Received Counterfeit Heavy grips

[Apneaa]

Today mark rep number 10250 on the counterfeit 100lb

10000 mean were halfway through the experiment.

so far the most notable thing has been the loss of spread that happened somewhere around rep 2000

From rep 5000 to 10000 there hasn't been any noticeable changes

The handles are holding fine, the spring bend the same way, the spread is the same

The anti rust paint is holding on fine, i can tell there's a bit where friction is happening and that will probably be a source of rust in the future but after 10000 reps it seem fair

Other news is that i just opened the counterfeit 150lb that i bought with the 100lb and let me tell you, the difference in spread between the two is actually so freaking bad it's hilarious, and that 100lb already has a fairly narrow spread, the 150 is just incredibly narrow out of the bag.

So yeah even if the product seem to be holding up fine, there's other factors that make these counterfeits quite horrible

[Cannon]

This is cool. Remind me how you’re doing the reps? Just by hand? That’s impressive volume. 

[Apneaa]

All by hand, all reps are full range.

It took a while to get to the point i could do 3x15 everyday, but now the experiment is moving at a much faster rate(maybe i'll be able to even go to 4x15 or 5x15 soon)

Body is handling the volume fine for now, i dont feel any pain or anything and i've been doing it that way for months now.

[mcalpine1986]

5 hours ago, Apneaa said:

All by hand, all reps are full range.

It took a while to get to the point i could do 3x15 everyday, but now the experiment is moving at a much faster rate(maybe i'll be able to even go to 4x15 or 5x15 soon)

Body is handling the volume fine for now, i dont feel any pain or anything and i've been doing it that way for months now.

This is Fascinating stuff man.

That's a lot of volume to do every single day. I'm glad you haven't experienced any Tendonitis or problems.

Have you noticed any size gains in your forearms or hand muscles over the past few months of doing this? 

 

 

[Apneaa]

13 hours ago, mcalpine1986 said:

This is Fascinating stuff man.

That's a lot of volume to do every single day. I'm glad you haven't experienced any Tendonitis or problems.

Have you noticed any size gains in your forearms or hand muscles over the past few months of doing this? 

 

 

the pinky side of my palm is getting much wider, as for the forearms i made a lot of size gain but considering how skinny and atrophied i was before starting grip again in 2023 i dont think theres much to be said about it.

I do a very complete grip routine with a lot of wrist flexion which is probably responsible for most of the growth, i do feel however that grippers are giving me a very strong development of that pinky/ulnar side of the hand.

[mcalpine1986]

8 hours ago, Apneaa said:

the pinky side of my palm is getting much wider, as for the forearms i made a lot of size gain but considering how skinny and atrophied i was before starting grip again in 2023 i dont think theres much to be said about it.

I do a very complete grip routine with a lot of wrist flexion which is probably responsible for most of the growth, i do feel however that grippers are giving me a very strong development of that pinky/ulnar side of the hand.

Thanks. Thats interesting that your pinkie pad has grown so much in particular. 

Grippers are great for growth but only  if you do them for high reps I think. Most people train them heavy for low reps/strength.

I've saw loads of growth on my forearms and pinkie pads/Hypothenar muscles lately from grippers for high reps but I didn't it 3 times per week not every single day.

[Charlie Hayes1]

Captains of Crush are excellent, no question. But they are pricey. Other elite grippers are  either unavailable in the UK or would cost a fortune in shipping and possibly other charges. (I once got hit with customs/delivery/admin charges from UK Customs which were near the original price of a set of Ironmind Green Cables - for their Cable/Expander set.) On  the other hand, Heavy Grips are available in the UK, they are affordable and they do come in a range of resistances, so I have some heavier ones that are immoveable to me at the moment. Admittedly, I am not very strong, but that is precisely why recommending Ironmind CoC only is counter productive - not everyone is strong enough to close the #1 straight out of the packet, let alone #2 and above.

I bought my first CoC: the #1 - with a blank ring and a single stamp - before there was a #0.5 and before the Sport or Trainer were available (I think, certainly I never saw them listed). The #1 turned out to be just too hard for me. Getting the HG set(s) gave me a range of resistances, from a very easy warm up to just below the CoC Trainer I now possess. My HG 100 is actually just a little harder than the CoC Sport, while my HG 150s are all quite a bit harder, with the heaviest just below the CoC Trainer.

