Intro
A new review! This time, a bit of an impulse purchase, because it just seemed like such a cool concept to me: the Battle Hoodie!
The Harambe Battle Hoodie is a hooded sweatshirt, augmented with foam plates and hard plastic inserts, and intended for HEMA training and sparring. It is designed and produced by Destroyer Modz (DMZ), USA, owned and operated by Josh Parise.
The Harambe Battle Hoodie is a hooded sweatshirt, augmented with foam plates and hard plastic inserts, and intended for HEMA training and sparring. It is designed and produced by Destroyer Modz (DMZ), USA, owned and operated by Josh Parise.
I bought this hoodie partially in preparation for the hot summer months, where in previous years, some days we didn't even gear up fully at all for fear of heat exhaustion. I was also looking to have some light and mobile protection, that would be enough to do light to medium longsword sparring with, without fear of serious injury. I felt that the more recent versions of the standard SPES AP jacket were made too thick and heavy, impeding mobility and breathability. For drilling and club sparring, and maybe even tournaments as well, this level of protection is unnecessary, in my opinion. That’s how I arrived at the Harambe Battle Hoodie. The concept is certainly very intriguing: a light jacket, light enough to wear as an everyday garment in fact, with enough added protection to also spar in, albeit with moderate intensity. Also, it’s relatively cheap, being a beefed up hoodie, not a full-on fencing jacket.
Caveat: I bought the hoodie mostly to use for light longsword sparring. I also used it with a few other weapons, like rapier, singlestick and nylon saber, but steel longsword was what I had in mind when I made the purchase. All criticism made should be viewed in this context. I have so far used this hoodie for less than ten sparring sessions, and less than five training sessions; no competitions, obviously, although there is a singlestick tournament in December that I might use it for.
 |
| Promotional photo by Black Armoury, showing the Battle Hoodie and it's protective plates. Note that the hard plastic top layer on the throat, chest and forearm plates are not shown here. |
Customer service
Being in mainland Europe, I bought the hoodie through Black Armoury, DMZ’s official European distributor, as part of a larger order. There were some delays in getting the hoodie shipped to me, not down to this particular item but a delay in the production of another item in the order, but the people at Black stayed communicative and made no false promises. I would order from them again.
First impressions
As far as I'm aware, the hoodie, like all of DMZ's new line of products, is made by a subcontractor, Pakistan's Superior Fencing. I must admit that this did make me a bit uncertain as to what kind of quality I could expect. However, the overall production value on the hoodie looks good; no weird or wobbly stitching, and thick, sturdy looking fabrics. The outer layer has held up so far, and looks quite tough. I've been thrust in several places now while sparring and drilling, without discernible damage. The zipper looks like a good quality one and is reinforced at both ends by a snap fastener, which is a nice touch. The hood is removable, which I immediately did. So far, to be honest, I haven't really found a reason to put it back on, but it's nice that it's there, I guess. The hoodie has two front pockets with zips, so no sword tip can slip in there. Overall, it's obvious that some thought went into these details, which I appreciate. I did find one minor negative; the protectors are placed in pockets stitched into the hoodie, and closed with Velcro. The Velcro can be a little scratchy, and the stitching on the pockets looks a little thin in places, and I always put the hoodie on rather gingerly for fear of popping a seam there.
As far as I'm aware, the hoodie, like all of DMZ's new line of products, is made by a subcontractor, Pakistan's Superior Fencing. I must admit that this did make me a bit uncertain as to what kind of quality I could expect. However, the overall production value on the hoodie looks good; no weird or wobbly stitching, and thick, sturdy looking fabrics. The outer layer has held up so far, and looks quite tough. I've been thrust in several places now while sparring and drilling, without discernible damage. The zipper looks like a good quality one and is reinforced at both ends by a snap fastener, which is a nice touch. The hood is removable, which I immediately did. So far, to be honest, I haven't really found a reason to put it back on, but it's nice that it's there, I guess. The hoodie has two front pockets with zips, so no sword tip can slip in there. Overall, it's obvious that some thought went into these details, which I appreciate. I did find one minor negative; the protectors are placed in pockets stitched into the hoodie, and closed with Velcro. The Velcro can be a little scratchy, and the stitching on the pockets looks a little thin in places, and I always put the hoodie on rather gingerly for fear of popping a seam there.
 |
| Slightly precarious stitching on the shoulder plate pocket. |
I was surprised by the fit of the hoodie. I ordered a large, based on the sizing table provided, and it fit me fine in most places except the sleeves, which were surprisingly tight, especially around the forearms. Now, I'm not an especially small man, but neither is Josh Parise, the designer, so I assumed the hoodie would have been built more or less around his body type. Still, I have to really struggle to get the sleeves all the way on, especially when I'm already a bit sweaty.
Once properly put on, mobility in the hoodie is just fine. It rides up a little in high guards, but not problematically so. The shoulder plates took a little bit of getting used to, but after a few sessions, they're not really noticeable anymore. The elbow plates sometimes shift around and need to be budged back into place again, but never to an extreme degree. Overall, I would say that mobility is better than in my SPES AP jacket, but that the difference is less than what I was expecting.
I was also expecting the hoodie to be cooler. I wore it on a few very hot summer days, sparring for a few hours, and I was almost as warm afterwards as if I had worn a regular jacket. The inside moisture wicking layer does its job of absorbing sweat just fine, but the thick outer layer insulates perhaps just a little too well.
