How bad was your first training equipment?

I was just posting elsewhere here and got thinking about the first training equipment I ever had. I was a poor student with no money and an awesome set of muppet arms (note that I am no longer a student)....

My first "dumbbells" were couple of bricks joined together with duct tape and a length of 90 by 35 pine with some bricks duct taped to the end for a "barbell". I also made a chip-up bar from a hand rail for the disabled that I picked up from a demo site and screwed into the ceiling.

I thought it might be interesting to see if anyone else started out in a similar way or had used or made some interesting or innovative "made it myself" home training equipment....

I made my first equipment myself, except for bar and weights.
Made a power rack and adjustable bench from scratch, fully welded too.
Suppose that's how I got to current position of design and manufacture of gym equipment now.

Had avanti gear, not long got rid of it.

the squat stand shook like a bitch lol.

I used some rusty old weights in the back of a judo club. Also used one of those hand grip trainers.

The first weightlifting book I read showed you could supplement weights with your briefcase or a milk container in each hand lol.

My mums purple 2.5kg dumbells and bodyweight stuff was what I started out on. Used to hold both dumbells to increase the 'load' haha

1st equipment - My Dads old exercise spring a gripper thingo and a skipping rope

2nd equipment - local gym

3rd equipment - crappy dumbbells

4th equipment - weights room at school

5th equip - shitty $50 bench press that was designed for kids and i later gave a small friend of mine

6th equip - average home gym pulleys bench squat rack all in one

7th equip - gym

8th equip - punching bag

9th - awsome solid hexagonal dumbbells full set up to 30kg

10th - gym

11th - awsome bench press with a safety bar

12th gym

NOTE: i still have all my equipment and plan on upgrading my squat rack in the futue to be a very solid strong one with saftey bars etc

I have about 400kg of weight plates

I love my gym stuff I love it so much xD

When i get the money for a garage im gonna dedicate it 100% to my home gym (and one car) no tools no storage shit no garden crap just 100% weights and exercise stuff and maybe some posters of naked women

Chunks of lead lying around the garage, don't know where they came from but used to do curls with them when I was 12.

My first was a pair of bricks put together with duct tape,
and about 6 bricks joined together with duct tape in a rectangle

It's only been a year since then and I've gained 20kg and lowered my body fat levels,
all with an el cheapo 20kg dumbbell set from Rebel Sport

I got lucky. Had an older friend moving and he sold me a bench, barbell, dumbbells, and some plates all for $50. Was a good deal.

my first bit of equipment was a car clutch , I wasn't able to afford equipment or gym membership , there was a car clutch sitting around in the shed so i tied a piece of rope to it and used it somewhat like a kettlebell

Rebel sport bench and lat pulldown set. 50kgs worth of weights. Bar/dumbbells. Yoga ball. Skipping rope too.. I was ready
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A K-Mart bought bench press. Still have it to this day

Bricks and concrete aside, my friend made a BP for $12.

I used old school weights and managed a 350lb bench press on it, narrow uprights and all.

I still have it and people cant believe I ever loaded that much weight on it (160kg)

It also tilted up to incline, but the upper section had no bracing, so when I was repping 100lb DB's it used to flex like a motherf u c k e r. Everyone simply expected the plywood to snap.

My first stuff was an old York cable thingo, and a bench that me and a mate made from old fence posts and pergola brackets, worked a treat......