Boon Classic, compact 16oz and shin pads initial impression

[legolas4112003]

So I finally got my gear haul from boon since both my gloves and shin pads are literally falling to pieces. I think the Dutch style of training wears hard on the gears since you are blocking a shit load of punches and kicks on your gloves and pads just from training. I got a pair of classic 16, a pair of compact 16 and a pair of shin pads all in brown.

My initial impressions of is how nice they look and the smell of new leather after i unpacked them. I am personally not a big fan of flashy graphics and i really like the simple, elegant style of boon. The hand compartment of both gloves are both snug and really fitted after i wrapped my hands in a 4.5m wraps which i like since i don't enjoy having my hands sliding inside my gloves.

The cuff of the classic model and pretty long and covers half of my forearm but my wrist feels really secured in it but it feels a bit stiff so i can see you might have problem clinching with it but i won't know until i broken them in. The compact model feels better for me since the cuff is shorter and not as fat and i feel like i can clinch more comfortably and have a more secured grip when i grabbed onto the neck. They both feel like really high quality gloves but the padding in there feel a lot stiffer than top king or twins, they are more like the padding inside fairtex although not nearly as stiff.

The shin pads feels good with an extra elastic band right on Achilles tendon and i feel like it helps with securing the pads in place without it sliding around. The thing worth noting tho, the shin pads fits pretty big so I usually wears a large but I had to get medium on this one. The people at boon are nice enough to give me a discount on the second pair i ordered and i ended up selling the large one to someone else.

I will do a more in depth review once i use them for couple more weeks.

 

[never enough]

Is there a difference in physical size and hand compartment between the classic and compact gloves or is it just the cuff that's different?
Hard to tell by the pictures

 

[legolas4112003]

I think the compact one is slightly narrower and shorter than the classic but the top part is about the same size with the same amount of padding, the hand compartment for the compact also feels a bit more snug. Basically if you want more wrist support go for the classic if you want more flexibility in clinching and hate the cuff extending for the forearm, go for the compact.