I am not really 100% sure what I was expecting from this vest.

The price made me think it was probably cheaply constructed, and some of the reviews had me thinking it would be a sandy nightmare of a mess.

I figured that for the price I would give it a whirl.....

I am really glad I did.

This is an excellent vest. The stitching on the vest is top notch and the design is very sporty. The Logo across the chest is tasteful and there is a nice wide reflector on the back. This is a piece of quality gear.

The sand weights are very tightly packed and contained in an outer shell of very strong , intelligently stitched and loosely fitted material. I can't imagine they are going to break open. Tho the sandbags are definitely bulkier than plates, they are contained spectacularly by the vest. The weight stays centered where you want it and never feels like it is sagging or swaying.

I followed the included assembly instructions easily. Putting it together is a snap, but, then you have to fit it to your body. The fitting part can be a chore if you have to keep taking the vest off and putting it on, so, if you want to spare yourself a little hassle have someone adjust the straps for you while you wear the vest. After the initial fit I am easily able to put the vest on or take it off myself. I would have no trouble adjusting it myself either, should the need arise.

The vest is designed in such a way that it really shouldn't hurt your shoulders much. The shoulder straps are wide and the design allows for some length and angle adjustment. I don't feel like my shoulders are "pinned".... then again, i have strong shoulders from backpacking all over the place.....

This shipped hella fast... I had it 3 days after ordering it.The post office will probably not deliver this if you live in an apartment. They will leave a slip saying "Sorry We Missed You!" even though you been waiting for them all day......

I am very impressed with the vest for the price. If you are thinking of getting a vest for any reason, this one is great and for under $120 with shipping it is likely the best deal out there....

The reviews here are right. This vest is great! Although the construction is somewhat tedious when equipping, it stays snug and compact when I use it.
What I do is mainly floor exercises: Pushups, pullups, burpees, mountain climbers, numerous calf excercises, etc and running. When you first put it on though, it will feel secure, but it will take a few readjustments to get it perfectly the way you want it. Im 6'0, male, 176lb broad shouldered. it fits fine.
Another thing the reviews here are correct on is that IT DOES look like a military style tactical vest ( I know because I have one).
I went out to my local green way where I like to run with this thing for the first time. I am an strong runner. Usually running endurance over 3.5 miles as quick as I can. I would advise putting most of the weight in the back when running. An event distribution in the front and back only leads to the vest jumping with every stride you take. I Started with 3 in the front and 3 in the back. I soon found a better setup of 2 front, 4 back to be more suitable.It took me about 2-3 stops to adjust this straps just perfectly, while getting looks from many people along the way due to its militaristic appearance of course. This thing added 9 minutes to my usual 36-37 run time, which was awesome but brutal. Breathing in it can be somewhat constricted when running. It took about 2 runs to adapt to it. It gave me cramps but you just have to power through them.This thing will totally "Shred" your shoulders in the process. My camel back Fits perfectly with this as well.

My cons, though. The weight blocks are kind of annoying to insert. And If you're like me, I used to be chubby, so I have a generally flat upper stomach, and then a larger lower stomach that you can feel the vest rub. The vest WILL pull your shirt up to reveal your belly button! I noticed after running about half of my route when people gave me weird looks! Always check when running, or wear a more securely equipped shirt!
Overall. Great vest for the price. Looks great. Feels great. Functions great. Worth the tedious build though.

I like reading honest reviews so you guys should get a chance to read one aswell hopefully this review aids you in a way.

Quality:
The weighted vest is sturdy and seems very durable, I can clearly see that even years after using this product it will be in great condition.There's Velcro that is being used and the vest feels like a second layer of skin almost. The vest comes with no/little instructions on how to assemble it but you can look up how to do it on YouTube (that's what I did).

Design:
As stated in the previous section there's Velcro being used in the all black vest which gives it a stylish look (almost army like). Heads of course will turn when one walks by with one of these bad boys but that shouldn't affect the workout of course. Printed in front of the vest "zfo sports" is a nice feature, also the whitish-silverish strip on the back of the vest is very neat. I for one put my last name on that strip in big letters with a black sharpie. not only is it stylish but the weights can be added or removed that's great (although I started with the full 40lbs , I recommend you start with 10% of your body weight).

comfortability:
All vests are not created equal , nothing is really. I find that using the vest for more than an hour sores up my shoulders this is both a good thing and bad. Bad because no one likes having shoulders but good because I'll get used to it in time , us human beings adapt very quickly.

