another place for rantings and ravings of kettlebells, sandbags, odd object lifting & old school strength from a stoopid boy.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

project.

project.

sandbag project planned for today. small group of us at work, including fish, rigo and sidebottom, decided to make sandbags.
i love odd object training. with no access to the gym, no money for expensive equipment, it made sense to create my own home gym with minimal costs. sandbags are one of my favorite among homemade equipment. co-workers often hear about my workouts without access to the gym, and now they are hooked.
over the past few days, we have been scavenging for materials to make our new sandbags.

- military duffle bag : purchase at any army surplus store for $30. i bought mine used for $20
- contractor bags : similar to hefty garbage bags, these can be purchased at home depot. these are industrial strength trash bags to handle various debris such as wood, plaster & cement. after the abuse the sandbag takes, these are a necessity. i am curious to use demo bags for my next sandbag.
- duct tape : a vinyl, fabric-reenforced, multi-purpose pressure sensitive tape or what i call magic, also available at home depot.
- sand or pea gravel : available at home depot. i prefer using sand. pea gravel is good. however, after some time and multiple throwing, slamming, handling, grappling of your sandbag, the pea gravel will tear through the contractor bags rather quickly. sold in 50 lb (23 kg) bags.

putting the sand in the bags, you can make one large bag or you can create multiple filler bags to load to your liking. i decided to make one large bag.
i put (2) 50 lb bags of sand into one bag. using the duct tape to seal the bag. i don't pull the bags taut as i want the sand to be able to move around, creating unevenness or chaotic movement.

here, rigo using duct tape to secure his contractor bag.



while keeping a little slack, i tape the bag using horizontal and vertical patterns. i find this keeps the bag more secure and intact. repeat using 1-2 more contractor bags.

rigo working his duct tape patterning.



place the sand-filled contractor bag into your military duffle bag and secure it.

my contractor bag within my military duffle bag.



my sandbag complete, 100 lbs of goodness.



rip it off the ground and enjoy your new strength conditioning and endurance implement.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Waaaaaay clever! The only thing I ever made with sand was a maize ball/slip bag for boxing out of and old sock!

Haven't ever trained with sandbags...but this looks cool! Have fun tossing it around!

Thanks!

F.

fitness-siren said...

Interesting to see that you're making sand bags at home. I've looked them up before and they can be a little pricey...lol.

It would be nice to see you train with them. Nice blog, btw.

Unknown said...

A good sandbag workout in the morning wakes you up. FISH where are you?

daniel_hautjobb said...

the ultimate sandbag by josh henkin is my favorite, specifically made for working out. this is a homemade version that is a cost-effective alternative. this will definitely last even after all the abuse.

Juan Bacca RKC said...

Nice bag. I have a josh henkin bag with about 90lbs of sand and it rocks. I plan on making a heavier one and will use your idea to do it. Much cost effective.
Great blog.
Thanks

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