Rogue cyclone sandbag vs echo slam ball

This is a comparison between the Rogue cyclone sandbag and the echo slam ball 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 EchoSlam 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 cyclone sandbag

This is an overview of the Rogue cyclone 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 cyclone bag

Price: $95 - $145

The rogue cyclone sandbag is an adaption of the strongman sandbag. Rather than having the same diameter on both ends, Rogue decided to make one end bigger than the other. This makes the cyclone sandbag easier to handle and especially interesting for long, heavy front carries. The cyclone reaches from 100lb to 250lb. The full specifications are:

Made in the USA
Patent Pending Design
Cyclone / Tapered style bags, larger at the top and smaller at the bottom
1000D MIL Spec US Cordura construction
Filler Capacity (4 Sizes): 100LB, 150LB, 200LB, 250LB
Built-In Filler Bag
Zipper and Hook-and-Loop Closure
(Filler Material Not Included)
Color: Black with White Rogue logo

This is a great sandbag for beginners without being cheap.

Pros of the cyclone bag

Pros of the cyclone bag are:

Portable
Cone shape
Robust design

Compared to slam balls and kettlebells these sandbags can be emptied after use and stored easier. Especially if you want to have group workouts at the beach this comes in handy. You can fill the bags with sand, get it done, empty them and leave. The cone shape also allows easier handling of this bag than of the original rogue strongman sandbags.

Cons of the cyclone bag

The cons of the cyclone sandbag are:

Shape for certain exercises
Limited weight range
Price

The cone shape is great for carries. Not so much for putting the sandbag to your shoulder. If your main intention is to do ground to shoulder movements than get one of the smaller strongman sandbags instead. Compared to the strongman sandbags the cyclone has a limited size. While the strongman sandbags fill up to 400lbs with sand, you can get only to 250lb with the cyclone bags. Last but not least some might be put off by the price. You could make an argument that a cement bag reinforced with Duct or gorilla tape will do the same trick for a fraction of the cost. I won’t argue with you if you only use them yourself and do not intend to empty/refill regularly.

Alternatives to the cyclone bag

Alternatives to the cyclone bags are:

The original strongman sandbag will give you a true cylinder shape and range from 100lb to 400lb when filmed with sand. The smaller options are very close to round-shaped and therefore a good alternative to atlas stones.

The rubber atlas stones from Rogue are an adaptation of the classic cement mold stones. These stones have an iron core surrounded by rubber and cone in 50lb to 200lb weight denominations. This is a great tool for home gyms or commercial gyms that want to train with a perfect heavy sphere. The only downsides are that they are harder to store and adjust than sandbags and that the black rubber can get very hot in the sun.

The MK d balls are heavy slam ball variations from Rogue. These balls are available up to 150 lb. while the bigger ones can get quite pricey, they will have a good grip and can be slammed better than the Rogue sandbags. I would only consider the mid-range of the MK d balls for heavy slams. If maximum weight is what you are after, the sandbags are cheaper.

Conclusion for the cyclone bag

The cyclone sandbags are great for beginners in heavy sandbag training as they are generally lighter than the regular Rogue sandbags and easier to handle. If you want to save yourself the hassle of bags and dirt the Rubber atlas stones or MK d balls can be an alternative based on your training preferences.