Clamping vs bends

Has anyone ever had the opportunity to really compare these two methods of developing girth? What I mean is, does anyone have experience with doing them separately and seeing which one produced better results?

Of course, the best would probably be a combination of the two, but I am still interested in knowing just how effective bends are independently. There have been several threads about great results people have had with clamping. There does not seem to be nearly the same kind of certainty that bends are effective.

Please share your opinions on how these two compare with one another in terms of gains. And of course, no one should do clamping or bends unless he is very conditioned and experienced

Bends I remember were more popular back when I first joined, and they were difficult to get the hang of at first. Clamping seemed to take out a lot of the learning curve of bends, and once it caught on (late ‘03, early ‘04?) it has been one of the staple girth exercises.