new bogu

[ulvulv]

Some toys we dont change to often, I finally bought a new ,as in "brand new", bogu, after having spent 14 years in a bogu that already was tattered and worn when I received it. I have "upgraded" it during the years, with a pair of kote with less holes, and a men with slightly more padding. The bogu has begged for retirement for a long time, and I finally decided to buy a new one from a fellow kendoka who is a local representative for Koei Budogu.
It is a nice bogu, with a two bu men, black 60piece bamboo, 1,5 bu kote, 1 bu tare.
I want of course to take best possible care of this new baby in the budo-household. Thoughts on the care of a new bogu?

[gendzwil]

You probably already know about breaking in the men. You need to tie up the men-dare (flaps) while it's stored the first little while to encourage it to take a set the way you want it. These days most people want the men-dare to lie forward and on the shoulders rather than up in the batwing position of old so you want quite the diagonal break. Also after the initial break-in, you want to store it untied and out of the bag to avoid the bat-wing look. Unless you like that look.

After each practice, you can smooth out the palm leather of the kote so that it doesn't develop permanent creases.

As always, take out of the bag after every practice and let dry in a cool, dry place away from direct heat or sunlight.

[ulvulv]

The heat and direct sunlight is the least problem, as it probably will rain for 5 months continously now. ;) Finding a dry place is indeed a challenge in this climatic hellhole. Haha.
I am going to the second day of our national championships now, hopefully the teamfighting will work out better than the individuals yesterday. Sob sob.