To be honest, I knew Storm back from when I was training at a Gracie Barra gym. For anyone familiar with the old Gracie Barra Storm gis, you understand why my opinion about the brand was on the low side. The fit of those gis was horrible, the quality of the fabric terrible and the price was ridiculously high.
This gi has changed my mind about Storm kimonos completely. What an amazing gi! After training in the Storm Stealth T357 for a week I became a massive fan of the brand. The level of detail with which they made the design is uncanny. The gi fits perfect and is made with their famous ‘zero hold technology’.
Let’s have a more in depth look at this new lightweight kimono.
Specifications:
The jacket is made with a 350GSM Japanese weave and the pants are made with 220GSM military grade ripstop. The composition of the fabric for both the pants and jacket are a mix from polyester and cotton.
I always really like this combination, more than 100% cotton. Pure cotton just shrinks a lot more and I always have the feeling that the fabric is less strong.
These specs are pretty standard for a lightweight gi. Most lightweight gis have a 350GSM jacket. Occasionally you see them with an even lighter jacket. I would say lighter than 350GSM should be for kids gis only.
IBJJF Legal:
There’s a lot of branding on the gi so you might be wondering if the gi is still IBJJF legal. All branding on the gi is placed in an IBJJF legal way and you should pass any gi check with this one without problems.
What’s also something to consider, is the zero hold technology also IBJJF legal? I feel that it should not be a problem to pass any gi check because the rule states ‘the fabric should not be so thick or hard as to impede an opponent from gripping it’. In all fairness, it’s not too thick to grab. Zero hold technology sounds impressive but don’t be fooled…people can grab the gi. I did find that it is easier to break pant and sleeve grips though. That might be very beneficial during competition.
Fabric:
The fabric is made of a cotton and polyester mix. I always really like this because you make an exceptionally light yet strong gi with this combination.
Storm says that the fabric is preshrunk. They promise a .015% shrinkage. Indeed, I noticed that the shrinkage is almost zero percent after a couple of washes. I thought that was pretty impressive since I tested out a white gi. The fabric of white gis usually shrinks a bit more because the fabric had less treatment than colored fabric for example. So, in general white gis are ‘less preshrunk’. That’s also why they are usually a bit bigger than a colored gi from the same model.
The inside of the jacket is reinforced with ripstop at all the stress points. This makes the jacket ultra-strong. For the lighter weight jackets this is really essential. So well done, Storm!
Storm claims that the fabric is treated with anti-microbial material. I couldn’t find any information on what kind of substance was used. I mean would be nice to know what kind of treatment the fabric had before putting on the gi, especially when they claim to use anti-microbial substances.
The weave of the jacket is a bit different than a regular lightweight gi. Most lightweight gis are made with a pearl weave. Storm uses a Japanese weave. I’m not sure how different this is from the regular pearl weave, but I did notice that the Japanese weave allows more air to pass through. The more air a weave lets through, the more you will be able to cool down. Of course that can be a massive advantage on the mat.
Fit & Feel:
The pants fit quite standard. I really like that Storm used a flat drawstring for this one. Too make it more premium the drawstring is even reinforced by ripstop. At the bottom, the pants are reinforced with extra ripstop material to make it thicker. This makes it more difficult to keep hold of the pants in this area. I noticed that it is actually a lot easier to break those grips with this gi.
The jacket fits really comfortable. It’s not slim fit and at the same time also doesn’t fit baggy. I am 176cm tall and about 83 kg and wear a size A2 which fits me perfectly.
At the end of the sleeves, they made the material a bit thicker with extra ripstop. I think the ‘zero hold technology’ is most noticeable here. I feel it’s very easy to break sleeve grips. That’s really something most lightweight gis are lacking.
Most of the time to make a gi as light as possible they just use the thinnest fabric possible. And it’s true, that will make the gi light. It also makes it very easy to grab and hold on too. That would definitely not be ideal. Great to see that Storm noticed and learned from this by making their lightweight gi much more difficult to hold on too.
Design:
The design on this gi is amazing. The attention to detail in the embroidery is ridiculous. I think it is fair to call this high-definition embroidery.
The gi does have a lot of branding on it. Usually, I like a cleaner design. But for this gi I really make an exception. The embroidery is just done with so much detail that you have to like what Storm has created here.
I noticed that even after washing it a couple of times the embroidery and the fabric seem unfazed. The gi still looks like new. This shows the value Storm Kimonos has for quality.
A very cool detail in the design is that they have their slogan ‘the mission is submission’ embroidered on the back of the jacket and around one of the pant legs and around one of the sleeves. Another nice detail is that they even embroidered the specs on the gi. No worries, they did this in the same color as the gi and made it very subtle. This way you don’t see it from a far and from close by it looks really cool.
Conclusion:
After having a bad Storm experience with the Gracie Barra gis in the past, this new Storm gi really blew me away. It’s exceptional in every aspect. You will notice that they added a little extra in every area. The quality of the embroidery is really high definition and will stay looking like new even after several washes.
Training in this gi gave me the feeling that Storm Kimonos is a brand that stands for exceptional quality and doesn’t just want to produce any gi they can sell. That was not opinion after the Gracie Barra experience. So thank you Storm for changing my mind and making a great gi!
The gi is a bit more expensive than your regular lightweight gi though. One can argue that this is also a bit more than just a lightweight gi. I haven’t tried Storms premium gi yet but for me the Storm Stealth T357 already feels like a premium kimono.
If you are looking for a new lightweight jiu jitsu kimono that gives you that premium feel, the Storm Stealth T357 might be for you.
Wearing this gi on the mat and people will notice you, that’s for sure.
Quick Gi Review
Watch the Gi Experts review of the Storm Stealth T357 BJJ Gi here!
