Kettlebell Consumer Report

[maxson]

Before I include video clips and pictures of kettlebell movements I thought it would be beneficial to provide information on where kettlebells can be purchased along with a comparison of costs from three suppliers. In this thread I will compare three kettlebell types that I have used from Dragon Door, Iron Woody, and Power Systems.

Here is a cost comparison of common sizes from the three suppliers:

Note: Dragon Door Kettlebells come in 'poods'. A pood is an old Russian measure of weight, which equals 16kg, or roughly 35 lbs.

No matter how you slice it, shipping a heavy hunk of metal is expensive. Shipping is approximately 1/3 of the total cost of kettlebells. You can save on shipping by buying kettlebells from a gym, but the only gym that I know that sells them in the Carolinas is Marc Bartley’s South Carolina Barbell www.southcarolinabarbell.com/rkc.asp in Columbia, SC. They stock the Dragon Door kettlebells. Here is a cost comparison for shipping:


Here is a Total Cost comparison of the 53lb kettlebell, which is a good starter size:



Dragon Door Kettlebell


Iron Woody Kettlebells


Power System Kettlebells

Here are hyper links to the three suppliers:

www.russiankettlebells.com/
www.ironwoodyfitness.com/kettlebells.html
www.power-systems.com/nav/closeup.aspx?c=17&g=3040&Kettlebells

In my opinion the Power Systems kettlebells are the poor man’s version of the Dragon Door kettlebells. They are both made from cast iron and have thick round handles. You want the handle thick to help develop grip strength. Both are painted black, but the Dragon Door KB has a better finish. The paint is crisper and the casting surfaces are smoother. The Iron Woody kettlebells have smooth thick handles and have a baked on black enamel finish. Iron Woody also provides great customer service.

I hope this information helps in your purchase of these great training tools.

Steve Maxson

[jonathan]

This is great info Steve, we are definately in the market for a complete set or close to a set for our new gym. Greg and I did Marc Bartley's seminar in Aug and I purchased a 35 and a 54 from him to get us started why we are still in the old barn. Do you see a need for pairs or can we get by with singles for the basic routines?

[maxson]

Jonathan,

I guess it depends on how advanced you are. I think having a pair gives you more versatility and is probably better for more advanced KB gurus that can do exercises like double snatches. With the price of these things you probably get more value by having four different sizes compared to two pairs. I bought my 53lb KB from Marc a few weeks ago while I was in Columbia for business. While I was there I did a quick workout at his gym and did double swings to the sides and it kicked my ass.

Good lifting yesterday bro, you were in the zone, so I didn’t introduce myself.

[Joey Smith]

Steve this is some excellent info brother....it was good seeing you Sat. at the meet....call me or PM when you wanna get up and have a training session!....

[tadpole]

singles or doubles are both good i do alot single bell work and some doubles i do doubles on all my windmill work snacth and press are done with sinlges for safty.