Black Widow Safety Squat Bar Review

[adaje41]

I've been having some shoulder flexibility problems lately so I decided to buy a SSB so I can do squats while I work on fixing my shoulders. I was looking at the Elite FTS one at first, and they had a good Pre Black Friday sale going on. But I missed out on the sale so I went with Black Widow instead. I've heard a lot of good things about their trap bars and football bars but I haven't seen anything about their SSB. Here's my impressions of it.

Here's the link in case anyones interested:
http://www.blackwidowtg.com/product_p/bar-safety.htm


Pics:
http://imgur.com/a/Uv6Om


Order Process, Shipping/Handling
They have a simple site, no fancy bells and whistles, just plain add to cart + checkout, no problems here. Processing/shipping/handling took a total of 1.5 weeks which wasn't bad imo. As for packaging, the box was in pieces, I bet that's UPS's fault though. Inside the box though, the bar was wrapped in a thick layer of plastic and the pads are wrapped in another layer of cardboard. So despite the shipping box's condition, the bar was flawless.


Build Quality
This thing is built solid. I don't think I'd be able to break it in my lifetime. Welds look clean and durable. The material itself looks very sturdy and thick. The bar is hollow but it came with plastic end caps so it still looks pretty nice. Paint is a grippy matte black, very similar to the Rogue paint job. Paint seems durable too, I accidentally scratched it with a utility knife while I was cutting away the packaging, it didn't even leave a mark.


Pads
Pads are dense but comfortable. It's made out of some dense foam, wrapped in saran wrap, which is then wrapped in pleather. The outer pleather wraps to the pads using velcro. Stitching looks ok, clean and well done. The site has pics of bars with the one piece pad, but the one I got is the three piece one. I can't really think of any differences between them, except for maybe the three piece one would be easier to remove/repair.


Handles
Handles are long, actually longer that I'd need. If you look at my pics, you'll see where the concentration of the chalk is, then there's still a good bit of handle after that. Same paint as the bar so it's plenty grippy even without chalk. The angle was ok too, their easy enough to reach for.


Price
It's cheaper that most of the other name brand bars I looked at so that's a plus.


Customer Service
They get bonus points for this. I emailed them for an ETA and they responded fairly quickly (even though they didn't an ETA at that time). Also when I orderred the bar, I typed in the comments box "hook me up with Thanksgiving freebies?" and they sent me a block of chalk and a shirt




Cliffs:
- great build quality
- very nice piece for the price
- cool customer service
- definitely buying more stuff from them

[Kodokan]

Hey, that looks great. I have the EFS yoke bar and this bar looks extremely similar in many respects. If you're not a competitive powerlifter you'll never have any want or need to go back to a regular bar.

I still do as part of a westside-style program but I hate it and just love the yoke/ss type bar because of previous survery and ongoing trouble with shoulder problems.

[817boy]

Thanks for the review. Im looking at purchasing one next xmas. BWTG makes good products.

[devlin182]

Nice Review. Thanks. Definitely getting one for myself.

[GarageIron]

Awesome review and great choice. Dean's work is a great reminder of the way things used to be and should be made. Thanks for reviewing and taking pics.

[adaje41]

If you're not a competitive powerlifter you'll never have any want or need to go back to a regular bar.

that's true. I don't compete I'm just trying to get stronger, and I don't see myself getting back to regularly doing straight bar squats because of the discomfort I'm having with it. Maybe I would for comparing stats or something but I'm most probably sticking with my SSB for my main squat workout.

Awesome review and great choice. Dean's work is a great reminder of the way things used to be and should be made. Thanks for reviewing and taking pics.

after seeing the quality of his work first hand, I've now got my eyes on a couple other stuff from him. I'm thinking about grabbing a dip stand from him around Christmas or something.

[Jetigen]

Build Quality
This thing is built solid. I don't think I'd be able to break it in my lifetime. Welds look clean and durable. The material itself looks very sturdy and thick. The bar is hollow but it came with plastic end caps so it still looks pretty nice. Paint is a grippy matte black, very similar to the Rogue paint job. Paint seems durable too, I accidentally scratched it with a utility knife while I was cutting away the packaging, it didn't even leave a mark.

How much the bar weighs? It's not on their website. Just curious to know since you mentioned it was hollow.

[animalfan]

Nice review- I bought from him before and will again. Hopefully sooner than later.

[HawkTime7]

Thank you for the great review. I just ordered their rackable Hex, rackable curl, and DL jack. So many positive reviews at a competitive price. Definitely want that SSB. Deans business seems to be blowing up, so I should probably buy before they raise prices.

[adaje41]

How much the bar weighs? It's not on their website. Just curious to know since you mentioned it was hollow.

I thought it felt lighter than my regular 45 lb barbell, but I'm not 100% sure. I'll weigh them when I get home and I'll post back.


edit: I weight it three times, two on hang position once while on my back, it came in at 42 lbs all three times.

to gauge my scale's accuracy, I weighed my Rogue bar as well, it came in at 44.6 lbs twice so I guess it's off by a fraction of a pound or something