Hey friends, it’s Lizzie! Straight up: the T3 is still my favourite glove, and the E1 has not changed that. So why do I keep a blue pair of E1s in the rotation? Because they do one job better than my T3s do, and that job is the long, grinding heavy bag session.
A disclosure before anything else: I did not buy these. I received the E1s as part of my Hayabusa ambassador package when they first came out. That does not change what I think of them, but you should know it going in.
The short version
The E1 is the cushioned one. It absorbs more of the punch than my T3s do, which makes it the pair I want when I am doing volume on the bag — and it means my favourite gloves get a rest instead of taking every round of the week.
If you want to feel exactly where your punches land, this is not that glove. That is the trade, and it is a real one.
What the extra cushioning actually does
My T3s give me the right amount of protection while still letting me feel where a punch lands. That feedback is most of why I love them. You know when you have caught something clean and you know when you have not.
The E1 is plusher, and it soaks up more of that. On a short technical session I miss the feedback. On a long heavy bag session it is exactly what I want — because by round eight, “softer” stops being a downside and starts being the reason you can keep going.
So it is not a worse glove. It is a glove tuned for a different kind of session.
The pair that protects my favourite pair
This is the part nobody tells you when you are buying your first pair. Gloves you train in every single session wear out faster than gloves that get a day off, and the fastest way to wear out a pair you love is to use it for everything.
The E1 is what I reach for on the long bag days precisely so the T3s are not absorbing all of it. That is the honest reason it earns its place, and it is the same logic behind why I rotate my gloves at all.
The single strap
One strap. On and off by yourself in seconds, no tucking, no second wrap-around. If you train alone, or you are changing in a hurry, the glove you can get into fastest is the glove you actually use.
The trade is structure — a single strap does not lock the wrist the way a dual-cross system does, which is exactly the choice you are making between this and the T360. I put those side by side in T360 vs E1.
Out of the box
Comfortable on day one. No break-in to negotiate, which is the headline difference from the T3 — the T3 takes a few weeks before it feels like yours, and then it is better than anything. The E1 skips that entirely and stays roughly as it started.
Who I would actually point at these
Get the E1 if: you do long heavy bag sessions and want something that absorbs more of the work, you already own a pair you love and want to take the volume off them, you are newer and want comfort with no break-in period, or you train alone and want to strap up in seconds.
Get something else if: you want to feel exactly where your punches land, or wrist lockdown is your priority. In that case, read my long-term T3 review or the T360 comparison.
Where it sits in the range
The T3 is the flagship — protection with feedback. The T360 goes furthest on wrist lockdown. The E1 is the cushioned, easy-living one. Every model in one place is in best Hayabusa gloves, ranked, and the two ends compared in T3 vs E1.
Sizing
Same as every pair I own: size is where people go wrong, and it changes once you are wrapped. Read my sizing guide before you order.
Where my experience ends
Mine are the blue pair, from the original ambassador package when the E1 launched, so I have had them a while rather than a precisely measured number of months. I use them for long bag work rather than sparring, so that is what I can speak to. And I will say again: the T3 is still the pair I prefer.
Price and the code
My code LILO takes 10% off, and it matches whatever site-wide sale is running if that one is bigger.
Shop Hayabusa with code LILO →
Outside the US? Use code LIZZIE on the Hayabusa EU store for the UK and Europe, or shop my Australia storefront.
What $99.99 actually gets you
Here’s context most reviews can’t give you, because most reviewers only own premium gloves. I climbed the ladder with my own money, so I know what each rung feels like.
Before Hayabusa I trained in a basic pink Everlast pair, one pair of Sanabul (currently $17.99–$34.99), and the grey Venum Contender at around $45–$50, which I kept for about two years.
The E1 at $99.99 sits roughly twice the price of the Contender and about five times a base Sanabul. What that money buys, in my experience, is not flashier padding — it’s a glove that holds its structure, supports the wrist properly, and slowly becomes yours rather than staying the generic shape it shipped in. None of my pre-Hayabusa pairs ever did that last part.
I ranked all four brands honestly in four glove brands in ten years, and the E1 is my pick in the best boxing gloves under $100 — it’s the only glove on that list I still train in.
Why it’s the easiest Hayabusa to recommend first
If someone messages me saying they’ve been training a couple of months and want their first serious pair, this is usually where I point them — not the T3, even though the T3 is my favourite.
Three reasons. There’s no break-in period, so it’s comfortable from session one rather than asking you to trust it for a few weeks. The single strap means you can get in and out on your own, which matters far more than it sounds when you’re changing in a hurry. And the softer padding is forgiving while you’re still building up volume.
The T3 is the better glove for me, but “better” and “the right first pair” aren’t the same question. I compared them properly in T3 vs E1.
Where I wouldn’t choose it
I’d rather tell you this than sell you the wrong pair.
If you want to feel exactly where your punches land, the extra cushioning works against you. That feedback is precisely why the T3 stays my favourite, and the E1 softens it. If you want the most locked-down wrist in the range, my 12oz T360s do that better — the dual-cross strap system is the most secure thing I own. That comparison is in T360 vs E1.
Looking after them
The single thing that decides how long any glove lasts isn’t how hard you hit — it’s whether it dries out. A glove you trained in on Monday is still damp on Tuesday, and damp padding that gets compressed again breaks down faster and starts to smell.
Mine come out of the bag the moment I get home, every time. That habit is free and it has done more for my gear than anything I’ve bought. It’s also half the reason I rotate pairs at all — more on that in why I rotate my boxing gloves, and how I clean mine if yours are already past the pleasant stage.
Where it fits in a rotation
If the E1 is going to be your only pair, it’ll do the job across classes, pads and bag work comfortably.
If it’s your second pair, buy it to cover a different kind of session rather than as a spare. That’s exactly how I use mine: the T3s for the work where I want feedback, the E1 for long heavy bag days where I want absorption, and the T360s when I want a cardio-intense session and to build strength. Three pairs, three jobs, and nothing ever goes back on damp.
Worth a read if that is where you are: my T360 review and why I rotate my gloves.
Your Questions, Answered
Can you use the Hayabusa E1 for heavy bag work? That is exactly what I use mine for. The extra cushioning absorbs more of the punch, which suits long bag sessions.
E1 or T3? I prefer the T3 — it protects well while still letting me feel where a punch lands. The E1 is what I switch to for long bag days, partly to give the T3s a break.
Do the E1s need breaking in? No. They are comfortable from the first session.
Does code LILO work on the E1? Yes — 10% off, or the current sale price if that is bigger.
Is the E1 good for beginners? It’s the Hayabusa I’d point a newer person at first — no break-in, easy to strap up alone, and forgiving padding.
E1 or T360? The T360 gives you the most locked-down wrist of anything I own. The E1 gives you softer padding and a faster strap. Different jobs.
Is the E1 worth it over a $45 Venum Contender? If you know you’re staying with the sport, yes — mainly for the wrist support and the way it moulds to your hand. If you’re still deciding, the Contender is a perfectly sensible stop first.
What glove weight should I get? I’m not a trainer, so I’ll only tell you what I do: I use 12oz when I want speed and volume, and heavier when I want the session to feel like load. Fit matters more than the number.
Will they stop my gloves smelling? No glove does that on its own. Getting them out of your bag to dry after every session is what actually works.
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