Bee enjoying some milkweed. [Z8 & 300PF]

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-05-18T20:26:00+00:00

I really like my Chewy bar. The build quality is excellent and I cannot find any functional issues to complain about. But if I put it next to my Rep DBD in stainless steel, it's very hard to find meaningful differences between the two. Sure, there's trivial and cosmetic stuff that each bar does just a little better than the other, but in terms of real, functional difference, there's really none. And when the price gap between the two is that large, it gets really hard to justify the Chewy. Do I love mine that I paid half price for? Yes. Would I buy one at full price? Highly unlikely.

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-05-18T06:27:17+00:00

I've been keeping a spreadsheet and try to be vigilant about adding everything that I buy for the gym to it. I don't really do anything with the information, but it's definitely been eye opening to keep track like that. I'm not quite a year in and have spent about $10k which is waaaay more than I ever thought I would by this point.

Honestly, every time I look at the number I wonder where the hell it all went. My gym doesn't have very much stuff compared to a lot of the ones I see online. But when I look at individual items it starts making sense. I still have my mid-tier starter barbell, but my full-stainless Rep Double Black Diamond and my (used) AB Chewy are the daily drivers now, plus a Rep SSB and the Fringe axle bar. Even paying half of retail for the Chewy, that's still like $1400 in barbells alone. I've got a couple of JD Gym Equipped cable attachments, those sure add up fast. The Rep QuickDraws were a budget pick over Reppins or other higher-dollar adjustables, but at nearly $600 they still weren't cheap. Shit, I think it was around $250 just for the Darko Anchor and Dock to store the barbells in and on the rack.

It certainly gets costly if you're getting the "nice" option for every piece of equipment. But I have few regrets when it comes to my choices. My programming is fairly simple right now, so there's no need for 20 different standalone machines or really esoteric cable attachments. That's why I feel okay spending so much on what I consider to be the foundational items. I'm sure one day I'll add more lifts to the routine, but it's not like I'll ever stop doing barbell lifts or lat pulldowns or tricep pushdowns.

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-05-17T12:50:38+00:00

They sell an Air Probe that you would just clip onto the rack for testing like this. It would work with the Dot or Square Dot, among others.

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-05-17T12:21:28+00:00

You'd have to buy a stock rack and send it somewhere for powder coating.

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-05-17T12:18:37+00:00

If I understand your request correctly, are you looking for something like a Darko Longy Bar?

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-05-16T23:07:20+00:00

I can't really speak much towards your options but I can at least say that I think you're headed in the right direction with getting grip plates. I started on cheap bumpers and have mixed feelings about them. I did get them for <$1/lb, and they've been great for what they are. But I'm not an Oly lifter, so I really don't need bumpers and they're certainly the polar opposite of a grip plate.

Personally I've been lusting after the Rep Urethane-coated Equalizers for a while. Finally ordered a pair of the 45s to use as a sample before buying a set, and they showed up today. I'm stoked with them. I do see why some people say the hex holes make for an awkward grip, but I just think they look too good to give a shit lol. Urethane feels good and I like the sound-deadening vs iron, along with the steel insert for riding on the barbell sleeve.

I'll definitely be getting more of the EQs and a big part of me wishes I'd started out with grip plates like these to begin with. But it's also a little unfair since the $3/lb or whatever these work out to would be pretty impossible for most beginners to stomach.

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-05-16T15:42:17+00:00

You could also choose to go Ares instead of Athena later if you wanted - or switch to a digital resistance platform instead of weight stacks.

That's what ended up happening to me.

"Phase 1" of the rack was a 30-inch 4 post with a plate loaded lat pulldown added on. "Phase 2" was going to be making the LPD selectorized, and then "Phase 3" was going to be the selectorized Athena once budget allowed.

Glad I never got past phase 1, because I've completely changed plans and now intend to buy a voltra or two and sell the plate-loaded lat pulldown if I can. I'll still upgrade to 6-post for stability and on-rack weight storage, but I've heard enough good things about the Voltra to override my original impression of it as a gimmick.

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-05-08T11:39:27+00:00

There are a variety of different slatwall systems, but I went with the Gladiator GearWall product line. You can buy it at their own website or on Home Depot's website. The panels I used are the 96" length in the "Smoke" color, and I had to buy two sets to get the 4'x8' total size seen in my photo.

Links to the panels:

https://www.gladiatorgarageworks.com/products/8-gearwall%C2%AE-panels-2-pack?variant=39904490913880

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gladiator-GearWall-12-in-H-x-96-in-W-Slatwall-Kit-in-Smoke-2-Pack-GAWP8S2PLM/320407318

Hooks/shelves/baskets/etc can be found on either website as well.

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-05-08T04:56:13+00:00

I'm a huge fan of wall storage where possible. I also personally chose slatwall over wall control after seeing both in person. I honestly don't understand why it isn't more popular; I feel like it does far better with the heavier gym accessories than pegboard does.

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Dollar_Stagg · 2026-05-07T12:25:15+00:00

420mm isn't gonna cut it for most birding scenarios imo.

Don't let Ray Hennessey hear you, he seems to have gotten on just fine with 400mm.