Due to their relative cheapness, Heavy Grips do have their faults, one lost a handle and I was unaware of the guarantee - I don't have the proof of purchase any longer. Some of my other HGs are much, much, harder than the main set, so whatever their quality, strength is not an issue.

I have great respect for Ironmind and I know they have been happy in the past to let people make their own Titan's Telegraph Key rather than buy and ship the original. Thus, while they obviously want people to buy their product, I doubt they would be snobbish about someone starting with HGs.

With all due respect to other members, suggesting that only expensive equipment will do is like saying you can only lift weights if you use an Eleiko Bar and weights calibrated to Olympic specs. Yes, the best equipment does provide something, but plenty of people have gained strength with 1" bars and cast iron weights or even cobbled together sets. Arthur Saxon's world record Bent Press and Two Hands Anyhow took place before plate loading barbells and well  before the invention of revolving sleeves. Attempting one of the lifts apparently left him looking for kettlebells and other loose weights that he could find to fix to a globe dumbbell in order to make the weight; according to one account, the string(!) holding the weights on kept breaking and he had to repeat the attempt a number of times before success. I have often wondered what he could have done with good equipment and fewer missed attempts. However, he was reported to have been drunk at the time, so perhaps he would not have managed as much sober! BTW, for those who don't know, the relevant record(s) still stand. Garbage equipment, but excellent strength.

 

 

 

[Slipshod]

On 12/23/2023 at 9:12 PM, Charlie Hayes1 said:

Captains of Crush are excellent, no question. But they are pricey. Other elite grippers are  either unavailable in the UK or would cost a fortune in shipping and possibly other charges. (I once got hit with customs/delivery/admin charges from UK Customs which were near the original price of a set of Ironmind Green Cables - for their Cable/Expander set.) On  the other hand, Heavy Grips are available in the UK, they are affordable and they do come in a range of resistances, so I have some heavier ones that are immoveable to me at the moment. Admittedly, I am not very strong, but that is precisely why recommending Ironmind CoC only is counter productive - not everyone is strong enough to close the #1 straight out of the packet, let alone #2 and above.

I bought my first CoC: the #1 - with a blank ring and a single stamp - before there was a #0.5 and before the Sport or Trainer were available (I think, certainly I never saw them listed). The #1 turned out to be just too hard for me. Getting the HG set(s) gave me a range of resistances, from a very easy warm up to just below the CoC Trainer I now possess. My HG 100 is actually just a little harder than the CoC Sport, while my HG 150s are all quite a bit harder, with the heaviest just below the CoC Trainer.

Due to their relative cheapness, Heavy Grips do have their faults, one lost a handle and I was unaware of the guarantee - I don't have the proof of purchase any longer. Some of my other HGs are much, much, harder than the main set, so whatever their quality, strength is not an issue.

I have great respect for Ironmind and I know they have been happy in the past to let people make their own Titan's Telegraph Key rather than buy and ship the original. Thus, while they obviously want people to buy their product, I doubt they would be snobbish about someone starting with HGs.

With all due respect to other members, suggesting that only expensive equipment will do is like saying you can only lift weights if you use an Eleiko Bar and weights calibrated to Olympic specs. Yes, the best equipment does provide something, but plenty of people have gained strength with 1" bars and cast iron weights or even cobbled together sets. Arthur Saxon's world record Bent Press and Two Hands Anyhow took place before plate loading barbells and well  before the invention of revolving sleeves. Attempting one of the lifts apparently left him looking for kettlebells and other loose weights that he could find to fix to a globe dumbbell in order to make the weight; according to one account, the string(!) holding the weights on kept breaking and he had to repeat the attempt a number of times before success. I have often wondered what he could have done with good equipment and fewer missed attempts. However, he was reported to have been drunk at the time, so perhaps he would not have managed as much sober! BTW, for those who don't know, the relevant record(s) still stand. Garbage equipment, but excellent strength.

