BlackPack PRO Strength Bag

This product os of very sturdy make, easily able to endure a lot of use. The bags themselves come without the weights inside for easy transport, however you just need to fill them with sand and you are good to go. Good for simple weight lifting, or for wearing whilst performing other fitness exercises these can really hep with your fitness regime. Probably not for those who take a light workout. But for those who really workout hard and are well versed in different techniques.

I have used a SKLZ sandbag (search on Amazon) for about a year and have thrown it around from above head etc and the stitches have come out a bit so ordered this as it looked really good quality. When it came the outer bag seems really well made with rivets reinforcing the stitches. The inner bags are very large and I filled each with 10kg of sand (max rated at 12.5kg). So I start doing some around the worlds to get use to it. Dropped from eyeish level 3 times and on the third time I could hear the sand moving inside. I opened up to find the 2 inner bags I'd put in split along the bottom. So the inner bags are really poor and the stitches are really weak. The SKLZ inner bags are much smaller and stronger. I would not recommend this. Sorry

This is an excellent bit of kit, let down only by the poor quality of the sandbag clips. The bag itself has very strong clips and a variety of useful handles, but the clips that secure the sandbags themselves have little to no durability. Within only a couple of weeks, two of my bags had broken clips, leaving only one with complete functionality. Disappointing, given the price.

Very good quality product that can take a jolly good shoeing. The design is well thought out however the area inside can make for excessive weight displacement during some lifts, so you're actually loading one side more (it does say this in the advertisement but still a bit of a shock). Easily sorted with putting a towel in to lessen the space. Only true bad note is the price

Simply put, these are hefty, stout bags you fill with sand, put inside other bags, and then lift. However, what you don't realise straight away is how the lack of stability within the bags themselves causes you to use more effort in other parts of your body to compensate - suddenly, simple arm curls are also training your abs, lats, lower and upper back amongst others. This is something that training at home with a simple barbell or dumbells doesn't give you. Added to this is the fantastic build quality and versatility of the bags. You can use them to train virtually any part of your body, and if you strap them to your back you can even use them to improve your cardio workout by increasing effort required to run, walk etc. So far I've mainly used these indoors and for quite simple excercises - tricep and bicep curls, chest press, leg extensions/curls etc. I've only recently rejoined the gym after a long hiatus so I'm careful about overdoing it. And that is probably one message I would definitely give to anyone considering purchasing these - they are really intended for your more serious meat-head. If you're not already in reasonably good shape they could potentially cause you to strain yourself. My only other gripe is the sheer size of the thing. It's not that easy to store - pound for pound, iron/steel weights are smaller and easier to store. However, if you like the idea of refreshing your workout routine, I can hugely recommend these. Of course, the question of cost cannot be ignored though - they are frightfully expensive. However, I doubt there is a finer similar product on the market, so you are paying for quality as much as anything.

The concept behind this strength training system is that the bag has lots of heavy duty handles and you pack it with containers full of sand that you supply. My sand cost £5 and I didn't use all of it. I did learn a painful lesson about how hard it is to dry sand when it is wet though (I used a big saucepan on our gas hob, and my wife was furious when she saw what I was doing). Although you can theoretically adjust the weight of the bag by removing a couple of the three sand bags, I have been too lazy to do this so far because it's strapped in there quite tightly. From this you will realise that I'm quite a lazy person, so I'm not sure how long this particular exercise device will remain in use before being stuck in a cupboard. This system is made by a company in Germany and this is immediately apparent from their written material, in print and on their website. Maybe they see that as a unique selling point so they deliberately make half-hearted translations into English. Or maybe, and I suspect this is the truth, the person who owns the company is dangerously muscular and doesn't like listening to weaklings who criticise his writing style, and the person who translates for them is a timid individual who should spend more time building up their strength using this bag system so that at their next meeting they won't be so frightened about suggesting text changes. Anyway... the thought I suspect many people will have is that you can save money by just using a normal bag. If you do this you won't have the same number of handles, which may or may not be a problem, but more importantly, they won't be constructed to the immensely high strength of the handles and fittings on this bag. The only thing I think is a little sad is that there is no way you would want to use this bag as a bag. Surprising given the number of handles, but they're in the wrong place, and the bag, as you'd expect, is too heavy.

