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Kettlebell Kettlebells in the car

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SamTX

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I have got to be away from the house with some time on my hands this spring and summer. I would love to be able to use these chunks of time for my kettlebell practice (currenlty, the pursuit of Simple).

What is the consensus about traveling with the kettlebells in the car? Is it an absolute no-no? Is it something that can be done safely with proper precautions?

I remember a discussion of this issue in the past, but don't recall what the hive mind decided...



Note: To get to my destination I have to spend good chunks of time on the interstate.
Note: I have a 20kg sandbag that I can somehow use in a pinch.
 
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I seatbelt mine with a loop to try and lock it in , and pull the strap so it locks on return .

In the van I go to the back bench, put the middle seatbelt with a loop over the handle and tightening that all the way. Till it's basically stationary.
 
Apparently those circular rubber dogs chew things will prevent kettlebells rolling if placed on them. I’ve never tried them. Failing that just seatbelt them in place.
 
KBs in a car absolutely have to be secured. It doesn't matter how well you might have them wedged in, they're not going to stay wedged in an accident.

I always buckle them in with a seatbelt in the back seat. With more than one, I might use some towels to keep them from knocking together or grinding against each other.
 
I've travelled with my bells a bit. I find the floor boards of the car work, and then tipping it over so the handle is on the floorboard as well, then push the handle up under the seat and put something behind it - a heavy comforter, another bell laid on its side (the handle pointing to the midline of the car), etc.
 
I have got to be away from the house with some time on my hands this spring and summer. I would love to be able to use these chuncks of time for my kettlebell practice (currenlty, the pursuit of Simple).

What is the consensus about traveling with the kettlebells in the car? Is it an absolute no-no? Is it something that can be done safely with proper precautions?

I remember a discussion of this issue in the past, but don't recall what the hive mind decided...



Note: To get to my destination I have to spend good chunks of time on the interstate.
Note: I have a 20kg sandbag that I can somehow use in a pinch.
Bells on the floor behind passenger seat with your sandbag tucked in behind to make a tight fit.
 
I have got to be away from the house with some time on my hands this spring and summer. I would love to be able to use these chuncks of time for my kettlebell practice (currenlty, the pursuit of Simple).

What is the consensus about traveling with the kettlebells in the car? Is it an absolute no-no? Is it something that can be done safely with proper precautions?

I remember a discussion of this issue in the past, but don't recall what the hive mind decided...



Note: To get to my destination I have to spend good chunks of time on the interstate.
Note: I have a 20kg sandbag that I can somehow use in a pinch.
No trunk ?
 
No trunk. I’m a little nervous about how the seatbelts would hold up on impact.
Well, you trust them to hold YOU, right?

A seatbelt assembly is required (US Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) to have a minimum tensile strength of 26,689N, which is equal to 6,000lbs, and elongate no more than 20% at 11,120N (2,500lbs).
 
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Well, you trust them to hold YOU, right?

A seatbelt assembly is required (US Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) to have a minimum tensile strength of 26,689N, which is equal to 6,000lbs, and elongate no more than 20% at 11,120N (2,500lbs).
Good point. Not being a smart aleck, but does the analysis hold for what is essentially a cannonball? My weight is distributed across more of the seatbelt than a kettlebell.
 
I seatbelt mine with a loop to try and lock it in , and pull the strap so it locks on return .
I do the same, and place the bells onto the kid's foam/rubber puzzle pieces to protect the car seat. You know those things: each one is about 30cm x 30cm and has a letter of the alphabet, or something. reading the comments above, I think you can also use a towel/blanket/pillow to protect your seats.
 
As @Don Fairbanks suggests, I've also found the best place in a sedan is on the floor between the rear and front seats.

I do have one story to share - I was driving to a kettlebell seminar here in New Jersey and was in our minivan that had bucket seats in the middle and we had removed the rearmost seat. I'd been asked to bring some kettlebells with me to the seminar. This was early on, perhaps 2004, and not everyone had a lot of kettlebells at their facility.

I was having a bit of trouble finding the place and almost drove by it, and when I noticed that fact, I also happened to be on a downhill. I slammed on the brakes as I pulled off the road, and while I had my right foot on the brake pedal, a kettlebell slid all the way up to the gas pedal and pushed it down. I found myself pushing on the brake pedal while hearing the engine revving quite high and I had no idea what was happening. Thinking I had a stuck throttle, I put the car into neutral, which solved the immediate problem, and only then did I realize that I didn't have a stuck throttle, I had a 12 kg kettlebell on my gas pedal.

-S-
 
Safest option is a trunk with cage. Then you use a couple of rated load restraint straps to hold it against the cage. The cage is between the occupants and the bell. These cages are in 4 wheel drives and station wagons. Possible some sedans may have something similar.

Another way is the use of a seat belt through the handle of the bell. These are designed to handle a human weight, the standard human weight used to 72kg but I believe that it has been increased a few kilograms due to changes in the average adult weight. I would make sure that any human occupants are out of range of any sideways motion if you use this method. You could also use some load restraint straps to limit the motion of the kettlebell.

A third option is have the bell placed down at floor level with load restraint straps through the handle to secure it in place to some really solid structures. You can use more than one strap and more than one anchor point to achieve a solid connection.

In transporting the bell, if there is a sharp change of speed or direction such as in a loss of car control event or an outright crash then the bell is subjected to massive forces. Essentially it is similar to the large forces you can measure from a kettlebell ballistic like a swing or snatch ie 100s of kilograms or more. You can also see why the anchor points need to be really solid as well.

I've tried sandbags and waterfilled type bags as they can be carried empty and filled at your destination. For travelling on trips I usually go for bodyweight exercises and use a very heavy rubber band for hinge movements (credit to Tom Furman, Armour of War for that idea).
The car I have these days has no cage but I have put a kb in the boot and then a couple of load restraint straps around the seat (these fold down flat and you can thus get a strap around them.
 
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