The karate class my daughter attends was out of stock of their sparring equipment and had told us that the equipment was on back order. My daughter had just become eligible to start sparring and was disappointed. I headed for the internet. After an exhaustive search of about a dozen on-line vendors, I chose this package from Karate Depot. Boy were we ever impressed with what we got. Pictures are OK to get an idea of what the items are, but when we got these items and got to compare these with the equipment the other kids had, we were amazed. This set is by far a better set in terms of quality of construction and ease of use than any other child had. After talking to a number of parents I also learned that the price of this set was about 50% less than they had paid for theirs. You just can't beat that: best stuff, lowest price. I expect some of the parents that have not yet gotten equipment for their kids will be heading for this site. I also had a positive experience with Karate Depot's customer service. There was a minor issue with the original order I placed on-line. They called me early the next day, told me what the issue was and what they were going to do to resolve it. They did everything they said they would do, and I got the merchandise when they said I would. All in all, a very good transaction PS -my daughter kicked butt in her first sparring session yesterday.