My first specialty bar. I tend to be mostly be a middle of the road person when it comes to equipment. Where I’m ok being a little more bougie, is the important things (barbells, racks, big machines). Even then, I’m fine with one step above the basic brand (like a higher trim level of Toyota, but not quite a Lexus). I had credit card rewards burning a hole in my pocket and thought, “treat yo self”. So I did. I got #95/100 of this limited edition. Looks sweet, makes me happy every time I use it

Pretty expensive for what it is. Most of the other items that look just like this made from lesser steel do the job just as good, but damn does that laser cut logo just pop. Maybe this does a better job at holding some of the heavier things like chains than a random Amazon item. If you want something that says Rogue in your gym to give it a little street cred, you could do worse than this piece.

These live on my rack and get used regularly when I look up and remember that they’re there. Maybe someday my grip will be strong enough to hold them in a full pinch. Until then I split my fingers on either side of the eyelet, sort of like doing a Vulcan salute. As I get older and more feeble, keeping grip strength and the ability to pull myself up will ensure that I continue to live long and prosper 🖖

This is a co-opted piece from another market. And that is the best part about it. It does one thing for relatively cheap, but it does it well. The foam is soft to offer some relief, but not as dense as the ground. If you need to kneel for kneeling crunches and ab-wheels rollouts it works. You can also use it to catch yourself for nordic curls, or under your shoulders for glute-ham sliders. If it was just a little bit wider, you could use it for box squats, but that’s not what it’s built for.

Before upgrading from my shorter rack this was less useful for anything but leaning forward to do tricep push downs. Once I had a taller rack it felt a lot better. Then I got rid of the whole thing for an actual cable machine. To aid with the swing that will tend to happen you have two choices both with their own considerations. 1. Go lighter and slower, which some people would benefit from in the name of time-under-tension and mind-muscle-connection. 2. Bands or chains connected to a secondary weight will create a ballast or guide rod to keep your weights in-line. You have to set it up with enough back-off distance that the tension doesn’t do something crazy like turn the whole thing into a trebuchet.

For shorter people, height and arms, doing most things with 25s and, god forbid 35s, will put the weights in a position that is not crazy awkward. For the duck walk and power stairs movements this tool is simple and effective with the signature rogue overbuilt level of craftsmanship. The handle does have a little wobble and play when pinned in. Take that criticism with a grain of salt. I’ve never used other power pins. I also don’t know how to solve that. Adding things like UMHW or a closer tolerance between shaft and pin might affect usefulness. It being such a simple tool, there is no need to improve or edit it. No one is breaking ground on new power pin technology. Price feels a little crazy for what it is at $165; feels like $65 would be more reasonable. But if I have to pay $100 to know this thing will never break, that’s fine Rogue. I’ll shut up and be quiet.

BodySmith by Parabody, this is the closest to the model I own. Pic attached is the model I own. This size first perfect for the home gym. And the price was good, if you can find it for $100 or cheaper. 1 inch, standard pegs aren’t the worst thing. I was able to find about 100lbs of plates the day after this purchase. The cons are, the seat is narrow, the cable is loose. The pulleys are fine, and it’s not the smoothest thing ever. It’s not rack mounted, but call me old school; I like my rack to be a rack. There are compromises to be made in the name of space and affordability. I put it in the perspective of “good enough”. It is an upgrade to the spud inc strap pulley. I shimmed mine to level it and I have a giant 40lb paver brick to anchor it down. If you’re into the hodgepodge, prison gym/deployment gym vibe, this guy is sturdy and gets the job done. It’s kind of a POS, but it’s my POS. And I don’t have to wait for people to get off of it after half repping the full stack.

You don’t ever have to buy a chalk bowl/container. In my time I have used a Tupperware container, a 105mm shell and now this mini storage container. This one might be my favorite. It’s tiny. It’s cute. It makes me feel like one of those overlander dudes that has a million containers for everything. Find something, anything, to put your chalk in. Save your money from getting anything with a fancy logo on it.