Heavy Bag Purchase Question…Help please..+

[ngl92867]

Hi and thanks in advance.
I am going to purchase a heavy bag for home use and was wondering how I should go about picking the wieght of the bag. I will use the bag primarily for punching and do not see myself using it for kicking too much as it will hang from rafters in the garage which is smooth concrete and can be slippery.

I know I want a nice leather bag but what wieght should I look for?
I am 5’11\” / 190lb’s.

Would a 100 lb bag be fine for me?

I am looking on ringside.com. $ 180.00 for bag, hangar & chain. Shipping included…

Thanks-
N

[clfmak]

Thats a pretty steep price for a 100lb bag. At a sporting goods store, you could probably find one for about $100, and they pretty much all come with the hardware. Then again, that would probably be an Everlast, which, in my experience, do not last forever. Even still, $190 is steep for such a bag.
For just punching, you may consider maybe a 75 lb bag. Even the 40 lb would work okay (I got one after several heavier ones broke for various reasons). It works all right for me, but you’re a little heavier (I’m 6ft and somewhere between 160 and 170lbs). The heavier it is, the less it will move around. A 40 lb bag can be obtained for like $40, and at that price, you could empty its stuffing out and make a good sand bag.
But wouldn’t you want to kick it? Training on that surface will train you to kick on less than ideal footing. Just make sure you know how to fall.
A heavier bag can be nice if you decide to do any exercises carrying heavy objects.

[dugfoot]

for quality and longevity, you cannot go wrong with a Ringside bag, particularly those made with Powerhide. If you are mainly going to punch and your in a heated area (if your in a colder part of the country), use a water bag. Your joints will thank you later on. I have Ringside’s Powerhide 6ft Thai bag that weighs 100#. I paid $250 with shipping/handling and I don’t regret it a bit. I’m 6′, 250# and I practice low kicks, knees, sweeps and shoots with no problem and I know this bag will be with me for years to come. The problem I have run into with several of the \”standard\” store-bought bags is that over time the filler they use settles in the bottom and the bottom becomes rock hard and you can easily injure a hand,knee, etc. I don’t know what Ringside uses as a filler but I have been around their bags for about 15 years and their bags don’t have that issue.

[clfmak]

I should invest in such a bag if they’re so reliable. I got my first heavy bag from a garage sale- 80 lb Everlast vinyl outside. It got damaged, but I still managed to sell it. Next I got a 100 lb canvas Everlast (from a garage sale again). It ripped at the top, where it can’t be fixed. Next, a brand new leather Everlast, 80 lb. It also ripped at the top. I tried to repair it, and it lasted for like two months then failed again. Then, I got a 40 lb vinyl Everlast, and just this week, the ziper failed so I had to take some stuffing out for it to work properly. Maybe its because I keep them outside (but I live in San Diego, there aren’t temperature extremes). Maybe its because some were from garage sales. Maybe its because I have freakish striking power (probably not, but I’d like to think so), but for whatever reason, Everlast bags have broken on me. But I’ve also broken other brands (a wavemaster, an unbreakable Cold Steel ash staff, one of those slam man pieces of garbage) so I’m not sure who is at fault.

[ngl92867]

Sounds like the 100lb ringside is going to be exactly what I was looking for. I am in Orange County, CA so the weather is not an issue, my main concern was if the 100lb bag would be heavy enough to punch multiple times without it swaying too far out of reach where I have to wait for the bag to punch again….

Thanks for the info—

Out

[clfmak]

Even a lighter bag that sways can still be hit multiple times without a problem. You’ll just have to move around a little bit (just like when striking a person)

[Author]

Posts