My gym has several Rogue Boneyard bars and the knurling is brutal, may be why they went to the Boneyard. I can lift up to 315 without pain, but above that and the knurls feel like they're cutting into my hands. My solution was to go ahead and use straps on anything above 315. And before Dalan ask, I'm a blacksmith by trade and there's nothing soft about my hands.