trianglejitsu
Blue Belt
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- Oct 5, 2006
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This isn't a complete review, as I've got a neck injury right now that prevents me from grappling, but I've had both ears drained for cauli ear and I've used headgear before that I was unhappy with overall.
My previous headgear was Brute Quad headgear. It definitely protected my ears very well, so for that I can't complain. I also did MMA sparring with the Brute headgear on and if the kicks and punches landed right on my ears they weren't as hard. Certainly better protection than some of the crappy leather boxing headgear I've tried. The big problem comes with the straps. The 2 straps on the back of the Brute headgear are fine, but the top 2 straps aren't. The foremost one would regularly come down across my face. There was a velcro loop to hold the two together, but there was nothing to hold the velcro loop in place so it would always slide to the side and I'd get a strap across my face anyway. As a result I stopped wearing it unless I'd just had to get my ear drained.
Now to the Morgan headgear. It has a pretty unique design, I saw another guy wearing it at a wrestling seminar and could tell by looking at it that it likely wouldn't have the same problems my Brute headgear did.
That's what it looks like. Key is the forehead pad, which obviously won't come down over your eyes, and the chin strap, that is an actual chin strap, rather than a neck strap.
It's very, very adjustable. It's taken me multiple tries to get it fitting right, and after a while of wearing it I think of something I want to adjust to make it fit better. It is a bit tedious but I'd say it's worth playing around. Initially I was finding the chin strap was too tight, and the instructions didn't really cover that so I played around with that until it was loose enough that I could comfortably open my mouth, but still snug enough to not come off. The forehead pad needed a fair bit of adjustment too until it came down right above my eyebrows but wasn't squeezing my head too tightly. The strap at the back that's meant to tighten it once it's over your head was pretty hard to pull until I figured out to place my left hand over the right ear guard to provide some resistance, then it pulled pretty easily.
The forehead pad is supposed to be a concussion pad (that is to prevent concussions, not cause them in others). I figure this isn't too hard to do since the forehead is probably one of the toughest spots on your head, however it looks like it could help as it has a similar idea to work helmets, and I tried hitting myself on the forehead a few times and I didn't feel a brain sting. It was the same for over the ears as the Brute headgear. Just a little more protectiong from hits than not having anything at all, but I certainly wouldn't rely on it to keep me from getting KOd with standup sparring, it's just if I happen to take a hit and it hurts a bit less it's a nice bonus.
Once it's sized properly, putting it on and taking it off is very easy and quick. I haven't wrestled with it so I couldn't say if it doesn't move the straps a bit under pressure but I'd suspect it wouldn't be a problem.
The ears have holes, presumably so you can hear people talking to you. They're not smoothed off too nicely, almost like you want to make someone pay for trying to grind your ears. I'll be thinking about a way to smooth it out without wrecking it.
The going price for these seems to be $35US, which isn't much more than what the current generation of Brute Quad, or most other similar headgear is going for. For the time being I can't see anything going wrong with it to make me not want to wear the headgear unless my ears are freshly cauliflowered. I'll post another more complete review once my neck has recovered to allow me to grapple again.
My previous headgear was Brute Quad headgear. It definitely protected my ears very well, so for that I can't complain. I also did MMA sparring with the Brute headgear on and if the kicks and punches landed right on my ears they weren't as hard. Certainly better protection than some of the crappy leather boxing headgear I've tried. The big problem comes with the straps. The 2 straps on the back of the Brute headgear are fine, but the top 2 straps aren't. The foremost one would regularly come down across my face. There was a velcro loop to hold the two together, but there was nothing to hold the velcro loop in place so it would always slide to the side and I'd get a strap across my face anyway. As a result I stopped wearing it unless I'd just had to get my ear drained.
Now to the Morgan headgear. It has a pretty unique design, I saw another guy wearing it at a wrestling seminar and could tell by looking at it that it likely wouldn't have the same problems my Brute headgear did.
That's what it looks like. Key is the forehead pad, which obviously won't come down over your eyes, and the chin strap, that is an actual chin strap, rather than a neck strap.
It's very, very adjustable. It's taken me multiple tries to get it fitting right, and after a while of wearing it I think of something I want to adjust to make it fit better. It is a bit tedious but I'd say it's worth playing around. Initially I was finding the chin strap was too tight, and the instructions didn't really cover that so I played around with that until it was loose enough that I could comfortably open my mouth, but still snug enough to not come off. The forehead pad needed a fair bit of adjustment too until it came down right above my eyebrows but wasn't squeezing my head too tightly. The strap at the back that's meant to tighten it once it's over your head was pretty hard to pull until I figured out to place my left hand over the right ear guard to provide some resistance, then it pulled pretty easily.
The forehead pad is supposed to be a concussion pad (that is to prevent concussions, not cause them in others). I figure this isn't too hard to do since the forehead is probably one of the toughest spots on your head, however it looks like it could help as it has a similar idea to work helmets, and I tried hitting myself on the forehead a few times and I didn't feel a brain sting. It was the same for over the ears as the Brute headgear. Just a little more protectiong from hits than not having anything at all, but I certainly wouldn't rely on it to keep me from getting KOd with standup sparring, it's just if I happen to take a hit and it hurts a bit less it's a nice bonus.
Once it's sized properly, putting it on and taking it off is very easy and quick. I haven't wrestled with it so I couldn't say if it doesn't move the straps a bit under pressure but I'd suspect it wouldn't be a problem.
The ears have holes, presumably so you can hear people talking to you. They're not smoothed off too nicely, almost like you want to make someone pay for trying to grind your ears. I'll be thinking about a way to smooth it out without wrecking it.
The going price for these seems to be $35US, which isn't much more than what the current generation of Brute Quad, or most other similar headgear is going for. For the time being I can't see anything going wrong with it to make me not want to wear the headgear unless my ears are freshly cauliflowered. I'll post another more complete review once my neck has recovered to allow me to grapple again.
