Also, you can get suits altered. If you can get a pretty new ace for 75 get it.
Both should be tight.
Everything I read says super centurion > metal pro… Metal pro is an old suit… and sucks by today’s standards. Some get it to work very well, for most it blows. Would be good for sumo pulls though
As far as single ply vs multi ply
I was told by Rocky Tilson to go straight to multi ply. He let me try out his RageX double ply and I did very well in it. He says I have “Good instincts for gear”.
Plus, I won’t bullshit about my finances. I know some people are financially very well off, I know some just pretend to be. For me, I am not hurting. I mean, I pay all my bills, I have a bike, nice little house, etc. At the end of the month, after all the bills are paid, though, we aren’t rolling in dough. I mean, there is enough to take my wife out to eat from time to time, see a movie, etc. I don’t think I can afford to buy a bunch of single ply gear, though, just to end up going back through and buying multi ply stuff, then turn around and end up buying top quality stuff (like the 325 dollar leviathan)
So far, Rocky has given me this shopping list:
Ricky Crain shoes - $125.00
RDC Double Genesis- $123.00
RDC Double Trainer- $93.00
10mm Lever Belt — $90.00
RageX Bench Shirt - $135.00 (I think I need a double, not sure on the price)
Inzer Knee Wraps – $30.00
Inzer Wrist Wraps - $20.00
Smelling Salts ---- $6.00
----Total---- $747.00
Plus the shipping and handling from various suppliers. I am getting close to 800 bucks.
I just can’t afford to spend that much money at this time. Though I am now really kicking myself in the ass for buying the RDC stuff, and am wondering why he would suggest it?
I personally have always wanted a metal squat suit. Not knowing what was the best, I just wanted to get the Metal brand. As far as shirts go, I could care less. Whatever will last me the longest. The other stuff, well, I have Walmart Knee Wraps and Wrist Wraps, a Dick’s Neoprene belt with velcro strap, and I work out in Pumas.
[quote]Skyler King wrote:
As far as single ply vs multi ply
I was told by Rocky Tilson to go straight to multi ply. He let me try out his RageX double ply and I did very well in it. He says I have “Good instincts for gear”.
Plus, I won’t bullshit about my finances. I know some people are financially very well off, I know some just pretend to be. For me, I am not hurting. I mean, I pay all my bills, I have a bike, nice little house, etc. At the end of the month, after all the bills are paid, though, we aren’t rolling in dough. I mean, there is enough to take my wife out to eat from time to time, see a movie, etc. I don’t think I can afford to buy a bunch of single ply gear, though, just to end up going back through and buying multi ply stuff, then turn around and end up buying top quality stuff (like the 325 dollar leviathan)
So far, Rocky has given me this shopping list:
Ricky Crain shoes - $125.00
RDC Double Genesis- $123.00
RDC Double Trainer- $93.00
10mm Lever Belt — $90.00
RageX Bench Shirt - $135.00 (I think I need a double, not sure on the price)
Inzer Knee Wraps – $30.00
Inzer Wrist Wraps - $20.00
Smelling Salts ---- $6.00
----Total---- $747.00
Plus the shipping and handling from various suppliers. I am getting close to 800 bucks.
I just can’t afford to spend that much money at this time. Though I am now really kicking myself in the ass for buying the RDC stuff, and am wondering why he would suggest it?
I personally have always wanted a metal squat suit. Not knowing what was the best, I just wanted to get the Metal brand. As far as shirts go, I could care less. Whatever will last me the longest. The other stuff, well, I have Walmart Knee Wraps and Wrist Wraps, a Dick’s Neoprene belt with velcro strap, and I work out in Pumas. [/quote]
Honestly I haven’t heard much about his double ply stuff. I’ve lifted at a couple of his meets, but they are USPF which is only single ply, and from what I can tell his gear resembles in material and fit like the entry level inzer gear. But then again, using the more radical gear would most likely end up a disaster without any experience.
As far as your budget goes, instead of purchasing his shoes, I would just pick up some hi-top chucks IMHO.
