DHS Hercules bumpers vs Pendlay elite

[Zach Stevens]

So these two brands cost pretty much the same for a set of colored training bumpers ($900~). The best deal out there for sure for colored high quality stuff. My question is i can barely find anything on the hercules bumpers, has anyone here tried them? Anyone have any input on which brand would be better for the money?

There are a couple differences i see, the Hercules are a solid bumper with no metal insert showing, they also are all the same width. Other then that i have no clue.

[Matt Foreman]

For what it's worth, I've got a set of those Hi-Temp bumpers they sell on Rogue fitness and they're awesome. Very durable and tough, and cheap as hell. If I buy any more stuff for my garage gym, that's what I'm getting.

[Greg Everett]

I haven't heard anything one way or another about DHS really aside from its existence. I know of one coach who purchases a large number of their bars and seemed happy, but I haven't heard more about that since then - his opinion may very well have changed as the bars got more use.

Hi-temp and similar inexpensive bumpers are great if you want to be super economical, but the main drawbacks are 1) loose fit on the bar and 2) super wide.

#1 makes it tough to lift without collars, which is not a big deal, but I hate using collars

#2 makes it hard to load many plates on the bar