strongmitts Posted October 20, 2002 Share Posted October 20, 2002 I went to the North American Strongman Championship in Shreveport, Louisiana last night. It was a great competition with many top notch athletes. Two of the five Americans competing were Captains of Crush, so I was very excited. I took my "beast 3" as my roommate and I call it. This #3 is much harder than my other #3 and has a very wide handle spread. I wanted to see if anyone could close the "beast". After the competion Jesse Marunde, Karl Gillingham, Steve Kirit, and Brian Schoonveld all attempted to close this gripper. Jesse Marunde came very close, probably about 1/8", several times with both hands. He even took some pictures holding the gripper in that position. Jesse said that he hadn't been training on the grippers lately. Keep in mind that these attempts are after a 5 hour competition that included 300 pound farmers walk implements as one of the events and none of the guys used chalk. After Jesse tried the "beast" Steve Kirit came over and tried to close it. After his attempts, I took the gripper to Karl Gillingham and he squeezed on it a few times. I honestly couldn't tell if he closed it because of his position, bent over with the gripper down low. I believe he was very close though. Finally Brain Schoonveld tried the gripper and commented that it was a "tough one". Schoonveld told me he closed a #3 about 10 times for Randall Strossen for him to get pictures. After his attempts, Steve Kirit came rushing over and grabbed it for a few more squeezes. The general consensus was that this was a tough #3. In closing, I would like to say that these are some strong guys and I am glad they were such good sports about attempting my #3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGuy Posted October 20, 2002 Share Posted October 20, 2002 Have you measured the distance between the inside of the handles at the widest point? My #3 is the widest of all the grippers I own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strongmitts Posted October 21, 2002 Author Share Posted October 21, 2002 My "beast" #3 is also the widest of gripper in my collection. The handle spread is 8.4 cm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swede551 Posted October 21, 2002 Share Posted October 21, 2002 What is the Beast # 3? is it the new double stamped CoC grippers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sybersnott Posted October 21, 2002 Share Posted October 21, 2002 Swede, that's the name he's given the gripper!! :p I'm thinking that because it was such a wide gripper, herein lies the difficulty. I had a Lemley's that was just as wide and I couldn't close it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swede551 Posted October 21, 2002 Share Posted October 21, 2002 Is it really fair to the Newbies that are trying to get into the #3 COC gripper club to order the new (harder) double stamped grippers and try to close them when so many other people have closed the easier ones to make the list? I just wish they would stick with the same strength grippers for consistancy and then maybe come up with a 2 1/2 etc. Now when someone closes the #2 or #3 it won't be cut & dry as they will ask well, is it the wider grip #3 or the narrower one? It will be like powerlifting "was that with a bench shirt or without a benchpress shirt"? all we ask for is consistancy in our "put up or shut up" devices!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swede551 Posted October 21, 2002 Share Posted October 21, 2002 Strongmitts, I really enjoyed your post about being at the strongman contest and bringing your grippers, sounds like something I would have done, as I take them everywhere I go. I just wanted to let you know I forwarded your post to Randall Strossen (owner of Ironmind) so we can get to the bottom of this inconsistant gripper stuff. I will let you know what he writes back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strongmitts Posted October 21, 2002 Author Share Posted October 21, 2002 Swede551, please don't forward my post to Ironmind! I don't expect every gripper to be precisely calibrated at a cost of $19.95. I don't want to start a gripper debate, I was merely telling a story about meeting all these strongmen and letting them try my tough #3. Check out www.ironmind.com, Mr. Strossen has already addressed this issue. BTW, my tougher #3 is was bought back in '97 or '98, my double stamp #3 was bought a few months ago and is much easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom of Iowa2 Posted October 21, 2002 Share Posted October 21, 2002 Stongmitts, very cool post.being around the top guys must have been very cool.wish that contest had of been closer to us. can you close your beast no. 3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Piche Posted October 21, 2002 Share Posted October 21, 2002 Swede551, please don't forward my post to Ironmind! I don't expect every gripper to be precisely calibrated at a cost of $19.95. I don't want to start a gripper debate, I was merely telling a story about meeting all these strongmen and letting them try my tough #3. Check out www.ironmind.com, Mr. Strossen has already addressed this issue. BTW, my tougher #3 is was bought back in '97 or '98, my double stamp #3 was bought a few months ago and is much easier. It's been beat to death MANY times here. Just do a search Swede. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roark Posted October 21, 2002 Share Posted October 21, 2002 Wannagrip, Beaten to death- good phrase. Perseverance does not pay off. Thank you for your inquiry, have a good day. We won't look into that. Swede 551- a search will yield only greater frustration as to why the problem has not been addressed. :hehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mg6680 Posted October 21, 2002 Share Posted October 21, 2002 Be happy Mr. Strossen even makes grippers. One company tried and it was such a headache for them they wont even mention the word "SOS". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Piche Posted October 21, 2002 Share Posted October 21, 2002 Be happy Mr. Strossen even makes grippers. One company tried and it was such a headache for them they wont even mention the word "SOS". One good thing is all the information that came out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roark Posted October 21, 2002 Share Posted October 21, 2002 I for one am never happy when confusion increases, no matter who causes it. ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strongmitts Posted October 22, 2002 Author Share Posted October 22, 2002 Tom, the best I've done with the "beast" is down to 1/4". I have gotten my double stamped down to about 1/16" or closer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swede551 Posted October 22, 2002 Share Posted October 22, 2002 Sorry but I had already sent it to him. I didn't mean to rehash an old topic but I was curious and didn't realize it was an old topic since I am new to this board. Swede, They are the same, but we have had some other people ask us about the double-stamped grippers versus the single-stamped grippers, too. Here's the story: 1) years ago we used to stamp all the grippers on both handles, but then switched to just one handle, before going back to stamping both handles again, and 2) we didn't change anything other than the stamp, aside from our ongoing our efforts to improve the product as we can. We're impressed that guys noticed this, but you can have confidence that if we ever changed something fundamental, we would announce it, so nobody would have to guess about what we had done. Also, I want you to know that you are always welcome to ask us about things like this. Want to thank you again for all your interest in our grippers, and for sending that item about guys trying to close that No. 3 - sounds like quite a strong-handed group at that contest, huh? Randy Strossen IronMind Enterprises, Inc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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