Ringside Cobra Reflex Boxing Punching Bag (New Version)

I purchased this as an upgrade from my Everlast Reflex Bag. Watching Youtube workout videos showed me the quicker response needed with the Cobra and that's what I wanted.To be quite frank, I'm glad I started with the Everlast and I still rate that bag at 5 stars. The less intense bag allowed me to work more on basic fundamentals - developing my jab, cross, etc and returning to proper stance after throwing my punch. The Cobra is less forgiving - lol. With this bag your response needs to be more automatic, the response is close to instantaneous and if you aren't ready it can show you the stars.The bag offers a truly fun workout, building timing and accuracy, kudos Ringside - nicely done!

First of all let me premise this review by saying im not a boxer but a novice. I enjoy the sport and have a number of different speed/heavy/reflex bags I use in the man cave to work out and stay in shape.I bought this bag to use in the basement during the cold Chicago winters to stay in shape while I watch my toddler during the day since I cant go out in the garage while im doing daddy day care. The assembly was easy and it will fit in a small space.I took the advice of another reviewer but rather than fill the bags with sand I went to a local gardening center and bought some cheap limestone rock. The bag cost me around $7 and I filled individual plastic grocery bags (doubled up) and put them in both of the weighted black bags that come with the reflex bag. I was being over cautious because I didn't want them to break and have sand/rocks pouring out on the floor but im sure you could get away with just putting the rocks straight into the bags and skipping the whole plastic grocery bag part.Im 5'9" and 180 lbs and this reflex bag has stood up to about a months worth of work outs (5 3min rounds every other day). Let me say that if you are really planning on blasting away you should probably buy a heavy bag which is constructed for taking that kind of beating. I pretty much throw a lot of straight punches(jabs) with a couple hooks here and there and am not trying to kill this thing and its doing great. I think if you are going to be winding up on this thing day after day its not going to last, hence buy a heavy bag. But if you use this thing for what it was constructed for in my opinion, punching quickly and using reflexes to throw quick combinations back at it, then this will be a great exercise tool for indoors at your home/basement/condo/man cave.As I stated im 5'9" 180 lbs and had to lower this thing quite a bit to get a comfortable range. It extends pretty tall so I think it will work for most people. You wont get away with just filling one of the black bags if you are around my height and weight as it will rock back and forth coming off the floor slightly unless you use both.Again, using this bag for what it was intended for (not upper cuts and throwing your entire body weight at it) you will get a great cardio work out and it will last. In my opinion its not flimsy

This item is almost a five star product as almost everything is well thought out and very durable. The only gripe that I and many others have with it is the way the bag attaches to the pole. It is a point of failure and it just doesn't cinch down onto the pole well enough so it tends to flop around. It still works and I haven't had a failure yet but I can see it coming. Some use duct tape which is OK. I use gaffer tape and that seems to work pretty well. When I finally have to replace the bladder and remove the gaffer tape, I am probably going to switch to silicon tape since it will not leave a residue and allow me to really lock the bag onto the pole.

Lasted longer then my other 2!!! i ripped the ball from the other 2. This one is still hanging on. I actually wrapped it with duck tape when i first got it to last longer.. It actually still in one pieceWhen i say i wrapped it with duck tap i wrapped it between the ball and the stick so it will hold on longerAlex

12/12/2015 since my initial review the bag has ripped, and the bladder will no longer hold air. I have studied the marital for 20 years, and I have never seen such a flimsy piece of training equipment.I really enjoy working out on this bag; when it is full of air it is very lively. However, the head keeps coming off. It needs to be tightened down before every workout, or it will unexpectedly fly away after a punch. What were the designers thinking; this is such a basic flaw.Additionally, the ball/bladder looses air so quickly that it needs to be pumped up every day.