My 15 year old daughter wants a punch bag. She thought it could just go in the garage hung from a beam but it’s a 1969 built double garage so the beams are long and not very strong. I could reinforce them and tie them together but I’m still not happy with the idea of potentially pulling the garage roof in.

The house is timber framed with a brick skin – bricks are very weak, I wouldn’t want to screw a frame to them or indeed the timber frame which I suspect would not meet current standards.

So that leaves me with a punchbag stand which would be expensive or a tree. We’ve got a medium oak tree in the garden, 100 years old so big and mature. I was thinking of putting a sling round one of the large branches 2m from the trunk and then hanging the bag from there on static rope. The bag would be detached when not in use and can live in the shed.

Would that work? Will the squirrels object or worse still try and eat the sling and rope?

That would be fine.

With all that training your daughter could punch the squirrels if they get a bit cocky.

With all that training your daughter could punch the squirrels if they get a bit cocky.

She’s more likely to deal with them than the lazy cats!

Punching squirrels and cats… now we’re talking! 😉

That’s going to be pretty shit for a good 50percent of the year.

If it’s raining… Nope

If the ground is wet… nope

If it’s cold… Nope.

No pumping tunes… Nope.

What are the garage walls made of? Sister one of the rafters with a bigger beam? Add prospers up the wall if needed?

Build gallows type bracket that swings out? You could build a complete one that sits on the floor and is bolted up the wall.

Make it a strong rope and you could have it double as a swing. Unclip the bag and clip on a seat arrangement. Dual purpose 😉

Use one of these, pretty good.

The smooth surface and inherent weight make a decent sized punch bag frustratingly difficult to to lift & manhandle onto a hook or clip. I wouldn’t want to be carrying a bag outside and getting it hooked up every time I fancied a 20 minute session on it.

I had one suspended in the garage for a while, with a pulley arrangement which allowed me to hoist it up to a horizontal position between the joists, so it was out of the way when not in use.

Do you not just need a floor standing punchbag?

Second hand engine hoist?

@murray – Is she wanting to use it just for boxing training or for kicks if she does Muay Thai/karate etc.?

Wouldn’t want to hang one outside every time as the Thai banana bags can weigh ~70kg, unless she is unlike most teenagers I foresee you doing the putting up and taking down 😉

Personally if she is serious or you would use it as well, get a floor mounted one for your garage. Far more useful given the British weather, or some focus mitts/ Thai pads if she wants to do some training with you.

https://www.geezersboxing.co.uk/punching-bags/brackets-fittings/stands-bag-hangers

It should be tOakally fine Ashually, but Yew Beech careful Wenge you put it up. 👍

I was looking at the punch bags yesterday in decathlon, wouldn’t mind one myself. The free standing stands looked ok.

How suitable are they for outside though, in terms of weather resistance, the bags not stands.

@poolman – They aren’t weather resistant at all, if they are sand and rag filled traditional style it’s a bad idea as they soak up water and get much heavier/harder. Not good for your hands even with proper wraps and gloves.

If I had a porch or gazebo protecting it from elements I wouldn’t do it in the UK to be honest, unless you are in the South where you might be able to get away with it if you moved the bag inside during the winter.

I had a 90kg bag in the old.garage, put a scaffold pole diagonally across the garage about 6″ under the ceiling.

It meant I could pull it out into the middle and train round it, when finished just slide it back against the wall.

@kayak23 – Glad you are branching out into comedy as well now 😉

Duplicate post…

Where I used to live in Hebden Bridge someone had out up a punch bag in a clearing in the woods near a river. Probably not very practical but it looked like an awesome place to train.

@kayak23 – Glad you are branching out into comedy as well now 😉

But given the quality of the puns, barking up the wrong tree, leaf out the jokes and stick to the day job.

It really depends on what discipline it’s to be used for?! As others have said, it isn’t suitable to leave them outside and you don’t want to keep hanging them up/taking them down. My Fairtex uppercut bag weighs over 60kg and is awkward as hell to hang up, so I never take it down. Depending on how hard it’s going to be hit a standing bag may be the best bet, far easier to manhandle into a corner when not in use.

