Buying a heavy bag

[freakpower]

Hello all.

I am thinking about picking up a heavy bag to put at the house. I have limited experience in this sort of thing and need some advice.

I definately want something vinyl coated and it seems like a standard punching bag may not have enough give for what I am interested in.

I like the ones they have at my studio. The revgear ‘krav maga heavy bag’ here:

http://revgear.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=13&osCsid=cc9f9b77a9aae4573a3b470bdfae0cec

But, they are too expensive for my price range. I have found many other bags closer to the $100 range that seem similar. Like this one:

http://www.immortalusa.com/Product.asp?intProdID=363

Can someone explain these huge price differences or give some purchase recommendations?

Thanks.

[clfmak]

For general heavy bag info, scroll down on the archive- there’s a heavy bag question like every few weeks.

In regards to your question, one of the main factors in price is weight. Bags often run about a dollar a pound for an okay one. I’m assuming the Krav Maga is a 200 pound bag. The other is a muay thai bag, which is usually skinnier and lighter even though the picture looks the same (it says its only 100 lbs, which is still heavy but is most likely not what you have at your studio). I know a guy that owns a dojo and he said that he’s bought a few muay thai bags and they wear out fast. I’ve never worked with a muay thai bag, but mostly I hear that people prefer the standard heavy bag except for low kicks.
Having gone through a number of heavy bags and wavemasters, I can tell you this: quality is cheap. By this I mean you should generally go with the more expensive bag if you’re in it for the long run. Buying a low quality bag and then another to replace it when it breaks is not a bargain compared to buying one good one.

[problem-bear]

I will echo CLFMak in saying that it’s worth it to spend a little more up front for good equiptment. I speak from experience in that I am on a very limited budget and have had to settle for cheaper rather than better training equiptment and you do get what you pay for( in most cases, not all). I spent $100 on an Everlast heavybag(Wal-mart deal) and after a year of moderate use, it’s falling apart faster than Pedro Rizzo.
I have a friend that has a 200lb. heavy-duty canvas bag that is probably older than him. It isn’t pretty but it’s nearly indestructable. He paid $150 for it at a garage sale, it must have been worth at least that much brand new about 2 or 3 decades ago. My bag won’t see 2007 in all likelyhood.
If you plan on being involved in Krav or any combatative arts training for the long-run, do yourself a favour and wait a few more months, set aside another couple hundred bucks and buy a decent bag that will pay for itself.
You’ll get more out of your money that way in my opinion. Good luck.

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