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Permalink Reply by James Doyle on January 14, 2009 at 11:03am

You not going to find anything comparable to the quality of Reg in that price range... but there are some decent cheap tampers on the market:

-Anything by Bumper in my experience works well. Both the rubber and metal handled series run about $40 each. You can get these at Espresso Parts.

-Sweet Maria's has a few decent offerings. The first being a stainless steel model that has a real nice heft to it, the second being a rosewood Reg knockoff. I've used both, and while I would never trade my RB for one, they are nice tampers for the price. I think these are around $35.

- Finally, Rattleware has some cheaper models. They look solid, but I haven't actually used any of them so I can't tell you firsthand how nice they really are. These retail for about $29.

Hope this helps!

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Permalink Reply by Dave White on January 14, 2009 at 11:59am

Rattleware's tampers are in the price range and are pretty nice for the money.

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Permalink Reply by Jesse -D-> on January 14, 2009 at 12:40pm

Expressivo of Sweden makes a tamper called the "barista" It is around $40 and I prefer it to a RB.

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Permalink Reply by James Liu on January 14, 2009 at 3:31pm

Schomer's Vivace Ergo tampers. They're only available in slightly convex, and while they don't have the heft of stainless steel piston models, they're durable and feel good in the hand. Personally, I prefer them to the Reg Barbers a little bit, even.

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Permalink Reply by Brady on January 14, 2009 at 5:29pm

I like the Rattleware tamper I've been using for the past year. It is stainless, decent heft, with a lightly grippy black coating on the handle. This has worn off a bit where I tap the portafilter, but not badly. Utilitarian, but very functional.

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