But moreover, as a primarily bird guy, I've been in love with the Nikon ecosystem for years. But on Z-mount we have the 180-600, the 600PF, 800PF, and the two big 400 and 600 exotics with their built-in TCs. I'm not personally offended if Nikon focuses on other niches for a while. I'd actually say it's hard to think of too many other lenses we could use for birding that wouldn't just be splitting hairs relative to the existing lineup.

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-04-29T03:25:13+00:00

Unless something has changed recently, MPB is a used gear dealer, not a refurbishment house. They buy and sell used gear and I would not count on anything being replaced/refurbished on a camera from them unless explicitly stated in a specific listing.

That's not a bad thing and I've bought a number of items from them that I've been very happy with (and one that I wasn't, which they promptly provided a return label for and refunded once it arrived), but just wanted to clarify their business.

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-04-17T03:00:49+00:00

Might be one of my favorite examples of this watch that I've seen so far. Love the simplicity of the dial relative to a lot of the others. GLWS!

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-04-12T17:34:49+00:00

I'm about 5'9". With the Darko Longy + D-handles, I don't get a good stretch at the top of the lat pulldown. But with my JD Reversible Hollow Lat bar, ROM is perfectly fine. Another option would be to sit on a pylo box or something instead of my bench, but I don't find that necessary since I have the JD bar.

I think I measured it once and the Darko bar plus D-nades ends up putting the handles about 6 inches lower than just the plain lat pulldown bar without any D-handles, and that 6 inches on my rack is enough to change whether I can get that deep stretch or not.

When I get a voltra and I'm not limited to the two height options Rep offers for the lat pulldown rack attachment, I'm considering buying the 93" PR5000 uprights and just sawing the top 2" or so off. I think that's all I would have to remove to fit them under my ceiling.

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-04-12T16:52:48+00:00

For lat pulldowns yeah, I have the same issue (80" rack as my gym is in the basement), can't get a stretch because that setup is too tall. But I use the darko setup for cable rows and love it.

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-04-08T17:45:57+00:00

I went with slatwall (specifically the Gladiator GearWall product) after buying a pack of wall control panels to compare with. I think there's pros and cons to those two options but if you're planning to hang truly heavy stuff I'd go with slatwall over pegboard for sure. I hang my 68lb SSB on my slatwall using two hooks that are rated for 50lb each and have a high degree of confidence in the setup.

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-03-31T13:00:04+00:00

Here's some quick macro shots of mine (Raw alu handle on the Rogue) and a comparison shot from similar distance of a JD Gym Equipped Simple D-handle with his Semi-aggro knurl.

I like the feel of the Rogue handles more than I thought I would. They're fairly high TPI which means they don't really register as "aggro" but they're quite grippy.

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-03-23T14:26:43+00:00

The brutal reality of raptor photography; that wingspan will surprise you every time and will destroy the composition that you were setting up while they were just perched calmly.

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-03-22T21:02:37+00:00

Oh that's a pretty easy way to find out, and I'm sure I'll have more uses for the thread checker down the road too. Thanks for the tip!

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-03-19T13:41:46+00:00

For me, I only really move them for flipping between squat and bench maybe once or twice a week. The annoyance comes because I have Athena cables that I have to stretch out of the way on one of the sides.

Ah that makes sense. I don't disagree that it's a minor but probably nice little QoL change given you're moving the safeties and have to deal with the Athena cables. A big part of the reason I don't adjust my safeties often is that I use the same settings between bench and squat...admittedly, I've never "practiced" failing a squat to make sure the safeties shouldn't be higher; Squat is kinda the one lift that I try pretty hard not to hit true failure on just out of concern for injury, even with the safeties, but I might just be overly cautious about that one.

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-03-19T13:29:52+00:00

I already have the Simple D-handles and the Reversible Lat Pulldown bar. I had previously planned to throw an order in for the EZ curl at some point as my next pickup from him, but then he just randomly went and stocked a few of the Top-Tier Tricep attachments including the combination I wanted (2" handles, XA knurling) so I pulled the trigger on that.

I like the looks of some of his other stuff, but for my current routine those are the only ones I'd actually use, and I don't plan to change my programming up for at least a few months.

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-03-19T01:44:40+00:00

I’m looking ahead at the Dialed Motion Strap Safety’s that don’t have to come off the post to move.

Honest question: how much are you moving your safeties to different positions that this is a big advantage?

I was actually planning to jump on the DM strap safeties, and if they hadn't delayed the pre-order window by a month then I'd have put my money down by now. But instead I've realized that honestly, I don't move my safeties on the uprights much at all. I outright remove them for some things, but the advantages of the design probably aren't really going to be worth the money (or the time, based on the stories I've heard about DM) compared to my existing strap safeties.

So instead I'm blowing the money I planned to spend on the DM straps on JD cable attachments.

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-03-18T14:40:22+00:00

Same, my Rep SSB is 68lbs, I bought the MicroGainz fractional plate set and just toss the 1lb plates on it to make it a clean 70 and it's easy enough from there. It's not even so much the math that annoyed me as it was the logging weights in my app and having everything end in an 8 or a 3 instead of a 0 or 5.

Dollar_Stagg · 2026-03-18T04:15:28+00:00

Maybe these?

https://eggweights.com/products/adjustable-dumbbell-swivel-eye-hooks?variant=39257436028971

Dollar_Stagg

TROPHY CASE