Overall:
I do not want to sound biased at all, infact I never even bought anything from the company, but this vest is arguably the best vest one can get for this price , you'll feel like your going to war when you hit the gym with this baby or just at home workouts like pushups pull ups etc. I am very pleased with this purchase ( I give it a 5/5 only because 100 out of 5 isn't possible :-/ ), and I hope you will be aswell.

I've had this about 2 weeks & wear it to exercise every day.it's holding up pretty well I haven't had to wash it yet. I just wipe it down with Clorox wipes or soapy water. The weights are easy to remove or add on & the only complaint I have so far is no shoulder support. I got the one with shoulder padding but it's thin. So long time wear can hurt. Other than that I love it.

My story - I usually don't write reviews but I noticed a lot of reviews for vests are negative for some of the shorter and smaller people like myself, so I decided to write this review to let those people know that this is the vest for them and most likely anyone. Due to the expensive nature of gyms (and weights in general)and wanting to go for a more "natural" workout, my routine consisted of non-weight workouts(push ups, pull ups, squats, dips, step ups, etc.) exclusively. After a few years I found that I had hit a wall with the amount of reps for any given workout to the point where it just felt like cardio despite some high numbers. Not wanting to abandon my routines (nor a large sum of money from my wallet) I decided to go for something that would add some more resistance to my workouts and therefore a few more pounds in muscle mass to my body. I originally thought about getting the 60 lbs vest but I had to remind myself that 40 lbs is 1/3 my current weight and should be more than enough for my workouts in the long run. So far this was a good decision.

Results - This weighted vest was the perfect investment. Even after a few weeks of only 15 lbs added I have noticed some wicked results without changing anything to my current routine but wearing this vest over my shirt. My pushup reps dropped from 70 to about 20 with just an extra 15 lbs. My front palm pullup reps dropped from 20 to 8. My wide arm front palm pullups dropped from 10 to 2! I look forward to pushing myself in the near future all the way up to 40 pounds while maintaining 20+ reps on all of my workouts. It feels good to feel sore after my workouts again!

Comfort - I am a fairly small person (120 lbs and and 5'6") and this vest can fit pretty snug and flush if adjusted properly. The bottom of the vest is maybe an inch below my belly button - no sack tapping here!(which was a major complaint in other vest reviews for shorter people). The vest stays close to my chest and stomach despite my my tiny waist (I can fit in size 26 pants). I can do pushups, and all my leg workouts mentioned earlier, with no issues at all. The only workout that can be slightly bothersome is close-armed forward palm pullups. the shoulder part is a little wide so for a small person like me raising my arms straight up with those big shoulders can be slightly uncomfortable but certainly not workout-breaking and probably not an issue for anyone bigger than me. I didn't really experience shoulder/neck pain (other than the kind that builds up those muscles) but I can imagine running in it for over 30 mins with 20+ lbs would do the trick (even a small backpack will cause some discomfort if worn for a long time though).

Straps - Yes the straps will befuddle you at first but once you figure it out it is common sense. I noticed a lot of people saying you might need help putting it on each time but that's not true. You can velcro it in the back first so the length dangles at your sides. You then put the vest over your head then wrap the velcro that is dangling at your side around the front and velcro it there to finish the seal. When you go to take it off just undo the velcro in the front and pull it over your head. No need to ever un-velcro the back or re velcro it again. If your really pushing the weight and worried about possibly dropping it on your neck while taking it off just undo the shoulder velcros and waist ones while laying down and then just let it slide off you.

Quality - This thing is made nice, like really nice. I expect it to last a really long time. And like everyone else mentioned, it looks pretty awesome.

Overall - 100% recommend it for the "smaller" crowd but I imagine this would be a great product for anyone, any size, looking to add some resistance to their workouts for a good price.