Top Ten Training Headgear: Review

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When I had to purchase my own headgear (or head guard) in order to spar in Muay Thai, I wanted the absolute best headgear money could buy. People at my gym complained about how their leather headgear ended up smelling bad after use. Some remedied this by wearing a bandana underneath their headgear, but in the end their sweat would still absorb into the material.

On top of that, it seemed as though the protective qualities of traditional leather headgears would diminish over time. The thickness of the headgear would start off being quite thick, but after a few punches and kicks to the head, and months/years of wear and tear, it turned so thin that it was hard to believe that it had any protective value!

Some boxing headgear would have cheek protection too. The protective padding would extend below the eyes and cover the cheeks. Although this offered more protection for the face, it gave you tunnel vision and you couldn’t see anything in your peripheral vision.

With this in mind, I set out to find the best headgear to use for sparring purposes. I searched on forums, tried out headgear that my friends owned, but what it came down to was…

The Top Ten headgear was used in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and Sydney 2000. It’s made of a futuristic, rubbery plastic material called “Bayflex”. Bayflex is extremely shock absorbent, durable, you can wash it with soap and water, and it was waterproof! (that takes care of the smell of traditional headgears).

There are two types of headgears made by Top Ten.

1) Olympia – the same ones they used in the Olympics. This doesn’t have cheek protection, and it comes in pretty colors

2) Training – an all black headgear with cheek protection

I opted to buy the Top Ten Training headgear, simply because a little bit more protection around the face wouldn’t hurt, and it’d give me a better chance to stay good looking. (it’s also a few dollars cheaper than the Olympia model). I was worried that because of the cheek protection, I would experience the tunnel vision effect.

I ordered it from http://www.CanBox.ca (yes, I am Canadian…eh).

When it arrived and I tried it on, it fit like a glove. It seemed to mold perfectly to my head (I let some other people at my gym try on the headgear, and it molded to their heads too!) and there was no problems with tunnel vision whatsoever.

I believe this is the best headgear. Here’s why:

1) Bayflex material – it absorbs shock like nothing else, and doesn’t lose its shape. This material will probably last longer than anyone’s career in boxing or kickboxing (and can probably save someone’s career from an punch or kick that’s thrown too hard to the head)

2) Waterproof – you can wash this headgear! Unlike a leather (or fake leather) headgear, you won’t be wearing a stinky shoe on your head with this headgear.

3) Fits like a glove – I tried other headgear from other brands, and it felt as though you had to “break it in” before it feels comfortable. Not so with Top Ten

The only downside of the Top Ten headgear was the price. It’s the most expensive headgear for boxing/martial arts that I’ve seen, but as the saying goes…

By far this was the best investment I made in terms of martial arts equipment.

Their Canadian website is: http://www.toptencanada.com .  I remember they had another website, but I can't seem to find it.
Here are some pictures below of my Top Ten headgear.