Yeah, I hope you didn’t already spend 125 bucks on his shoes…
From my experience with crain I cannot see how 2-3 plys of his gear would= titan single ply…
Metal pro briefs or ACE, or boss briefs, or fuck even centurion briefs with a ginny’s suit… if you can get your money back I would do that. You are worried about going back through to buy better stuff, but if you want to get the carryover a lot of people talk about, you will have to do that anyway with RDC.
I would start with the best, or close to it, and just take the time to learn it.
RDC stuff:
I ordered my Crain Double Ply Genesis with nose torque, then a couple days later ordered my Crain Double Ply Briefs. The stuff was supposed to be here last week. Today, I finally got the package, and my Briefs actually showed up before the suit and nose torque.
They seem pretty basic. I will be trying them out tonight most likely, and will let you guys know what I think of them.
Let us know.
If you hit depth first time in it without an issue, then its either too loose or too weak for multi-ply…
From my experience if you can hit depth with less than 85% of your PR in gear, then its too weak/doesn’t fit right…IMO
Ok, so I tried out my RDC Genesis Briefs today. I was able to do 585 for a triple. I am excited to see what i will be able to do with the actual Genesis suit. Then I will try the suit and briefs. If I do real good, that will make me all the more excited to see what I can do when I get my Metal Pro Squatter.
So stoked right now 
Was the 585 hard? 85lbs of carryover the first time in briefs isn’t bad… I got about 170-180 from my BOSS briefs alone.
Does your suit have velcro straps?
585 felt kinda hard. The hardest part was unracking it and walking it out. Once I was set up, the actual squats, though tough, felt very strong. I think I had more in me for sure.
The Metal suit I ordered does not have velcro straps, and neither does the RDC one.
I hate to be this way but Crain’s gear is crap. It’s literally the bottom of the barrel and I don’t think he has made any changes to the design in like 30 years. I can’t even fathom who is recommending it.
If I were you, if you haven’t gotten it yet, I would call and cancel my order.
Then just stick with the Metal or get a Centurion or a pair of Titan briefs.
Seriously, the Crain stuff is a joke. You’re going to be sorry you even bought it when you compare it to other stuff.
Sorry, didn’t read the whole post. Looks like you are stuck with them.
You could always put them on ebay. I think people in China like his stuff.
lol, yeah, I started getting the suspicion early on that I had wasted my money. Oh well, if nothing else, I can count on it for support for regular training days, so I don’t wear out the good stuff. I guess i could do regular training with his stuff, then when I start getting close to a meet, I could start putting on the better equipment.
I also looked at ebay. I only saw one crain suit for sale. The guy is asking 35 bucks, or buy it now for like 40 or 45, and nobody wants it. I think I am screwed on the idea of reselling it.
[quote]Skyler King wrote:
lol, yeah, I started getting the suspicion early on that I had wasted my money. Oh well, if nothing else, I can count on it for support for regular training days, so I don’t wear out the good stuff. I guess i could do regular training with his stuff, then when I start getting close to a meet, I could start putting on the better equipment.
I also looked at ebay. I only saw one crain suit for sale. The guy is asking 35 bucks, or buy it now for like 40 or 45, and nobody wants it. I think I am screwed on the idea of reselling it. [/quote]
Well, what really bums me out is I have a single ply suit that a lifter I was working with gave me for our teen lifters.
If I would have read this earlier I would have sent it to you for free. Hell, I have two plastic storage tubs filled with Titan shirts and suits. I have way more shit than I will ever use.
IRT shoes, depending on where you want to compete I would buy a pair of adidas squat shoes before I bought any other kind of squat shoe. The pair I have right now are 11 years old and they still look pretty new despite being used basically weekly. I just keep shoe trees in them to help them hold shape.
Otherwise, Chucks aren’t a bad option although the difference in stability from Chucks and a good squat shoe are not even comparable, IMO.
When you get more money (don’t have to blow it all right now) I would start upgrading with BOSS briefs. IMO they are the strongest on the market… a good stiff brief like that would compensate some for the Metal Pro suit being so weak/stretchy.
