It must have been like a punch in the gut.

CINCINNATI—A Cincinnati-area family got a smelly surprise when they opened a punching bag they purchased earlier this year.

Joe Heckel said he and his son were moving a TKO brand heavy punching bag from their garage to the basement when they decided to see what was inside in case the bag later leaked. But Heckel said that instead of sand or plastic pellets, he found the bag full of men’s and women’s underwear, some of it used.

“(There were) bras, thongs and bathing suits. We could not believe there were clothes inside instead of sand,” he said.

Heckel said the smell was “bad, real bad.”

...

Maybe they bought a used laundry bag.

“...they decided to see what was inside in case the bag later leaked. But Heckel said that instead of sand or plastic pellets…”

They opened the bag to see what was inside, but the next sentence makes it seem like they knew what was (supposed to be) inside. What up with that?

Maybe there is supposed to be underware inside…

I used to have a punchbag that was filled with shreds of cloth, most of which appeared to be tablecloths (covered in a checked pattern). It was about the same as punching a bag of sand, a similar resistance.

No women’s pants right enough. Pity

Never having owned a punching bag I have a hard time imagining that one filled with sand would give the same resistance as one filled with cloth.  I gotta wonder why they thought the bag would leak though.  Especially since they were moving it to the basement and appeared to never have worried about the leaking before.

Shredded cloth absorbs the shock roughly the same as sand. Presumably you’d fill a punching bag with cloth so that it WON’T leak everywhere.

You’re right about it being a bit odd, though. What on earth compelled them to check out its insides?

Well, I had started typing a post that the whole thing was rather strange too, but then I actually went to the link

I had pictured them slicing open a punching bag, maybe along a seam or something, and thought that was pretty odd too. If they were concerned about it leaking sand or whatever, cutting into it would only make it more likely to do just that, so it didn’t make sense to me (I know nothing about punching bags). However, it looks like the bag is designed with a top that is removeable, probably so people can either add to or remove some of the material to change the weight/tension, whatever the term, is of the bag.

So I’m thinking that they wanted to check to see what the bag was filled with just in case it split open during use or something and they’d then have a giant mess to clean up. If their basement was a finished basement, and not just a dank, dark hole in the ground, I can see it being a valid concern.

Also, the company has acknowledged upon investigation that yes, underwear was indeed used to stuff the bag, and that the people responsible for the decision to do so have been fired. They are calling it a “quality issue”

That’s funny. Mine had a zip around the top. The zip broke and that’s how I found the stuffing.

I wonder if that’s a common factor in clothing-stuffed punch bags!

I never knew punching bags came with zip tops at all, I always figured they were sewn closed, their contents forever to remain a mystery.

You know, just from my experience in making things, I do know that zippers can be a weak point if they become stressed. Maybe they had had a punching bag disaster previously, which is why they wanted to take a peek.

2 MORE IN OHIO (what is it with this place???)

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/13344596/detail.html

Local 7-Year-Old’s Punching Bag Filled With Dirty Panties

POSTED: 8:53 am EDT May 18, 2007
UPDATED: 10:40 am EDT May 18, 2007

SHEFFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio—After seeing a story on newsnet5.com about a punching bag that was filled with dirty underwear, a local family checked their punching bag.

And they also discovered dirty underwear.

“I was pretty mortified with what I found,” said Robert Haslage.

Haslage opened up his son’s TKO brand punching bag because his wife, Tammy, called him from work after reading the story.

“She goes it’s on newsnet5, so I went on your Web site and read the story myself, come down here and looked in the bag and the first thing I saw were some ladies undergarments in there.”

“I expected probably sand, but dirty clothes in there,” said Asa Haslage.

Haslage said this makes you wonder what other items could have in them.

“Is my mattress filled with ladies garments? You know what else is people trying to save $1 for?” Haslage said.

He said he bought the punching bag a year ago for $100.

The same thing happened to a Cincinnati-area family.

They said it took them a few tries to get a hold of the maker who said a new, non-underwear filled bag is on the way.

The Haslages haven’t heard back from the company.

“To know this has been in my house and my 7-year-old has been playing with it’s appalling,” Haslage said.

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/13349749/detail.html

2nd Underwear-Filled Punching Bag Found At Firehouse

POSTED: 6:19 pm EDT May 18, 2007
UPDATED: 7:16 pm EDT May 18, 2007

CLEVELAND—Another punching bag has been discovered in the Cleveland area that is filled with torn scraps of underwear and clothing.

This is the third scrap-filled bag made by Technical Knockout Inc. that has been found in recent days.

Richmond Heights firefighter and paramedic Pete Mannarino was watching NewsChannel5 Thursday night when he saw a story about a Sheffield Township father who made the shocking discovery.

Out of curiosity, Mannarino opened the TKO bag at his fire station and saw that it was filled with old clothes.

“We don’t really want to punch around somebody’s dirty laundry,” he said.

The firefighters have a TKO, just like the bag owned by the Sheffield family. Like that family, the firefighters got their TKO from Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Does anyone think that the family in the last post is overreacting a bit. “Oh I’m disgusted that this had been in my house and my child had been playing ith it! Oh head for the hills!”

First of all the underwear is safely hidden and cut off from the child by a canvas bag. it’s not like he’ll get the clap.

And secondly, they should look on the bright side. A bag that size filled with ladies’ underwear is a blessing to some people. eBay it

Next up, official statement:
“We have sacked the people responsible, we will shortly be sending replacement punching bags.”