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For R. Sorin


Timmy

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I think jad has the specs of the P4.

Try PMing him.

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.295 spring (Pat P. suggested a .292 or .293 I believe)

1/4" mount

34 degree leg angle

3.25" spread

Chromed Steel handles

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The Phantom 4 had a .295" chromed spring and a hard to measure (due to a heavy bevel) aprox 3" handle spread. It was a prototype "joke" sent to me from Ironmind. It feels like a #4...the item of note beginning the initial sweep is smooth BUT, when the spring stacks at the last 1/4 inch it becomes unusually hard as compared to other grippers I have felt. Valid or not when tested randomly by an independent tester with 40 other grippers old and new each of the 11 times it was tested it registered higher than ANY other grippers including new #4s. With the mean (average) inch pound rating being 621 . I have closed it twice in my life both times with a witness using a full "credit card" width starting hand position. RS

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How did you come up with a credit card width as being the accepted or correct distance to start with vs. say a quarter or a playing card? Did you actually pull a credit card out in front of your witnesses or was the set just so minimal that you knew it would have passed? I love the gripper history stuff, I'm just curious if you were doing literal credit card sets back in the day or if this is an original IM idea. Would you say two fingering closing a silvercrush #3 or CCSing the P4 is harder?

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By credit card width I mean that I have always placed the gripper in my hand just enough to get a hold on it with my pinky at least making contact( width wise that set was wider than the 2" width of a credit card set).My hands are not huge nor are they small (7 3/4"). I went by what Randy Strossen suggested was the proper way to shut a gripper doing a full sweep close and never thought of doing it any other way.RS

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That's very interesting.

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The Phantom 4 had a .295" chromed spring and a hard to measure (due to a heavy bevel) aprox 3" handle spread. It was a prototype "joke" sent to me from Ironmind. It feels like a #4...the item of note beginning the initial sweep is smooth BUT, when the spring stacks at the last 1/4 inch it becomes unusually hard as compared to other grippers I have felt. Valid or not when tested randomly by an independent tester with 40 other grippers old and new each of the 11 times it was tested it registered higher than ANY other grippers including new #4s. With the mean (average) inch pound rating being 621 . I have closed it twice in my life both times with a witness using a full "credit card" width starting hand position. RS

I notice that you said "had". Do you still have the original, or was there only one and it was on loan to you?

pc

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Oh, no the Phantom 4 is alive and well locked up in a display with 50 or so older grippers. From time to time I take it and my original Silvercrush #3 I certified on to meetings, dinners, etc to let others enjoy a go at them. I have seen a number of Captains of Crush try both of them and if using a full sweep credit card type grip never have seen them shut. I have however seen Dave Morton, Tomm Heslep and Heath Sexton shut my old #3 with a deep set style.

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I feel getting the history "right" helps everyone. I have in the past heard information on feats from third or fourth parties and sadly the story was so twisted that it actually served as a detrement for others and myself to establish realistic grip goals. Heck, I have actually had people start telling me about "this guy Sorin and what he did" and then as they looked me in the face realized it WAS me.I am amazed by the things I have by their accounts "done" lol RS

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Yes,its like telling something to the 1st person and once it gets to the 10th person the story is completely diff.cld playing telephone?but your feats are of a magnitude that how can anyone embelish them.can u give an example of a whopper someone told or did they undercredit you?

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Oh, no the Phantom 4 is alive and well locked up in a display with 50 or so older grippers. From time to time I take it and my original Silvercrush #3 I certified on to meetings, dinners, etc to let others enjoy a go at them. I have seen a number of Captains of Crush try both of them and if using a full sweep credit card type grip never have seen them shut. I have however seen Dave Morton, Tomm Heslep and Heath Sexton shut my old #3 with a deep set style.

Mr.Sorin, do you mean your original Silvercrush #3 is somewhat harder than most present #3:s?

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More than somewhat harder...like way harder !

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More than somewhat harder...like way harder !

OK, thanks Paul, I didn't know much about this matter. Also I can't be sure where my own #3's fall, hard or easy, because there aren't many other grip guys nearby me and actually there aren't plenty in our whole country. I've squeezed only like 7 different #3's and they all seem pretty equal to me, one of my own is slightly harder than others but that's it.

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Teemu,

This Silvercrush 3 of Mr Sorins is famous in grip circles...

Edited by pdoire
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Teemu,

This Silvercrush 3 of Mr Sorins is famous in grip circles...

