Bogu buy advice please

[KamuSan]

Hi,
I just started out in Kendo (and Iaido & Jodo), so I'm now looking for a good bogu (and hakama+keikogi).

I was looking at www.e-bogu.com, but I can't find out whether their bogu are Japanese or Korean.
Are there any quality differences between Japanese and Korean bogu?

I think I don't want to buy the cheapest stuff, but will go for a better men and kote. I guess that do and tare are less important.

Can anyone give me good advice about buying a bogu and good on-line shops (or real ones, I live in The Netherlands)?

Thanks!

[JSchmidt]

Hi,
I just started out in Kendo (and Iaido & Jodo), so I'm now looking for a good bogu (and hakama+keikogi).

I was looking at www.e-bogu.com, but I can't find out whether their bogu are Japanese or Korean.
Are there any quality differences between Japanese and Korean bogu?

I think I don't want to buy the cheapest stuff, but will go for a better men and kote. I guess that do and tare are less important.

Can anyone give me good advice about buying a bogu and good on-line shops (or real ones, I live in The Netherlands)?

Thanks!


A good place to start is here : http://www.eurobogu.net/

They get their stuff from Koei and offer free shipping and very reasonable prices.

Jakob

[KamuSan]

Thanks!
I was comparing Eurobogu with Bogubag (Bogubag has a link to Eurobogu saying they are their partner), but Eurobogu is sometimes almost twice as expensive. They're also more expensive than E-bogu, that's why I asked whether E-bogu's stuff is Japanese. Eurobogu's stuff is.

I wrote an email to Eurobogu for an explanation yesterday, but haven't heard from them. Also, since they are a European shop, do they take care of VAT and import tax?

Do you have other tips for buying a bogu?

I'm in dubio, because on the one hand I'm afraid to spend a lot of money when I don't have enough experience to know what is important in a bogu, but on the other hand I don't want to buy another set in a few years time, because the first one is just not it.

[JSchmidt]

Thanks!
I was comparing Eurobogu with Bogubag (Bogubag has a link to Eurobogu saying they are their partner), but Eurobogu is sometimes almost twice as expensive.

Huh?
The F-23 (3 mm) costs Euro835 at Eurobogu (including shipping) and US$910 at Bogubag (Shipping not mentioned).


Jakob

[KamuSan]

Oh, maybe I should take another look. That F-23 is a special sale?

I was looking at the S-22 (too expensive anyway, but still), the men is about 1.5x as expensive.
From BoguBag:
Set S-22
3mm Machine Stitch, Equal to Handmade in Durability and Function
Set Price: $1,295.00

and men alone:
05-220 Men, Titanium grill, 3 mm stitch $445.00

From Eurobogu:
S-22 Bogu
Bogu for yudansha - machine stitched highest quality
Ref: #S-22
Price: 2 100,00 €

and men alone:
S-22 Men Men for yudansha - machine stitched highest quality [Art. 05-220] 755,00 €

That's why I got the impression that Eurobogu is more expensive than Bogubag.

[qpuppy]

It is more expensive is because there is a reason. There is the type of cotton / futon used, the thickness, where it's made (korean and japanese - usually the koreans one a heavier in weight when you look at the same quailty but the japanese are lighter - and also that I have had some fed back from some people say that the japanese one actually last long even though it's the same quailty in material)

[lucian]

Yeah it looks cheaper and might be, but after you add American tax to it and import tax it and postage as Jakob mentioned, it will be very close to what you would pay at euro bogu, I think eurobogu would be less hassle also
I bought stuff from yanky land not long ago and they charged me nearly £9 tax on a product only worth £19 /€ 29 when GB only charged me about £4 tax…
Being near Europe or in Europe buy from euro companies or get the stuff direct from Korea or Japan
I think eurobogu takes care of local VAT but import tax is done at your end? Someone else may know more, as I have only bought small stuff from them but I am buying jou and other bokutou and some shinai today which should rack up some import tax if I get screwed on tax I will let you know
The quality between Chinese, Korean, etc and Japanese are not that different, most if not all cheap hakama, keogi, himo, tenagui etc even good sets of bougu are made across asia either buy local companies or Japanese sister companies based around asia
If your going to buy from Japan go to a good dealer like mitsuboshi (/ local koei supplier ) or a local budo shop that makes the stuff them selves, I think the second option will be hard if not impossible to find,
I really recommend going there for a good suit I bought from Mitsuboshi at end of last year the bougu was great! But ex-wife slashed it after an argument, so I bought a new suit from sehyun they look good and will last a long time (I hope) have not seen it yet as they are still making it but it is quite cheap near too £500 with shipping
now very eagerly awaiting the smell of indigo dye & new kote it’s better than the smell of rubber!
I am sure more experience people have better advice on bougu? but you are right buy a good men and couple of sets of good kote don’t go above 4mm for kote stick with 2-3mm as they are definitely more important, someone on here might be able to give better advice on padding used but ask suppliers for information on the materials used in the suits
Hahaha Not even a Kevlar tare will protect you from a tsuki between a tare flaps, all you can do is channel the pain in to a kiai, so do not waste money on a cosmetic tare after all it only looks good it does not make you fight better
I would like to say save fancy bougu for tournaments and grading, but the only thing that needs to look good is your skill and well maintained equipment
I try not to get hung up on cosmetic values I would rather have plain bougu over a broken bone,

