Kettlebell Showdown: Top Brands Compared

I know I’ve talked exclusively about Dragon Door kettlebells on this blog – and that’s truly because I think they’re the best. I’m not personally biased one way or the other just because I’m an RKC – I just want the best ‘bells. And it’s funny, as kettlebell brand seems to be a kind of sensitive topic for people in the kettlebell community.  So I thought I would put together a list of major brands of kettlebells with a few of the good and bad things about each.  This list is by no means exhaustive – feel free to leave your opinion on the best kettlebell brand in the comments section. If there are any brands that you like and use that I’ve left out, feel free to point that out as well.

1st Tier Brands:  Ader + Dragon Door

It seems that the kettlebell brands most widely used are Dragon Door and Ader – this is just from personal observation and other discussions I’ve seen about this topic.

Dragon Door:

  • Generally agreed upon that the ‘bell is more comfortable
  • DD ‘bells have a nice, flat bottom that’s great for stuff like renegade rows
  • Nicely built and well balanced ‘bell
  • For a more detailed review of the Dragon Door ‘bells, click here

Save up to 30% on Dragon Door's classic Kettelbells

Ader:

  • Harder to grip, which could be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it
  • Generally well reviewed bell and slightly cheaper price than Dragon Door

2nd Tier Brands: Powermax + Apollo

These ‘bells aren’t as good quality and aren’t as well made – they’re also considerably cheaper.  Reviews aren’t as good across the board.  But, the lower price makes them attractive to some – and if you’re just planning on doing some occasional swings with them – maybe using them for CrossFit workouts or something – they’re probably just fine in all honesty.

Adjustables

This is a new kettlebell breed. The purists like myself would never consider something like this, but for some, it may be a good option.  Positives are that one can have only one kettlebell and adjust the weight as you get stronger, switch exercises, etc.

So there you have a review of the different kettlebell brands! Which one is your favorite?

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6 thoughts on “Kettlebell Showdown: Top Brands Compared

  1. Andrew Levitz

    Not a very balanced “review.” First of all, the author obviously has very little experience with kettlebells and virtually no knowledge of all the various makes and types of kettlebells. The insertion of a Dragon Door Affiliate link says it all…are you an RKC and do you sell Dragon Door kettlebells? Obviously the answer is yes. What about Competition kettlebells like AKC or IKKF bells?

    Ader is not a “top tier” kettlebell. What about Kettlebells USA kettlebells? I saw them on a Forwarding Operating Base in Afghanistan and they are better than Dragon Door or Ader.

    Adjustable kettlebells have been around for a long, long time. Please do a real review of kettlebells.

  2. admin

    Hi Andrew –

    Thanks for the comment. I appreciate different viewpoints and experience others have had with different kettlebell types.

    ‘Very little experience’ is relative term, I guess – I’ve probably logged about 500 hours of kettlebell training over the last two years myself, am RKC certified, have conducted thousands of one on one and group training sessions with clients with kettlebells, and have hosted several kettlebell training seminars. I’m by all means learning new things all the time, but I feel very confident in teaching the basics.

    The hardstyle RKC system is very different from competition style kettlebell training – so I don’t have experience with competition style ‘bells. Competition style kettlebell training is great if that’s what you’re in to – I’m just not interested.

    And yes, I used an affiliate link for the Dragon Door bells and do get commission for referring them – as well as all the rest of the ‘bells. And I use them myself almost exclusively – so I recommend them because I think they’re the best I’ve used. Hey, maintaining a blog like this takes time and money – I have no problem at all getting a few bucks for referring a great product to support my efforts.

    Thanks again for the feedback

    Forest

  3. IST PAIR OF KB’S BOUGHT WERE FROM DRAGONDOOR(20KG)
    NOW HAVE 16K,24K,32K,40K, & 48K ALL FROM ADER
    ONLY PROBLEM WITH DD BELLS WERE THE BOTTOM. COULD NOT
    DO RENEGADE ROWS
    ADER KBs HAVE GREAT BALANCE & NO PROBLEMS WITH THE
    HANDLES. AND I HAVE PRETTY GOOD SIZED HANDS
    JUST MY 2 cents worth

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