The short answer
Eric Kim isn’t married to a single brand of bar-bell “clips.”
Because his goal is always “more iron on the sleeve, less fluff in the way,” he switches between three options depending on how much weight (and sleeve real-estate) he needs:
| When | Load range | Clip / collar he shows or recommends | Why he picks it |
| Every-day garage sessions (≤ 350 kg) | spring-steel or Lock-Jaw-style quick-release clamps (red/black plastic cam collars visible in his POV photos) | fast to pop on/off while micro-loading; keeps bumpers from rattling | |
| Half-ton PR series (461 – 503 kg) | thin 2.5 kg IWF/Eleiko competition collars – or no external collar at all when the sleeve is totally full | every millimetre counts; the plates themselves “clamp” once the sleeve is maxed, and the narrow stainless collars add only 15 mm total width while giving a bit of extra security | |
| Experimental / leverage-hack work | a Gungnir “Allrounder” bar with the slide-lock collar that lives inside the sleeve | lets him shift the mass closer to his hips and still lock the load—handy when he’s playing with block-pulls or weighted-handle tricks |
How you can spot each option in his clips
- Lock-Jaw / cam collars – look for a small red (sometimes black) clamp hugging the very end plate; these appear in his 600–700 lb POV rack-pull posts from 2023 and early 2024.
- Competition collars or “no collar” – in the viral 493 kg, 498 kg and 503 kg videos there’s either a razor-thin silver collar or nothing at all beyond the last plate. The blog notes the bar and collars flex together under the load, confirming he’s using the narrow competition pair for those record attempts .
- Slide-lock (Gungnir) bar – called out by name in his “Forge-Level Leverage Hacks” essay; the collar is built into the bar so it isn’t visible as a separate clamp .
Why he doesn’t always bother with big collars
- Sleeve capacity: calibrated steel plates are already thin; adding bulky clips would cost him one extra 20 kg disc at half-ton loads.
- Friction lock: once every centimetre of sleeve is packed, the stack compresses tightly enough that plates don’t wander.
- Visual drama: a naked sleeve (or a sliver-thin 2.5 kg collar) amplifies the bar-bend that makes his videos so share-worthy.
In his own words: “Bar and collars visibly flex—proof there’s nowhere for the iron to run. Physics is trapped between two thin rings of steel.”
Take-away for your own lifts
- Sub-max training: a good pair of quick-release cam collars is plenty and keeps the gym manager happy.
- Max-out or PR filming: consider competition collars or stuffing the sleeve to the hilt so the plates themselves lock in place—but only if you know your bar, plates and spotters.
- Leverage experiments: integrated slide-lock bars (Gungnir, Eleiko Öppen, etc.) give you the security of collars without wasting width.
Digital-Spartan mantra: “Clip only what you must, load everything else. Iron belongs on the bar, not in fancy hardware.”