but it sure made my wish list in a hurry. If you teach sim realted drills in your system or do much womens self defense, it's be worth the investment. Not to mention you could use it all or in pieced during your own training.

As for me, well, I'm seriously thinking about getting one for myself. Haven't decided yet and I sure haven't told the wife I'm thinking about it, but it sure impressed me.

[Patrick]

Thanks for sharing.

[joesteph]

If you teach sim realted drills in your system or do much womens self defense, it's be worth the investment.

I guess any instructor or school doing RBSD regularly would find this really useful. Workshops in RBSD at different locations? Might be just the thing to bring.

[JohnC]

Tallgeese, tell her Xmas is coming.

[bushido_man96]

Thanks for the review, tallgeese. It sounds like if it allows the attacker to simulate actual attacks and responses, then how can you go wrong with it?

[tallgeese]

John, I like the way you're thinkin...

bushido man, yeah, it really seems that for this kind of training you can't go wrong. It's really an issue of cost for me. A cheaper tag would have one in my basement already.

I'm sure something better will eventually come along. That's the nature of the beast. Maybe something that will cushion like the red man and move like this one. Until that material is developed, my money is on this everytime, even if you'll have more bruises when you're done.

[bushido_man96]

Well, there's nothing wrong with bruises, now is there?

[tallgeese]

Quick update on this set of armor.

I've now had the opportunity to use th is stuff of swat training and a couple of day long session of dpt. DT training. Bear in mind, we're talking hours each day in and out of the thing on both ends. This gave me a good long look at the product and it's capabilites over time.

My impression is even higher than it was before.

I was taking kicks, knees, takedowns, bracheal stuns, baton strikes...the works for two solid days now. The stuff is good. With some pretty good contact, I'm just now sore to where I don't want to crawl into it tomorrow.

The headgear and body armor continue to impress the most. For ourprevious swat training, we were spearing the daylights out of it on entry and it gave a great feel in the aggressor end and a solid set of protection for the assigned crash dummy.

The arms are a bit more finicky than I had initally thought. For mulitple reps, time after time, they do start to move a bit. Espically when getting scraped along the ground. Still, they are easy to recover and protect well. The shin gear however, stepped it up and stayed in place without adjustment for however long someone was in the armor.

I'd also add that using a full set is best with long pants and long sleeves if you're going to be in it for protracted periods, otherwise, the attachments can start to wear a bit on your bicep area and forarms (calf as well I'd assume).

That said, I still stand by my inital eval, that it's a great tool. And, I like it even better the more I get to use it.

I've also decided that this will have to be on a purchase list for me personally, regardless of what I've accumulated to date. Despite the outrageous price tag, if you're doing sd work and any kind of simulation training it's invaluable.

Anyway, just an addendum.

[bushido_man96]

Thanks for the continued evaluation, tallgeese. Its good to see that it is holding up under continued duress.