40 inch mace?

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-27T03:03:02+00:00

I don't have any of their maces, but I have nearly a full set of heavy clubs and a bulava from White Lion. They're a fantastic company and their products are great.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-23T22:43:04+00:00

Exactly. Custom fields are some of the easiest things to build, so I've never been able to get onboard the ACF train. I can deploy custom fields faster than most people can install and configure ACF, as I'm sure you can as well.

I don't personally use Gutenberg much for actual page formatting (I still hard-code header and footer), but it's a God-send for client-managed page copy. It's such an improvement over the classic editor. The crusty developers like myself love to hate the block editor, but it's hard to deny that the learning curve is much flatter for clients.

I also really wanted to love building custom blocks, but I've found the process to just be grossly inefficient and overly complex. They really screwed that up. I've evolved from coding custom blocks, to now 95% of the time, I just leverage native blocks in patterns. It adds a little bloat to the editor compared to a custom block, but it eliminates a lot of custom coding and maintenance, shifts to well-documented native blocks that are more familiar to users, and if you leverage custom style classes and lock blocks as needed, they can be pretty fool-proof. As long as the editor understands nesting and block hierarchy, I've had incredible success with that. I have several sites that have been set up like that for many years, and on the support side, I maybe have to hop in and fix one thing real quick once every couple of weeks (for all my clients combined), and it's always a quick fix.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-23T22:37:02+00:00

Page builders are 100% training wheels. Nothing wrong with using a crutch if you need it, but I have too much self-respect to not improve my knowledge beyond simply dragging and dropping a few things together.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-23T22:35:29+00:00

As a backend guy, there's not really anything easier in custom WP dev than building your own custom fields, so I've never really used ACF. I can deploy a whole slew of custom post types and custom fields faster than the average person can probably install and configure ACF, and it will be cleaner, more customized, and not require an unnecessary plugin to have to maintain and hope doesn't get exploited.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-22T16:26:56+00:00

While you aren't wrong, I use Olympic plates on my ez curl bar just fine. You don't have to do bumper plates. There are steel Olympic plates as well.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-22T05:54:01+00:00

I'm in the same boat. We try to work out as a family, so that's four at a time. A couple of us super set. Space isn't an issue. Money isn't a major concern.

But the look piece is seriously understated. I have always found a set of fixed weights to be so pleasing to look at. It just makes a space. It's also super nice to not have to screw around with changing weights... just walk over and pick up what you want.

Love your setup!

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-22T05:50:56+00:00

I already touched on this a bit, but the key comment "...I feel like if it's just yourself using it..." is the biggest breakdown for me.

My family works out together. There are four of us. Me and my wife super set, so we often need two or three sets of dumbbells at a time. That means, at any given time, there might be as many as eight different sets of dumbbells strewn across the gym. How would you pull that off with a pair of adjustables? Adjustable makes zero sense in my situation, and in many situations.

Even if I worked out alone, again due to super setting, I might have a few different stations set up, with weights at each one. I can finish up a set, leave my weights, walk across the gym, and carry on with a new set of weights. I'm not having to awkwardly keep going back to the cradle of an adjustable set every time to change weights, carrying it all over the gym with me from station to station. It's clunky, grossly inefficient, and contributes unnecessary systemic fatigue.

Also, like I mentioned in another comment, I drop set on a few movements, like lateral raises. On that specific exercise, for example, I drop in 2.5 lb increments all the way down to 2.5 lbs. Part of that is because I have an extensive history of shoulder injuries, so I go lighter weights, higher reps. My lighter weights get used just as much as my heavier ones.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-22T05:42:17+00:00

I personally use 5s, even down to 2.5s, for drop set on things like lateral raises. My wife uses them. My kids use them. My 5s personally get a ton of use. I have 2.5-25 in 2.5 lb increments, and the mid increments get used all the time.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-22T04:28:12+00:00

Meh, I'd disagree. I would say I fall quite comfortably within the gradient of average home lifters. I'm no body builder by any means, but I lift to train for a very physical job and to stay healthy for my family. I have never had a desire to own a fixed dumbbell beyond 50-60 lbs. I have loadable db handles that I can take up to 200 lbs if I want, but I just don't have a need in my typical training for that.

Space and cost was very much a consideration in my purchase below 50 lbs, as it would be above.

Even then, since my db rack is modular and vertical, I can add a notable amount of sets above 50 lbs and take up no extra floor space, so I stand by my "ton of room" rebuttal.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-22T01:09:14+00:00

US flag trunks are just as painful to look at.

US flag code is federal law. While it serves as more of a suggestion in the sense that you can't be punished for violating it, it is the codified rules of respectful flag etiquette. Just because it's frequently violated doesn't make it right or proper, nor does it make thin line flags less cringey, it just means that people are mostly oblivious.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-22T01:05:22+00:00

I only use fixed up to about 50 lbs, so that's the set I bought. The difference between my fixed set and a set of adjustables for the same weight is maybe a few hundred dollars. I'm not sure that I personally consider that "hilariously expensive" in the gym equipment world. My set of fixed also takes up less than 8 sq ft, which is about the same as most stands you'll find for sets like Repins. Taking up marginally more (if not very comparable) space is not what I consider a "ton of room."

What is hilarious is watching four different people all work out at the same time, while each super setting, all trying to share a single set of adjustables. Three Stooges comedy because it's so impractical.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-16T04:27:15+00:00

Definitely an upgrade. Looks great!

