$390 bogu ?

[bubbles35]

why are these bogu so cheap compared to other 5mm sets?

and there were a few that i've found. but i don't know how to compare them?
which one is better
at eurobag.com
Gx-18
or g17
or http://www.e-bogu.com/higper525mmj.html

[bubbles35]

Is it better to get one over $400?

[tango]

I think I'd spend another $100 and get the 3mm...
( http://www.e-bogu.com/higper3mmmac.html )

But I'm not the one buying, so...

[tango]

As for the g17 and gx-18 (from bogubag.com -- not eurobag.com), the g17 is a much better bogu.

Me, I'd forget either of those two sets and go with the 3mm from ebogu.com...
At US$500 (sales price, btw), it is a less expensive 3mm than the 3mm sets at bogubag.

But in the greater scheme of things, the $390 bogu is ok and will get you on the floor practicing..

If you stick with kendo for a while, though, I think you will become disenchanted with the 5mm and will wish you had gotten the $500 3mm instead.
(Assuming of course you can still get it while it's on sale)...

3mm is just so much a nicer set than 5mm. I don't mean about the looks, but rather about the toughness and durability.

Just my opinion..

[Neil Gendzwill]

Have you seen both sets to compare?

[bubbles35]

you don't think that a 3mm is too much for a beginner?
wouldn't they look down on me? cuz my teacher said that a 4mm or 5mm is good enough.

But thanks for the advice. I think the Gz-17 seems to be a good deal.
but it still is only a 5mm stitching.

I've seen the webpages, but I don't really know what it's all about. the closer the stitching the better, and then what's a stave? and what's the rows on the tare? and I know that a bamboo doh is better than a synthetic one? but a yamato doh is better than the synthetic and almost as good as a bamboo one.

but you're right though, I don't wnat to regret not getting a better one.

[bubbles35]

how long do the bogu last before you get a new one? Someone at my dojo told me just to get a cheap one and there's no need to get an expensive one. I'd like to continue kendo for a long long time. I'd really like to be able to do shiais and get a rank. So, I definitely want to stay on for a long time.
If i get a 3mm instead of a 5mm, will people be able to notice the difference? I always try to humble myself, or actually put myself down more like, so i would Hate to stand out and put myself with the higher advanced students. cuz it would be bad if the teachers thought of me as like "who does she think she is", you know?

[Shazzanzzz]

how long do the bogu last before you get a new one? Someone at my dojo told me just to get a cheap one and there's no need to get an expensive one. I'd like to continue kendo for a long long time. I'd really like to be able to do shiais and get a rank. So, I definitely want to stay on for a long time.
If i get a 3mm instead of a 5mm, will people be able to notice the difference? I always try to humble myself, or actually put myself down more like, so i would Hate to stand out and put myself with the higher advanced students. cuz it would be bad if the teachers thought of me as like "who does she think she is", you know?

usually people don't pay attention to your bogu that much, and don't care, unless you have like REALLY REALLY nice do, then it's really easy to notice. 3mm and 5mm equipments won't be that much of a difference at first glance, unless you walk up to the guy and look at it. Durability wise, it's not that different either, if you get a good 5mm. It's enough to last you forever. The big thing is kote though, the skin mades a really big difference on how they last and how they fell.

[Shazzanzzz]

the bogu we got for the club was only $200, 6mm, from kendoshop, and it's pretty nice.

[tango]

There was another thread I was looking at last night that talked about picking out bogu and I should qualify the answer I gave with the warning that I am taking into assumption that *all* 3mm (or 4mm or 5mm or whatever) bogu are the same, regardless of the company.

According to several of the folks commenting on that particular thread, that is not the case.

Personally, I think it's a safe assumption that a 3mm is superior to a 5mm. The kote on 3mm are generally better made and last longer than 5mm..

Couple of other answers to your questions:

I've seen the webpages, but I don't really know what it's all about. the closer the stitching the better, and then what's a stave? and what's the rows on the tare? and I know that a bamboo doh is better than a synthetic one? but a yamato doh is better than the synthetic and almost as good as a bamboo one.

A "stave" is the bamboo slat on a bamboo do. If you've seen the bamboo on the back side of a do, then you've looked at a "stave" ...

And, I really don't understand why a bamboo do is necessarily better than a yamato do (btw, I thought a yamato do is a synthetic do). Either will live forever (although I've seen some do-mune that have gotten soft after 30 years).

The rows on a tare are there purely for aesthetic reasons as far as I know. Not that big of a deal.

Don't worry about not appearing humble by wearing a nice, expensive bogu. Just don't go crazy with a colored do.. stick with plain black.

Ultimately, I think you would like your bogu to be just as strong and tough in your 7th year of training than it was in your first year of training.

Admittedly, I have not seen the bogus that many companies offer, but as a general rule of thumb, a 3mm will be better and last longer and stay tougher than a 5mm, regardless of the company.

A 3mm and 4mm might be a different story, but that's not the issue in your case I don't think.

