Buying a bogu - my first one!

Buying a bogu is not an easy task... at all! And, when you are a newbie like me, this mission gets harder to be accomplished. But I had to do it because of several reasons, such as: bogu rental in my club is very expensive wich doesn’t make it an advantajeous option; I’ve tried three kinds of bogu and could experience the differences between them, what made me decide to buy my own with the features I like most; and I’m very short and having a customized bogu set is way better then the one I wear now (wich is too large, but there were no other). These were the main reasons why I decided to buy a bogu. There are other less important ones (but I won’t bore you with that ;)).

So, how did I chose my bogu set?

I tried three kinds of bogu sets last month:

• A 6 mm bogu (the one that I’m renting);
• One 3 mm bogu;
• And a 2 mm bogu.

As far as I know, they where composed from different materials being the 6mm set the most weakly built of them. This, of course, makes a big difference since the distance  between stitches is not the only factor do consider when selecting a bogu set (as I have learned).

I can say that I felt great differences between them:

• The 6mm one was really soft but it performed a bad role in reducing the power of the hits. I know this is kind of controversial thing to say but it was what I felt. This bogu set is not new and it belongs to the club. I know that it was a very cheap set and I believe that had some influence on its actual condition (it seems too worn). It also felt heavier than the 3mm set.
• The 3mm set I tried was a pleasant surprise. I don’t know why but it gave me this “lighter” feeling. The owner said it was bought 7 months ago (so, can I say this is a new bogu set?). Regarding the power hitting absorption, I didn’t notice any difference between the sets, except for the kote hits. What a difference between 6mm and 3 mm kote. This one reduces the power of the hits way better. I can’t talk about the quality of the materials and construction because this was a new set unlike the others. Thus, the main differences I noticed were the kote and the weight and that’s enough for me.
• The 2 mm set, well... I didn’t dislike it, but I think it’s not “that incredible thing” I was expecting. I don’t know, too much expectation, perhaps? The truth is that this set (with two years) seemed just a little better then the 6mm one regarding the way it absorbs the knocks. I can say, for shore, that I felt the Kote hits harder than the 3mm set. Regarding the Men, I guess this set is as protective as the 3mm one. But one thing I liked about this set was the Men weight. It was lighter than the others wich is due to the mengane material (it was IBB Duralumin instead of the traditional duralumin). I felt it lighter but the owner said it wasn’t that lighter and that what I was feeling was the better balance this kind of mengane provides.

So... I’ve read about this (I did a lot of research on the subject and I will post about it later), I’ve worn different bogu sets and I decided what I want. I ordered a 3mm orizashi bogu set with IBB mengane. It is a customized bogu set, so I will have to wait some time (about two months, more or less). As soon as it arrives I will post pictures and do a review about it, ok? 

Have a nice weekend :) 

*Image taken from the internet.