There are few companies that I deem worthy to follow. Most companies are all about the bottom line with no regard for their patrons. Datsusara is not one of these soulless companies. Datsusara is not another faceless company whose main prerogative is to get you to split with your hard earned money for their own benefit. I am a big fan of the company and the way the owner does business. In fact, I, personally, own their flagship product (pictured above) the Pro Gear Bag as it meets all of my training needs and then some.
But, this post isn’t about the greatness of this company. Nor about how Chris (the owner) has figured out a way to make business an ethical and pleasurable experience for his customers.
No, sir.
This post is about other companies blatantly ripping off Datsusara designs/ideas, and why it matters to you (or why it should).
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
– Charles Caleb Colton
Although this existential idea is beautifully accurate in many of life’s situations, in the artistic fields, this idea is just an ugly truth. Rarely, if ever, can an artist feel flattered when his work is cheapened by copy cats. These copy cats are robbing the artist (in this case Chris of Datsusara) of his unique product, and they are robbing potential Datsusara customers from experiencing the real deal.
Although, I do not, and would never, own any of these copy cat bags, lets take a look at the copy cat companies’ offerings in comparison to the Datsusara offering:
Return Policies
ReEvolveClothing
All international sales are FINAL SALE.
All SALE ITEMS are FINAL SALE.If you need to return an item you purchased from www.reevolveclothing.com:
– If you would like to return your item, email us with your order number, receipt, and reason for return.Returns must meet the following criteria:
– All claims MUST be received within 14 days of receipt of order.
– Returned items must be in new and unused condition. ReEvolve will not accept items that have been washed or worn, or that smell of detergent, cologne, smoke, or have stains, holes or other blemishes, etc.
– Shipping costs are not refundable.Due to the limited quantity of each item, reevolve° cannot provide refunds.
KingKongApparel
If you purchased directly from kingkongapparel.com and would like to return your bag it within 30 days, we can issue you a refund or exchange. Returned goods must be in perfect, un-used condition with all original tags and packaging. If you purchased your product from a retail store or a website other than kingkongapparel.com, please go directly to the original place of purchase. To initiate a return or refund, please Contact Us, with your name and order number and we’ll guide you through the process.
Datsusara
We accept any product in its original, odor-free, unused or unworn condition (with any tags) for up to 30 days from the date of shipment – without any restocking fees. You may either receive store credit or a refund, less all shipping costs (please understand that we are a small company and it would hurt us greatly if we had to pay for shipping expenses on non defective returns).
In my humble opinion, Datsusara has the most clear (as well as fair) return policy of the three. In addition, you may reach them via email, facebook fan page, the owner’s personal facebook profile, or even twitter to open up a dialogue about a defective product. Although I have not had any issues with my gear bag, I have personally seen Chris handle other customer’s concerns with nothing but class and immediacy.
Warranty
ReEvolveClothing
No mention of warranty anywhere on their site. A site search returned results to no avail.
KingKong Apparel
6 month warranty.
Datsusara
Datsusara provides a 3 year warranty on bags.
Is a summation necessary here? One company makes no mention of a warranty (for me, this means they lost me as a customer right from the gate), the other company provides a 6 month warranty which might help in case of a defect, but the clear winner, Datsusara, gives you a whopping 3 years of warranty for their bags. Three years is more than enough time for defects to become exposed. Datsusara telling you that they expect their bags to at least cover three years of your life is a HUGE statement. Hell, some relationships don’t last three years!
Price
ReEvolveClothing
$78.00
KingKong Apparel
$99.95
Datsusara (Gear Bag Core)
$109.95
The cheapest product belongs to ReEvolveClothing, but, considering the features of all the bags, you’ll likely leave this post unimpressed by them. The big loser here is KingKing Apparel with no apparent reason for their high markup considering their textile choices. It’s worthy of noting that although Datsusara has the highest price, it is because the price for their raw materials and textiles are the highest and of best quality. Ironically, Datsusara has the lowest markup of all three products.