Once properly put on, mobility in the hoodie is just fine. It rides up a little in high guards, but not problematically so. The shoulder plates took a little bit of getting used to, but after a few sessions, they're not really noticeable anymore. The elbow plates sometimes shift around and need to be budged back into place again, but never to an extreme degree. Overall, I would say that mobility is better than in my SPES AP jacket, but that the difference is less than what I was expecting.
I was also expecting the hoodie to be cooler. I wore it on a few very hot summer days, sparring for a few hours, and I was almost as warm afterwards as if I had worn a regular jacket. The inside moisture wicking layer does its job of absorbing sweat just fine, but the thick outer layer insulates perhaps just a little too well.
Does it hold up?
To start with, I must say that the foam shoulder and elbow plate inserts in the hoodie are surprisingly effective. Of course they won’t stand up to a 100% intensity strike, and they’re obviously not meant to; I did take some rather solid hits on the elbow without issue. This is one of those cases where you feel the impact, but it doesn’t really hurt or feel like it would be damaging unless the opponent is really swinging with full intent. I’m impressed.
I do have a number of criticisms, mainly concerning the shape and placement (or lack thereof) of some of the plates. For one, the throat guard, while well made with both soft foam and hard plastic components, is insufficient in its current form, covering only a small horizontal band across the collar.
Any thrust from below, therefore, can and will easily slide underneath and straight into the throat, completely negating the benefit of having a hard plate there. Extending the throat guard beyond the collar and onto the chest would probably solve this issue. I also noticed that adding the DMZ throat guard not only not solve this problem; it’s also too bulky to comfortably fit underneath the hoodie. I find it kind of odd that two items from the same manufacturer can’t be used properly together, but this is a relatively minor quibble.
Any thrust from below, therefore, can and will easily slide underneath and straight into the throat, completely negating the benefit of having a hard plate there. Extending the throat guard beyond the collar and onto the chest would probably solve this issue. I also noticed that adding the DMZ throat guard not only not solve this problem; it’s also too bulky to comfortably fit underneath the hoodie. I find it kind of odd that two items from the same manufacturer can’t be used properly together, but this is a relatively minor quibble.
 |
| From underneath, it's easy for a sword tip to miss the throat protector. |
The forearm plates were really puzzling to me. I'm not sure if I was wearing the hoodie wrong somehow, but with me, they sat on the inside of the forearm. I still can't figure out why you'd put protective plates on the inside of the forearm and not the outside, or at least covering the ulna, arguably the most vulnerable part of the forearm. I did like that these forearm plates had both a foam inner layer and a hard plastic top layer; I'm just confused by their placement.
 |
| The forearm plate, showing off its two layers of soft foam and hard plastic. |
 |
| The forearm plate, situated on the underside of the forearm. |
The hoodie also has a foam plate with hard plastic top layer on the solar plexus, similar in design to the throat guard and forearm plates. This protector is tiny, however, and I don’t see any benefit in having it there; it doesn’t stop the impact of a strike, and hitting it with a thrust would be more the result of dumb luck than anything else. If I plan on allowing thrusts while using the hoodie, I have to add a hard chest protector underneath, which renders the hoodie’s chest plate superfluous.
Besides the two plates offering limited throat and breastbone protection, there is no added protection on the torso at all, which to me seems a mistake. At least some sort of foam insert for either the front or side of the stomach or ribcage would have been a huge benefit here.
 |
| The interestingly-shaped chest plate. |
Besides the two plates offering limited throat and breastbone protection, there is no added protection on the torso at all, which to me seems a mistake. At least some sort of foam insert for either the front or side of the stomach or ribcage would have been a huge benefit here.
 | |
|
Lastly, I would have really liked it if the outer layer of the hoodie were certified penetration resistant; I would feel much more comfortable using it for lighter weapons like rapier, which I think the hoodie could potentially be a good option for.
Conclusion
My criticisms might be seen as overly harsh; after all, if this is basically nothing more than an upgraded sweater, what kind of performance should I really expect from it? To that I would say that the hoodie was obviously made to fill some sort of niche, to be a useful training tool in a specific context. However, I don’t see any context that this hoodie would be truly suitable for.
Is it for light drilling? I usually wear light gloves, a mask and a throat guard for all my drilling, and I don’t really see what wearing the Battle Hoodie will add to this. Is it for heavy sparring or tournament use? Absolutely not, obviously, unless you're suicidal. Presumably then, it is designed with light to medium sparring in mind, or at least of the available options seems most suitable for that purpose. In this though, it falls short in several aspects. It’s not comfortable enough to wear as an actual hoodie, it’s too warm to wear as a light summer fencing jacket, and it’s not protective enough for sparring without added gear. Maybe I’m completely missing the mark here, but from what I can tell from Josh Parise's comments about the hoodie, I don’t think I’m too far off from his intentions.
To be clear, I like the hoodie, and I still wear it on occasion, albeit with a throat guard and a hard plastron underneath, and the forearm plates taken out. As such, it’s fine for light sparring. However, given that there are quite a few much more suitable light sparring jackets on the market, I would hesitate to recommend the Battle Hoodie; unless some serious design changes are made, it falls short of its goals. There is however one application where I believe the hoodie would shine: this hoodie would be perfect for singlestick. If you do a lot of singlestick sparring with light gear, this might just be the piece for you.
P.S. While taking photos for this review, I noticed a seam on the inside of the upper arm had popped. I'm not sure what caused this, but felt it was relevant to mention.
P.S. While taking photos for this review, I noticed a seam on the inside of the upper arm had popped. I'm not sure what caused this, but felt it was relevant to mention.
 |
| The popped seam. |
