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A Word To Anyone Bending The Griprite Spikes


Tim71

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I went to a new Ace hardware today and picked up some spikes. First I got some Tree Island 80d spikes which are very very tough. Real close to the FBBC. Then I spied some griprite galvanized calling my name. I've bent those before and they are pretty routing to me. When I looked a little closer though I noticed instead of the thick silvery galvanized coating, these had more of a gray plated coating like what a post of a chain link fence and the head and point both looked different. Obviously a different factory.

As some may have read in my other 80d post, I saw some new grip rite shiny 8 inch spikes the other day and they were different too. All three lengths were no longer the shiny with the dull point but instead alot duller steel like FBBC spikes. I didn't buy any of those but I've done a spike that looks identical and it was alot harder than the old shiny griprites.

Now to this new galvanized 80d. TONS harder than the old ones. I've uploaded a pic with the 2 side by side. The one on the left is the older style that was a good spike but was not in the same league as the FBBC. The new one on the right is in the same ballpark as the FBBC either that or I was having a REALLY bad day and I don't think that was the case. Either way if anybody is having trouble with the griprite spikes then you may have some new ones that are much much tougher than the ones everybody has recommended to start with.

New griprite 80d spike

Looked like the 10 and 12 also went to this new style. Maybe it's like the 70d nails where there were some easier chinese made one then the American made ones were one tough bend.

Just thought I'd pass this along though. Tough spike.

Tim

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I ordered some 7" spikes from mcmaster not too long ago. They were griprite, and made in china, so I thought they would be the "easy" ones. I was wrong...even with all my other bends, I've still only managed to put a slight kink in one of these. Definitely not the "290 lb" rated ones!

Justin

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I had a few of the old "easy" griprite 70d china nails and they were unbelievably easy for how big they were. Soft steel obviously. I heard someone else say the new Chinese Griprites were as hard as the American made ones.

I know this 80d threw me a curve. I was looking for easier ones to use in an upcoming show. Won't be using these live I can tell you.

Tim

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Tim T,

I can't say when, but I do remember saying that the new 70d-China nails from GripRite are so much harder and nastier than the 70d-China nails sent to me by Booyah.

Congrats on that spike bending. That's some really tough stuff. An 80d??? That kicks some serious ass :mosher I find that even without practice, I can do 12" x 3/8" spikes okay, but that I have yet to even make anything beyond a slight kink in the 10" x 3/8" spike. As heavy as I am, I find it difficult to find any leverage to use the brace. I definitely am not getting any leverage for pulling across the top of my shin, and very slight kinks when pushing down just above my knee. I've tried sliding the nail to the side of my knee to get the sought-after second and third kinks before trying the sweep, but I have yet to be successful. Besides losing A LOT of weight to give myself the extra space needed for pushing/pulling on the 10" spikes, is there any technical advice you can provide?

Thanks for the help and keep killing the steel. You've made some tremendous progress the last few months and it's motivating to someone like myself who is THIS close on so many bends and needs a little something to make it all come together.

Brad

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Brad,

Thanks for the comments. I do believe it was you I was thinking about on the 70d nails.

I've put alot of thought into the spike bending and I don't believe one style is best for everybody. Currently for my absolute toughest bends I use the push down on the thigh then crush between the legs method. However I never try to convince anyone else to switch because I've noticed the body size, type, build and such have alot to do with it. Usually bigger guys have a "longer waisted" build with shorter powerlifter type legs. Usually seems that for those guys like Steve McGranahan, the posting on the thigh works best because it all lines up better and the bodyweight can be used. Also, the pushing down on the lower thigh seems to be the way to go.

I started pulling around my knee and posting on my thigh. Then I started pushing on my thigh to get the initial kink and finally I started using the between the thighs method for the final part of the bend although I still post on my thigh and push down some. However I'm 6 foot and 185 lbs with fairly long arms and legs.

You can tell which style is just never going to work for you so I'm not going to try to say which one is best. Eric Milfeld has had excellent results balancing on one leg and pulling a tough 10 inch spike around his knee. Works great for him.

First off, feel free to PM me with specific questions about the styles or whatever and I may be able to help more.

First piece of general advice is to get some 3/8 hot rolled steel and cut it to 10 inches. It's a little softer but is still a pretty good bend. You can get the feel for the 10 inch length that way. Practice posting and bending it with very slight kinks in it and maybe even stick straight. I noticed long ago that I was always trying to get more initial bend while the best wrench and spike bender would amaze me with the little ammount of initial bend they needed to start the sweep. So I started working on that. Don't get me wrong, a good initial bend makes the job easier but being able to finish a bend with a small initial bend can really help. I've been trying to improve my initial leg bend while at the same time improving my sweep/crush so I don't need as much of an initial bend. That way if either is lacking on any given day the other can make up.

Second, try applying your maximum force for a longer time. If you watch my 80d bend (should be on strongmanfeats.com soon) you'll see that not only do I have to apply a great ammount of pressure but it doesn't start to bend right away. Takes 2 to 4 seconds of applying maximum force and the steel just kinda gives up. I've heard others say that too. And hey if it doesn't work right away you've just did a good ISO exercise that will strengthen you.

Third, make sure and use an adequate wrap especially on the pointed end. When I started doing 10 incher I had a real problem with even the dull griprite points poking through the leather. I almost had a bad accident once from it but thankfully I had just stopped pushing. Plus, just the force alone can start to get pretty severe on the tougher spikes.

Last, use a rolled up towel or sock to try to improve your intial bend while pushing down just above your knee. Plus if you get the hot rolled steel you can push it down here also, and it'll suprise you how quickly your leg will adjust and toughen up there. You can lose the padding later after you get the bend and it gets easier.

Oh yeah, I always posted on my left thigh and pushed down with my right hand but sometimes I switched up and it suprised me. I noticed on Steve McGranahan's #2 DVD he posts the opposite as in the #1 DVD. If you don't have his DVDs they're really good. Especially if you want to see how a 300 lb guy smokes some steel. Long shot but you never know.

Hope this helps at least a little. Like I said feel free to drop me a PM with any specific questions or whatever.

Tim

Edited by Tim T
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