 

 

 

I'm also UK based, although I have been lucky enough to be able to split orders from CPW before so the shipping costs get minimised per unit and have been fortunate not to be hit the last couple of times by customs.

It's not to say that heavy grips aren't usable for grip training, they are perfectly serviceable, however from the earlier runs the quality and consistency was just not there. The spreads would be wildly inconsistent, as were the ratings for each gripper of the same level.

I've never purchased one or even used one in at least the last 5 years so this may well have changed. Some of the ones I did use may also have been "counterfeit" ones too.

My main concern is the consistency, because as you mentioned in the UK it isnt easy to get hold of grippers, save for CoC, Heavy Grips, David Hornes and if you find somewhere selling them RBs. Unless you want to play the lottery to try and fill gaps in your collection then you need consistency to have a "reasonable" idea if it will bridge that gap.

A cursory look at the ratings data from CPW shows quite clearly that of the ones they have rated Grip Genie and Heavy Grips are the least consistent in ±2%. This isn't a problem if you are buying pre rated obviously

[Charlie Hayes1]

 

On 1/6/2024 at 7:41 PM, Slipshod said:

I'm also UK based, although I have been lucky enough to be able to split orders from CPW before so the shipping costs get minimised per unit and have been fortunate not to be hit the last couple of times by customs.

It's not to say that heavy grips aren't usable for grip training, they are perfectly serviceable, however from the earlier runs the quality and consistency was just not there. The spreads would be wildly inconsistent, as were the ratings for each gripper of the same level.

I totally agree. I ended up with two complete "sets" - one is massively more difficult (as I think I said) and the other easy. I also ended up with a few "singles at "100" and "150" which are around the same level of resistance as my easy set. As to spread, I have found absolutely no difference at all. The only grip issue is that one of the "harder set", but at a lower marked resistance, had a loose handle that would turn under pressure and eventually began to rotate completely around and then fell off. The end of the spring was pretty short compared to, say, what I have seen of Warren Tetting's pinned springs. I glued it back in with superglue - no use. Araldite worked, eventually, but I wouldn't trust it for repeated reps.

Nevertheless, I would still say that they have a place for those of us on a limited income and most of the time they are better than the cheap plastic and even some of the cheap metal gripper.s

On another issue, I tried to buy from CPW using their PayPal option, but PayPal says that CPW wouldn't accept £s, even though the checkout was in £s. How did you manage?

 

[Slipshod]

16 minutes ago, Charlie Hayes1 said:

 

I totally agree. I ended up with two complete "sets" - one is massively more difficult (as I think I said) and the other easy. I also ended up with a few "singles at "100" and "150" which are around the same level of resistance as my easy set. As to spread, I have found absolutely no difference at all. The only grip issue is that one of the "harder set", but at a lower marked resistance, had a loose handle that would turn under pressure and eventually began to rotate completely around and then fell off. The end of the spring was pretty short compared to, say, what I have seen of Warren Tetting's pinned springs. I glued it back in with superglue - no use. Araldite worked, eventually, but I wouldn't trust it for repeated reps.

Nevertheless, I would still say that they have a place for those of us on a limited income and most of the time they are better than the cheap plastic and even some of the cheap metal gripper.s

On another issue, I tried to buy from CPW using their PayPal option, but PayPal says that CPW wouldn't accept £s, even though the checkout was in £s. How did you manage?

 

I believe I have used Shop before, and before that the direct card options. Pretty sure I've never used the paypal option with Cannon

[Charlie Hayes1]

18 minutes ago, Slipshod said:

I believe I have used Shop before, and before that the direct card options. Pretty sure I've never used the paypal option with Cannon

Thanks, tried it earlier and am awaiting a reply about the issue. It isn't the end of the world, but it is another item that isn't available in the UK, so I hope I can sort it and that customs don't overcharge when I am not competing with UK sellers,

[mcalpine1986]

6 hours ago, Charlie Hayes1 said:

Thanks, tried it earlier and am awaiting a reply about the issue. It isn't the end of the world, but it is another item that isn't available in the UK, so I hope I can sort it and that customs don't overcharge when I am not competing with UK sellers,

I'm from Newcastle and have used CPW load of times. With a normal credit or debit card the site now automatically converts it into sterling for us so you don't need to use PayPal.

