TITAN FITNESS EQUIPMENT FIRST IMPRESSIONS: 12" LOG AND SHORT YOKE

Titan Fitness is making a splash in the lifting world by offering high quality products at bargain basement prices.  Theories abound on how they are managing to somehow sell products for less than the cost of materials, to include cheap foreign labor, drug money, mafia fronts and magic (my money is still on the mafia front), but however they’re doing it, people are getting in while the getting is good, and I’m no exception.  I have recently come into possession of their 12” strongman log and the T-3 Short yoke, and wanted to give my first impressions for those of you interested in buying.

Sadly, Titan's website doesn't have the charm of NYBB

12” Log

You get what you pay for, and shipping is no exception.  When the log arrived at my doorstep, the box was partially shredded but in good repair.  

I have pissed off a LOT of mailcarriers

Once I unloaded the log, I found that the pipping on one of the cut outs was slightly bent and that there were some small dings around the body, similar to what happens to a car panel when hit by a door.  All cosmetic, no structural issues.

The welding, on the other hand, is clearly spotty.  I have never welded before, and I’m not the best judge of it, but even I can notice things like when a weld doesn’t go all the way around.  For the inner and outer plates of the log, the welders welded 3 spots to secure it to the log body.  The handles are mostly welded all the way around on the log, as are the pins.  Compare this to a CFF log, where the whole thing has welds all the way around, and you can see where Titan slacks compared to the next cheapest log on the market (yes; I have an affinity for cheap things).  I have had a welder/strongman give me his opinion on the log, and he’s of the belief that you shouldn’t use it for a competition where it’s going to get dropped and abused but that, for a training log, it should have no issues.  I may end up taking it to a local welder for a quote just for peace of mind.

We mentioned the handles briefly, but let me go on further; oh my god, the handles.  It seems like every other log on the market treated the handles like an afterthought.  Some companies installed handles that were way too thick and spaced too far apart (Rogue 10”), some use dual handles, which are very silly and could result in your hands getting trapped on a bail out (CFF log), some are super slick, and pretty much none are knurled.  Titan learned from the mistakes of their competitors, and installed some solid, long, KNURLED log handles.  They’re hollow and feel slightly cheap, but for once you can get a solid grip on a log.  However, training on this log and moving to a slick log could be a concern.

Handles shown here, along with the bent pipping mentioned earlier

On the topic of slickness, the Titan log doesn’t feel particularly slick compared to others for me, but does have a very solid and impressive powder coat to it.  Titan does a great job with powder coating, once again, no idea how they afford it.

The Titan logo is cut into only one side of the log.  Some were concerned that this would make the log feel unbalanced, but I haven’t noticed any issues.

Cut outs are very well done.  Huge spacing so that you don’t cut up your forearms on the clean.

The website says the log is 90lbs, everyone that has weighed it got 100lbs.  I stuck with everyone elses’ word and didn’t weigh it personally.

SHOULD YOU BUY IT? 

There are SO many of these

Hell yeah you should!  At $165, you’d be a sucker not to.  Yeah, the CFF log feels more solidly built, but it’s also about $60 more on sale, and it’s 3” smaller.  Trying to find a cheaper 12” log is impossible.

T-3 SHORT YOKE

It is honestly a weird feeling building the very thing that once crippled you

Much like the log, the yoke arrived in slightly damaged boxes.  I say boxes (plural) because the uprights arrive in 1 box and the feet and crossbar arrive in the other.  What doesn’t arrive is the hitch pins.  I’m not the only one that had this issue, and part of me wonders if Titan is saving money by not shipping all the parts of their products and just banking on people not fighting it.  I ended up buying some hitch pins at a farming supply store, but I also got Titan to send me what I was owed, so no harm either way.

Assembly isn’t too bad, but if you don’t have a 1” socket, get one.  I didn’t have one, and I didn’t try to put it together with 2 adjustable wrenches; I ran out to Home Depot and got the socket.  It’s going to save you a lot of time and effort, as after that, it bolts together pretty easy.  Instructions are monkeyproof. 

Please don't prove me wrong

Try as I might, I could NOT get the crossbar over one of the uprights while the space shim bracket on the top was in place.  I eventually tried so hard I sheered off one of the plastic knobs that was supposed to hold it to the crossbar.  However, even without it, I experienced zero wobble issues.  The yoke is so well put together structurally that you can be loose at a few points and still have a solid yoke.

Welding is about the same as with the log.  More spots than solid welds all around.  Powder coating is also very well done once again.  The thing looks exactly like a Rogue yoke, except with Ts instead of Rs on it.

I’ve so far taken it up to 705lbs for 50’ walks with zero wobble.  For contrast, the Pitbull econo yoke starts to wobble right around the 400lb mark, and gets worse the more weight you put on.

705 Titan vs 750 pitbull.  Both still good at upsetting neighbors

This yoke also has skis on the feet vs just flat metal, so it slides smoother when you drop it, and makes less hellacious noise.

The crossbar is also near 3” in diameter, compared to the 2” of a Pitbull econo yoke.  The powder coating doesn’t make it slick surprisingly; I needed no athletic tape to keep it in place on my back.

SHOULD YOU BUY IT?  

Told you

Once again, at $30 lower than the next closest competitor and comparing it directly to that (The Pitbull Econo yoke), this is just a no brainer.  Simply comparing them as yokes, the Titan blows it out of the water.  It’s far more stable, it has a wider crossbar, it has far more adjustable settings, it’s much easier to adjust (quick pins vs nut and bolt assembly) and easier to take apart, which means more space economic.  And this isn’t even taking into consideration that the Titan yoke can ALSO be used as squat stands, which opens up its utility even moreso.  I have the short yoke, and at 5’9 I can squat and press out of it, but not do any manner of chins.  If you get the full size yoke, there is no way you’ll be limited.


---

Hey folks, for those that read all the way to the bottom, 2 days ago this blog turned 5 years old.  Really appreciate all of my readers out there, whether you have been here since the start or tuned in yesterday.  When I started this, I never really thought it would go on for this long or reach as many people as it did.  I have no plans to stop for now, so keep pitching me ideas.  Appreciate all you have done for me, and if we meet in person, be sure to say hi.