wall bag filling

[james]

i was doing some wall bag training last night, and for some pedantic reason was unhappy with the way it felt; it just didn't feel like i was punching anything approximating a human. i have a 300mmx300mm leather wall bag, which until this morning was filled with 2.5kg of black eyed beans, which are VERY expensive for a bag filler (cost me about £7 to fill it!!).

i went to sainsburys this morning and bought various incredibly cheap possibilities, including lentils, split peas, some kind of weird beans, bulgar wheat, and good old fashioned rice.

after lots of experimentation, lots of spilling stuff all over my floor, and lots of punching and waking everybody up [>_<] i came to the conclusion that 2kg's of black eyed beans at the bottom, with 1kg of rice (sainsbury's basics if it makes a difference?) on the top, shaken about a bit gives a nice balance that doesn't need to be shaken back into shape every three punches, but doesn't separate so much that you end up punching the wall either!!

what does everybody else use?

James.

ps. i've invented the term 'hybrid filling' for my glorious creation. use it wisely.

[Dan]

at home on my 3 section bag i have dry red kidny beans on top then rice in the middle then mostly rice but a handfull of kidny beaqns coz i was short on rice at the bottom. This was a good set up for me coz the rice gave a tight packed feel in the middle section and the bean at the top were hard but less dense (and i didnt really use the 'hybrid filling' section coz it was at the bottom). However at uni i use black eyed peas but i have a small bag at uni so its not too expensive to fill (bout 2 quid). however i find my one at uni works really well. My uni bag is canvas and i think this makes a big differance!! The clubs bag is leather and gets (and stays) out of shape after a few hits and has beans similar to black eyed peas in. but mine due to the fact it is canvas, falls back in shape after every hit. So I think what bag, (size and material constuction) makes a big differance.

Wow cant belive im talking about beans in a punch bag,

[agni]

Mine is a canvas bag filled with fish tank gravel. Its great, it doesn't pack down like sand.

[wingchunseeker]

Also, with the exception of Agni, if you are a bit desperate and cash-strapped at the end of the month, you can always use a bit of the wall bag filling to make soup

[james]

i think you'd have to be VERY desperate to eat fish tank gravel!!

update: the people next door were complaining about the noise (through a solid brick wall!!), so i put a big block of auralex foam (acoustic isolation material used in recording studios) between the bag and the wall. as it was initially held in by the weight of the bag, every time i hit it, it fell out. this was obviously not a good thing.

i then got a sack, which until recently contained sprouts. after some modification to the sack, i am able to hang it, containing the foam blocks, behind the bag, using the same hooks. hanging the bag from the hooks with VERY strong elastic bands also helps somewhat, and because it's slightly springy, it shakes itself back into shape.

i suppose i should really stop procrastinating now and do some actual work...

[Tom]

this is a good thread...

I filled mine with rice, but there isn't enough in there as I ran out before filling it. I might fill it up with black eyed peas if that gives it a good shape...

[agni]

I was going to try carlings (dried peas that you used with a pea shooter) but there was no where around here that seemed to sell them.