I've never been charged through customs here apart from once when I bought the BSS flask which was very expensive, even then I only had to pay £8. 

With grippers you won't get any customs charges here. 

Edited January 13 by mcalpine1986

[Cannon]

17 hours ago, Charlie Hayes1 said:

On another issue, I tried to buy from CPW using their PayPal option, but PayPal says that CPW wouldn't accept £s, even though the checkout was in £s. How did you manage?

Paypal got greedy here. It no longer makes sense for us to offer them international. It requires me to essentially day trade multiple currencies and the fees make the order not worth completing. The good news is you can use any credit card or bank account that you already have in your own currency. 

[AbsoRuud]

On 2/5/2023 at 9:39 PM, Apneaa said:

So i just ordered some heavy grips via a National seller, the seller is only redistributing the products from another seller called Gorilla sports https://www.gorillasports.fr/

I have no one to blame but myself as i ordered despite the fact that the website didn't showcase the product case which made it impossible for me to spot that the case didn't match the model provided by Heavy grips on their Facebook in this post about counterfeits https://www.facebook.com/heavysports/photos/beware-of-counterfeit-heavy-grips-we-have-been-receiving-many-complaints-from-co/661771104007313/

My models all came in cases with blue ink and no barcode at the top exactly as heavygrips officials decribed fakes.

I just got owned for 38€ + shippings...

So for anyone in EU looking to buy Heavy-grips DO NOT GO THROUGH https://www.decathlon.fr/ or Gorrillasports.

I googled around after ordering from gorillasports.nl and I had the exact same issue. Customer service is still claiming they are real even after I told them I already sent them back, claiming they do not sell any fake products. Almost feels like they were duped as well. So I detailed the differences. Fortunately, I ordered them through a reliable company (bol.com), because I was a little concerned about the authenticity of the grippers, so I won't have any issues with getting my money back.

[Charlie Hayes1]

On 2/5/2023 at 8:43 PM, DevilErik said:

Go to Rogue Europe and buy some CoC's problem solved heavy grips are garbage anyway.

1) The real Heavy Grips aren't up to CoCs standards, it is true, but calling them garbage is unfair and is dismissive of those who use them. The genuine ones I have bought vary somewhat - but so does almost every brand of gripper - otherwise people wouldn't need to get their grippers rated - and Cannon Powerworks obviously feel the variation isn't too wacky because they include Heavy Grips in their comparison charts.

Also, plenty of athletes have built strength with less than perfect equipment. Olympic Bars and Plates with revolving sleeves are the best of the best for weightlifters and the same basic design has come into powerlifting, but plenty of modern strongmen and bodybuilders have built great strength with standard bars (25-27mm) and basic plates. Heck, some have even used concrete weights on rusty bars.

Brooks Kubik frequently mentions how some of the old-time weightlifters trained with substandard equipment and only really used the top of the range stuff at the Olympics. My brother built impressive strength with concrete-filled plastic weights before moving over to metal weights. I don't have room for an Olympic Bar and certainly don't have money for Bumper Plates. I have a couple of standard bars (27mm x 1220mm [1 1/4" x 4 feet]) and a mix of imperial and metric weights in cast iron and cheap metal. I picked these up over the years. Are they as smooth and easy to use as a proper Olympic bar with revolving sleeves, of course not. But they do the job.

2) Like the best barbells, CoC's are expensive. Your comment says "buy some CoC's". "some" means more than one. which means a heavy outlay for some of us.

Although we can get them here in the UK, unlike e.g.; Gillingham High Performance, the cost of CoCs in pounds (£s) often equals or even exceeds the US dollar ($) price. For someone on a low income, such as myself, or someone just trying out torsion grippers, again myself, Heavy Grips are a good way into the sport.

In my case, I already owned an Ivanko Supergripper when I bought a #1 CoC. To my surprise, I could not close the #1, straight out of the box, although I came close. The halfway grippers, #0.5, #1.5 etc, did not exist then, nor did the Trainer or Sport, I think.

