1. Posted: Aug 27 2008

   I purchased the Everlast Freestanding Heavy Bag and am quite happy with it. It is a very good bag, for the price, and I found it to be exactly what I needed for me and my sons to use for TKD practise kicking and punching. Assembly was straight forward. All parts were there, except one of the bolt heads still had 'slag' in it, and had to be tightened with a pair of pliars, as the hex key would not fit into it. (Ergo, 4 instead of 5 star rating). Make sure you line up that first 'seal disk' with the notched divits for a tight fit. :) The foam was kind of difficult to get inside the bag, but eventually fit nicely and looked good. I had to step on the big round foam disk to make it sit all the way to the bottom of the bag (well, the top once it's put on the stand) and be flush, but it worked and made the bag smooth and nice looking. I used five 50lb bags of kids play sand (they were $3.00 each and very compact bags) and instead of ripping them open, I managed to fit four bags beside each other (standing up position) and layed the last one on top of them. This way if I ever need to break the unit down and move it to another location, I will not be scooping sand forever!! The bags fit perfectly, the weight is at the recommended 250 lbs now, and the unit will NOT move from kicking and punching (and it's on a carpeted basement floor), even with an adult kicking...there is just the right amount of 'sway/give' from kicks and punches. VERY happy with this purchase.

2. Posted: Aug 14 2008

   So far so good for this bag. I put 4 60lb bags of sand in the base and have not had any problems with "migration" like some of the reviewers. It is not loud either...if you assemble it correctly. Bag was a little hard to assemble...just read directions carefully and follow EVERY step (I had to reassemble it twice). I would recommend this product to a friend...good for venting frustration!

3. Posted: Jul 20 2008

   The everlast freestanding bag is not meant to be hit with actual boxing match gloves. It is a training bag. I think that is why there are so many reviews about the stand breaking. If you try hitting with a small boxing glove, first, you'll seriously hurt your hands and two the force on the bag is multiplied as the distance between your hand bones and the bag decreases thus dreastically shortening the stands life. You need gloves like these "Everlast Pro Style Training Gloves (Black) ". They don't have to be everlast but you have to make sure they are training gloves. That is the key, TRAINING GLOVES. And there shouldn't even be a choice between water and sand. Standing water is not healthy nor is it clean. Stagnant water draws tons of mosquitos. Buy 4 or 5 sand bags or double up some supermarket bags and go to the beach. Thats the only reason i'm not giving this five stars. Everlast should have known better. As for the training gloves, "It is strongly recommended that bag gloves are worn when using the EVERLAST Free Standing Heavy Bag" is written in bold on the assembly sheet. So to anyone planning on buying this product, be aware of what your buying.

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