Golden Grip Shop - Thoughts?

[smaikelzas]

Hey guys, any of you have any experience with buying grip tools from golden grip shop and can comment on quality, possibly even have their grippers and can say how they feel, how hard they are?

https://www.goldengrip.com/products/golden-grip-hand-gripper?variant=46503300333910

[Alex K]

I am guessing this is the same manufacturer as the GGs / RPM grip and other similar brands. In my opinion (at least based on Grip Genies) they are way better than any chinese gripper you will find on AliExpress. I do especially enjoy the handles being smaller on those. This is probably the european equivalent of Grip Genie, and only goes up to 300 lbs.

The one thing about those is that they tend to vary quite a huge lot out of the package, but if you know what you're working with, they're great! I'd recommend getting those to @Cannon for a nice rating service and they're good to go (Keep in mind, Matt puts reps on those prior to rating which is crucial with the chinese black coated springs, they can lose around 10 RGC throughout the first 20-30 reps)

[matek]

It looks like it's one of the 50lb increment Chinese spring grippers. If you're not that serious about grippers, why not. That being said, 20 euros is not that cheap, and for just ~10 euros more, you can buy CoCs in Europe, and I would go with that option. 

One more thing related to what Alex said about the rating: buying the gripper ->sending the gripper for Cannon Powerworks (US) + paying for the rating service and shipping back would be way more expensive than just buying a CoC or Standard from their pre-rated grippers. But honestly, if what you want to buy is CoC #1 or lower, I wouldn't worry about the rating; I would just get it the cheapest way possible (e.g., from strengthshop.eu). 

Although I don't completely agree with the title of the video, Derek @C8Myotome made a good video about the differences between CoC/GHP/Standard vs. 50lb increment grippers:

 

[EmilBB]

3 hours ago, smaikelzas said:

Hey guys, any of you have any experience with buying grip tools from golden grip shop and can comment on quality, possibly even have their grippers and can say how they feel, how hard they are?

https://www.goldengrip.com/products/golden-grip-hand-gripper?variant=46503300333910

I have the lvl 4, 5 and 6 and they're just a cheap chinese gripper, so not really anything special. However their other grip tools are great, so they're definitely worth checking out.

Like Alex said, they can vary a lot in strengths but here's the strength of the ones I have compared to CoC.

Lvl 4 = Light CoC #2

Lvl 5 = Between CoC #2 and #2.5

Lvl 6 = Light CoC #3

[smaikelzas]

Awesome, thanks guys, probably won't be buying for now, I have a set of CoCs but was thinking of buying some to bridge the gap, probably will end up at some point buying from Cannon if the shipping doesn't fck me too bad

[Blacksmith513]

17 minutes ago, smaikelzas said:

Awesome, thanks guys, probably won't be buying for now, I have a set of CoCs but was thinking of buying some to bridge the gap, probably will end up at some point buying from Cannon if the shipping doesn't fck me too bad

Support those that support us. 

 

[C8Myotome]

3 hours ago, matek said:

Although I don't completely agree with the title of the video

@matek i agree it could use an updated title change, i made that geared towards the completely inexperienced reddit audience looking to buy their very first grippers, and why to avoid some of the overpriced copycats if they are going to buy those anyways.

I've bought a couple since (that I have yet to even use; a hulk and a replacement GG5 since I filed my GG5), but I still stand by that if CoC is your goal you shouldn't bother with 50 lb grippers, or if anything, have them be strictly supplemental.

They're just really easy..

People that push selling 50 lb grippers on social media etc I view no differently than people buying a McDonald's franchise...it's still a big mac, just somebody else making it

With how much easier a 50 lb gripper is there is no point using them to try to bridge a gap because their dimensions make them so much easier than what you are trying to bridge to and from that any transferability won't be accurate if there even is any. 50 lb grippers are the training wheels for real grippers

 

Edited September 28, 2023 by C8Myotome

[Cannon]

5 hours ago, Alex K said:

The one thing about those is that they tend to vary quite a huge lot out of the package, but if you know what you're working with, they're great! I'd recommend getting those to @Cannon for a nice rating service and they're good to go (Keep in mind, Matt puts reps on those prior to rating which is crucial with the chinese black coated springs, they can lose around 10 RGC throughout the first 20-30 reps)

All true. 