So I went to Heavy Grips to find a lighter gripper that was also affordable. At the time, I was able to buy a set of HGs for a lot less than the price of two CoCs. These grippers certainly helped my grip improve and were not a waste of money. Yes, I had one break and one set was way stiffer than expected, but I wasn't as aware of the possibility of fakes back then. I replaced the odd set with another, which falls within the range shown on Cannon Powerworks chart and went from there. 

Since then, I have bought the CoC Sport and the CoC Trainer, as well as the CoC #0.5, so I am not against the best equipment, when I can get it and can afford it, but I don't believe they are the only way to train.

[Charlie Hayes1]

On 1/13/2024 at 7:42 AM, mcalpine1986 said:

I'm from Newcastle and have used CPW load of times. With a normal credit or debit card the site now automatically converts it into sterling for us so you don't need to use PayPal.

I've never been charged through customs here apart from once when I bought the BSS flask which was very expensive, even then I only had to pay £8. 

With grippers you won't get any customs charges here. 

Hi, Thanks for this. Sorry for a very delayed reply. I don't keep up with all my emails at the best of times, but have been in hospital and then in and out of outpatients (and A&E) since then. I do have one debit card linked to an account used solely for internet purchases, so that it goes nowhere near the main household account, but up until now have used PayPal for an extra layer of security and up until now have had no problems at all. I think I have been over-cautious about using the debit card on overseas transactions after I got stiffed on a transaction where they took my money and never provided the goods (never had them to sell in the first place) and I had to threaten them with the FBI (I kid you not) and also after a friend found a company had sold him some unexpected goods but delivered them to another address - turns out that an employee who had taken a legit order had kept his details. He was only able to prove the fraud because he was buying petrol 150 miles away at the same moment! 

On the other hand, I bought some of IronMind's "Famous Cables" when they came out in the flat green variety and bought them direct from the US. Royal Mail hit me with both Customs charges and an admin fee for dealing with the Customs on my doorstep. Those fees were pretty close to the full value of the bands! The only time I have bought from them without such charges was when they sold their Sandbags via Amazon. In that instance, I got the bags at a very competitive rate and without extra charges!

One question? I have seen customs charged on imported items even though they not on sale in this country, so why are grippers an exception? (Assuming you might know the answer?)

 

[mcalpine1986]

On 2/18/2024 at 2:58 AM, Charlie Hayes1 said:

Hi, Thanks for this. Sorry for a very delayed reply. I don't keep up with all my emails at the best of times, but have been in hospital and then in and out of outpatients (and A&E) since then. I do have one debit card linked to an account used solely for internet purchases, so that it goes nowhere near the main household account, but up until now have used PayPal for an extra layer of security and up until now have had no problems at all. I think I have been over-cautious about using the debit card on overseas transactions after I got stiffed on a transaction where they took my money and never provided the goods (never had them to sell in the first place) and I had to threaten them with the FBI (I kid you not) and also after a friend found a company had sold him some unexpected goods but delivered them to another address - turns out that an employee who had taken a legit order had kept his details. He was only able to prove the fraud because he was buying petrol 150 miles away at the same moment! 

On the other hand, I bought some of IronMind's "Famous Cables" when they came out in the flat green variety and bought them direct from the US. Royal Mail hit me with both Customs charges and an admin fee for dealing with the Customs on my doorstep. Those fees were pretty close to the full value of the bands! The only time I have bought from them without such charges was when they sold their Sandbags via Amazon. In that instance, I got the bags at a very competitive rate and without extra charges!

One question? I have seen customs charged on imported items even though they not on sale in this country, so why are grippers an exception? (Assuming you might know the answer?)

 

No worries.

Here in the UK your only get charged customs charges for goods with a value of £135 or more(unless it's a gift then it's only £39)

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

I've ordered about 15 grippers in the past few years from CPW in the USA, using either USPS or DHL and never been charged anything as it's under value. 

DHL actually do the customs clearance whilst in flight to the UK to save time so it goes straight out when it lands. 

In Fact i have a new filed coc 2 due to be delivered later on today By DHL. 

Edited February 19 by mcalpine1986