Last month Crossfit Games athlete Jacob Heppner completed his great Crossfit grip dispute in which he rigorously tested 25 different pairs of Crossfit hand grips to determine which pair is best.
After each test he would eliminate 2-4 grips from the competition and explain what he liked or disliked about them. Having someone test all the grips unbiased is very helpful for anyone looking for new grips.
The grips were judged on:
- Cost
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Sweat resiliency
- How quickly/easy it is to take them off or put them on
- Weight bearing
Crossfit Grip Dispute results below. All notes are quotes directly from Jacob Heppner that were recorded off of his video.
BASIC TEST
During the basic test Heppner used the grips for all of the following movements: pullups, toes to bar, bar muscle ups, ring muscle ups, kettlebell swings, light snatches, and handstand walking. This was the first test because it contains all of the movements in which you will most likely be using your grips.
GRIPS ELIMINATED
- “Too complicated and slow to put on and take off”
- “Good for wrist support as they have a thick built-in wrist strap”
- “Soaks up sweat well so it doesn’t run on your arms”
DECEITFUL STRENGTH GRIPS
- “Only $12-$13”
- “Don’t grip bar very well”
- “Built for beginner Crossfitter”
- “Difficult to put on”
- “Slippery on a pullup bar”
DURABILITY TEST
Heppner tested all grips while performing weighted chest to bar pullups while wearing a 40 pound weight vest.
GRIPS ELIMINATED
- “Great grips without added weight, performed great during basic test”
- “Too thin to protect hands thoroughly under extra weight conditions”
- “Cheaply made”
PIVOT GRIPS & TOTO WRAPS
- “Slippery even with chalk, could barely hold onto a bar”
SALTWATER TEST
All remaining grips were soaked thoroughly in saltwater to replicate an athletes sweat during a workout. From this point forward all the remaining grips are fantastic grips and will be great for Crossfit, but Heppner is testing them to the extremes.
GRIPS ELIMINATED
MADWOD GRIPS
- “Thin”
- “Didn’t get rid of water quickly”
VICTORY GRIPS
- “Slow to dry”
DRAG TEST
Remaining grips were dragged on dirt roads from the back of a truck for over 10 miles.
GRIPS ELIMINATED
ALEC SMITH GYMNASTIC GRIPS
- “Lack of velcro to hold on during dragging”
ARMOUR GRIPS
- “Finger hole size too small”
SWEET GRIPS
- “Lack of wrap-around velcro”
NO REST RX GRIPS
- “Completely ripped apart on drag test”
TOP 7 GRIPS
Heppner stated that all 7 of these grips are phenomenal grips and would satisfy all of your Crossfit grip needs. He is only moving on with further testing in order to determine an overall #1 best grip.
All coming tests are highly unlikely to actually occur during use but they are entertaining nonetheless.
TOP 7
- WALMART GRIPS – “Only $8”
- WODNATION GRIPS – “durable, thick, great leather”
- Captain hook sports equipment grips
- PICSIL GRIPS – “love how they feel on a bar, love how they feel in general”
- JERKFIT RAW GRIPS – “easily #1 on how they grip a bar”
- BEAR KOMPLEX GRIPS – “not too thick, not too thin, Rich Froning’s favorite”
- REYLLEN FITNESS GRIPS
CORGI WRATH TEST
Bitten and chewed on by Heppner’s corgi dog.
GRIPS ELIMINATED
WALMART GRIPS – only grips to be torn apart by the corgi Winston.
STRESS TEST
How much weight can these grips hold before ripping. Weight was attached to the finger holes.
GRIPS ELIMINATED
BEAR KOMPLEX GRIPS & CAPTAIN HOOK GRIPS – Got tore up a bit from drag test so it was not able to hold a lot of weight.
TOP 4 GRIPS
EXPLOSION TEST
Blown up with 40 pounds of explosives.
GRIPS ELIMINATED
- WODNATION GRIPS & PICSIL GRIPS – Both blown up pretty bad with only a small piece left.
TOP 2 GRIPS
These 2 grips are the last two remaining grips following all of the extraordinary testing. Again all grips that were listed in the top 7 are amazing and would satisfy all of your Crossfit needs, but the extra testing was necessary to determine a winner.
COMPANY EMAIL TEST
Because there were only 2 grips left Heppner decided that the best way to choose a clear cut winner was to send a fake email to both companies to determine their customer service.
The email that was sent:
“Hi guys,
My name is George Steff and I’m a beginner Crossfitter from Kansas City. I recently purchased your grips and I absolutely love them. I got my first pull-up on them and soon looking to get my first muscle up. Anyways I ran into a bit of bad luck with them. I accidentally drove off with the grips attached to the back of my truck and I drug them for a few miles. I put them into some really rough shape. On top of that, and I know it sounds crazy, the paint company that I work at caught fire and there were a few explosions. My gym bag was caught in that explosion and the grips that are yours are nothing more than a few tattered pieces. See picture attached of your grips before all my bad luck happened. I was wondering if you guys would be so kind as to send me a new pair of grips.
Yours truly, George Steff”
The winning grip company’s response:
“Hello George,
Thanks for messaging us, that sounds crazy. Thanks for letting us know and we can definitely send you out a new pair. Thanks for the picture, we actually have a 1 year warranty on our grips so we can replace that pair no problem. Just need the address and we can send you out a new pair ASAP.
Kind regards, Reyllen Fitness”
WINNER – REYLLEN FITNESS
To watch Heppner test all of these grips you can watch his full video HERE.
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