Free weights take up less space than home gyms or strength training machines, and force your muscles to work harder at keeping the weights stable than weight machines do. You can work almost any muscle group with just a single barbell or a small dumbbell set. But that same portability and versatility can work against you, especially if you're not well-versed in proper free weight technique.
Droppage
Free weights earned their name because they're literally free to move in any direction. Because of this, dropping the weights on your head -- or any other body part -- is a very real danger. Some careless lifters also throw the weights or drop them on the floor when they're done with a set. Not only can this result in a muscle injury, it can also damage the floor or, in a worst-case scenario, the weights could roll or bounce onto somebody else.
Learning Curve
Most gym machines have diagrams explaining exactly which muscles each exercise works and how to use the machine, but free weights don't have such directions. Furthermore, because you can move free weights in any direction, you must learn the proper form for each exercise. At best, improper body alignment can result in not working the muscle you mean to work. At worst, it could result in injury, especially to your relatively vulnerable shoulder joints.
Spotter
Having an experienced spotter can make the difference between dropping dumbbells on your head or being able to squeeze out those last few repetitions in a heavy set. Unfortunately, that means that if you really want to push your limits with free weights, you might have to tailor your workout schedule around someone else's program.
Disorganization
In a perfect world, everybody would put dumbbells back in the same place on the rack, and return weight plates to the correct storage rack after using barbells. But that doesn't always happen -- people pile dumbbells randomly in front of the rack or put them in places they don't belong, and leave weight plates on the barbells even after they're done. In large gyms, employees periodically organize the free weights. But in small or poorly tended gyms, you might end up sorting through a pile of weights before you can find the dumbbells you need, or struggling with someone else's 100-lb. weight plates left on the barbell.
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