Rogue sandbags vs standard medicine ball

This is a comparison between the Rogue sandbags and the standard medicine 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 Standard medicine ball

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

Overview of the Rogue medicine balls

Price $65 - $123

The Rogue medicine balls are available in 11 different configurations ranging from 4lb to 30lb. They have a double stitch and also provide extra padding to be forgiving on the user for throws and catches. This medicine ball is designed and manufactured in the USA which sets it apart from other medicine balls that are usually made in China. The available weights for this medicine ball are:

4lb
6lb
8lb
10lb
12lb
14lb
16lb
18lb
20lb
25lb
30lb

This is a solid medicine ball with a wide range of options that is not too expensive to outfit your facility. The only downside is that they are only available in black, except for the special editions that rogue branded for different athletes.

Pros of the Rogue standard medicine ball

The pros of the Rogue standard medicine ball are:

Good value for money
American made
Padded

Rogue took the Dynamax design and cut out the fat to make these medicine balls a bit more affordable. This is what they do with many products without compromising on the quality. For the money you pay you to get a great medicine ball that is made in the United States. Especially if you are government-funded, you might want to take care that the products you buy are not made in China when it can be avoided. The padding works for any type of throws and catches.

Cons of the Rogue standard medicine ball

The cons of the Rogue standard medicine ball are:

Limited color range
Bounce
Finish

Just like any company that has a product, not at its core, so Rogue does fall a little short against the market leader, Dynamax. What Rogue does best is the industrial-scale work of metal. Dynamax has been doing this longer for sewing medicine balls together. Compared to Dynamax rogue offers a limited range in colors, if you exclude the Froning and Leblanc version of the balls. The finish is also slightly inferior to Dynamax. That being said, they also come in at a lower price, which makes it way more attractive to buy them in bulk. Granted, you have to like black to buy a lot of these.

Alternatives to the Rogue standard medicine balls

Alternatives to the Rogue standard medicine balls are:

Athlete branded Rogue medicine balls
Dynamax medicine balls
Rogue Slam balls

The athlete branded medicine balls are available in 14lbs and 20lbs. The Froning design comes in Balck and red, while the Leblanc design comes in white and blue. This gives the setup a little extra pop and should've especially interesting for individuals who equip their home gym.

The Dynamax medicine balls are the gold standard for medicine balls in the current market. They provide the best finish and the most color options for you to customize. The disadvantage is that they also cost the most.

Rogue Slam balls are a good alternative if you will mainly slam your medicine balls and not throw and catch them often. In this case, slam balls will not hit you in the face and are also cheaper to buy.

Conclusion for the Rogue Standard medicine balls

The Rogue standard medicine balls are well balanced between price and quality. If you need a lot of medicine balls for your gym and want good quality you can save a couple of hundred dollars on these compared to the Dynamax balls. Individuals might want to look at the branded rogue balls or get an individual Dynamax stitched up. If you are a university or football club that wants their own colors at a huge scale, Dynamax is probably the better provider.

Overview and review of the Rogue sandbags

This is an overview of the Rogue sandbags 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 sandbags

Price: $100 - $200

The Rogue training sandbags can be loaded from 16lb to 220lb depending on which configuration you get and whether you fill them with rubber or sand. These bags are meant to be carried over the shoulder or by hand. because f the handles and sturdy design they leave you with many options for conditioning and strongman training alike. As they can be filled and emptied using the filler bags it they are also more modular and faster to adjust than the strongman bags. The full specifications are:

Made in Columbus, OH, USA
1000D MIL spec Cordura brand nylon construction
7 exterior High-Strength Handles
Double-stitched, reinforced seams
Heavy-duty zipper and reinforced Velcro flap closure
Velcro is sewn into interior walls to align with and stabilize Funnel Filler Bag
Color: Army Green
Rogue Branding and “Made in the USA” tag
Size Options: S (40LB), M (80LB), L (160LB), XL (220LB)

These are solid bags for conditioning in military-style training or just any conditioning. They are easy to adjust and handle and do not intimidate any first tie user.

Pros of the Rogue sandbags

The pros of the Rogue sandbags are:

Very versatile
Easy to change the load out
Good shape and handle for easy carry

These are the right sandbags to get if you want to load your conditioning training in terrain. With the different filler bags, you can also quickly change from a light to a heavy bag without having multiple bags around. This makes it a great option for single users who want to preconfigure things and swap and change.

Cons of the Rogue sandbags

The cons of the Rogue sandbags are:

too easy to handle
Modular design can be confusing
Pricing

As with many modular purchases from Rogue, the devil is in the detail and you can quickly overspend. While it is great to have different filler bag options that you can just prepare and swap out, I recommend going easy on your first purchase and try things out, before you go all guns blazing. Especially if you are intending to buy in bulk. These bags are also not great for strongman training. The weights you have to handle in the competition are usually awkward to grip and weirdly shaped. These bags tick neither of these boxes.

Alternatives to the Rogue sandbags

Alternatives to the rogue sandbags are:

If your main goal is to load your conditioning workouts than the Tactec plate carrier might be an option. Especially for runs and rogue echo bike cycles, you might get a similar effect with less fuss. It will not simulate having to carry on extra load in your hand or on your bag, but if more resistance is all you need, the tactec plate carrier has many options while still keeping you mobile. The only downside is that it will not load up to 220lbs.

The Rogue strongman sandbag is a good alternative when you are more looking into strongman training. These bags have no handles and are shaped similarly to atlas stones. This makes them a bad choice to carry for long distances, but great to train grip strength and coordination for picking up heavy things which not have been built to be picked up. Additionally the loading system on these bags a little more straight forward than the modular sandbags.

A simpler and cheaper option than the Rogue sandbag is the Rogue feed sack. Available in a 50lb and 100lb version when filled with sand these sacks can be easily carried for distance on your back. They are not as modular as the sandbag but simpler to use and sturdier.

Conclusion for the Rogue sandbags

The rogue sandbag is a great option for an individual who works out with sandbags a lot and wants easy adjustments in weight for their training. Especially if you have to simulate a lot of military-style carries, this bag is versatile and easy to use. If you own a commercial gym or home gym and do not want to change the weights around as often, the feed sack is probably the easier option with very similar effects.