Rogue cube sandbag vs Echo slam balls

This is a comparison between the Rogue cube sandbag and echo slam balls including pros, cons, and alternatives. It was published first under which rogue sandbag to get. Follow the links for more details.

Overview and review of the Rogue Echo slam balls

This is an overview of the Rogue Echo slam balls including pros, cons, and alternatives. Follow the links for more details.

Overview of the Rogue Echo Slam balls

Price: $35 - $109

The Rogue echo slam balls have been specifically designed to take a lot of abuse for being thrown on the ground. Regular medicine balls can often come apart at the seams when thrown on the ground too often. The Echo Slam balls fix this problem by being robust and providing a dead bounce. They are also cheaper than regular medicine balls. The full specifications of the Rogue Echo Slam balls are:

Sold Individually
Weight Options: 10 LB, 15 LB, 20 LB, 25 LB, 30 LB, 35 LB, 40 LB, 45 LB, 50 LB
Grip-friendly, rubberized exterior shell
Diameter: 9" (10LB - 30LB balls), 10" (35LB - 50LB balls)
Color: Red with LB and Rogue logo in White
2 Year Warranty*

These are great for most WODs and save you some hassle compared to regular medicine balls.

Pros of the Rogue echo slam balls

Pros of the Rogue echo slam balls are:

Price
Dead bounce
Stability

This is a workhorse of a medicine ball that gives some of the most pounds per dollar in the Rogue medicine ball line up. You can abuse the heck out of it and still comes back for more.

Cons of the Rogue Echo Slam ball

The cons of the Rogue Echo slam ball are:

Limited choice of color
Not great for throwing

You have to like red to like these balls. If you want more color in your life you might have to opt for other options from Rogue. They are also not great for partner throws because of the dead bounce.

Alternatives to the Rogue Echo Slam ball

Alternatives to the Rogue echo slam ball are:

The D-Ball medicine ball comes in black and has a bit more grip to get it off the floor. If you intend to do heavy medicine ball lifts to shoulder, rather than mainly slamming the medicine ball, than the D-Balls are the better option for you.

If you are looking into something with a little extra weight to throw and catch then the rubber medicine balls might be the better option than the Rogue echo slam balls. These are low cost and have no dead bounce.

Conclusion for the Rogue echo slam balls

The Rogue echo slam balls are a great low-cost option to go heavy on slams. In most cases, they might even be a better buy for a home gym owner than a regular medicine ball.

Overview and review of the Rogue cube sandbag

This is an overview of the Rogue cube sandbag including pros, cons, and alternatives. It was published first under which rogue sandbag to get. Follow the links for more details.

Overview of the rogue cube sandbag

Price: $85 - $127.50

The rogue cube sandbag is one of the multiple sandbag variations for strongman training from Rogue. This sandbag enters at the lower price range and is available from 100lb to 200lb when filled with play sand. The cube shape is slightly more challenging as the original cylinder shape because of the corners. While they are good to hold on to, they can make it harder to balance the weight once you have lifted it. The full specifications of the Rogue strongman cube sandbag are:

Made in the USA
Patent Pending Design
Sold Individually
1000D MIL Spec US Cordura construction
New CUBE Shape
Filler Capacity (3 Sizes): 100LB, 150LB, 200LB
Built-In Filler Bag
Zipper and Hook-and-Loop Closure
Filler Material Not Included
Color: Black with White Rogue logo on the flap
Recommended use on rubber or nonabrasive surface - not intended for slams

This is a good bag to get together with a cylinder bag to get started and still have a little variety for your lifts.

Pros of the Rogue cube sandbag

Pros of the Rogue cube sandbag are:

Portable
Symmetrical load
Robust design

The Rogue cube sandbag is made of military-grade fabric just like the entire rogue strongman sandbag line up. As you can fill these bags with sand or other media and empty them they are also easier to transport than a bunch of medicine or slam balls, nevermind atlas stones. As this bag forms a cube the load is symmetrical and therefore easier to lift than the other, asymmetrical bags from Rogue. All in all the cube strongman bag is a great starter in Strongman training, especially when paired with a cylinder bag.

Cons of the Rogue cube sandbag

Cons of the Rogue cube bag:

Limited weight range
Not for slams
Slightly harder to handle than a cylinder

The rogue cube sandbag comes with a limited weight range compared to the original cylinder bag. This is not the end of the world as you can play around with lead shot and play sand mixture, but still, big cube bags are currently not available from rogue. They are also not designed for high-velocity slams, which might make the structure of the bag suffer, especially if filled to the brim with crumb rubber and smashed at full velocity. That is not what these bags have been built for and a ball might be the better choice for this intent.

Alternatives to the Rogue cube sandbag

Alternatives to the Rogue cube sandbag are:

The original rogue strongman sandbag has a cylinder form and is available from weight denominations of 100lb to 400lb. You can also pick some color variations. If you are getting your first bag this might be the better choice than the cube as the cube is slightly harder to handle.

The MK D ball is Rogue's slam ball option on steroids. These slam balls scale up to 150lb at roughly the same size. As the filler gets more expensive to keep the same dimensions, the biggest D balls come in at a hefty price. Still, if you want to slam heavy, these are the best option. Especially in the mid-range from 30lb to 100lb.

The Rogue medicine balls are a valid alternative to the sandbags if you want to throw the balls against a wall or from person to person. The sandbags are not ideal for this purpose.

Conclusion for the Rogue cube sandbag

The Rogue cube sandbag is a good option for ambitioned starters in strongman to get together with a cylinder bag. This gives you symmetrical loads of different shapes. Experienced strongman athletes who want to train everywhere or just do not have the space to have multiple stones lying around can get a set of all the different shaped bags to keep training varied and prepared for competition. For maximum lifts, you can still keep reasonably weighted stoned around (but not a full set) to also address the different challenges to grip when you hold onto cement or cold stone.