Outside would be a massive pain as others have said – why not just get an freestanding bag stand? e.g. https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/free-standing-versatile-and-weightable-punching-bag-stand-900/_/R-p-308532?mc=8554189

If the garage is a pre fab then the walls will probably be a bit iffy to hold a punch bag.

I wouldn’t out one outside in this country and tbh unless you have a large house with well sound deadened rooms, I wouldn’t put one indoors where others live as they make a lot of noise when being slapped hard.

How about building a floor based frame in the garage. Shouldn’t be too expensive out of wood or metal and could use a floor section that it drops on and fastens into to keep it steady if needed.

Building will be ok once the design is thought of as it is all squares or right angles.

As the others have said. The bag will deteriorate quite quickly. Have a look on Facebook/Gumtree for people selling off their stands. Or look for an XXL floor standing one on the adds too, they can go for a reasonable price.
If she’s not going to use it everyday, maybe consider a kick – boxing or a gym with bag for her to use.
I was going to get a bag, but with little space, when I looked how often I would use it, decided on going to the local gym instead. Got a speed ball with reflex arm at home instead.

The smooth surface and inherent weight make a decent sized punch bag frustratingly difficult to to lift & manhandle onto a hook or clip.

Exactly what I was going to say. Our punchbag is fixed to the wall of our garage (using something like this) but last spring in the lockdown I moved it outside (hung from our girls’ climbing frame) and it was such a faff lifting it on and off when it rained / the girls wanted to use the climbing frame for swinging etc.

I’d hang it in the garage, split the load over multiple beams, re-enforce as needed.

Mine hangs from a 2×4 that is over 4 beams to spread the load!

+1 for a scaffold pole. Use some chocks to hold it in place at either side, resting on the wall next to a rafter, and seat it on some old innertubes

Strengthen the rafters with a length of wood from the rafter to the floor? I did this to make a chin up/pull up frame and not had a problem.

Or make your own stand that fixes to the floor and ceiling. The ceiling won’t be taking the load. Just keeps ii from moving too much.

Thanks all, second-hand stand from Facebook / eBay in the garage sounds the way to go.

I have nothing to add to this but fair play to your daughter. Good on her.

If you were any kind of dad you’d hang it from your wrist and hold it up for her

I’d just bite the bullet/ pull the trigger on a proper stand.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Free-Standing-Speed-Bag-Platform-Boxing-Punch-Bag-Fitness-Station-Stand-/233864490261?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

At least you get the option to work on the speedball too.

You might want to add the double-ended bag too:

The trick is to find a way to anchor the base.

^^^^^

In other words, you want to concentrate on your footwork and not worry about doing the splits on some muddy ground.

I’ve thought about getting one of these for a while but haven’t gotten around to it yet. So I can’t really recommend, but it could fit your needs.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-75ft-Free-Standing-Heavy-Duty-Punch-Bag-Kick-Boxing-Martial-Art-Training-Boxin-/144200529785?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

@burntembers – Would not bother at all with a freestanding bag unless it’s for an non-athletic six year old. Slightest whiff of power and they go walkies or fall over. Also not enough resistance on the springs to keep the bag in range for your combos so doesn’t transfer well to using it with people for sparring and competing unfortunately.

@kimura54321 Thanks what you say makes sense, pity though as having the 360 degree area to move around and strike was appealing (as opposed to having a bag hanging from a wall bracket).

I had exactly the same idea many years ago when I was an angry little bugger with loads of energy. I used to hang mine from a tree up the local woods and train by the light of a Coleman Northstar petrol lantern, and usually burn myself carrying it back.
The reason was that i used to hang it off my old girls garage beam, but beam was carrying through into next doors attached garage. They had a broken drain which had washed all the support from underneath their foundations, and the constant vibration and shock ended up causing it to fail, and the party wall cracked and split down the middle. So I ended up throwing my heavy bag in the back of my 110 and heading off up the local woods every weekend for a stress relief session.
Great times.

The leverage on t he branch at 6′ from its trunk might be excessive though.

I’ve got a bag outside (mounted to my ‘wall of pain’ – pull up bar with the punchbag hanging from it).
It’s a water bag though, so proper waterproof.

DrP