Sanabul Gi Review: To Buy or Not to Buy
Sanabul is one of the more popular MMA sports apparel brands out there. They produce high-quality gear at affordable prices. The thing about Sanabul that makes them so special is that you can glide your fingers across their Gi or gloves and know it’s a premium good. Moreover, the price is well within most people’s budget. However, it doesn’t look like a “budget” good at all. From the looks, you would think it’s top-of-the-line, and fortunately, it performs like that as well.
It’s safe to say that there isn’t an MMA/BJJ product Sanabul doesn’t make. You can find literally everything you would need to train and take it to the next level. Now, you came here for their gi’s and that’s what we’re going to get into right now.
Sanabul produces a wide range of Gis in different colors, quality, and materials. Their products satisfy unique niches like beginner gi’s, kids gi’s, competition gi’s, and much more.
The Sanabul Essential V.2 and the Sanabul Highlights Professional Gi are two of the most commonly bought Gis from their brand. We already know that they have an edge because of their competitive pricing; but are they worth it? Are people just buying it because it looks good for the price? If there’s anything we know about the market right now, it’s that you don’t have to settle for mediocre products even when you have a low budget.
This Sanabul Gi review will answer all the questions you should ask yourself before making the purchase. We mention all the features, pros, and cons of the options so the choice gets easier for you. So, without further ado, let’s jump right into the review!
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Sanabul BJJ Gi Reviews
Sanabul Essentials V.2 Gi Review
Design
The Essentials 2.0 is great for long hours of rolling at the gym. And you can look stylish while doing that. It comes in four different colors: blue, grey, white, and black. We will talk about the material and build more later on but to mention it right now, the compact stitches, reinforced seams, contrast stitching, and rope drawstring combine to give it a very polished appearance. Although the design is quite retro, the tapered athletic cut gives it a modern look. Sanabul cleverly got rid of the extra bulk of material that you would find in a conventional gi.
Fit
Ultralight gi’s don’t usually come preshrunk, so this already makes the Essentials 2.0 a special one. In general, when buying a gi online, your primary concern would be the sizing. The gi primarily depends on the brand and it can be pretty difficult for some people to find a size that perfectly sits on their body. Sanabul recognized this issue and tried to improve its sizing condition. The provided comprehensive size guide paired with the prompt service of the customer service department is a great answer to the question of ill-fitting.
Regardless of whether you make the purchase directly from their website or their Amazon page, the customer service tries to reply to queries as fast as possible.
The gi clocks in at about 3.5 lbs. which comfortably lets it sit in the ultralight section. Thanks to the lightness, the gi is perfect for those who have to compete with scales as well. In addition, it’s a good choice for warm or humid conditions where you couldn’t do anything without a lighter gi.
Performance
The Essentials 2.0 is breathable and light; the material feeling soft to touch. Despite being fitted, the pants don’t generally catch.
Featuring rubberized collars paired with lapels, the 2.0 version is a worthy upgrade. Due to that, the opponent will find it harder to establish a strong, controlling grip on the wearer. How? Well, the thick lapels exhaust your arm strength faster, loosening the grips with each passing moment.
The shrinkage is minimal but it’s there – like you would expect from any normal clothing. Plus, it maintains its original color very well, only showing signs of little fraying here and there. Any gi that weighs less than 3 lbs. wouldn’t be as durable as this, so that’s a huge pro.
Care
How tired are you of having to buy gi’s a size or two up because of the annoying shrinkage? Well, no more of that. The Sanabul Essentials V.2 comes preshrunk. You can wash it in cold water before letting it hang dry. A helpful hack for when you ordered too big of a gi is to wash it in hot water and give it some time in the dryer.
What We Didn’t Like
- Isn’t IBJF approved: This gi is absolutely brilliant for the price point. However, if you were strictly looking for a competition gi, this isn’t the one. As they don’t meet the IBJJF standards, they cannot be used in any IBJJF regulated competition. But hey! There is always the Sanabul Highlights which is IBJJF approved and ideal for competitions. We will be discussing that too in this Sanabul gi review.
- Longevity of the pants: Some customers have complained that the pants wear out much faster than the jacket. Typically, this is what we would expect lightweight gi’s to behave like. They aren’t exactly built for the hustle in the long run. Thus, it could be great if the pants could be purchased separately so you could just shift them out instead of buying a brand new set when needed.
- Sizing: Sanabul has had significant progress in creating a more reliable size chart of its customers, but it’s still not perfect. Maybe in a perfect world, you could order a gi online and get it in a fit that feels custom. But with online buys, the hopes aren’t super high. Their specific size chart is only helpful to a certain extent.
Sanabul Highlights Gi Review
In this section of the Sanabul Gi review, we break down the Highlights Gi. No frills and thrills but pure reinforced strength, this gi is a great choice when you want something well-fitting for competitions.
Apart from the construction and design that provides wearers a competitive advantage over the opponent (because they will face a tougher time getting a grip), it’s also IBJJF approved. Training or competitions, it doesn’t getter better than the Highlights Gi.
Fabric
The preshrunk fabric has been woven into a lightweight jacket that’s easy to move around in. But at the same time, it gives a bit more allowance when you need to weigh in before a fight.
Construction
Just because this gi is lightweight doesn’t make it any less reliable. Despite the single weave construction, the reinforced seams coupled with the contrast stitching give double-weaved gi’s a run for their money.
Fit
Bagginess is the last thing you want in your gi. However, most traditional gi’s are somewhat loose and don’t have the best fit. The Sanabul Highlight is a pleasant exception. Keep in mind that the sizing is different from the majority of other brands. We would suggest you get the gi one level larger since these fabrics tend to shrink over washes.
Odor-Free Material
We were super impressed with the anti-microbial feature. Now you can stay fresh and odor-free even after those rigorous hours of action.
Design
You can get the Highlights gi in five different colors and patterns: white, all white, black, all black, and blue. And though some of the combinations are somewhat bright, the design is still minimalistic. You don’t want to be a walking log of patches.
Price
Sanabul has made us rethink that it’s impossible to get a great gi when you can’t spend a lot. The price could be kept to a minimum due to the single-weave. You don’t have to break the bank for your Jiu-Jitsu anymore.
What We Didn’t Like
- No belt: This isn’t a problem for most people because you could just grab a belt separately. However, if we were to be noting meticulously, the addition of a belt could be the cherry on the icing.
- Sizing: No surprises here. The same applies to the Essentials 2.0. The sizing is a general problem for gi’s online.
The Final Verdict
Overall, for the amazing and top-notch combat apparel featuring a clean, sophisticated aesthetic, these gi’s are certainly a steal. If you’re wondering whether you should invest in one, we would highly suggest that you do. Sanabul has been in the market for some time now and their products rarely disappoint. That concludes our Sanabul gi review. Hope this was helpful!
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