Filled or empty, and how many handles it actually has
A training sandbag is a shifting load, which is the whole point: unlike a dumbbell, the mass moves inside the shell during the lift and the body has to respond to it. The first thing to establish from a listing is whether the bag arrives filled or empty, because a great many are sold as a shell and the buyer supplies the sand. That is not a flaw — it is far cheaper to ship — but it changes what has been bought, and the fill range in kilograms is then the specification that matters. Bags filled by the maker state a fixed weight; bags filled at home state a minimum and maximum. The inner bags are what make a home-filled bag usable: several sealed liners of known weight let the load be adjusted and stop the sand migrating into one end. Their number and individual capacity are published by the makers worth buying from. Then the handles, and this is where these products genuinely differ: two end handles make it a carry; four or six around the body make it a clean, a press and a shoulder-to-shoulder carry. Handle position is a design decision and it is visible in the photographs. The outer material — typically a heavy nylon or Cordura with a stated denier — and the stitching decide how long it survives being dropped, and the closure, whether a roll-top with buckles or a zip, decides whether sand escapes. We compare fill weight, supplied filled, length, handle count and outer material.
Unfilled, 2–11 kg capacity, 1000D Cordura liner
An empty shell sold by its capacity: 2 to 11 kg once filled, with a 1000D Cordura inner bag, YKK zips and a waterproof outer.
Best for: Somebody who has sand and wants a shell that will survive it
Unfilled, liner kit included, 70–100 kg, three sizes
A strongman sandbag at the top of this shelf by capacity — 70 to 100 kg — supplied unfilled with a liner kit, from a maker specialising in the sport.
Best for: Strongman loading work where 70 kg and upward is the starting point
Filled with metal sand, 2 handles and a loop, kg marked
A filled bag with metal sand inside, two handles and a loop, and the weight printed on the outside — six sizes from 5 to 30 kg.
Best for: A room with several bags where telling them apart at a glance matters
Filled, 10 kg iron sand core, foam-reinforced, 6 weights
A filled bag with an iron sand core wrapped in foam — denser than sand, so the bag is smaller for its weight, and it arrives ready to use.
Best for: Somebody who wants to train on the day it arrives
Filled 10 kg, synthetic leather, 5–30 kg range
A filled bag in wipeable synthetic leather, from a published 5 to 30 kg range, sold for studio as well as home use.
Best for: A bag that will be used by more than one person and needs wiping down
Unfilled, 8 handles, 1200D Cordura, four sizes
The most handles in this family — eight, described as strategically placed — in a 1200D Cordura shell offered across four published capacity ranges.
Best for: Carrying and lifting work where the grip position changes constantly
Unfilled, 1000D Cordura, 4 sizes with liner counts
An unfilled sandbag in 1000D coated Cordura, offered in four sizes whose inner-bag counts and kilogram ranges are both published.
Best for: Somebody planning a loading and needing to know how many liners come with it
Filled 20 kg, PVC with double stitching, multiple handles
A filled 20 kg bag in wear-resistant PVC with double stitching and reinforced handles. Four bullets, no dimensions.
Best for: Somebody who wants 20 kg in a bag and nothing more specified
Bulgarian bag, horseshoe, 4 handles, pre-filled 15 kg
Not a power bag but a Bulgarian bag: a horseshoe shape with four reinforced handles, pre-filled and hermetically sealed at exactly 15 kg.
Best for: Rotational work — spins, halos and snatches — rather than carries
Only the specifications at least four models out of five state. A column that is more empty than full compares nothing.
| Model | Price | Amazon reference | Fill weight | Handle count | Length |
|---|
Specifications: manufacturer sheets and Amazon product pages. Prices and availability: Keepa. No product on this site has been physically tested.
Most recent revision in this category: September 20, 2026.
