I’ve been thinking that some kind of table or list of knee (maybe wrist too) wraps might be useful. Nothing too in depth, just noting stiffness, stopping power, rebound, ease of wrapping, better for geared vs raw. Each one could be rated from one to 10 low to high. Anyone interested in doing this?
That’d be cool, but has anyone here really used enough wraps to compare?
The elitefts super heavies are pretty nice in my opinion, though they are the only ones I’ve used.
Rebound: Small amount
Stopping power: moderate
stiff: high
ease of wrapping: somewhat low, they require practice if you want to consistently be able to self wrap
better for geared vs raw: Can’t say. Definitely better for hip dominant squatters though.
These wraps are more supportive than anything. They shine in their stopping power and their “caste” like feel. Seems to be the maximum amount of stiffness that you could want as a raw lifter. Wouldn’t recommend them if you bend your knees a lot when you squat, or need rebound out of the hole. Probably a good starter wrap for geared lifters before you get really aggressive wraps.
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@Reed and @ouroboro_s are the only one who springs to mind in terms of using many different wraps. If we all get together though, I think we’d cover the main contenders well enough.
I’ve used the red Slingshots and Inzer Iron-Zs and I’d say
Red Slingshot
Rebound: high (8-10)
Stopping power: low-moderate (5-6)
stiff: high (8-9)
ease of wrapping: moderate (6-7), you need to know how to wrap but they’re easy enough if you know the basics. You need someone to wrap to get over seven revolutions or so.
better for geared vs raw: not sure. Seem to work better with medium or narrow stance.
Inzer Iron-Zs
Rebound: low (4-5)
Stopping power: low-moderate (5-6)
stiff: very low (1-2)
ease of wrapping: high (8-9), you can use them if you know where your knee is and how to wind them around your leg
better for geared vs raw: not sure, maybe better for geared because the only thing I can imagine them doing is stopping you if you wrap high up and down.
I get a massive amount of rebound of super heavies. My absolute favorite wrap and have used it almost exclusively the past year and half for anything over 700.
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Red Slingshot: Very user friendly middle of the road wrap good for just about any one from a 300lbs squat to a 1000lbs squat. They are very rebound friendly wrap with very average stopping power. Definitely better for a medium or closer stance raw squatter. Easy to self wrap but a partner can make this wrap almost unbearable.
Blue Slingshot: Weaker softer version of the reds. Very easy to self wrap.
Inzer Gripper: Hate the wrap next to useless in my opinion. But, it can give some decent rebound if not cranked. Mostly used by Equipped guys and gals or by raw lifters who don’t know any better haha. Very easy to self wrap.
Iron Rebel Rhinos: Extremely stretchy, very soft comfortable wrap, with little stopping power and lots of rebound. Very easy to self wrap.
Iron Rebel Outlaws: Basically stiffer and thicker Rhino. Great wrap but extremely stretchy and hard to self wrap because of this unless it has been preloaded.
Elite Super Heavies: Amazing wrap IF YOU HAVE A PARTNER. Self wrapping this wrap the way it should be is damn near impossible with out completely taxing your grip and biceps. This is a very stiff wrap with nice rebound and stopping power when wrapped correctly. I often have issues hitting depth with even high 700lbs squats when these are truly cranked down the way they need to be. They are great wraps but you must crank them and if you don’t have a solid squat and pain tolerance there are better choices.
APT 3x Wraps: Almost identical to the Super Heavies.
Pioneer Phantoms: Very stretchy and good rebound wrap. Basically a thicker Red Slingshot wrap. Good wrap not my favourite personally but very popular and easy to self wrap.
Pioneer Lillibridge Wraps: Basically the same as Phantoms but with a smoother more comfortable type of material.
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@Reed coming through with the goods! I think I’ll start a spreadsheet and put it on Google Docs so I can share the link.
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Awesome, man. I know what you mean, when I wrap up I rocket out of the hole even more… Just with a lot less weight. What are your lifts like these days? I haven’t really seen you logging your stuff here lately.
I broke the 500 pound barrier recently with a 515 deadlift, and also have a 370 bench and 455 (beltless) squat.
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I’m not the best person for wrap intel. I hate them and have done equipped meets in knee sleeves to avoid the mental and physical anguish of wearing them. I’ve also never been able to differentiate between rebound and stopping. I do, however, have a shit ton of wraps that I’ve collected over the years.
The ones I use most are Inzer grippers that were trashed by @Reed. I like them for the reason he doesn’t. Because I prefer a looser wrap, they work well. The rubber keeps them from sliding when wrapped loosely.
Old favourites are APT convicts that are fairly stiff but also stretchy and have a more even feel when wrapped that reduced the amount of pain from them. I haven’t used them in quite a while because APT is no longer on the IPF list.
Similar in feel to the convicts are Titan THPs. Somewhat stiff.and stretchy. A year or two ago I bought a pair of Titan Golds. They are stiff af and I couldn’t get more than a couple of revolutions out of them and they were too loose to be even marginally effective. I’ve always wrapped my own knees and the Golds definitely require a second person.
I also own a couple of pairs of Titan RPMs that are nice and soft and easy to deal with.
Because I’m IPF, they’re all 2m wraps.
Also, because I’m artsy craftsy, I took two old sets of wraps and sewed them into home made versions of a slingshot for myself and my husband. I have one out of old THPs and he has one out of APT blue mambas (my first ever knee wraps). At one meet I took a look at a titan Ram and decided I could make my own.
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@Destrength I am keeping a log right now actually fairly actively in the TL section. But as of right now bw is around 224 most days and last week hit a fairly easy 770 single and 725 for 3 squat, 640 deadlift and haven’t been pushing my bench much do to some bicep tendonitis but at my last two meets I have hit a 400 and 403 bench. So hopefully I can just match that on my best day.
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