[KamuSan]

So almost everyone who reacted advises me to go to Eurobogu. Now if they just reacted to my email that I wrote 2 days ago. Because if they don't respond my email, how would I know that they will respond to me buying something? :sad:

I saw in another thread that e-bogu actually sells Korean stuff. I think I'll go for Japanese stuff, even if it might be a bit more expensive.
We have a saying here: "Goedkoop is duurkoop" (a cheap buy is an expensive buy), which means that if you buy something cheap, then usually it ends up costing you more than when you bought more expensive, but quality items.

I'll write Eurobogu another mail to ask if the import tax and VAT is included. I don't pay import tax for an import from Belgium. And if they charge me Belgian VAT (which is higher than Dutch VAT :sad: ) then I won't have to pay VAT either. The joys of the EU :silly:

[lucian]

Lo,
I must admit I have had a bad experience with eurobogu the first time I used them they took the cash and did not send the product and I did not realize till about 5-6 weeks later but they apologised and sent it out within a week
They are a little slow at replying to emails the first time I wrote to them it took a couple of days to find out where my first order was but the second time I wrote to enquire about a product it took over a week to get a reply
I would put the lateness of reply down to either very busy and not speaking English as a first language
They may reply faster if you express your need to find a suit of bougu fast, money is a great incentive
Yeah we use that type of saying ‘you get what you pay for’ and in kendo it is better to pay more, but in fairness to Korean companies their products are not cheap as in poor quality they are cheap because of lower over heads and cheaper economy, low staff costs, it is a gamble however I am willing to take the chance
But so far sehyun is very good they have replied in the space of a night answered all my questions so I feel a little more at ease
If your going for Japanese made I really recommend Mitsuboshi http://www.mitsuboshi-web.com they do make great armour plus they sponsor kendo-world :D
http://www6.big.or.jp/~budogu/ <- they look good but I have not dealt with them yet
Hahah joys of the EU yeah its great unless you live in Britain everywhere else is cheaper than us
Good luck with your armour search I am sure more people will drop you more suppliers addresses and many people slating Tozando as well :gasmask:

[KamuSan]

Thanks for the advice! Any idea what language the Eurobogu guys speak? They're Belgian, so it could be French or Dutch (er oeven German). Since I'm Dutch it might be helpful to them if I write an email in Dutch ;-)

I wrote another email today to ask whether they handle the import tax and VAT or if I have to do it myself. Let's see when they react. If it takes a long time, maybe I should order from bogubag or e-bogu?

Mitsuboshi is good? Their prices are reasonable (when you excluse VAT and import tax, which is *my* problem after all :wink: ).

First I'll start with ordering a shinai, hakama and keikogi somewhere. The I have the time to look around for a good bogu. So much to learn!

What are good addresses for shinai, hakama and keikogi? I want good stuff don't mind much about the price.

[AlexM]

Check out these threads on bogu, they should help. Also, e-bogu's stuff is made in Korea by the way.

http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1141

http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1178

[KamuSan]

Thanks! I'll read those first.

[KamuSan]

Yesterday I sent an email to Nine Circles (UK) with some questions. I got a speedy response (within a few hours) with extensive answers to my questions. That gave me enough confidence to actually order some stuff from them (keikogi & hakama). I hope I'll get the stuff soon!

I wrote an email to Eurobogu 2 weeks ago, but haven't heard anything from them :-( I'm not going to buy from an online shop that doesn't respond to my emails.