in my opinion, barrows sucks for normal combat.
with the exception of dharoks for training at pest control or ape atoll, and guthans for bandits or HEALING, yes HEALING, not training. just buy cheaper armour like rune and a zerker and a whip/d scimmy and use guthans to heal. oh and guthans is good for fight caves and dagg kings...
The other sets are either near useless for normal combat.
Torag's- totally USELESS set effect. you can however use the hammers for killing water fiends, as they seem to obide by the whole crush/slash/stab myth. however, a Saradomin sword works better for that.
Karils's- once again, useless set effect. it's main use is it's amazing magic defence to price ratio.
Verac's- good vs. high levels and tanks, verrry commonly used in the fight pits, as everyone not wearing veracs is a tank, "prayer noob" or an alcher O_o. it's a great choice for the kalaphite queen, and certein monsters such as giant rock crabs.
Ahram's. great if your casting ice spells from afar, although it seems to boast a strange restance to melee.
instead of getting a full set for normal training, just buy a pair of torag's legs, and a guthan's top if you don't have a torso. spend that extra 7.5m on a whip and a nice shield, boots, helmet, food and pots, ect. and if you really want to, your house ^-^
Tahunuva out-