Size (Dimensions: L x W x H)
ReEvolveClothing
23″ x 13″ x 14″
KingKong Apparel
20″ x 12″ x 12″ (50x 30x30cm), capacity: 45L
Datsusara
21″ x 13″ x 14″ (54x34x36cm), capacity 3,822 cu. in. (62L)
Textile/Fabric/Material
ReEvolveClothing
“Military Grade Nylon” – not breathable, not environmentally friendly, not anti-microbial, but durable.
KingKong Apparel
“Heavy Duty Canvas Construction” No mention of the specific textile/fabric/material.
Datsusara
“Hemp Canvas” – naturally anti-microbial, anti-fungal, breathable, durable, mold-resistant, AND environmentally friendly.
Features
ReEvolve Clothing
Why is this bag different? Specifically designed for the athlete, the BRAWN Bag is constructed out of durable, military grade nylon with a water resistant outside coating. This bag is big enough to contain everything you need before, during, and after your WOD. The difference is in the design; we’ve organized the BRAWN Bag for you so you never have to search for your roll of tape, wrist-wraps or training log in an unkempt duffel bag.
KingKong Apparel
Built specifically for the unique needs of our sport, The King Kong Bag is guaranteed to fit all your precious gear and keep it organized so you’ll never have to waste valuable workout time searching your backpack or current inadequate gym bag!
- Heavy-duty canvas construction – Tough and durable, the bag has been masterfully stitched to ensure it lasts the distance.
- Dual Shoe Compartment – Unique dual shoe compartment design. Space for lifting shoes, runners, vibrams etc. Water-resistant polyurethane-coated polyester material construction doubles as a wet bag for used towels, etc.
- Durable Zippers – Bomb-proof #10 YKK zippers.
- Mobility Pouch – Specially designed “mobility-pouch” for storing lacrosse balls and other mobility and stretching gear.
- Eyelets – Signature ‘King Kong’ red eyelets ensure fresh air circulates through your equipment and clothing.
King Kong bag 2.0 improvements include:
• Tougher, more durable canvas construction
• Stronger, double-stitched seams
• Heavier duty (unbreakable) shoulder strap clasps
Datsusara Hemp Gi Bag
• Body made of 100% 19oz Hemp Canvas (Why Hemp)
• Main compartment 14″H x 16″W x 13″D (36x59x34cm)
• Zip end pockets 14″H x 2.75″W x 13″D (35.5x7x33cm)
• Side velcro pockets 8″H x 6″W x 2″D (21x16x5cm)
• Front left side small velcro pockets 3″H x 4″W x 2″D (21x10x5cm) & 3″H x 2″W x 2″D (21x5x5cm)
• Middle zip pocket 6″H x 6″W x 2″D (15x15x5cm)• 1000D Polyester reinforced bottom panel, water resistant• Front top sides PALS webbing, compatible with our Bag Accessory Straps (sold separately)• Mesh end pockets with elastic securing loops that will fit up to 4 large water bottles, towels, etc.• Neoprene padded handles and detachable, adjustable shoulder strap• Removable front side logo with velcro patch and velcro name tape patch area• YKK® self healing zippers• Includes Nasty Bag Core for wet/soiled gear separation, 22″H x 15″W (56×38 cm)
Aesthetics
ReEvolve Clothing
KingKong Apparel
Datsusara (Gear Bag Core)
For me, the clear winner is the original design by Chris of Datsusara. This is a clean, minimalist, matte finish free from obnoxious branding. Even if you aren’t into minimalism, you have to appreciate that you can take the logo right off of your gear bag front pocket and have it customized to show your gym’s logo/banner.
Why I Choose the Datsusara Hemp Gym Bag:
To put this in simple terms, I choose Datsusara bags because they are empirically superior. The nylon, cotton, polyester, or whatever mystery material bags will always start to smell HORRIBLE. Not the case with the Datsusara bags. After you spend a lot of effort to keep your white jiu-jitsu gis white and keeping your dark bjj gear smelling good, the last thing you want to do is put them inside an inferior bag that will eventually sustain mold and all sorts of bacterial microcosms. Do you want your bag to be the reason you get ringworm or staph? How about spreading it to your family?
