Vertical Cannon (hilt/jug)

Name: Vertical Cannon (hilt/jug)
Brand: Arm Assassin
Rating: 4.87 (5 reviews)

The Vertical Cannon is Arm Assassin Strength Shop’s carabiner-style vertical bar – also marketed as an “Excalibur” or “Jug” trainer – a smooth, unknurled cylindrical implement that hangs from a loading pin via carabiner and trains open-hand support strength for one-hand deadlifts and vertical pulling work like pull-ups and pull-downs. It’s sold both standalone and as a component of the shop’s GripSport starter kits.

It comes in five diameters – 1 1/4” (32mm), 1 5/8” (41mm), 2”/1.9” (50mm), 2 3/8” (60mm), and 2 7/8” (73mm) – which map onto the sizes used in the “Cannon/Hilt” event contested at grip-sport competitions internationally, where women typically lift the ~2” size and men the ~2 3/8” size. Because the grip has no knurling to assist it, difficulty scales with diameter: larger sizes add wrist demand and reduce the load a given athlete can support, making the five-size lineup a built-in progression path rather than a single fixed implement.

Coverage of this specific item is thin: no independent editorial review, YouTube review, or Reddit discussion of the Vertical Cannon itself turned up in research. What exists is the manufacturer’s own product page and general background on vertical-bar/cannon-hilt training as a grip-sport category (via Gods of Grip), plus Arm Assassin’s broader brand reputation on GymRadar (4.8/5 across 64 reviews spanning its full catalog) – useful context for the maker’s overall track record, but not evidence about this particular $20 implement.

Type	Carabiner-style vertical bar (Excalibur/Jug trainer)
Mounting	Carabiner-style attachment to a standard loading pin; loads with Olympic or standard plates
Typical uses	One-hand deadlifts, pull-ups/pull-downs, vertical-bar open-hand support training, competitive grip-sport "Cannon/Hilt" event practice
Also available as	Included (2" size) as one component of the shop's GripSport Starter Pack #1.5 bundle
Diameters offered	1 1/4" (32mm), 1 5/8" (41mm), 2"/1.9" (50mm), 2 3/8" (60mm), 2 7/8" (73mm) -- sold as separate size options, one bar per purchase

How it compares

	Vertical Cannon (hilt/jug)	Arm Assassin Thumb Blaster	Napalm One Hand Nightmare	IronMind Hub
GymRadar rating	4.87/5	4.86/5	4.86/5	4.85/5
Price	$20.00	$35.00		$36.95
Type	Carabiner-style vertical bar (Excalibur/Jug trainer)
Mounting	Carabiner-style attachment to a standard loading pin; loads with Olympic or standard plates
Typical uses	One-hand deadlifts, pull-ups/pull-downs, vertical-bar open-hand support training, competitive grip-sport "Cannon/Hilt" event practice
Also available as	Included (2" size) as one component of the shop's GripSport Starter Pack #1.5 bundle
Diameters offered	1 1/4" (32mm), 1 5/8" (41mm), 2"/1.9" (50mm), 2 3/8" (60mm), 2 7/8" (73mm) -- sold as separate size options, one bar per purchase

4.9/5 · 5 GymRadar reviews

Reviews by source

Expert

4.87/5

5 reviews

The Vertical Cannon is Arm Assassin’s carabiner-style vertical bar (also called an Excalibur or Jug trainer), sold both standalone and as a component of the shop’s GripSport starter kits, and its five diameter options (1 1/4” through 2 7/8”) map directly onto the standard men’s and women’s “Cannon/Hilt” event sizes used in grip-sport competition – a strong sign of functionality and versatility for its intended one-hand deadlift and pulling-strength training use. Build quality and durability are the weakest dimensions to assess: there is no independent editorial review, video review, or community discussion of this specific $20 implement, so both rest entirely on Arm Assassin’s broader reputation (GymRadar shows the brand overall at 4.8/5 across 64 reviews for its wider catalog) rather than anything product-specific. At $20 it’s a low-cost way to add a recognized competitive grip event to a home setup, but buyers should know they’re trusting the maker’s own on-site rating (4.87/5, n=5) with no independent corroboration behind it.

+Versatility: five diameter options (1 1/4", 1 5/8", 2"/1.9", 2 3/8", 2 7/8") cover both the women's (~2") and men's (~2 3/8") sizes used in the competitive grip-sport "Cannon/Hilt" event (manufacturer product page; Gods of Grip vertical-bar guide)
+Functionality: purpose-built for one-hand deadlifts and vertical pulling work (pullups/pulldowns), a recognized way to train open-hand support strength without any knurling to assist grip (manufacturer product page)
+Value: $20 standalone price is low for a implement that doubles as a competitive grip-sport event bar, and it's also bundled into the shop's GripSport Starter Pack #1.5 at the 2" size (manufacturer product page)
+Functionality: same carabiner-style bar is used both for standalone vertical-bar work and loaded lifts via a loading pin, consistent with how vertical bars are used across the wider grip-sport category (Gods of Grip vertical-bar guide)

−Build quality: no independent editorial review, YouTube review, or community thread covering this specific product was found -- assessment rests entirely on the manufacturer's own product copy (knowledge-base gather findings)
−Durability: no long-term-use data exists for this SKU; the only quality signal is Arm Assassin's brand-wide GymRadar average (4.8/5 across 64 reviews for the full catalog, not this item) (GymRadar brand page)
−Value: the manufacturer's own on-site rating (4.87/5, n=5) has no individual review text behind it, so there's nothing to verify what those five raters actually experienced (knowledge-base gather findings)
−Versatility: it's a single bar, not an adjustable system -- getting multiple diameters means buying multiple units or one of the bundled starter kits (manufacturer product page)

$20.00

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