Yes, must be there in U.S.A..my guess is that I'm atleast second or third or fourth if not first person in my country to know even that much about it. I would be thrilled to be able to travel to U.S.A and meet grip legends like Mr. Sorin for example, as I have respect towards guys like him who I look up to as pioneers for this whole grip sport. I guess I have to thank Richard Sorin directly for this exciting and addictive hobby I now have, because he was one of the guys that helped John Brookfield get started and I got started seriously thanks to his books. :) Grip is still relatively small here in Finland, but that is changing all the time. I guess I'm the first person in my country to have purchased Blobette from PDA, that pretty much says something about the fact that I'm considered a freak to know even that little about grip as I do now. :)

I wasn't questioning that gripper's difficulty at all, it's just that I haven't read or heard about it's actual hardness, but I do believe that's one hard gripper.

Edited by Teemu I
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Teemu....at this years GGC contest it was held at Sorinex...the home of Richard Sorin and I got to play with most of his grip tools during the cometition which I really shouldnt have but just couldnt help myself....I noticed this gripper chained to an anil I think it was and it was the silvercrush #3 that he certed on...man the thing is tough...when I tried it I was less than 1/16 of no set closing my #3 and I couldnt get this sucker down to within 1/2 inch of being closed...its the real deal man...if you ever make it over here you gotta check out Sorinex and meet Richard yourself...you wont be dissapointed Richard is a Real nice guy!

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Teemu....at this years GGC contest it was held at Sorinex...the home of Richard Sorin and I got to play with most of his grip tools during the cometition which I really shouldnt have but just couldnt help myself....I noticed this gripper chained to an anil I think it was and it was the silvercrush #3 that he certed on...man the thing is tough...when I tried it I was less than 1/16 of no set closing my #3 and I couldnt get this sucker down to within 1/2 inch of being closed...its the real deal man...if you ever make it over here you gotta check out Sorinex and meet Richard yourself...you wont be dissapointed Richard is a Real nice guy!

Thanks Troy for sharing your experience! I know I would be excited to make a trip like that and meet Mr. Sorin and other grip guys too. Maybe in the future..who knows, but that sure would be nice!

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I wasn't gonna jump in this conversation, just out of respect... but now I have a question! .. Richard Sorin has closed the #3 with two fingers, there is a pic of it at Sorinex's website even... while a VERY impressive feat, I now have to wonder: did Richard perform his 2-finger close with THAT Silvercrush 3 gripper? The one pdoire says it's famous and "way harder" than today's #3's ??

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The gripper in the Grip Gauntlet area is one of the three original Silver Crush grippers I started with. It was placed for over 10 years along with a Silver Crush #2 at a conveinence store at a nearby lake as a 24 hour challenge for any area strongmen (in all the years only 1 person out of thousands collected the prize for the #2 shutting) and no one ever closed the #3. Of the other two remaining Silver Crush # 3s. My favorite and the one I certified on and also did with two fingers and thumb is the one that always traveled with me turned out by feel and by later actual testing the hardest of the 3s I owned. Both my personal favorite and this tethered display model have for some reason a 3 1/4" spread between the handle tips as opposed to the present 2 3/4" as I just measured on a brand new Ironmind unit. ALL my grippers are always on display to the grip public and if you ever want to see AND feel how it "really was" I invite you! If anyone feels they can shut my original #3 with a credit card width or wider full sweep close with two fingers and a thumb as I did in 91' I would be glad to offer a suitable prize to commemorate the occasion. RS

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I don't know that I'd say the Silvercrush #3 is extremely hard. I've tried it 2 or 3 times and each time I was about the same distance from closing it as I was my "good" #3. It's a good stiff #3 nothing more than that in the difficulty department. A whole lot more than that in the mystique department tho'.

My opinion. I'm no gripper calibrator.

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I have played with grippers that have the same specs as the Silvercrush, and they are way harder than any 3 I have tried, and I have tried a few. The beefbuilder silver elite, and one steel handled, black spring silvercrush are the only "old #3 type" grippers I have tried. Have never tried Sorin's gripper though.

Big handed noset guys probably have a different opinion, since the main killer is the sweep. If you are relatively weak in the close, yuo might not tell much of a difference.

Just my best guess, far from fact.

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I'm not talking about the .295 spring Phantom 4. The "original" #3 with a 280 silver spring is the gripper I was talking about. The silver elite's I've tried have been way harder than a #3 as well.

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