What I’d Actually Buy This Labor Day (And What I’d Wait For)

This post contains affiliate links. If you shop through them I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you — I only ever recommend what I genuinely use and love. 💛

Hey friends, it’s Lizzie! 💛 Labor Day weekend is basically a national holiday for “add to cart.” Every brand you’ve ever handed your email to is about to show up with a countdown timer, and it is genuinely easy to spend $300 on things you didn’t need because the banner was orange and said 48 HOURS ONLY.

So instead of the usual sale roundup, I want to do something more useful: tell you what’s actually worth buying right now, what I’d save for later, and — importantly — where my code helps you and where it honestly doesn’t. Ten years of kickboxing has taught me exactly which gear earns its money and which just ends up in the bottom of a gym bag.

First: I checked, and Hayabusa isn’t running a Labor Day sale

I went and looked before writing this, because I didn’t want to send you somewhere promising a deal that isn’t there. As of this week, Hayabusa has a Back to the Grind collection up — but that’s a seasonal lineup, not a discount. The gloves are sitting at full price.

Which is actually good news for you, and here’s why.

My code doesn’t stack with their sitewide sales. One code per order. So on their big promo weekends, the sale price usually wins and my code does nothing for you — I’d rather say that out loud than let you find out at checkout.

But right now, with no sitewide sale running? My code is the best price available on Hayabusa. That’s exactly the window where it’s worth using.

Buy now, don’t overthink it: hand wraps

If you take one thing from this post: buy more hand wraps than you think you need. They’re the cheapest thing in the sport and the one piece of gear that protects the part of you that’s hardest to replace.

Nobody has ever regretted owning four pairs of wraps. You will absolutely regret owning one pair, because that one pair will be damp in your bag on the night you have class. Wraps also wear out quietly — they stretch, they stop holding, and you don’t really notice until your hands start telling you.

These never go meaningfully on sale because they’re already inexpensive. Just buy them.

The smart buy: the S4 gloves (about $72 with my code)

The S4s are $79.99 right now, which lands around $72 with LILO. If you’re newer to this — or you’ve been borrowing the gym’s communal gloves, which, please stop — this is the pair I’d point you at.

I’ve trained in these. They do the job. They’re a real glove from a real fight brand, not a fashion pair that falls apart in four months, and at under a hundred dollars they’re the least intimidating way to own equipment that’s genuinely yours.

Here’s my honest take on why this is the buy-now pick rather than the wait-for-a-sale pick: the gap between $80 and a hypothetical sale price on an $80 item is small. What it actually costs you to wait is three months of not training in your own gloves. That’s a bad trade.

If you’re not sure what size you need, I wrote a whole guide on that: what size boxing gloves do I need. Get that right before you get anything else right.

The splurge, if the timing is right: the T3s (about $152 with my code)

The T3s are $169, so roughly $152 with the code. These are the gloves I actually train in, and they’re the ones I’d call a genuine splurge — the kind you buy once and stop thinking about.

But I want to be straight with you about when that splurge makes sense, because “treat yourself” is not a strategy.

Buy the T3s if: you’re training more than twice a week, you’ve been at it long enough to know you’re staying, and your current gloves are either falling apart or were never really yours. At that point the price per session gets small fast, and the difference in how they feel is worth it.

Don’t buy the T3s if: you’ve been to three classes. Not because you don’t deserve nice things — because the S4s will teach you what you actually like, and there’s no shame in earning your way up to the fancy pair. I’d rather you spend $72 now and $169 next year knowing exactly why, than spend $169 today to find out kickboxing isn’t your thing.

I broke both of these down properly in my full Hayabusa review, and if you’re at the very start, buying your first Hayabusa is the gentler version.

What I’d genuinely wait on

Not everything deserves your Labor Day money. Here’s what I’d leave in the cart:

• Big-ticket equipment. Bags, stands, anything that needs floor space — these get discounted hardest at the end of the year. Black Friday lands on November 27 this year, and that’s where the real markdowns show up.
• A second pair of gloves. If you already have working gloves, a sale is not a reason. Rotating two pairs is a nice-to-have, not a need-to-have.
• Anything you’re buying because it’s discounted rather than because you’d been wanting it. That’s the whole trick of a sale weekend, and it works on all of us.

One thing worth knowing: Hayabusa keeps a clearance section running year-round, with things starting around $19. It’s not a Labor Day event — it’s just always there. Worth a look before you assume you need a holiday to save money.

The honest part about codes versus sales

I get asked this a lot, so here’s the rule I actually use:

When a brand isn’t running a sale, use my code. That’s the situation right now with Hayabusa, and it’s most of the year.

When a brand is running a big sitewide sale, take the sale. My code won’t stack on top of it, and I’d rather you get the better price than feel loyal to me at your own expense. I’ll still be here.

And a small related thing, since it comes up: I tested Hayabusa’s rewards program and wrote down what I found in is Hayabusa Rewards worth joining — including one redemption that’s more of a trap than a perk.

Everything else I’d actually grab this weekend

Outside of training gear, two things I use constantly and would happily restock on a long weekend:

Kitsch — the solid shampoo and conditioner bars and the rosemary scalp oil. This is the one brand where I’ll tell you to shop during their sales, because unlike Hayabusa, their program still works for me when their own discount is running. Everything lives in my Kitsch storefront.

Cure — my hydration order that I genuinely do not skip, especially in Florida in September. Code LILO works there too, and it’s all listed on my codes page.

Labor Day Shopping FAQ

Is Hayabusa having a Labor Day sale?

Not as of this week — they have a seasonal Back to the Grind collection up, but the gloves are at full price, not discounted. That means my code LILO is currently the best price on the site.

Does your code work during sales?

No — it’s one code per order, so it won’t stack with a sitewide sale. When they run a real promo, take the sale. When they’re not, use the code.

Should I buy the S4 or the T3?

S4 (about $72 with the code) if you’re newer or want your own gloves without a big commitment. T3 (about $152 with the code) if you’re training regularly and you know you’re staying. I’ve trained in both.

What’s actually worth waiting for?

Anything big — bags, stands, floor equipment. Those get their real markdowns at Black Friday, which is November 27 this year.

Prices are what I saw when I wrote this and can obviously change — always check before you check out.