Just curious what you guys think about this line of sparring gear? I needed a decent set to start with and since I couldn't find anything made for women (grumble...grumble) I went ahead and got the Macho Warrior line. I've tried on a few others, and this fit the best.

What do you think about it, or do you know a better line? Even better does anyone know of sparring gear made for women?

We don't use pads in my style, so I can't comment.

Macho stuff is great. The Warrior and Dyna/Rival ranges are what everyone tends to start out with in my school before graduating to the heavier stuff. They're only meant for lighter contact so if you want to go heavier you'll be best off with something else. The foot pads also tend to start ripping after 3 months or so, if you want to prolong their life you can superglue them back together but you may find yourself getting a new set every 6 months (depending on how much you use them of course). Hand pads will last a bit longer, and the headguards / shinpads last practically forever if you take good care of them. Not a bad set of pads apart from the ripping.

As for finding gear for women, I wouldn't bother. All you'll ever get is the standard stuff but in a nice pretty pink or baby blue colour. No other difference between that and the "men's" stuff.

I agree with DWx. The point sparring gear does not last at all. I actually own a set of Macho warrior gear I got less than a year ago and the feet and hand gear is ripping pretty bad even my head gear is ripping on inside. I could see the outside ripping from doing self defense drills not the inside. But the Macho lasted a little longer than the century gear which I had before this gear.

Yeah, I've seen some of the pink sparring gear. What a hideous color. I've never been a girly girl and I'm certainly not going to start now! LOL! Its good to know what I can expect with the sparring gear. It wasn't too pricey at least. I bought mine online because it was $89 for the entire starter set...the head gear, chest protector, hand guards, kickers and mouth guard. As they break, the dojo sells the Macho Rival so I might just get that. My dojo just went non-profit so every little bit helps!

Thanks for all of your replies!

Macho Rival stuff isn't bad. I use the headguard and shin guards from that line.

Dipped foam sparring gear tends to tear along creases. To increase longevity, try not to crease your gear. Let me rephrase that. DO NOT CREASE YOUR GEAR. It creates weak points.

When you put it in your bag, don't wrap the straps tightly around the foam. With headgear, don't squeeze it flat to make it fit better. What some people do to avoid wasting space is to stick the hand pads partially inside the headgear. That'll help the headgear keep its shape.

FYI, Rival has been discontinued. Back when Macho made all Dyna and Warrior in the US, they introduced Rival as a less expensive, China made alternative. Now, Dyna and Warrior are both made in China, and Macho brought the price of Dyna down to where Rival was while eliminating Rival from their product line. There is still some new Rival and US made Dyna and Warrior out there, but Macho isn't making any more.

By the way, I agree that Macho's dipped foam is among the best. There's some pretty poor quality gear out there. Paying 2/3 the price for something that lasts 1/3 as long is not a better deal. As a Macho distributor, I might be biased, but we sell Macho because we like it and our customers like it.