Eskimo Joe Bag Review

[Jorden]

Hey,

I recently had the pleasure of testing out a sample 32 panel bag from Andrew Dunford (Eskimo Joe), which I was given at the Montreal Spring Jam this year. It sounds like Andrew is interested in entering the footbag market, and I just wanted to fill you in on what to expect from this up-and-coming stitcher.

First off, this is currently one of my favourite training bags. I asked for bright colours, and received a nice combo of cream orange pents with white hexes. I wanted to have a highly visible bag for doing street shows and busking, and began using it for this purpose. My first session with it was a spontaneous outdoor night session downtown. The bag was highly visible against the night sky and I was able to warm up to my standard level of play of almost-tripless.
The bag required next to no break in. The weight (I asked for HEAVY) was exactly what I asked for and I had no problem playing in any sort of wind.

Stitching looks consistent (I'm no expert mind you) and the panels don't puff outwards from the stitching which I like.

The material (facile?) doesn't dry out easily, so it stays malleable. White panels did turn light gray after only a couple sessions though, so I stopped using it for performing b/c of the loss in brightness. Even with the larger than standard size, Andrew's bag is now a regular in my training sessions.

You can see it in action from 1:29-2:39 in the Request Session 2 video.

Thanks Andrew. Your bag's a keeper. Do you want to post your materials and techniques you use in this thread?

8/10.


JM

[Eskimo Joe]

Hey Jorden.

Thank you for the write up, I appreciate it alot. I am sorry to hear that the bag lost it's brightness. I will look into different soaps and let you know which one works the best to restore the white's brightness.

As for the material I use, it is facile or ultrasuede light. I use upholstery thread with a glovers needle, and fill the bags with lead shot (size 7.5) and glass sead beads.

Regards,

Andrew

[BenRea]

a much needed review. thanks jorden. i will be thinking about these bags for few days...then we will see if im going to purchase one. i need a new 32 badly.

[Wasabi]

I am very proud of Andrew's dedication and craftmanship as a stitcher in this generation of footbag production. I can most definitely tell that he has what it takes to become extremely successful, not only through the aesthetical design of a 32-panel but also in its genuine performance. The pentagon/hexagon ratio on his bags are superb from my observation.

Through the bottom of my heart, I'm actually very excited in making a trade with you Andrew. I would like to make this public. You have what it takes to become a great stitcher.

On a general note, I would like to add that lead and concrete (or outdoors in general) are two major factors that dirty fabric the most in footbags. Expecting a bright material (white) to stay white is extremely difficult. Steel shot is a preferred choice for filler in that it does not shed loose particles so much that the fabric absorbs any of these maladaptive grime through a bag's break-in (and in terms of visibility), either through playing or through the wash. However, it is less dense than lead, so expecting bags to made really heavy while subjecting it to the golf-ball size standard is difficult. I just wanted to make that known, so that future judging can be further critiqued with this knowledge.

I'm sorry if I sounded like an asshole in that previous statement. I did not mean any ill will.

[james]

Here's a second review.

So I won a raffle at the Montreal Spring Jam....twice! And what did I get? An Andrew Dunford bag and a matching Kolosport hat!

First the colors are blue and grey, a very appealing mix. It was ready to play from the getgo, which is a quality I like in a bag. The weight is good, though a little lighter than I prefer (but I like them quite heavy). The stitching is very streamlined which gives it a very sharp and clean look. The filler is great.
This bag has always been a pleasure to use. I usually warm up with it, or use it for kicking because it is really great for that too.

All things considered, I give it an 8/10.

Keep up the good stiching Andrew!