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I recently bought an empty punching bag for, well punching, and I am trying to find a good source of filler. I have a plentiful source of free packing peanuts and was hoping these would work, but this might be too light. I realize the typical weight should be 70-100 lbs for a bag also, and this would be hard to achieve with packing peanuts.

Does anyone have cheap suggestions for boxing bag filler? Would packing peanuts work if I packed them densely enough?

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I sincerely doubt that packing peanuts will provide any resistance to your punches.

Rice is something you can buy cheaply in huge bulk, and is dense enough to provide the resistance you need. You can also help packing it by using old clothes you don't need. It doesn't have to be all rice.

If you use a mixture of small particles (e.g. rice or sand) and bigger ones (e.g. packing peanuts), then you need to consider the Brazil Nut effect, aka "granular convection".

When you shake a container with both small and large particles, the larger ones will jump, and smaller ones will fall through cracks. The smaller particles will then collect at the bottom, and create a weird imbalance in the punching bag.

Using clothes in the mix will help mitigate this effect, and keep a steadier and more even mix.

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  • I like the rice idea, how do you prevent the rice from settling if one uses a mixture? I have a lot of packing peanuts so I'll be using a combination of rice and peanuts.
    – Hatandboots
    Jan 31 '16 at 19:11
  • Good question! Updated answer.
    – Alec ♦
    Jan 31 '16 at 19:35
  • You could put the rise in small bags in the middle of the bag, surrounded by packing pranuts, clothes you dont need anymore.
    – mitro
    Feb 1 '16 at 5:53
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I have used a mix of foam, old clothes and corn for my bags.

There are some other ways to create a boxing bag - car tires:https://www.google.com/search?q=tires+boxing&oq=tires+boxing&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.3607j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8

http://rosstraining.com/blog/2011/06/01/homemade-punching-bag-ideas/

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  • Does the corn settle to the bottom of the bag?
    – Hatandboots
    Jan 31 '16 at 19:11
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    It takes far more time until it settles as first you would need to break it down first, and if you filling it properly you can train for a long time without having to worry about it I would suggest putting the corn in separate small bags in the middle of the bag, I also heard cat litter is awesome (no joke).
    – mitro
    Jan 31 '16 at 19:19
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Maybe wood chips like the ones that pad the ground in children's play equipment in parks. This would be soft but maybe mix this with sand to add weight.

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  • Sand is a bad idea as it falls through and collects on the bottom half; you can easily injure yourself as the bag is not filled equally. Upper half will be soft nearly empty and the bottom half will be hard as concrete.
    – mitro
    Jan 30 '16 at 20:04

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