Review: Red Star Stamp Gi A2 vs A2L

The Company

Redstar is a Canadian fightwear brand.  Their products are designed and developed in Canada and manufactured in Pakistan.  Redstar has maintained a consistent presence in the Jiu Jitsu scene sponsoring individual competitors, tournaments, and events as well as providing prizes.

Construction

The Stamp GI is constructed from a 450 gram pearl weave fabric with 12 oz canvas pants.  The jacket is constructed from a single piece with no seam in the back.  The collar has a foam rubber core with a twill fabric cover and six rows of stitching.  The collar is quite thick but not overly stiff.  One item to note in the jacket is there is no reinforcement patch in the arm pit.  It seems to be more common now to omit this reinforcement.

Side Vent Reinforcement

The side vents have the standard triangle patch reinforcement with double row stitching in contrasting red thread.

Skirt Taping

The bottom of the skirt is folded and reinforced with branded taping and double row of stitching.

Sleeve Cuff

The sleeve cuffs are reinforced with a plain white tape and triple stitched with the contrasting red thread.  The taping is soft and not scratchy.

 Draw String

The pants have a rope style drawstring with four loops in a contrasting red color.  The rope has a little elasticity.

Draw String Opening

The opening for the draw string has a rectangular reinforcement with a double row of red contrast stitching all around.  You can see in this photo the back of the pants are slightly higher than the front.

Inside The Pants

Inside the pants the major seams are triple stitched twice over with the same red contrast thread.  Standard triangle reinforcement patches have been added to the key stress points.

Knee Patches

The knee reinforcements start around mid-thigh and extend down to mid-calf with double row contrast stitching.  Personally I would like to see the knee patch extend further down the pant so it remains on the mat even when kneeling and the pant legs ride up.

Pant Cuff

The pant cuff shares the same branded reinforcement tape as the skirt as well as the double stitching.

Fit

I purchased the A2 gi first and prior to ordering I contacted Redstar with my measurements to get a recommendation on sizing.  They promptly recommended the A2 size saying it would fit as delivered but I should wash in cold and air dry to avoid any shrinkage.

Out of the bag the A2 jacket is the best fit for a gi I have ever owned.  The sleeves come nicely down to my wrists and there is no bagginess under the arms or across the body.  The sleeves are tapered and fitted leaving little extra material to grab.  The styling of the gi is with a shorter skirt that just overlaps the top of the pants.

I found the pants of the A2 gi just short of my preference.  If I tie them riding low over my hips then the cuff of the pants is just above my ankle bone.  I know many people like to wear their pants this way but I prefer to tie them around the waist.

Regardless of the pants being a bit shorter than what I like, I use the A2 as my competition gi and have worn it twice at the IBJJF Toronto Open and have had zero issues at the gi check.  The fit is perfectly legal.

A while after purchasing the A2, I found I needed another gi and decided to try out the A2L from Redstar to see how it would fit.

Out of the bag the A2L jacket fits very closely to the A2 however the sleeves are slightly long extending down to the base of my thumb.  Not a major issue but does make the sleeve more available to grip.

The pants are perfect for me.  I can tie them around the waist and the cuff is just at the ankle.

I have not used the A2L at a tournament but I am sure it would be perfectly legal as well.

Dimensions

I am consistently in between sizes being too tall for an A2 and too light for an A3.  Redstar has tailored their gi's to the tall and thin practitioners so the A2 is a pretty close fit for me.  For reference here are my particulars along with some detailed measures for the two gi's.

My Measurements

Height - 73"
Wrist to Wrist - 59"
Inseam - 31"
Outseam - 40"
Weight - 170 lbs.

Gi Measurements

	A2 Before Wash	A2 After Wash	A2L Before Wash	A2L After Wash
Cuff to Cuff	67"	64"	71"	68-3/4"
Shoulder to Skirt	31"	31"	31"	31"
Cuff Opening	6-3/4"	6-1/4"	6-3/4"	6-1/2"
Colar Thickness	1/2"	1/2"	1/2"	1/2"
Pant Length	38"	36"	41"	40"
Inseam	21-3/4"	21-3/4"	25"	25"
Waist	29-1/2"	20-1/2"	29-1/2"	22"
Cuff Opening	8-3/4"	8-1/2"	9"	9"

Performance

I cold wash and air dry my gi's.  After air drying the Stamp has the course rough feeling most gi's have after air drying in the collar and the jacket.  The pants also have the stiff canvas feeling after air drying.  In both cases any stiffness and roughness quickly disappears once you get moving around and everything warms up.

With the slimmer fitted cut of the gi there is no extra material hanging loose for your partner to grip and use against you.  The weave is very strong and I have not noticed any stretching of the sleeves even with a partner playing a heavy spider guard game.  The shorter style skirt of this gi means that the skirt will frequently pull out of the belt.

I have never felt constrained by the gi.  It is comfortable enough that I rarely notice the gi at all during rolling.  I also practice Judo with these gi's and the close fit is nice for not giving up grips easily however the collar is not as stiff as on a Judo gi and if your opponent gets a good grip on the collar it can be very difficult to break.

Bling

One of the reasons I choose this gi was because the decorative additions are embroidery rather than patches.  I find over time patches start to look worn and ratty so the extra durability of the embroidery was attractive to me.  Overall the Stamp is middle of the road with some decorations but still leaving plenty of open space to make it your own.

Close up of the embroidery on the arm, the Redstar motif with Jiu Jitsu underneath.  On more recent models the lettering has been changed to Redstar.

 

 

 

 




Detail of the embroidery running down the collar with the sleeve folded in to show the arm detail as well.  All the embroidery is clean and the threads tight.

 Brand patch at the bottom of the lapel.

 The same brand patch on the top of the pants.

 I liked this addition of a washing guide sewn into the back of the gi.  One thing that really impresses me about the Redstar products is how they retain their colour over repeated washings.  Follow the instructions on the label and your blue or black gi will keep its colour for a long time.  I followed the colour setting guide on the tag for my white gi as well to set the red contrast stitching and embroidery to keep everything sharp.


I've added several of my own patches to both the jacket and the pants and like the looking and styling a lot.

Summary

For me the at 6'1" Tall and 170 lbs I found the length of the pants on the A2 a bit on the short side for my preference but they are still legal.  The jacket of the A2 is a perfect fit.  The pants of the A2L fit more to my tastes however I found the length of the sleeves on the A2L a bit on the long side giving an easier grip.

The A2 is a white gi with the red contrast stitching, I followed the washing instructions to set the colour and the gi has maintained its sharp white with bright contrast stitching.  The A2L is royal blue and after following the instructions has maintained its colour very well even under the heavy use of wearing and washing 2-3 times a week.

I like to support companies that actively support the bjj community and Redstar certainly exceeds that criteria.  They frequently have promotional sales and preorder offers for their products so if you are patient you can get a substantial discount on your purchase.  If you can take advantage of one of their specials then the Redstar Stamp Gi is a definite value, hitting well above its price point in terms of quality, durability and fit.