Review: Wodnut Velocity Jump Rope

This week, we take a moment to review the Wodnut Velocity Jump Rope.

Item: Wodnut Velocity Jump Rope
Price: $49.95 AUD
Manufacturer: Wodnut
Purchase: Wodnut

As functional fitness continues to gain popularity across the world, we have a seen a number of brands tailor make products to suit the needs of CrossFit® Affiliate members and aspiring CrossFit® Games athletes.

In particular, jump ropes are one item that has evolved quite a bit since the ‘Sport of Fitness’ was born.

When I first started CrossFit® many years ago, I’d often perform double-unders using ropes with heavy handles and thick-coated cables that were quick to fatigue my wrist muscles.

But it seems a new range of lightweight designs has now replaced these ‘old-school’ ropes. Over the past year, we have seen a number of brands release ropes with smaller and lighter handles, using a bare cable to achieve a faster and more accurate rotation.

One of these ropes is the Wodnut Velocity Jump Rope.

Made for functional fitness athletes, the rope is designed for accuracy and speed, and according to their website:

“The Wodnut Velocity Speed Rope is like no other. It’s lightweight and super fast, making them perfect for Double Unders and speed events. The handles are made from engineered polymer making them tough & indestructible”.

Just like the RPM Rope and the Viper Supa Speed Rope, the Wodnut Velocity Jump Rope comes with a bare cable for more precision and faster rotation.

From experience, I have found these bare cables to be very efficient when performing double and triple-unders. The lighter weight is also effective in reducing hand and arm fatigue while working out. So when I got my hands on the Wodnut Velocity Jump Rope I was excited to put it to the test.

Here are my thoughts:

The Good

Fast: As I expected, the Wodnut Velocity Jump Rope is fast. The light handles and bare cable make it easier to rip through double-unders. In addition, the micro precision dual core ball bearings used in the rope, ensures the cable spins freely and smoothly.

Nice Design: As well as being fast, the rope also comes in a pretty slick design. When you buy the Wodnut Velocity Rope, it comes in a nice carry pouch with a fully assembled rope, and extra cable, hex key and spare screws. The rope itself features attractive black handles, with stainless steel wire and bearings.

Extra Cable: As mentioned, the Wodnut Velocity Jump Rope comes with a spare cable, which is something few manufactures provide when purchasing a rope. While it doesn’t sound like too much of a big deal, these bare cables are easy to damage if you use them on abrasive surfaces such as concrete. In addition, if you accidentally trim the cable too short while sizing the rope, it’s good to know you have a spare one at your disposal.

Reduced Hand & Arm Fatigue: The logic is simple: the lighter the rope, the less energy you have to use while skipping. Just like the RPM Rope, the Wodnut Velocity Jump Rope significantly reduces hand and arm fatigue while skipping compared to some other ‘heavier’ ropes. When doing workouts like ‘Flight Simulator’ (unbroken reps from 5 to 50 and then back to 5) and ‘Rhiannon’ (Max double-unders in 20 mins), you will feel a noticeable  difference in your wrists and forearms.

Not Too Bad for Beginners: Lightweight ropes like these are often harder for beginners to use purely because of the weight. The lighter the rope is, the more difficult it can be to get your timing right while skipping. However, compared to some similar ‘bare cable’ ropes, I found this one to be the slightly easier to use for those who aren’t great at double-unders. I actually gave the rope to a friend of mine to use, who was struggling to get just one double under. After a while he started stringing a few together and became noticeably more comfortable with the skill while using the rope.

Grip: The Wodnut Velocity Jump Rope feels great in the hand and offers a comfortable grip while skipping. One of the great features is the foam grip which covers the engineered polymer handles. The foam makes the handles a little bit thicker and easier grip, without adding too much weight.

The Bad

Adjusting Cable Length: One thing we notice right away is the fact that once you cut the cable to your desired length, there is no going back. Many other speed ropes allow you to hold some ‘slack’ at the end of handles, so if you need to make micro adjustment to it’s length you still have that option. This rope however, doesn’t allow for any ‘slack’, so you better ensure have correctly measured it before you make that final cut.

Price: The Wodnut Velocity Jump Rope retails for $49.95 AUD and is on the higher end of the price scale for ropes. While it is a quality rope, and a reliable product, it is still slightly more expensive than some of its ‘bare cable’ competitors. That being said, it’s far from an outrageous price, with many other jump ropes selling for more.

Key-Ring Loops: Wodnut’s Rope comes with a sophisticated ball bearing system, but I feel the connection from the rope to the bearings could be improved. As you can see in the pic below, two ‘key-ring loops’ are used to join the rope to the handles. While it doesn’t affect the speed of the rope too much, the two loops did occasionally ‘clink’ together while beginning my first double under.

Option to Buy a Rope Cutter: Unfortunately, the Wodnut Velocity Jump Rope does not come with a tool to trim the cable to your preferred size. As a result, some of us who don’t have a set of wire cutters in our tool boxes at home may be forced to make that annoying trip to Bunnings or Home Depot to buy a set. This seems to be a common issue with many speed rope suppliers these days.

It Hurts: It’s important to remember the Wodnut Velocity Jump Rope comes with a bare metal wire cable, meaning when it does hit you, it’ll most likely sting. But as Wodnut say, “this will only mean you’ll be a fast learner”. Personally, I felt a bit of pain on my shins, back and wrists after whipping myself a few times with the cable, but overall, no real damage was done.

Cable Life: The benefits of a bare cable are that it is fast and efficient while performing double and triple-unders. But the bad side is the lack of protection makes it more prone to damage. While the wire is still pretty durable, you should avoid using the rope on concrete and rough surfaces. A rubber gym floor is more preferable.

Lack of Colour: Unfortunately, the Wodnut Velocity Jump Rope is only available in the standard black colour. Maybe in the future they will expand their range to include colour, but for now there is only one option available.

Conclusion

In summary, I found the Wodnut Velocity Jump Rope to be a solid product.

Just like all fast-minimal jump ropes on the market it has its strength and weaknesses, but I believe the positives outweigh the negatives.

The rope is fast, durable, efficient in the air and comes with comfortable, sturdy handles. In addition, the slick carry bag provides you with a place to keep all your spare parts and extra cable.

Yes, the bare cable will hurt when it hits bare skin, and it’s life span might not be as long as some of the coated cables on offer. But if you are after speed and accuracy, there really is no other way around it.

Compared to some of the other ‘bare-cable’ ropes on the market, the Wodnut Velocity Rope stacks up quite well. Personally, I’ve found the RPM Speed Rope to be most efficient and accurate minimal rope currently available, however, I didn’t notice too much of a difference while using Wodnut’s rope. In most workouts, it was just as fast, and felt great while I performed double-unders.

Due to the use of ‘key ring loops’ I did find the RPM Rope to be a little bit smoother than the Wodnut Velocity Rope, but the difference isn’t overly significant.

Regardless of what rope you compare the Wodnut Velocity Rope to, the bottom line is, it is fast, efficient, and accurate while performing double-unders. There are many fast-minimal jump ropes on the market, and I’d put this one on the top end of the scale.

While it’s hard to beat the RPM Rope in speed, smoothness and accuracy, the Wodnut Velocity Jump Rope does a decent job of matching it, and is a worthy purchase for any CrossFit® affiliate member.