Reviews: Ultimate Sandbag - Medium (upto 80lbs)

Previously, my sandbag was a green army canvas duffel bag I got for £10 from a local army surplus store. Here is a picture of it:



Whilst this bag was hard wearing, it's main problem was that the bag was not completely sealed - if the small bags of sand inside broke, then sand would fly out of the top opening of the bag. This obviously became quite messy. So I invested in an Ultimate Sandbag, which I brought via Crossfit Reading.


(Picture: SandbagFitnessSystems.com... note: the bottom is the filler bag that is bought separately)

The bag comes in 3 sizes - small (upto 45lbs), medium (upto 80lbs) or large (upto 160lbs). The bag is completely sealed, via a heavy duty zip and heavy duty poppers along the length of the bag. These also mean it's very easy to load/unload with small sandbags, and it's very hard for sand to escape the bag.

The bag has many handles on it which are useful. There are two handles around shoulder width apart, which are great for deadlifts, cleans, etc. There are two handles on the very ends of the bag (so are quite wide apart) and add a new dimension to holding/moving the bag, as the weight sags in the centre of the bag. There is also one long handle or strap that spans the length of the bag.

The shape of the bag is long and thin. This is handy for most types of movement - shouldering, zercher squat, clean, press, etc.

My only reservation with the bag is that once the bag is full to capacity, there is no way of grabbing the bag by the outer material. This is mostly due to the thick, heavy duty material used in the outer bag that is quite rigid. So if grip training is key for you, either don't buy the bag, or buy the larger bag and don't fill it up fully, so that there is loose outer material to grab.

Overall, a good investment, and a very useful bit of kit.