Black Iron Strength® FAQ

Why are some of the Thick Bars manufactured in different lengths?

With the exception of three bars, all Black Iron Strength® Thick Bars, also referred to as Fat Bars,  are 6 1/2 feet long. The inside collar to inside collar length of Black Iron Strength® Thick Bars is the same as the standard length Olympic bar. Therefore, our Thick Bars fit on any piece of free weight equipment such as a bench or power rack.

Black Iron Strength® took three inches off of each Thick Bar loading sleeve to keep the overall weight of the bars down. Over 14 years ago, when we questioned college and pro strength coaches, their primary request was to keep the weight of the Thick Bars as close as possible to 45 lbs.

The shorter loading points have never been a problem as far as running out of room to load plates. Many of the world's strongest athletes train with our Thick Bars and they have never complained about not having enough loading room on the sleeves.

With precision engineering, Black Iron Strength® produces the following Thick Bars, which are 6 ½ feet long:

  • 1 3/8 inch bar - 42.5 lbs.
  • 1 3/4 inch bar - 37.5 lbs.
  • 2 inch bar - 40 lbs.
  • 2 1/4 inch bar - 42.5 lbs.
  • 2 1/2 inch bar - 45 lbs.
  • 2 3/4 inch bar - 47.5 lbs.
  • 3 inch bar - 50 lbs.

As time progressed, some coaches and athletes requested a Thick Bar with a diameter of 1 3/4 inches that was 7 ft. long and weighed 45 lbs. After numerous prototypes, Black Iron Strength® accomplished this goal. The next bar we developed was the 7 ft. Power Bar with a diameter of 1 3/8 inches. The Power Bar is relatively stiff and weighs 50 lbs.  Both of these 7 ft. bars are very popular with lifters, who are squatting, dead lifting and bench pressing.

The other bar that is a different length is the Aluminum Training Bar, which is 6 ft long and weighs 10 lbs. A lot of the schools order this for the student athletes and the women to teach them Olympic lifting techniques.

Again, every bar produced by Black Iron Strength ® has the same length from inside collar to inside collar, which is the length as any standard Olympic Bar. Although it took a lot of engineering to make these measurements happen, Black Iron Strength® remains committed serving the customer’s needs with innovation.

Why are the first three pairs of kettlebells made of aluminum and not steel?

Customers requested a 10lb, 12.5lb, and 15lb. kettlebells that could stand vertically when set down. Due to the difference in weight of metals, aluminum was selected as the material instead of steel to get a solid piece of equipment in a shape that stood on its own. However, aluminum is not only more expensive than steel, but also more difficult to work with, hence the higher cost. Those are the only three kettlebells made of aluminum.