Kabuki Trap Bar Review

TL;DR: I can't recommend this enough. The price is well outweighed by the versatility and construction, especially if you're a garage gym owner.

I don't feel like posting pics on a hosting site just to post here, so here's a link to the bar I'm talking about. LINK

Unboxing: I don't really give a shite about what something looks like coming out of a box as long as it's kept safe, but I know some do so I figured I'd blurb on that real quick. It wasn't "pretty," but there wasn't so much as a scratch on the bar. It came in a beat up cardboard box and getting it out was a little bit of a pain in the arse. No frills whatsoever though, just cardboard and bubblewrap. It comes disassembled and took roughly 30 minutes to put together and the setup was pretty simple.

Construction: After setup, it's very stable with no creaks or clanks. The sleeves ring the classic, awesome sound when you're loading plates and have great milling. One end of the bar is open and functions as a bar jack to allow easy plate loading. The bar weighs 30kg once assembled. You're buying a premium product and it shows as it is a good looking bar and just feels sturdy.

Use: If you own a garage gym, you know versatility is king. I'm more than happy to spend extra on one well-built piece of equipment that serves multiple purposes rather than pure specialty equipment. This bar knocks that out of park because of the open end. I'd particularly recommend it for those with poor shoulder mobility like myself because I'll bite through my impingements for squats, but lower-weight things like lunges no longer require a barbell on my back because I can just hold this thing up on my sides.

The bar comes with two differently sized handles. One is standard width, similar to a barbell, and one is a fat handle. I went with 1.5" but you can choose 2" at checkout. The handles are also swappable so you can buy another size down the road if you want. They're setup so that one set of handles is standard barbell/plate height and the other is a few inches above standard height from the ground. The fat handle is a great way to kill two birds with one stone to work on grip/forearm strength while doing farmer's carries, shrugs, etc.

Obviously the bar jack is extremely helpful. When jacked up, this also serves as a bench for me to sit on when I'm doing carries on my street.

I can't emphasize the versatility enough. It's not just a lower body bar. I've done rows, floor presses, shoulder presses, and other upper lifts/pulls. The vertical rather than horizontal hand placement allows a slightly different emphasis to your muscle if desired which is a great way to mix it up.

Final thing I'll talk about is the knurling. It's very finely knurled and doesn't look aggressive from an eye test. I'm used to the Ohio Power Bar which is pretty aggressive, but this actually feels even more rugged. I assume it's because it has many more points even though the knurling doesn't look nearly as deep as the OPB. The more aggressive the better imo, but that's certainly a matter of personal preference and something to think about if you don't want an aggressive knurl.

Price: This is the shitty part. It's really steep at $650. But, I think "buy once, cry once" applies here given the quality of construction and versatility it offers. I think it's well worth it for a garage gym owner, but obviously others may think differently.