Magnetpro 2000LBS Double Sided Kit — Worth the Premium?

I first picked this up because a guy at my usual spot on the Fox River had one, and he'd just dragged up a rusted padlock, two bolts, and what looked like the business end of a push mower — all in about forty minutes. That's the kind of thing that makes you pay attention.

The magnet itself has a solid heft to it when you pull it out of the box. Not surprising given double-sided construction, but it doesn't feel cheap-heavy, if you know what I mean. Some budget magnets feel dense in a way that makes you suspicious — like it's mostly casing. This one felt right. The threading on the eyebolt was clean, no cross-threading drama, and the coating looked uniform all the way around.

That coating matters more than people think.

I took it out to a bridge overpass I like — concrete railing, older road, the kind of place where stuff has been falling into the water since before anyone had a reason to fish it back out. Within the first twenty minutes I had a chunk of rebar and something that might've been a hand truck wheel. The double-sided design was doing real work here — I could drag it slow and it was picking up contact from both faces without me having to flip anything or adjust technique. That's the whole point of going double-sided and it was actually delivering on it.

The rope that comes with the kit is fine. Not exceptional. It's the part of this package I'd replace first if I kept using it long-term — not because it failed, but because I've gotten used to a thicker braid and this one felt a little thin between my fingers on a cold morning. Workable. Just not my favorite.

Here's the thing about the 2000 lbs claim — and I say this about every magnet in this category — that number is a lab pull in ideal contact conditions. Real-world pull, especially dragging along silt and rust and whatever's been sitting on a riverbed since approximately 1987, is always lower. But for this size and price, the actual performance felt honest. I wasn't leaving stuff behind that I expected to grab.

I've had magnets at this price point disappoint me. This one didn't.

What I'd flag as a genuine downside: the included hardware is minimal. If you're newer to this and expecting a fully dialed kit — carabiner, threadlocker, maybe a carrying case — you might feel like you're piecing things together yourself. Which, honestly, you kind of are. For experienced folks that's fine. For someone who just got into this because of a TikTok video, it might feel like a gap.

Speaking of which — this would actually be a solid step-up kit for someone who started on a cheap beginner single-sided and wants to take it more seriously without going full send on a $100+ setup. The double-sided jump alone changes how you fish, and doing it at $54.99 isn't a bad way to find out if you like it.

I wouldn't call it my main magnet. But if mine went missing or I wanted a dedicated bridge kit to leave rigged up in my bag, I'd buy this again without thinking too hard about it.