Hi everyone,
This is OP. Thank you for the thoughtful advice in terms of motivation and what to look for, much appreciated!
I believe his motivation is mainly for exercise, I told him he should follow a program.

Agree with PPs that this is a more difficult question than first appears.

We have a Bob and a heavy bag. The Bob is easy to deal with but doesn't at all replace a heavy bag. It depends on what is wanted. A heavy bag, IMO, is a big pain the a&& but it's DH who deals with it. We have one that sits on the floor and it is also attached to the ceiling joists. I guess it's not a "punching bag" per se but also covers kicking.

This is PP. You may also want to be sure you understand why your kid wants this. As a kid, I started hitting a bag when I changed schools and found that the new school was pretty much Lord of the Flies. I got into fights like 3 different days my first week, so my brother and I asked my parents for a heavy bag, used it for like 90 minutes every day, and then used what we learned almost every day at school. That's not what you want for your kid.

Anonymous wrote:
Hi everyone,
My 13 year old wants a punching bag for home.
I am looking for recommendations on something that will last a few years, and also free standing vs. those that come with a stand? Any experience on this board?
Thank you!

When you say "free standing" what do you mean? The best bag is going to be one that hangs from a ceiling joist. Is that what you mean? I'd avoid those water filled things that have a base. They are not firm enough -- it's like hitting foam.

For a regular heavy bag, you can just order an Everlast bag from Amazon. I used 100LB bags, but a kid might be fine with something smaller. Be aware that they settle and get more dense at the bottom over time, so you will want to have the height match the kid -- they will be hitting the bag more where it's super firm if it's too high.

For the bag covering --- other people may have different opinions, but I think a plain canvas bag (which is cheaper) should be fine as a first bag. I didn't need a vinyl or leather covered one until I started hitting it with my bare knuckles, which took years of training and a fair amount of wrist strength. If your kid doesn't use boxing gloves, they will need to watch out for blisters on their knuckles. Even the bag gloves that sometimes come with bags will allow those to form if wrist wraps aren't done right.

If your kid doesn't have boxing training you will need to teach them to wrap their wrists. Pretty much 100% of the time that I've seen an untrained kid try to hit a bag, they have hurt their wrist within about a minute. Also, be aware that a punching bag can be a bit of an attractive nuisance in terms of encouraging your DC's friends without training to hit the bag just playing around and hurt their wrists.

FightCamp

Hi everyone,
My 13 year old wants a punching bag for home.
I am looking for recommendations on something that will last a few years, and also free standing vs. those that come with a stand? Any experience on this board?
Thank you!