Do you like having 2-3 sweaty men shoe-horn you into polyester, canvas or denim bondage gear.
Do you like having your joints wrapped so tightly they bruise and bleed?
Do you like having your blood pressure turned up to 11 and being compressed so much that you think your head might explode?
Do you get off on enduring pain and suffering, and watching others endure it too?
Do you have a deathwish every time you get under the bar?
Yes?
Looking to get into equipped lifting (IPF). There’s a group of equipped lifters in my gym every now and then, most of them are in Titan stuff (super centurions, super katana, velocity deadlift).
Done some research and comparing and alot of people point towards Titan being the best choice, but none of those seem to be easily available and are quite expensive.
Inzer is much more accesible from what it seems.
Would love to get some more feedback on Inzer vs Titan gear. (Metal is also available for me but not IPF approved)
Starting out, the best gear is used gear that is a little big on you. See if anyone from that group has anything old they would sell to you. Titan is the overall favorite for a lot of reasons but Inzer is great too.
If Inzer is more accessible, go with Inzer. Inzer gear is a bit more forgiving and stretchier than Titan, which can help you. Almost everyone in IPF wears Titan, partly because they have drastically better international distribution, partly because Titan actually is the size on the tag (Inzer's QC is terrible).
It's pretty much the consensus that the Super Centurion and Super Katana are the best IPF approved single-ply gear. Basically every competitor at Open Worlds is wearing them.
Having said that, if I were you, I would get whatever was cheap and accessible to find out if equipped lifting is really something I want to do before dumping a ton of money into high end gear.
Just got the Double-Ply Rage X I ordered off ebay today. It turns out Inzer uses a drastically different sizing system than Titan does, and I should not have ordered my Super Katana size.
I now have a comically small shirt.
What size is it? I have a 44 2-ply SK I'm now too fat for (it's about equivalent to a 42ish single ply).
I have a very tight 44 SK, but prefer my training partners spare 46. I bought a 46 Rage-X but apparently I should have ordered a 58. Inzer has you measure around your shoulders and then add 4 instead of just your chest measurement.
Inzer's sizing is all sorts of fucked up. Just call them and say it doesn't fit, and you need a larger size. They're pretty decent about this sort of thing (having experienced it myself).
I bought it on ebay and got it cheap. I'll either resell it or give it to a tiny person at the gym. If nothing the right size pops up on the used market in the next few weeks I will probably just suck it up and buy a new one from Inzer.
Does anyone still use the oni bench shirt? Looking to get into single ply Bench and I have found it for a cheap price
Yes. I've used it and a few Japanese and Western benchers have used it. It's probably closest to a S/S Super Katana. I would recommend it.
Can one dabble in equipped lifting as a solo lifter? I've always been a little fascinated but I don't know where to begin.
It can be done. I trained for my last single ply meet prep mostly alone. More hands is better. Especially bench hand outs tougher to keep a shirt in position without it. Worth considering finding a crew you can train with occasionally if not always or going to an event like the elite FTS retreats where there are many equipped people. Then it’s a bit like a one off weekend immersion camp for equipped lifting.
Why would you want to do it alone? You'll learn and improve much faster if you train with others.
Circumstances, mostly. I work evenings so my training is done midmorning. Most of the equipment I see are knee braces and girdles and such. I can't really make firm commitments on the weekend due to family obligations.
Yes. The hardest thing is putting on (and taking off) a closed back bench shirt, but even that's not impossible.
There are a few excellent lifters (e.g., Tony Cliffe) who train in equipment alone.
Yeah you can but I will warn you, it's really frustrating trying to figure it out sometimes... especially with benching in a shirt. You also want to have a high quality power rack and safeties because things can go south in a hurry. What type of equipped lifting are you thinking about?
I don't know, to be honest. The furthest I've gone is taking a thick band to make a jerry-rigged slingshot for bench. And even just that gave me a little understanding of the differences between raw and "equipped."
Honestly I'd start off with a used single ply squat suit as your first introduction to gear. Squat suits are a good starting point because they aren't as complicated as a bench shirt and you can also deadlift in it. Even if you can't train with other equipped lifters, try and get spotters if possible but it's not required if you have a really good rack and safeties set properly.
You can get a used suit off of eBay or there are a few Facebook groups for buying/selling used gear. Look for a Titan super centurion or an Inzer TRX. These are technically the top of the line single ply suits for those companies but anything else single ply will likely be older technology that isn't worth your time. I wouldn't even worry about a bench shirt until you try squatting/deadlifting for a bit.
Thanks, I'll keep an eye out!
I've noticed the Leviathan and especially F8/Metal canvas suits are significantly thicker than Overkill's. Is there any advantage/disadvantage to this?
Not really, no. It's just a difference in manufacturing/material.
If you can get a Leviathan (not an ultra pro) that fits, it's the best multiply suit around. Overkill is a good option too.
I want a Leviathan so badly, but I’ve read/heard it’s not very tolerant to weight/bloat swings. True?
Depends, of course. Canvas is, by nature, much less forgiving of weight fluctuations than poly.
Thanks. An OG leviathan is probably what I'll end up in. Currently in an LUP and 2/2 Preds. Going to get 3/3 Preds, do a couple meets in those, then get a proper canvas.
Did Inzer make 3/3 Preds? I’ve never seen them.
EDIT: I just googled em, and I see they did! I’ll bet those mf are unforgiving. I’ve got grid stitched 2/2, and with an LUP I couldn’t get to squat depth with 6 plates and a quarter.
One of my training partners and my coach both use 3/3 +grid stitched back Preds and they don't seem to have that much of an issue 🤷♂️. I don't think I'll be able to hit depth with 3 plates in briefs only any more once I switch though lol
Well, my experience with them may just be me being a shitty squatter. LOL