5mm is ok for doing kendo. Nothing wrong with that.

What would you rather do?
Spend $400 now for a 5mm and then spend another $600-$1000 several years from now when you might need to replace it?

Or spend $500 now for a 3mm and just use that for a good, solid 10 years or more?

I suppose a 5mm could last a good 10 years without any problem. But if you plan on staying in kendo for years and years and years, a 5mm will probably wear out long before a 3mm would.

...all for the sake of a lousy $100.

But it's not my decision! Good luck!
Sorry to ramble,
tango

[tango]

Something else you could consider, though, is buying the 5mm bogu, but have them put in the 3mm kote instead of the 5mm kote.

That would be a wise(r) decision, imo, than buying the entire 5mm set, since -- as has been mentioned already -- the kote will be the first thing on your bogu to need repair.

[tango]

If i get a 3mm instead of a 5mm, will people be able to notice the difference? I always try to humble myself, or actually put myself down more like, so i would Hate to stand out and put myself with the higher advanced students. cuz it would be bad if the teachers thought of me as like "who does she think she is", you know?

If anything, they'll be happy for you (maybe envious, but in a positive way) for being able to buy a nice bogu from the beginning.

Whenever someone buys new bogu at our club, everybody wants to hit that new do... kinda of a fun, hazing, tradition kind of thing...

[bubbles35]

ok, thanks for the advice, and no you're not rambling! I reallly appreciate all this information!!!

[tango]

It can be trying when you're shopping around for bogu because just about everybody has some kind of sale going on at various times.

Somebody from my club jumped on a big sale from Eguchi a while back and he got a very nice 4mm from them (or maybe it's 3mm, I don't remember now). But it's nice and tight and I think the sale included a bogu bag and a shinai bag, too.

So, it can be hard.
Should you wait to save a little more money for the 3mm from XXXXXXXX, or should you go ahead and take advantage of the sales price for the 4mm from XYZXYZXYZ? It's hard to decide!

When I first started kendo, the internet was still kinda in its infancy, so I didn't know about various companies that made bogu. A guy in my class went to Japan for something and came across Tozando's store and got a catalog, so that was the first store we all came across. My first bogu was an 8mm for $300 from (I think) Asian World of Martial Arts. I thought it was great until I saw REAL bogu... haha. So this guy in my class got a bogu from Tozando and when I saw it for myself, I fell in love with it and ordered a 4mm from them. I didn't have anything else to compare it with and so eventually, when I saw some of the prices for 3mm and 4mm from other companies (SOO much more affordable than Tozando), I thought that the cheaper bogu must be really "cheap" (inferior material, etc.).

When this other guy bought a bogu from Eguchi, I saw it and saw that they, too, have very well made bogu.

If you can actually examine the bogu of other people in your class, it might help you make a decision. For all of us to explain what a 4mm is like or a 3mm or even a 5mm is very subjective. And where some of us may really, really like handmade versus machine-stitch, or 3mm versus 4mm, you may decide that YOU prefer a hand-stitch 4mm versus a machine-stitch 3mm.

Looking at kote, for example, is easy.. "Yeah, it's pretty stiff, etc." but it might be very different if you could actually put it on and have somebody hit the kote so you can feel the difference between 3mm, 4mm, 5mm.. machine-stitch, hand-stitch.

This is why asking people if you can examine their bogu, or "try out the kote" for example, can be a good help in the decision making process.
About the only thing I think someone wouldn't let you mess with is a same-do. But just about everybody will let you examine their bogu if you ask nicely enough.

Good luck in your decision and I hope you let us all know what you decide to do!

[Neil Gendzwill]

I haven't seen the more expensive 3 mm sets from ebogu. The cheaper ones are a good starter bogu, pretty much the minimum I would recommend to anyone beginning kendo and looking for a decent set. I'm not sure whether that 5 mm set from bogubag (Koei) is better or not. I know that I've seen 4 mm sets from Koei that were definitely better. I also know I've seen several good reports from happy people with the 5 mm set.

Inexpensive Korean bogu from ebogu and the more direct suppliers (Kendoshop et al) are not finished as nicely as more expensive Japanese bogu. Of course they market it as 3 mm but there's a lot more to bogu than just stitch width. Better bogu has variable stitching - the advertised width will just be the widest. Cheap bogu has the stitching the same all over - they just cut the pads off a big roll. Better bogu has the edges of the pads thinned for comfort and a few other nice finishing things that you don't find in cheaper bogu. Materials will be better, etc etc. I could rattle on some more but basically you can't directly compare one manufacturer's set with another just based on the stitch width. Even within one manufacturer, you can pay over double for the same stitch width (KN-3 vs S-22 for Koei for example).

At any rate, these days you can spend $US400 on a set and be OK as a beginner. Either the ebogu or bogubag sets will work for you. Usually at the low end you can't beat the Korean stuff but that 5 mm set from bogubag is really good deal. You'll be replacing the kote within 5 years in either case, but the rest should last you until you're unhappy with it and want to upgrade.