Gameness Fightwear Jiu-Jitsu Specific Backpack
Getting your gi to and from class can sometimes be much more difficult than one would imagine. When your gi is clean and crisp you want to keep it that way, but maybe you won’t be training until late in the evening or maybe you have a long journey, so just throwing it in the back of your car or truck won’t cut it. Maybe you ride a bike to class or take mass transit. Having your clean gi out for the world to see might not be the best solution. What about your mouth guard or headgear, not to mention your belt? The obvious solution is a bag of some sort. A trip to the local sporting goods store probably won’t yield the best result, there’s always going to be some compromise of price and utility. That’s where Gameness steps in with their new “Jiu-Jitsu Specific” backpack. It’s designed from the straps back with the jiu-jitsu athlete in mind.
What It Is
Well, as the name implies, it’s a backpack made specifically for the needs of the jiu-jitsu athlete. It’s made of high-quality ballistic black nylon. There’s a small amount of soft foam padding and a softer material on the panel that would go against your back, which is more comfortable should you wear the backpack with your shirt off. The straps are adjustable, and there’s also a handle on top, also with padding for comfort. There are three separate compartments. The main compartment is lined with a thinner, more moisture resistant nylon material. It’s big enough to comfortably hold one large gi and a couple rash guards. There’s a separate pocket in there if you want to keep something clean separated from a soiled gi. One very nice feature is a mesh vent at the bottom to help let a little air in when you throw in that soaking wet gi from a long training session. The second compartment is also lined and has multiple pockets for things like your phone, wallet, mouthpiece, keys or whatever you take along with you to class. The last of the large compartments is a round pocket on the back or front depending on how you look at it, that’s the perfect shape for a wound up belt. When I first started testing the backpack, I wound up my belt every time, but now I just sort of stuff it in there. There are also two smaller zippered pockets that flank the belt pocket. That’s a lot of pockets.
Using It
I’ve been using this backpack for about a month now. I wouldn’t call the zippers “heavy duty;” they’re standard zippers as far as I can tell. At first, I thought this might be a problem. I’ve broken zippers on other backpacks, but so far they’ve held up well. The zipper tabs are large and get you a good handle to pull on. My gi and extra rash guards fit perfectly inside. The vent is a nice feature. I forgot to take my gi out of my trunk one night and in the morning it wasn’t as bad as I had feared. I’ve travelled twice with the backpack. I checked it in for my flight to and from Abu Dhabi, this was to be the ultimate test of the backpack’s durability. It came out of the conveyer belt in pristine condition. So far I have zero complaints about the Jiu-Jitsu Specific backpack. It’s priced competitively with other high-quality backpacks, and less expensive than some other purpose-built jiu-jitsu packs we’ve seen.
Conclusion
It’s perfect if you need a backpack for your jiu-jitsu gear, which we all do. Nobody wants to throw a soaking wet, sweaty gi on their car’s upholstery, so the Gameness Jiu-Jitsu Specific backpack should be on the top of your list. It does everything I would expect flawlessly and is priced right at $65; a sound investment that should last for years!
You can purchase at gameness.com
