These trainers are extremely high quality and I often practice using them with minimal gear. It still hurts to get hit, but it's a lot nicer than using synthetic Dussacks trainers I have laying around when I don't feel like wearing all the gear. There has been no damage to the dussacks yet after a moderate amount of medium intensity sparring. The leather is reinforced along the blade and feels like there is maybe some lightweight plastic in the center of the dussack itself. Lastly, the dussacks look great. They look great and hang on the wall with my steels