@smaikelzas The Heavy Grips and Grip Genie ratings data at CPW will be relevant. Variances aside, the averages will hold for any set of 100-150-200-250-300-350 springs. 

[C8Myotome]

@matek additionally here is the video I made on measurement and difficulty differences between a HG350 and a GHP8 both with the same rating, showing why 50 lb grippers are vastly inferior to train with in objective terms

 

[Cannon]

17 minutes ago, C8Myotome said:

showing why 50 lb grippers are vastly inferior to train with in objective terms

The video is good info and holds up when you check it with rating measurements I can confirm that.

I do like to try and stay on top of the context of the above quote since it frequently gets left off. Which is to say this is not unique to "50 lb" grippers but rather true of all narrow grippers. Also you have to add "..inferior to train with if you are training for CCS certification or trying to specifically only close wider grippers."  

Otherwise there is no arguing you can get a valuable resistance workout from narrow grippers. It's just easier to find examples of narrow 50 lb grippers but they are not all narrow. Grip Genie spreads at levels 1-4 are mostly the same as CoCs at equivalent levels. And we have had wide batches of HG350s especially which rated up into the 190s and were brutally hard. Some HG300s and Grip Genie 5s are 155-165+. Some Grip Genie 6s have reached the 200s. All because they are wide. 

Narrow grippers can be very beneficial to people with smaller hands. And it's the same principle as training in a choker which many have found beneficial. If your goal is a 175 gripper, you might be able to rep a 175 gripper in a choker at 20 mm before being able to close that gripper regularly. The same principle is at work with a narrow gripper. You can do more with it because it's less overall work with the same end figure. You are working that high-end finishing power even if it doesn't specifically translate to closing that gripper from a wider set. In this way, narrow grippers absolutely still training finishing power.     

    

[matek]

12 hours ago, C8Myotome said:

@matek additionally here is the video I made on measurement and difficulty differences between a HG350 and a GHP8 both with the same rating, showing why 50 lb grippers are vastly inferior to train with in objective terms

 

This is great info and very easy to understand.
The fact that the 50lb increment Chinese grippers lose about 10 RGC during the first 20-30 reps and that people complain about getting narrower over time suggest that those springs are not designed to be deformed as much as it is needed for a gripper close; there is an "uncalculated" plastic deformation. I'm just saying this because the torque beyond the elastic limit is definitely not linear. But this doesn't change the point of the video, of course, just nerding out.

By the way, this is totally personal, but my reason for buying the CPW x GG4 gripper was simply aesthetics. I just like how it looks with the different colored handles. Although I like to be efficient with my training, there are other things in this hobby that make me 'happy'. 

[IzzyGrasp]

On 9/28/2023 at 4:59 AM, EmilBB said:

I have the lvl 4, 5 and 6 and they're just a cheap chinese gripper, so not really anything special. However their other grip tools are great, so they're definitely worth checking out.

Like Alex said, they can vary a lot in strengths but here's the strength of the ones I have compared to CoC.

Lvl 4 = Light CoC #2

Lvl 5 = Between CoC #2 and #2.5

Lvl 6 = Light CoC #3

Thanks for the little breakdown of the individual grippers! I am going to grab a lvl 6 because I enjoy buying lots of random grippers that land within ranges I am working on. 

[Vinnie]

On 9/28/2023 at 10:10 AM, C8Myotome said:

@matek additionally here is the video I made on measurement and difficulty differences between a HG350 and a GHP8 both with the same rating, showing why 50 lb grippers are vastly inferior to train with in objective terms

 

Video is private?  Not sure if I need to be connected with you somewhere to see it?  I am subscribed to your Youtube.

[Vinnie]

On 9/28/2023 at 10:33 PM, matek said:

Although I like to be efficient with my training, there are other things in this hobby that make me 'happy'.

This captures a lot of my sentiment as well.  I am cool with training and getting stronger when it fits for me, but I actually just enjoy the implements and events as ends in themselves, not simply to get stronger or look different.  So an implement with a cool look or feel gets points in my book.