Titan Fitness Loadable 15-In Olympic Dumbbell Handle

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What’s going on guys? It’s Hai.

Over the past few months, I’ve been putting together a home gym. It’s coming along but one thing that I’ve desperately been needing is a dumbbell setup. Well, I decided to pick up the Titan Fitness Loadable 15 in Olympic Dumbbell Handle. If you can’t tell by the name, these are basically bare handles that you can use to load plates on and make your own dumbbells. These particular handles have a 6.25” gripping area and 2” wide sleeves that are 3.75” in length. The entire thing is 15” in overall length and weighs 8 lbs each.

Now, you may be wondering, why buy such a thing? Why not just buy dumbbells? No doubt, standalone dumbbells are the way to go if you want the most convenience and durability. However, if you’re serious and want an entire set of dumbbells without weight gaps, that’s going to easily cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. Not to mention the large amount of space that’s required to rack all that weight. For many people, something like this is going to be the more logical route. It may take a little more time to change weights, but you’re potentially saving money by using olympic plates that you already own and the space needed to store these handles are minimal.

As previously mentioned, these handles are 15” in overall length but more importantly, the loadable area is only 3.75” making this Titan Fitness handle one of the shortest options on the market. Titan also makes a 20” and 36” version, each of those giving you more loadable sleeve space. So why did I buy the shortest version and the version that allows you to load the least amount of weight? Well, it simply comes down to range of motion. The longer these handles get, the harder it’s going to be to use them with a neutral grip. With any standard neutral grip dumbbell press, these 15” handles allow me to go down and come back up with full range of motion as the ends of the handles just barely touch. If these handles were longer, I’m going to have to hold my arms out further to compensate for the length, meaning I won’t be able to employ the full range of motion in the exercise, which can be counterproductive to what I’m trying to accomplish. I can turn my hands at the top of the press, but then I’d be changing the exercise, which may not be what I’d want to do.

But since the loadable surface of the 15” handle is so small, how much weight can we logically load on the handle? Well, this is larely going to depend on the type of plates and collars that you use. Here in my gym, I have some cheap no-name iron plates and exclusively use the Rogue Fitness aluminum collars. With this, I’m able to load two 10 lb plates and a 5 lb plate on each side for a total of 58 lbs with the weight of the bar. This setup does not fully seat on the sleeves and leaves a few millimeters of overhang.

In terms of actual use, I find that the diameter of my 10 lbs plates make them very usable. I personally wouldn’t go any wider so I won’t be using 25 lb plates or larger.

Overall, I’m fine with my decision to go with these 15” reloadable handles. I think getting a longer handle would be more cumbersome than it’s worth so this is just about the best that I can get. However, I would say that having more loading space would be nice and Titan could easily achieve this by making the gripping area narrower and dedicating more space to the sleeves. 6.5” for the gripping area just seems wasteful as relatively few people are going to be able to fully utilize all that space. With my plates and had these sleeves been a centimeter longer, I could’ve gotten away with (3) 10 lb plates and that would’ve been more ideal. But, it is what it is. I’ll put these to good use until I’m able to get my own dumbbell rack one day.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Titan Fitness Pair 15in Loadable Olympic Dumbbell https://amzn.to/3EebMAW

Titan Fitness Single 15in Loadable Olympic Dumbbell https://amzn.to/3XyY3vg

Titan Fitness Pair 20in Loadable Olympic Dumbbell https://amzn.to/3SaRaiD

Titan Fitness Single 36in Loadable Olympic Dumbbell https://amzn.to/3YSD1J1

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CHEAP DIY Floating Shelves

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What’s going on guys? It’s Hai.

My office wall has been pretty bare and I’ve been contemplating what to hang on it for a while. I ultimately decided on some floating shelves and I was originally going to buy some but for the size of shelf that I was going for, some of the cost that I saw were ridiculous. So in this blog, I want to share with you how I went about making my own for a very affordable price.

First, let’s start with the wood. I wanted 3 shelves that are 4’ long and 8” wide. From experience, I knew that construction lumber would probably be the cheapest option so I just went to my local Lowe’s. Here, the cheapest option was some 2”x8”x8’ Hemlock for $12.53. This is cheap but was my second choice. I was really going for some 2”x8”x8’ Douglas Fir which would cut the price by more than in half at $4.98 a board. I would need (2) 8’ boards and that would give me (4) 4’ shelves. With Hemlock, that would equate to about $3.13 a shelf but had my Lowe’s had the Douglas Fir in stock, the shelves would’ve only cost about $1.25 a shelf, making it VERY affordable.

Now, I’m no professional woodworker. I just know enough to get things done for my own personal projects. And for this project, I experimented with some stuff that I’ve never used before so I don’t want to give any outright recommendations. I’m just going to show you what I did and give some thoughts.

Again, I wanted (4) 4’ shelves so I ripped the 8’ boards down to size with a miter saw. For this project, I decided to make black shelves because that would best match the color scheme of the room. There’s a variety of ways to make the shelves black but I decided to try MinWax True Black oil-based stain, something I’ve never used before.