Not only are Datsusara’s bags just plain better, they last longer and endure a ridiculous amount of punishment. This means that by spending just a tad bit more up front, utltimately, you are saving yourself a lot more money in the long run.
The Datsusara bags all include an extra “nasty bag” to separate all of your workout clothes, gis, nogi attire, etc. from your street clothes. This comes FREE with all bags. And, these aren’t cheap little bags either. I have fit two entire gis and compression shorts with a little room to spare with mine. After training, I have a sweat soaked gi, perhaps a rashguard, and a wet towel (nogi days). I love that I can keep all of this funky sweat logged stuff separate from the rest of the stuff in my bag. This attention to detail makes a world of difference, believe me.
Last but not least, it matters to me that Datsusara’s gi bag is made out of hemp and therefore good for the environment. It isn’t the icing on the cake for me. It was chief among the reasons I decided to split with some of my money to support this company.
This post is long enough already, so I’ll cut it here. Expect some more posts about Datsusara and why I believe you should consider getting some of their gear.
I had a small problem with my battlepack from Datsusara and Chris offered to pay to have the bag repaired or I could wait for the bags to become available and he would replace it with a new bag. I opted to wait for a new bag and it was sent to me free of charge and he even covered the shipping to Canada.
A+ service would deal with them again
Whoa, thanks for sharing! I don’t think any other company has treated me that well.
I haven’t bought a Datsuara bag. But I’ve purchased 2 gi’s from Datsuara already. In the one case – one of the jackets had a small flaw around the armpit area-where the weaving seemed weaker and I e-mailed them with my concerns. I was informed by Chris himself that it is under warranty for the whole year and if anything was to happen to it – I would get an instant replacement. A short time after I e-mailed Chris again and told him I was beginning to worry about this scenario as the weaving was becoming noticeably thinner. Within 2 weeks they sent me a brand new gi (flawless w/ pants included) – in order to replace the previous one. That act alone has made me a bigger promoter of Datsuara than I was to begin with ! (I was always a fan of hemp). So to go back to the original comment – I haven’t bought a Datsuara bag yet. I hope Chris continues the great work. Oss!
That is incredible customer service.
I’ve owned a Datsu bag for 2 years, and the thing is just like when I bought it. People underestimate the awesomeness of hemp for gear bags. Leave a sweaty shirt in an air tight bag for a couple of days and you will regret it, leave it in the Datsu bag and you are still golden. The bag is pretty damn bullet proof.
On the flip side, I have a buddy with one of the pictured bags, and ‘in person’ it is not what I would choose for myself. I found the material to seem cheap, and the appointments to seem a bit corny.
My bag is in perfect shape too and I treat it badly!
Chris has also helped me tremendously with my inquiries. Datsusara all the way.
Best customer service, ever!
love my Datsusara bag…actually picked it up at Chris’s house right before he moved in 2012. i do have to make a warranty claim now on it but if its anything like ive read (or from my personal dealings with him picking up the bag), I’m not worried about it at all.
Let us know how it goes!
My name is Randal and I purchased a LBP over a year ago. After 3 months I noticed the stitching coming undone on the outside compartment. I emailed Datsusara and he addressed and resolved my issue so promptly that I became an immediate fan. I was looking for a bigger bag for my mma gear and will now wait till Apr 30, for the new bags to arrive just because of how he dealt with the last issue. My new bag has been fantastic by the way.
Hey Randal, thanks for sharing yet another great customer service story from Datsusara. It really is a great company. Funny, I started out with the Pro Gear Bag (which is their biggest duffel bad model) and have now made my way to their gear bag mini! My needs changed a bit, so I don’t need a big bag anymore for training and it’s very surprising how much you can fit in one little gear bag mini. Amazing. Anyway, the big gear bag has now become my absolute favorite travel bag. Bar none!
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment Randal!