Sandbag training is nothing new. Arguably it's one of the older fitness techniques that has been especially popular in wrestling training. It has come back in fashion in a big way as the movement towards functional fitness training as an alternative or complement to isolating muscles with weights (or the dreaded weights machine). There are plenty of alternatives on the market from the very basic military kit bags through to the up market re-inventions such as the Black Pack Pro, not to mention DIY projects that you might find online. I've already reviewed two other products by Aerobis ( aeroSling ELITE & aeroSling XPE .) and continue to train with them regularly, so have come to expect a high standard from them and was delighted to have the chance to test the blackPack Pro. To describe my impressions `in use' I need to first state where I fit in on the training spectrum. I have rowed for over 20 years, cycle daily and do some rock climbing and running. In the last three years I have taken to circuit/boxing training with a group of peers who come from a mixed sporting background (martial arts, rugby, handball, football) etc. I therefore describe myself as of good fitness and quite used to the usual circuit training staples (press-ups, sit-ups, burpees, plank and the like). If you are not, then there are still several useful beginner exercises shown on the videos on the aerobis site and elsewhere on the internet (search for sandbag training) but this style of unstable lifting is tricky to master and physically demanding. The blackPack Pro is covered in handles and holding straps that give you a huge variety of possible holds. Using the various options will develop good grip strength and force you to keep learning new movements that ensure you continue to engage the maximum number of muscles. Varying the number of and amount of sand in the bags gives you very versatile range of loads (I suggest filling the bags to different weights so that you have multiple combination options). By varying the tightness of the compression straps you can also vary the degree of instability in the bag. Given how simple the concept is, Aerobis have given some serious thought of how to get the most of this training method. In addition, the straps are designed to clip into the karabiners of the Aerosling Pro to add an extra dimension to suspension sling training. Owning both together gives you a remarkably compact and versatile home/travel gym. The other advantage of sandbags over free weights is that they are much less damaging to the floor (or your feet!) should you drop them. This has enabled us to use this bag in a room without a protected floor and would therefore make it a great choice for home use. Against all those positives, there are a few failings. The oversize plastic buckles have already caused minor abrasion injury in one of my training partners - they are simply too bulky and it's easy to end up snagging yourself on them if you are trying to manoeuvre the bag in a complex sequence. I'm sure it could have been feasible to use a tidier closure such as a climbing-harness style buckle or double-back straps with hook-and-loop fastening. My most serious criticism, at least at present, is the recommended retail price. I can understand that this product is at the top end of the market from a quality and design point of view. But there is a wide market of both direct competitor products and also `DIY' options such as buying a climber's haul-bag / duffel (which are similarly bomb-proof in construction) and filling it with some rubble bags. I laid a similar criticism against the aeroslings (which could be readily improvised) but I still think this is a very strong product from a brand that I am beginning to look to for inspiration both in product lines and training videos. Recommended... but take care! [edit 16th September 2014 to above review of 31st May 2013] I've come back to up my rating from 4 to 5 stars based on the fact that this has been used by me and the friends I train with for over a year several times a week with the bag loaded up to about 30kg and it shows very few signs of wear. There are some tiny cracks in the plasticised fabric where the roll-top closure folds around (which have no impact on the function) but all the handles, straps and attachment points are doing fine. Moreover, it has never leaked its content although I did end up using a very coarse grain as it was what I had available - perhaps a finer sand might escape but I doubt it. We've also learned more exercises and it continues to be one of the most versatile training tools I've found. For that reason, I feel that my earlier concerns about value for money are allayed. Of course, you can still do something similar in a DIY manner but this product is built to last.

Hello. I have mistake, my flat 3 10.

Das Produkt scheint wirklich sehr stabil zu sein. Leider kann ich zu der Langlebigkeit noch nichts sagen. Die erste Trainingseinheit liegt jetzt erst hinter mir. Vom sportlichen Aspekt her muss ich zugeben, ich hätte nie gedacht, wie schnell das Teil mich platt bekommt. Es ist wirklich ein sehr intensives Training. Wenn man sich ein paar Online-Videos dazu anschaut kann man schnell seine eigene Routine basteln. Meine anfängliche Besorgnis, dass man "nur" max. 37,5 Sand einfüllen kann, hat sich schnell erledigt. Wenn man die dynamischen Ganzkörperübungen durchführt, kann man auch mit wenig Gewicht ein sehr sehr intensives Training durchleben. Vom Ersteindruck her, würde ich sagen, dass man damit lange Spaß hat. Was bei dem Preis auch zu erwarten ist. Der Kunststoff der Aussenhülle ist relativ dick und die Nähte und Metallknöpfe machen ebenfalls einen guten Eindruck. Entgegen der Produktbeschreibung liegt auch noch ein Aqua-Bag bei, den man mit Wasser befüllen kann. Für mich hat sich der Kauf, dem ersten Eindruck nach, voll gelohnt. Wenn das Ding jetzt tatsächlich noch lange hält, sind die fünf Sterne voll gerechtfertig. In ein paar Monaten werde ich über die Langlebigkeit berichten.

I was looking for a sandbag that would be easy to adjust the weight to accommodate different athletes and exercises. This sand bag allows that and more. Because it has 3 sand bag ballast that are inserted inside it allows you to add and subtract the weight as needed. Also, the max weight of this bag is about 90lbs! This is great for leg exercises and exercises with a buddy. I would highly recommend this bag to any person who is thinking about ordering it. I purchased mine on amazon for about $130 before the price went up $100. I am looking forward to ordering the water ballast for the bag to train with unstable weight and experience a different type of exercises.