In preparation for the stain, I sanded the boards first with 150 grit sandpaper, then 220 grit. This is to get a smoother more presentable finish on the final product and to help the stain soak into the wood. But, I did purposely pick lumber that had more character and imperfections as I was going for a farmhouse aesthetic, so I did try too hard to get a perfect finish.

Once I was happy with the sanding, I moved on to the staining process. To start, I applied a coat of pre-stain. This product helps to distribute the stain more evenly so less blotching occurs with the stain. I have had blotching problems with hemlock in the past so pre-stain is something that I personally now use. The pre-stain itself is very quick and easy to apply. I just used a foam brush to spread it around. The directions say to let it sit for 5-15 minutes, then apply your stain within 2 hours.

Moving on to the actual staining, again, I used Minwax True Black oil-based stain. I’ve been looking for a way to ebonize wood and now that I’ve tried this product, I would say that it’s a very viable option. I don’t know if you can tell, but it comes out jet black like you’re dumping ink on the wood. It may look like much at first but it does thin up a bit when dried and you can still see all the figures in the wood. This is my first time trying this product and I would recommend to not apply a heavy application like I did because it does spread quite well and if you go heavy, this stuff takes a while to dry. It didn’t help that I was doing all this in a cold garage during winter so it took about a day to dry between coats. I did two coats to achieve the look that I wanted so that was two days of just waiting.

Then we move on to applying a finish. I used MinWax polyurethane and the same as before, I just spread it on with a foam brush. Once that’s dried, we can move on to mounting these shelves up.

Now there’s not really much to this step as it really depends on your application and how you want to mount them. I ended up doing three staggered shelves. I went with some brackets that I found on Amazon, which are linked in the description below, and they work just fine but if you go with the same brackets, I would recommend finding your own hardware because the ones that these brackets came with are complete trash. The heads stripped so easily and I had 3 screws that just snapped in half. There are two screws that are broken in my wall where I hit a stud and one that’s lodged at the bottom of a shelf. This shearing happened even with a pilot hole so I would definitely recommend buying your own hardware if possible.

And that’s about it. Some potentially very cheap DIY floating shelves. Depending on the materials that you already have, this project can potentially be very cheap, I mean, like less than $10 if you have the know-how. I bought my brackets because I wanted this look but you can make your own which can bring the cost down even lower. It all depends on what you're going for. Then to spice things up, you can add LED lighting or whatever else to make the shelves really stand out. I’m still working through decorating and what I’m actually using these shelves for so this isn’t finalized.

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Floating Shelf Brackets https://amzn.to/3RvUq7X

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Kobalt Quiet Tech Air Compressor High Flow Coupler Upgrade

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What’s going on guys? It’s Hai.

I recently showcased the Kobalt Quiet Tech Air Compressor that I recently purchased and in this blog, I’m going to show you the first upgrade that I did to it and that’s switching the stock industrial-sized couplers for a high-flow option. The particular couplers that I’ll be using are the Milton HighFlow Pro V Style, part number S-765.

According to Milton’s packaging, this upgrade can provide an airflow increase of up to 70%.

To remove the stock couplers, I’ve found that the easiest way is to just get a wrench in from the bottom and loosen the couplers from there. Lefty loosey, righty tighty. It’s kind of annoying doing this upgrade because there’s little clearance anywhere. You might have the urge to remove the top plate but, just take my word, there are various parts that are screwed to it. You may have more access by removing the plate but then you’ll have parts dangling and I think it would be even more difficult to torque everything down that way. So, just take your time and do a little turn at a time from the bottom.

When you get the coupler out, it’s just a matter of replacing it with the new high-flow coupler. Just remember to use some Teflon tape or other thread sealers to help prevent leaks.

Now, to really maximize airflow gains, you’re going to want to also upgrade your other fittings. I purchased a Milton kit, part number S-217 and it has the various fittings that you’ll need to connect a hose to the air compressor and tools to your hose. Then if you need more male fittings for tool connections, they are readily available online and at a very affordable price.

And that’s about it. This is a very easy install with a lot of potential gains depending on your setup. Not all tools will be able to capitalize on the increased airflow but that’s just how it is. Do your research and figure out if higher-flowing couplers can benefit your setup.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Milton Industries S-765 HI-Flo V-Style Couplers https://amzn.to/3Y4CXWd

Milton S-217 1/4" NPT V Style Coupler and Plug Kit https://amzn.to/3DhjgCr

Milton Industries 760 1/4" MNPT HIGHFLOWPRO™ V-Style Fittings https://amzn.to/3jfc6rJ

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ATF eForm 4 Update After 4 Suppressors

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What’s going on guys? It’s Hai.

Back in April of 2022, I made a video detailing my experience with the ATF eForm 4 system that was re-released in December of 2021. When I made my video, I was just approved for my first suppressor. Well, today, I’m up to 4 suppressor approvals and I want to revisit the eForm 4 topic because a lot of things have changed.

