Ringside IMF gloves

[shincheckin]

Hi guys, so I was looking at giving these Ringside IMF gloves a try. IMF stands for injection mold foam or something like that. My main question about these gloves is this IMF padding for the gloves. Does anyone know much of anything about it? is it good, soft, durable? Better brands like top king use latex foam and some kind of other soft spongy type foam. So I am not sure if this IMF foam is better? comparable? cheaper? The way ringside talks about it, they make it sounds like its better and some sort of new tehcnology. Anyone have any insight on this?

 

[Kick_@ss_Seabass]

New Ringside IMF tend to break and make little bump on the surface of the gloves.

I much prefer the feel of the Ring 2 Cage MIM foam. Don't know why, but it just feels better uppon impact.

With IMF/MIM I don't feel like I am landing on my knuckles when I hit the bag and pads . Good old layered foam is the best imo.

 

[makedansure]

Stay away from Ringside. They are not what they once were.

These are not the gloves you are looking for.

 

[Championstuff]

Hi guys, so I was looking at giving these Ringside IMF gloves a try. IMF stands for injection mold foam or something like that. My main question about these gloves is this IMF padding for the gloves. Does anyone know much of anything about it? is it good, soft, durable? Better brands like top king use latex foam and some kind of other soft spongy type foam. So I am not sure if this IMF foam is better? comparable? cheaper? The way ringside talks about it, they make it sounds like its better and some sort of new tehcnology. Anyone have any insight on this?

Here is some honest feedback. I used to have a pair of IMF gloves a few years back. They were practically giving them away due to a color bleed at the factory. They were the hook and loop version, but I converted them to lace ups because with the hook and loop version there was this elastic type sleeve that went over the cuff and a small cover type thing that went over the rounded slit in the palm, the gloves offered zero ventilation and my hands would get way too hot. Lacing then solved all of that.

The gloves are incredibly soft. I didn’t mind when my sparring partner used them because they were quite soft. This softness didn’t seem to relate to much on the heavybag since they didn’t seem to offer much feedback when throwing punches on the bag. Yeah my hands wouldn’t hurt after training, but you could easily throw punches with bad form that could end up creating bad habits or even a potential injury in the future.

The hand compartment was perfect. It was easy to make a fist and would not get fatigued as your hands were in a natural position. The thumb position was a little weird and instead of a little tab that held the thumb in place it was a piece of material that filled in the whole gap, and the left one was different from the right which cause a little discomfort if a punch wasn’t dead on. I was never hurt because of it, but a thumb jam could happen.

Yeah tiny little bubble looking things would form over time, but these were designed to be boxing gloves, not center pieces. If you train, they will look used. The little bubbles have happened to nearly every single type of gloves I’ve ever owned.


To summarize, if I had the chance to buy those gloves at $35 again like before, I would. But I would not buy them at full price.

I lost the gloves over the years. They were pretty cool, but have much better gloves now.

 

[makedansure]

Companies try to play IMF as a technologically advanced thing, as if it's actually advantageous to the end user, when in reality it was a cost saving solution.

The hand should not be locked into a fist position. The whole "easy to make a fist", customer is always right approach really had boxing as a whole take a few dozens steps back.

From personal use, I thought IMF gloves were awesome (had the OGs from Ringside) but they were terrible for me in many ways. Sure, they'll last longer than a layered glove, but I'm of the school of thought that you shouldn't be using big gloves on the bag anyways.

 

[The Sole Survivor]

They are a pretty good glove IMO. I find them quite firm and on the small side(the shape not fitment). My thumb was really tucked well(albeit the fabric holding the thumb was useless as the thumb was tucked well enough) Hand compartment is pretty big, I have 8 inch hands(not big nor small) and havea fair bit of room, but its not a loose feeling. I got a pair on sale for 25-30 bucks, just to try it, for the price, it beats out any glove in that range i can think of off the top of my head. But like someone else said I wouldnt pay the full 70 bucks or whatever they go for full price. At that point i would spend a little more and get some lace-ups.
My only complaint about the glove would be i wish the wrist section was a bit stiffer, but great glove for its price, no quality issues on mine.

 

[bad seed]

Hi guys, so I was looking at giving these Ringside IMF gloves a try. IMF stands for injection mold foam or something like that. My main question about these gloves is this IMF padding for the gloves. Does anyone know much of anything about it? is it good, soft, durable? Better brands like top king use latex foam and some kind of other soft spongy type foam. So I am not sure if this IMF foam is better? comparable? cheaper? The way ringside talks about it, they make it sounds like its better and some sort of new tehcnology. Anyone have any insight on this?

The first gen IMF's were revolutionary for the time but every Ringside product has since plummeted in quality. My favorite "protective foam" gloves right now are the Ring to Cage Winning knockoffs (have not used real Winnings to compare) but they are not ideal for muay thai because the hand doesnt open up. A Fairtex glove with this foam would be amazing for MT sparring.

 

[Woldog]

Ringside 5 years ago were far better than Ringside today.

 

[bad seed]

what kind of foam is it? My understanding is that all the top brands in the game, be it boxing or MT use latex padding. I know for example Boon uses latex padding, I am not sure of the type of leather they use but put it this way, the leather outlasted the padding on my boons!

I never understood why Boon gets so much praise. They have the worst padding (from a sparring perspective) and they universally STINK with use- sweat somehow interacts strangely with the materials and they start to reek of death within a month's use.