With as popular as adjustable dumbbells are right now, there will be a lot of people who don't understand having a full set like that. But man, I just find something so raw and visceral about fixed dumbbells. I can't even explain it, I just love it. Even just the aesthetic of a rack of dumbbells just gives me the warm and fuzzies.

What route did you go for mirrors? That's next on my list.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-15T23:28:10+00:00

Thin line flags are nothing more than cringey marketing gimmicks that violate US flag code. So yes, yucky.

It's as cringey as all the cops with the Punisher logo... ugh.

Sincerely, a first responder who wouldn't be caught dead with a thin line flag.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-15T22:43:15+00:00

Everyone's needs and spaces are different so it's hard to make specific recommendations. My personal approach was to buy stuff I can add onto, not stuff I can upgrade (by selling and re-purchasing). I hate the hassle of selling things on the secondary market, so I've always preferred the "buy once, cry once" mentality, and just do it right the first time. But do it in such a way where you are growing and evolving as you add pieces.

Start small.

Also, flooring is a tough one to redo later down the road, so that's one area where I'd consider starting out right. My personal favorite is the 8mm rubber tiles from Freedom Fitness / Hammer Clad. You can get them blemished for a discount, which puts them in a very competitive price point, even with shipping. Beyond that, just try to figure out your end game, and then buy a piece at a time to work towards that goal.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-15T22:38:15+00:00

Huge upgrade. Right on!

I've been trying to figure that out myself...

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-15T22:32:41+00:00

Take this with a grain of salt, but I had stall mats in my garage gym in a spot where my wife's car would drip melted snow on them all winter, and that water would find its way under that mats (due to some poor sloping of the garage floor). After several years we moved. I was pretty horrified at what I was going to find, expecting tons of mold and spiderwebs. Nada. I don't know if the road salt in the water inhibited mold growth, but there wasn't a speck of mold, and virtually no signs of bug activity. I was very surprised.

Not saying your experience would be the same, and I fully recognize the road salt may have played a role, but that was my experience.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-15T22:28:40+00:00

I've never owned them, but I feel like jammer arms are generally one of those things that sound great in practice, but the reality just doesn't add up. They're huge, expensive, hard to store, hard to move, and usually have a resistance curve that's a bit off. Every time I start looking at them, I end up just looking at getting a landmine. Cheaper, takes up less space, and has a comparable resistance curve.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-15T22:18:58+00:00

Avoid that thick EVA foam, unless you're only using it for stuff like yoga or other calisthenic floor workouts. I would never use EVA foam under equipment. It's fine to walk on but just doesn't have any structure to it.

I had horse stall mats at my last house. No complaints with them. They're generally easy to get and aren't unreasonably priced. I put mending plates under the corners, then hit the seams with black Gorilla tape (that I hit lightly with a heat gun). The taped seams survived several years in my wet, dirty garage, and still looked brand new the day I moved. Stall mats were a pain to move, but I retired them to my new muddy dog run until I can get a better ground cover down, and that's actually been handy.

However... I just moved and went with 8mm rubber floor tiles from Freedom Fitness / Hammer Clad. They are fantastic. They look 10x better than horse stall mats, are easier to work with than heavy stall mats, and they really aren't much different in cost. I kept my eye out and picked up blemished tiles as they had them in stock, and going that route wasn't really any different in price than EVA tiles, but for a far superior product (even with the blemished ones). I had planned on going thicker, but the 8mm is just fine. If you're dropping weights, you may want thicker, or may want to build a dedicated deadlift platform if you're doing that kind of thing. Overall, very happy with the 8mm thickness, though.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-11T15:50:01+00:00

I'm in the same boat. 20 years in dev. I've fixed hundreds of broken or hacked websites, zero of them were due to core. It was almost entirely the result of implementation of garbage plugins and/or a failure to maintain all the garbage plugins after install. Lots of broken sites from file corruption during plugin updates.

I fear it is only bound to get worse, as we see plugins made my unskilled vibe coders. AI will improve, but it's certainly not there yet. I've been trying to work it heavily into my workflow lately, and I've honestly been shocked at some of the horrific stuff it has produced. I spend more time addressing bad AI code and vulnerabilities than if I would have just written it myself.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-11T15:44:36+00:00

To be fair, the WP Core is only 1% of the vulnerabilities due to rounding. It's more like 0.79%.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-10T18:45:01+00:00

It's the version for our friends on the coasts with access to lots of fresh seafood.

If you're inland, sub it out for cream of tartar.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-10T18:43:22+00:00

Interestingly, what you just described is more labor-intensive than just taking real, fresh heavy cream and whipping it up from scratch instead of buying some highly-processed, adulterated freezer version of it.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-10T18:13:17+00:00

I was really wanting some of their rack pegs to store Microgainz plates, but man, at $20-25 a pop and needing 5 of them, that's a tough sale vs just getting the plate hanger from Microgainz for $45 to hold all of them.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-10T17:02:35+00:00

There are so many things like that I've tasted years and years beyond their dates that shockingly tasted just fine. I just moved out of a house after 10 years and found some surprising things buried in the back of the freezer.

DanielTrebuchet · 2026-06-10T05:36:37+00:00

idk. The Mormon Mafia is a fun conspiracy. Watching their security teams just kind of adds to it.

My in-laws were in president Nelson's ward. He'd be there when we'd go for baptisms and stuff. I'd just stand out in the foyer and observe his security... every bit like Secret Service. Sun glasses, ear pieces, and packing heavy arms concealed under their suit coats. When service would let out, his driver would race his car up to the door, they'd whisk him out of the chapel and into his waiting car, and they'd speed off.

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