When the ATF re-released eForm 4, the big appeal was that they were going to try and keep approval times to about 90 days in 2022. Then in 2023, they were going to bring that down to 30 days. This was mindblowing because up until then, it could easily take 6 months, a year, or even longer to get a Form 4 approval. There was no telling. It was a hurry-up, get your application in, and wait type of situation.

However, from the start, the 90 days was more of a “we’ll try”, not an absolute but a lot of people were upset because those wait times really slipped as time passed by. I’ve documented the wait times for all my Form 4’s so let’s go over that.

For suppressor #1, my Dead Air Wolfman, from the date of purchase to approval, it took 161 days. This was a bit longer but that’s more on Silencer Shop’s part. I explained the possible reasoning in my first video so watch that if you’re interested. In terms of ATF approval time though, it only took 95 days. That’s pretty close to the advertised 90 days so I wasn’t complaining.

For suppressor #2, my CGS Mod9 FS, the ATF approval time went up to 100 days. Again, pretty close to what’s advertised and much faster than paper filing so I’m still happy.

Then we move on to suppressor #3, my CGS Helios QD, and approval time jumped up to 259 days or about 8 and a half months.

Finally, suppressor #4, my Dead Air Nomad L, went up again to 266 days for approval.

As you can see, I spaced out my suppressor purchases and as the date of purchase moved forward, the wait times got longer, much, much longer, to the point that we’re basically back at the same wait times as before the reintroduction of eForm 4.

It’s hard to say why wait times are stretching out so long. Obviously, the political climate around firearms has never really been that good but has gotten significantly worse over the past few years. It seems like every day there are new proposed gun regulations and NFA items are definitely on the chopping block.

If you’re unaware, the ATF recently published its final ruling on pistol braces and it essentially outlaws them. An option that they are giving is for owners to file a Form 1 and register an SBR for free. I’m not here to argue the legitimacy or legality of that. I just want you to be aware that there will no doubt be a lot of people taking advantage of that offer. There are expected to be anywhere from 10-40 million pistol braces in the market. If any significant number of those pistols get converted to SBR’s and a bunch of Form 1’s are filed, all it means is the currently already slow system is going to slow even more to basically a standstill. What is now averaging 8-9 months for an approval, may drag out to years.

So what am I getting at? I don’t even really know. I kind of want to not recommend getting into the NFA game right now but if you don’t get started, then you’ll never get an approval, even if it takes forever to get an approval. It’s a double edge sword. You’re in a bad situation no matter what. I guess at this point, I’ve given you some of the information that I’ve gathered so you’ll have to come up with your own conclusions.

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How To ATF Form 1 Laser Engraving

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What’s going on guys? It’s Hai.

I previously made a video detailing Silencer Shop’s eform 1 Beta service. Well, after 16 days my Form 1 was approved by the ATF and it was time to move on to the next phase. If you’re unfamiliar with the Form 1 process, there are really only two major steps. First, is to submit your Form 1 application. Second, is to get your firearm engraved with some information from your application to designate that this firearm is now an SBR or whatever it is that you applied for.

The ATF requires for the engraving to be at least 1/16" in height and .003" in depth. If you have the machinery or know how you can, of course, get this done yourself but most of us are going to find someone to do the work. I’m located in the Puget Sound area of WA and went to Hyperion Precision in Kent. I found this business after doing some research on the topic and saw that they were recommended by a few people. After checking out their website, I saw that they also offer same-day turnaround times, and that sold it for me because I didn’t want to drive back and forth or ship my lower to anyone. I just wanted the job done.

If you’re around the area, I can definitely recommend this business. Trevor, the owner, sets everything up and allows customers to proofread to make sure that everything is correct. Then the actual laser engraving process for a Form 1 is pretty quick. It literally takes about a minute to get it done but that depends on how much you’re getting engraved. The ATF requires that all Form 1s be engraved with the manufacturer's name, then city and state. I submitted my Form 1 under a trust so my trust name was engraved instead of my name. Also, Trevor has a lot of experience in doing these engravings and recommended that I should also include the caliber submitted on my Form 1. So, I agreed to also include that. As you can see, I did my engraving in the magwell. I did this because I wanted the engraving to be as unobtrusive as possible. As far as I know and what I was told, you can put the engraving pretty much anywhere that’s visible.

I do want to point out that again, the ATF only requires for the engraving to be .003” of an inch in depth. Trevor actually engraves quite a bit deeper and that’s a good thing because .003” of an inch is barely anything. If you engrave only that deep and decide to do a coating like cerakote or something else that adds material, the engraving will likely be covered over and you’re back to square one. Even bead blasting in preparation for a coating can damage that shallow of an engraving so keep that in mind. It would be wise to go quite a bit deeper than the ATF’s minimum requirements.

Finally, since I was already getting my lower engraved and because the Primary Weapons Systems lower that I was using had a big canvas on the side, I decided to also engrave my logo onto this lower. This turned out extremely well and really helped to make this firearm my own.

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