Radius Wraps Hand Wrap Pro Package Review
Brand
Radius are a company whose main purpose is to make Boxing, MMA, Kickboxing and other striking sports safer. They started when the founder Ryan Parsons was looking into methods of protecting the hands for fighters who suffer from severe pain while punching. After discovering a style of hand wrapping popular in the 60s and 70s where the padding sits just below the knuckle, they decided to take it further, experimenting with different materials to use as padding, until they found materials which offered the most protection. They then teamed up with Dr. Andy Galpin at the Center for Sport Performance at Cal State Fullerton to take a scientific look at the protection, and later worked alongside 20 UFC fighters to test them out even more. The end result is the Radius wrap. If you’re interested, read a bit more about the back story behind Radius.
Radius sent us their Pro Package to test out for them, which includes all 3 pairs of foam inserts, as well as their 180” wraps (although you can opt to buy their 120” wraps instead).
About the Hand Wraps
Radius wraps are different to other hand wraps. If you haven’t seen or heard about them already, then basically they’re a pair of altered wraps with foam bar inserts which you add in to the knuckle area when wrapping your hands. The foam sits just below the knuckles, and utilises both the density of the foam and the slight natural flex of the joint to drastically reduce the impact on the knuckles when punching.
Unlike some fighters I don’t usually have any pain when punching, so my position is closer to that of most fighters. That said, I’m always interested in training as safely as possible to improve the longevity of my body. Pre-emptive protection sounds better to me than needing reconstructive surgery later in life.
As mentioned previously, we tested out the 180” hand wraps, however for those of you who prefer a shorter wrap you can also get 120” versions. As for the foam inserts, there are 3 types; the Ultimate rolls, the Hybrid rolls and the Slim rolls.
Aesthetics
The 180” radius wraps only come in black currently (red if you get the 120” ones). Black is a nice neutral colour, and is great for hand wraps because it doesn’t end up looking dirty and usually takes a bit longer to fade than other colours. While the black is a great colour, many people like to inject a bit of personality into their hand wraps, so a few alternative colours would be a nice future addition.
Although you can’t see them at all while worn, the rolls themselves are also coloured to help distinguish between them. The colours of the rolls has been updated slightly although the materials are still the same as before. The Ultimate rolls are now red/black stripes (previously red), the Hybrid rolls are black/white stripes (previously red/black stripes) and the Slim rolls are black.
Materials
When it comes to the materials of these, the wraps themselves are great. The material is slim, but also sturdy, and even when intentionally pulling the fabric it doesn’t separate the threads and come apart like some of the other hand wraps we’ve reviewed. The fact that the material is thin works well for the Radius wraps, because it stops the wraps from being too much bulkier when on. There’s a very slight stretch to them, which helps get a nice fit without coming loose easily or being too tight.
The Velcro is also pretty great, and the hooks hold really well. I often have problems with hand wraps where the Velcro strip either wraps around way too far or just doesn’t go far enough, both of which can result in the Velcro shredding up the fabric. I personally have slim wrists and these happen to fit so that the two Velcro sides line up almost perfectly.
Overall, even if you were to wear the wraps without the foam inserts in, they’d still be a pretty good pair of wraps.
The three foam sections are all slightly different densities. We’ve also measured them to give you an idea how the sizes measure up.
The Ultimate rolls measure in at about 20mm thick and are moderately firm.
The Hybrid rolls measure in at about 18mm and feel very slightly softer than the ultimate rolls.
The Slim rolls measure in about 15mm but feel the most dense out of the 3 foams.
Comfort/use
I’m going to start off by being honest. I found my first time using the Radius Wraps pretty weird. It took me a couple of sessions to get used to having something extra in my gloves, but once you’ve done it a few times that initial weirdness subsides.
Wrapping is pretty standard. There are a couple of videos showing how the process works, however as long as you have the foam bar secured in the right place, you can really wrap them in whatever way works best for you. We’ve added one of their wrapping videos below so you can see how it works.
My biggest problem with these wraps is that they take up a bit of space, which meant that they simply wouldn’t fit well in tighter gloves. I use a number of different gloves, but there was a noticeable difference between the looser gloves and tighter gloves. You may want to make sure you have a pair of gloves with a roomy hand compartment to avoid it being uncomfortable.
When you first get your Radius wraps you’ll want to spend a bit of time testing out the different sizes. They’re a bit firm to start with and you’ll need to spend at least a couple of sessions breaking them in before they’ll develop a bit of a shape and become more comfortable. When I was testing these out, I found the Hybrid gloves felt the best for me. The Ultimate rolls made me feel the most protected, however I found the Hybrid roll was just a bit more comfortable. I found the Slim roll fitted a little bit better in tighter gloves, however it was also a bit firm for my liking. I’d definitely suggest getting the pro package so you can try the different rolls out, as everyone will have different preferences.
As I said at the beginning, I didn’t have any knuckle pains beforehand, but when the roll is in place you can definitely notice it adds more protection. I wanted to test out how good the protection really was, so I tried a new test which I wouldn’t advise at all in any other circumstances. I wrapped up with a pair of radius wraps and I tried a few strikes against a solid wall. I wouldn’t suggest trying it yourself because any bad punch could break a finger, but I can safely say that the rolls provide just as much protection as a good boxing glove would have, so if you’re wearing these underneath your gloves then you’re effectively getting twice the protection.
Cost
The Radius Pro package sells for $19.99, but if you only want specific parts you can buy them individually. The rolls are a great idea for anyone who has knuckle injuries, but are also really high quality wraps which are a great idea for anybody who’s interested in keeping their hands protected.
Pros/Cons
+ Extra layer of protection
+ High quality materials
+ Various roll options
– Feels weird the first time
– Rolls need a bit of breaking in
– Doesn’t sit well in tighter boxing gloves
Looking to buy these?