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- Mar 11, 2013
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Here's a quick 2 for 1 review for you guys regarding my experience with UMA's custom gloves. I have 2 pairs of custom gloves from the guys over at UMA, both hook & loop--1 set made with their medium density foam padding, and the 2nd pair made with their soft density padding and a 360 degree wrist strap. Lets get into it...
Look/Profile:
Mexican style cut, flat and wide profile, but not overly cumbersome. Not as flat as a true Mexican glove--slight roundness to the striking surface as well as the back of the hand. Sits right in the middle of the rest of my gloves regarding size and profile. Both gloves are as symmetrical as they're going to get, considering people make these...
Quality/Craftsmanship:
Nice thick leather. Colors are true. Whites are bright, blacks are deep, and metallics are shiny. No complaints here. Sometimes when you get a glove with multiple colors you can notice the difference in the thickness or quality of the leathers used on one glove. That's not the case here. Stitching is good. It gets a little squirrely near the piping on the wrist strap and on the inner wrist as well. As if the material was not cut to proper size so there is some bunching on the leather near these areas. No biggie, it isn't a functional flaw. Its only pronounced on the first set of gloves (black/white/bronze). The inner wrist area is also a bit short of material leaving quite a gap while the gloves are on. Again, this did not seem to affect performance but it was something I was not used to. All of these things were corrected after I contacted UMA regarding them and my 2nd pair of gloves that came in were immaculate. Glad UMA took the feedback well and went right to work on correcting these issues. Great customer service.
Fit/Feel/Performance:
Medium density gloves--took a few rounds to break in. Not completely broken in out of the box, which I don't mind. This padding is on the firmer side. I can't imagine what the hard/dense padding they offer feels like. I couldn't exactly make the greatest fist in these gloves at first. The material used throughout the glove is so thick that it almost feels like too much in the hand...good stuff but my hand doesn't close as tight as it can in other gloves. I have large hands by the way so it isn't matter of my hands being tiny and the gloves being too big. The soft liner is not loose or bunched up or anything either. It's a weird feeling to describe. It could just be the stiffness of the pre-curved padding but it really felt like I was folding my fingers as opposed to curling them in. Or the grip bar could be too high up on the hand...combination of both maybe? Thumb is in a good position, a tad short for me but nothing major. Sparring--not so fun in these. Mittwork--they came in a little on the heavy side and aren't as balanced as I thought they would be. Bagwork--this is the sole duty of these gloves now. They crack any and every bag they touch. Haven't been able to bottom them out and they're going on 800+ rounds combined. I do occasionally lend these out as loaners (rare occasions to friends I know are hygienic and treat others property rightfully so) and its the same feedback--these gloves are made for bagwork. Thick leather, rigid wrist support, and foam padding that almost mimics a good IMF. They are and will be lasting workhorse gloves for the bags.
Soft density gloves--it's like night and day comparing these gloves to the above pair. Broken in out of the box, padding just hugs my entire hand, and lets my knuckles really sink in without bottoming out all the way or inflicting too much damage to partners. These were specifically designed for sparring--the softer padding and a 360 degree wrist closure makes for a really safe and secure feeling glove. No issues making a fist with these. Nice and easy, yet the same thick materials are used. I have used these on the bags and mitts and must say I do fancy them more so than the bag gloves. I think they can really be a do-it-all glove if that's what you're going for.
The 2 sets are so similar yet so different. Same cut, same materials, just different padding and wrist straps. I really appreciate what companies like UMA is doing in terms of customer service and the level of customization you can achieve at their price point. Its a hard company to beat when you offer quality custom products at a beyond reasonable cost, and can take the feedback of users and apply it towards production. No grading scale here (stopped doing that a couple reviews ago) as I believe they can be biased, but I can offer comparisons to other gloves I own or have tried. The opinions of my experience have been stated and I will leave it up to you readers to determine if my experience is what you are or aren't looking for. Happy readings:icon_chee
Look/Profile:
Mexican style cut, flat and wide profile, but not overly cumbersome. Not as flat as a true Mexican glove--slight roundness to the striking surface as well as the back of the hand. Sits right in the middle of the rest of my gloves regarding size and profile. Both gloves are as symmetrical as they're going to get, considering people make these...
Quality/Craftsmanship:
Nice thick leather. Colors are true. Whites are bright, blacks are deep, and metallics are shiny. No complaints here. Sometimes when you get a glove with multiple colors you can notice the difference in the thickness or quality of the leathers used on one glove. That's not the case here. Stitching is good. It gets a little squirrely near the piping on the wrist strap and on the inner wrist as well. As if the material was not cut to proper size so there is some bunching on the leather near these areas. No biggie, it isn't a functional flaw. Its only pronounced on the first set of gloves (black/white/bronze). The inner wrist area is also a bit short of material leaving quite a gap while the gloves are on. Again, this did not seem to affect performance but it was something I was not used to. All of these things were corrected after I contacted UMA regarding them and my 2nd pair of gloves that came in were immaculate. Glad UMA took the feedback well and went right to work on correcting these issues. Great customer service.
Fit/Feel/Performance:
Medium density gloves--took a few rounds to break in. Not completely broken in out of the box, which I don't mind. This padding is on the firmer side. I can't imagine what the hard/dense padding they offer feels like. I couldn't exactly make the greatest fist in these gloves at first. The material used throughout the glove is so thick that it almost feels like too much in the hand...good stuff but my hand doesn't close as tight as it can in other gloves. I have large hands by the way so it isn't matter of my hands being tiny and the gloves being too big. The soft liner is not loose or bunched up or anything either. It's a weird feeling to describe. It could just be the stiffness of the pre-curved padding but it really felt like I was folding my fingers as opposed to curling them in. Or the grip bar could be too high up on the hand...combination of both maybe? Thumb is in a good position, a tad short for me but nothing major. Sparring--not so fun in these. Mittwork--they came in a little on the heavy side and aren't as balanced as I thought they would be. Bagwork--this is the sole duty of these gloves now. They crack any and every bag they touch. Haven't been able to bottom them out and they're going on 800+ rounds combined. I do occasionally lend these out as loaners (rare occasions to friends I know are hygienic and treat others property rightfully so) and its the same feedback--these gloves are made for bagwork. Thick leather, rigid wrist support, and foam padding that almost mimics a good IMF. They are and will be lasting workhorse gloves for the bags.
Soft density gloves--it's like night and day comparing these gloves to the above pair. Broken in out of the box, padding just hugs my entire hand, and lets my knuckles really sink in without bottoming out all the way or inflicting too much damage to partners. These were specifically designed for sparring--the softer padding and a 360 degree wrist closure makes for a really safe and secure feeling glove. No issues making a fist with these. Nice and easy, yet the same thick materials are used. I have used these on the bags and mitts and must say I do fancy them more so than the bag gloves. I think they can really be a do-it-all glove if that's what you're going for.
The 2 sets are so similar yet so different. Same cut, same materials, just different padding and wrist straps. I really appreciate what companies like UMA is doing in terms of customer service and the level of customization you can achieve at their price point. Its a hard company to beat when you offer quality custom products at a beyond reasonable cost, and can take the feedback of users and apply it towards production. No grading scale here (stopped doing that a couple reviews ago) as I believe they can be biased, but I can offer comparisons to other gloves I own or have tried. The opinions of my experience have been stated and I will leave it up to you readers to determine if my experience is what you are or aren't looking for. Happy readings:icon_chee