I am sure the Metal is a step up from craine though… btw… you can get over 85lbs from knee wraps if you know how… over 100 if you are really good.
One good thing is, the RDC may be decent on deadlifts. Stiff briefs/suit usually aren’t good for deadlifts… and I am sure the RDC is not stiff.
Pro Squatter with crain briefs or the Genisis suit with crain briefs may be a good deadlift combo… Try them both out and see which you like better.
Do you pull sumo or conventional?
I have always pulled conventional, all back, KK style. Just recently started pulling sumo (only done it like 3 times now, but can pull 590 all raw sumo)
I guess the guys one this site know what they are talking about when it comes to gear.
My Crain Genesis suit came in the mail this weekend. I just got done trying it out.
I must say, I have never had such a bad case of buyer’s remorse.
The briefs added about 50 lbs to my squat when I tried them on thursday. (I did 585x3, but I didn’t go below parallel as usual, because I was training alone).
So I figured “Hey, if the briefs give me roughly 50 lbs, than the suit should be great”.
Bullshit.
I got the suit, put it on, went outside to do my squat workout.
I noticed that even though this one is tight as hell, with the straps down and no belt, it doesn’t slow the weight down or stop me in the hole at all.
No big deal, I will add a belt.
Funny, with the straps down and belt on, it feels more secure, but the weight feels just as heavy, and is just as hard to move, as if the suit isn’t helping at all.
So I put 500 on the bar (something I can do for 3 reps, below parallel, raw).
I put the straps up, crank down the belt nice and tight, and give it a go. Well, I can notice immediately that I am having to work a lot harder to keep the bar on my back since it wants to slide down the straps. Then, I notice how physically uncomfortable I am. I feel very stiff and tight. I think to myself “wow, I guess this suit really does offer support once you put the straps up”. I go down, and stop above parallel, and stand back up. I stopped above parallel because I noticed the craziest thing. The suit is making it hard for me to breath, it is making me very uncomfortable, like I can’t move the way I need to, etc. Yet, when i start to go down, it doesn’t support my body or the movement at all. Rather than help with ME move the weight, it seems like it is helping the WEIGHT beat me up.
Once I stood back up and realized that squatting 500 high and in a suit was harder than squatting 500 deep and raw, I was a little worried. I decided to go for another rep. I decided with this rep, I would hit parallel, because maybe that is where the suit will grab and give me some pop.
I go down, feel weak, drop lower, feel weaker, and end up at, if not a little below, parallel. I then notice that I can’t push the weight back up. I dump the bar, hop out, and am pissed.
I spend over 200 dollars on this crappy RDC stuff, it took nearly 3 weeks to get to me when it was originally promised that it would be to me in no more than a week, and now, after trying it out, I realize that through some sort of crazy RDC magic, I am actually WEAKER in the suit than out of it.
My wallet hurts.
Sorry to hear that, although its not surprising. It can be weird the first time in gear though, and you may need to just work with it. I am sure it won’t really make you lift LESS weight… if it does, I can’t understand how.
But yes, it does suck.
The pro squatter should be a step up though, a large step up, although it is still subpar/out dated gear.
try it on deadlifts, maybe it will be a decent deadlift suit.
Hopefully. If not, then maybe you can sell it.
Gear that I would consider…if you are going to be multi-ply then Overkill canvas, leviathan, ginny’s, ACE, BOSS and 3ply Overkill poly are all suits I would consider. I think mark bell is in the 3 ply OK now. I have a 2-ply and it is a little weak, but still tons of pop.
Super centurion is jacked up. Throw some BOSS briefs under it and it is wicked… (not to make it worse, but you could have gotten a super centurion/BOSS combo for around 240 bucks, and probably gotten 250+ lbs from it once you got really good in gear)
I know that stuff will be awhile in the future, but as for now, I would try the pro squatter with the RDC briefs, and then upgrade to better briefs, and finally to a better suit.
Pro is pretty stretchy, and so are the RDC, so I would suggest when you upgrade briefs, going to something stiff like BOSS, or at least ACE, which also has good stop, but slightly less.