Anyway, this is an exhaustive review of the R2C C17 gloves:
http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/epic-review-16-oz-ring-to-cage-c-17-version-2.2613417/

 

[Pain4Pain]

Ringside still manufactures pretty good gloves. I've had a couple pairs of their gloves, most recently I picked up a pair of the IMF bag gloves. They used to be about $20 cheaper years ago and I got them on sale. Ringside does a lot of sales so you should probably wait until one comes up.

Back to the question. The gloves took a little time to break in, they had a leather striking surface and more of a man made cloth like fiber material on the underside of the glove. The gloves have many tiny perforations for heat exchange, and I'd agree with some that they do get a little more hot than most other gloves. The leather on the striking surface was thicker and of better quality than most gloves of the same price range, and the 2.5 inch of IMF foam was AMAZING for the heavy bag.

I had tried a couple pairs of mid-tier gloves and I would punch through them on the heavy bag, but with the IMF I don't feel the impact of my punches, I get a somewhat nice pop sound, and the nature of the IMF foam is bouncy so your hands bounce back a little the harder you hit the bag. I did get some dimples, but IMF foam does not last the longest and I have used these gloves occasionally for a couple of years.


The sparring glove most would recommend here are the "Hook and Loop" model that goes for about $70. I got my IMF bag gloves on sale, and they were amazing for my purposes. I could hit as hard as I want, I get solid feedback from sound and bounce off the bag, and a leather striking surface. The bouncing personally compliments my sparring style, given that in sparring I pull my punches back quickly and the gloves help me do this on the bag, allowing me to fatigue less and still throw a realistic set of combos on the heavy bag, unlike soft layered gloves which more so "stick" to the bag.

The D ring on the velcro wrap was really nice too, it helped to make the gloves extra tight.


I think a lot of pros prefer the "Pro sparring gloves" or the "IMF pro fight gloves" in the US. Nonetheless, I like them over Title and Everlast for <100, and around that price point you should be looking at better brands.

 

[doniking]

Here is some honest feedback. I used to have a pair of IMF gloves a few years back. They were practically giving them away due to a color bleed at the factory. They were the hook and loop version, but I converted them to lace ups because with the hook and loop version there was this elastic type sleeve that went over the cuff and a small cover type thing that went over the rounded slit in the palm, the gloves offered zero ventilation and my hands would get way too hot. Lacing then solved all of that.

The gloves are incredibly soft. I didn’t mind when my sparring partner used them because they were quite soft. This softness didn’t seem to relate to much on the heavybag since they didn’t seem to offer much feedback when throwing punches on the bag. Yeah my hands wouldn’t hurt after training, but you could easily throw punches with bad form that could end up creating bad habits or even a potential injury in the future.

The hand compartment was perfect. It was easy to make a fist and would not get fatigued as your hands were in a natural position. The thumb position was a little weird and instead of a little tab that held the thumb in place it was a piece of material that filled in the whole gap, and the left one was different from the right which cause a little discomfort if a punch wasn’t dead on. I was never hurt because of it, but a thumb jam could happen.

Yeah tiny little bubble looking things would form over time, but these were designed to be boxing gloves, not center pieces. If you train, they will look used. The little bubbles have happened to nearly every single type of gloves I’ve ever owned.


To summarize, if I had the chance to buy those gloves at $35 again like before, I would. But I would not buy them at full price.

I lost the gloves over the years. They were pretty cool, but have much better gloves now.

What are those better gloves?

 

[Mbdiablo]

what do you think ringside heritage series?

 

[brucelee]

IMF used to be a very expensive thing back in the days when they were invented. TopTen had them first as their inventor was the same man: Georg Bruckner of Germany. If you have some TopTen from the 80ies or early 90ies you can probably still use them today because the padding was made in Germany by the same high-tech company that produced automotive car safety components for Porsche and Mercedes Benz.
The injection molded padding has the same consistency everywhere. Other bent or shaped pads are compressed over the knuckles where they offer less protection than lets say on the back hand.
With materials being produced a lot cheaper these days in China and India the quality of some of them isn't really good. Specially, those with thicker padding do break more easily and the material collapses. The material consists of a network of open bubbles made from polyurethane and air. When they save money on components the rubber-like structure ages more quickly and tears. At first it makes gloves feel more comfortable and softer, but when you hit harder they collapse and loose their ability to absorb the force.

 

[Minowafanatic]

IMF used to be a very expensive thing back in the days when they were invented. TopTen had them first as their inventor was the same man: Georg Bruckner of Germany. If you have some TopTen from the 80ies or early 90ies you can probably still use them today because the padding was made in Germany by the same high-tech company that produced automotive car safety components for Porsche and Mercedes Benz.
The injection molded padding has the same consistency everywhere. Other bent or shaped pads are compressed over the knuckles where they offer less protection than lets say on the back hand.
With materials being produced a lot cheaper these days in China and India the quality of some of them isn't really good. Specially, those with thicker padding do break more easily and the material collapses. The material consists of a network of open bubbles made from polyurethane and air. When they save money on components the rubber-like structure ages more quickly and tears. At first it makes gloves feel more comfortable and softer, but when you hit harder they collapse and loose their ability to absorb the force.

the TopTen IMF, I think they called it "bayflex" or "bayfill"? it was a step above most of what's out there on the market as IMF now