I agree with this. I have a pair of 10lb bumpers and three pairs of iron 10s. Since there are three of us mixing in it is nice to have at least that many tens especially when we have two bars going.
Also the deadlift jack. I thought I could get away without it but I was wrong. The Titan mini one is coming today. I wonder how long it'll be until I get the full one...
I just went through the Rogue vs Titan debate myself. I was planning to (and did) go Rogue for the rack, monolift attachments, and hooks....due to the quality issues from Titan. I seriously considered getting a Titan Plate storage set up and Titan Jack to save about $200 combined. However, I read that the Titan storage doesn't fit some plates very well (I got calibrated plates). In the end, I went with mindset that other than more plates (as the future gainz come)....the set up I bought should literally outlast me (I'm 42). With that in mind I ended up going 100% Rogue. It wasn't cheap for everything I got. But with the cost of a globogym near me...my Breakeven point is about 2 to 3 years. So, in the end, I think this is still a smart investment. And for me personally, lifting is not only my fitness activity...it is pretty much my hobby. so not sinking money into a boat (pun intended) or some other hobby, made this OK.
Yeah, I have almost all Rogue now. The only thing Titan is the bar jack, looks like a Rogue clone, so how bad can they screw it up? I guess I'll find out.
Took delivery yesterday on more Rogue gear; adjustable monolift, spotter arms, and matador, for my RM-3 Monster rack. Also ordered pin/pipes, which may be useless with all the other gear, and since my rack came with strap safeties. I blame my late night internet shopping weakness. They might be useful since they only block one hole, as opposed to the straps and spotter arms.
I figured if I'm eventually going to buy this equipment, I may as well have it now, rather than later.
Spent part of the evening making notes on which holes work for which accessories, in each exercise, so I can just go in and train without doing trial and error placement.
The living room squat rack may now get sold on craigslist, if I can get confident enough that I'll go out to my detached garage, with it's steel roll down gate that has to remain open when I'm in it, during the Winter when it's 3 degrees, and a blizzard is blowing 2' snow drifts around.
Unfortunately lifting is not my only hobby, but it's my only physical activity, so it's worth it.
I think the final purchase will be a heavy bag of some sort, for cardio.
I have the Vulcan Alphas and can't recommend them enough. No smell, low bounce & relatively quiet. Kind of a cool look too. I have 55, 45 (2 pair), 35 & 25's. I have no need for the 10's and probably won't get them until the kids get big enough to start training (note the 10's are smaller diameter to maintain material density).
Titan's full deadlift jack showed up last week, not long after ordering.
It's adequately built for the purpose.
I was wrong about the mini deadlift jack being just as good.
The difference of bending over and jacking the bar up by hand, twice per weight change; and standing upright like Homo Sapiens, sliding it under the bar, using the leverage of the handle to raise both side of the bar at the same time, is like night and day in terms of speed and ease.
The only thing better about the mini deadlift jack is that you can have more than 3 plate difference per side and it won't tip, whereas the full size deadlift jack you need to balance the load within about 2 plates before it tips. No big deal.
Full size jack wins by miles.
Compared to Rogue the Titan jack is a steal.
Thank you Chinese fabricators. May your mig welding skills improve.
Used the Rogue monolift on my RM-3 rack for the first time this weekend for squats.
Pretty nice.
Took a minute to realize I didn't have to do anything after unracking it, except to squat. My reflexes wanted me to do my usual walkout routine, but obviously unnecessary, so I adjusted my toes out a bit and that's it.
Managed to come up a little crooked and too far forward on one rep, and nailed the left hook on the way up once, but no big deal.
The nice thing is the plates clear the rack uprights, so there's no hitting them after unracking the bar.
I have to get used to simply leaning forwards to re-rack the bar, taking a step forward is actually much more awkward.
Looking forward to using it for benching, where I think it will have a bigger impact on how well the lift goes.
I'm sold on it.
I have the mono lift attachment for my Monster Lite rack. I bought them with the idea that I would use them for both squats and bench, but the attachments weigh a ton, and are a PITA to move around to the point that I mostly just use them for squats after I nearly dropping them on my head one too many times moving them.