5th Feb > Reviews UP!

NEW REVIEW
Delire mixed set, grabbed from MEC reviewed: here

TOUR DE BLOC 7
From Escalade Vertical: Opens Qualis / Mens & Womens Finals are: Here

TEKNIK IN HOLLAND
We stumbled upon this interesting read about the Dutch comps and setting: here

NEW STUFF
Lots of stuff here... Projects new Storm Board has been released!: here

DROP TEST
We've conducted a drop test on peoples holds, see our results: here

INTERVIEW REDPOINT MANAGER
Redpoint Manager is what a gym owner needs... we found out what it is from Dale. Interesting stuff!: here

CLIMBING SHOE TESTS (CHR's sister site)
Dustin is sponsored by Evolv, he reviews shoes for us and he says what he thinks: here

JANUARY WRAP UP
Tekniks Aphids rip us a new one: here
Petrogrips send us a mixed bag: here
6 months in coming, Atomiks Font Roof Jugs: here
Full post here!

Review > Delire Holds > Mixed / Small Holds

We'll got right off of the bat with this one, you either like Delire holds or you don't. We know plenty of people that fall into both category's... we won't name names, but after the Delire round of the Tour De Bloc some of us came away as fans and others still didn't like them.
It seems that Delire, like any hold company, have split the field straight in the middle. Some people don't like the shapes or that they're resin. But as usual we're split here at Climbing Hold Review. Some of us like the shapes, others don't.

This set is another that Noodles grabbed during Xmas, we wanted some more stuff and this is what we found at MEC. Eve actually picked them out as she liked the colors... there was lots of interesting stuff there, but as we'd not looked closely at any of Delire holds we figured it was time as they're a Quebec company that we should look at their holds! (Yeah we know, we've had Uncarved Block holds from Australia before someone 2hrs up the road :P)

With that being said, we give you the "Small Hold Set":

As far as we can tell these holds are mainly the Alluviale set (pictured below); The top left, top right and middle right are from the same set
We have seven holds rather than 6.... after further research we found that these holds are a mixed bag that are produced for MEC for people to buy in store, so pretty much what we did then :)From the outset Eve wanted to play with the holds, so she set something that went across the 45 degree wall from the top left hand corner all the way down to the bottom right and then into the middle of the 30 degree wall, the end was a low match that stopped most people pretty well dead... that's if they didn't get stumped by the moves on the 45 :D

People ended up getting stumped on both routes, neither of them were easy, so we set a bounce around route and just set easy warm ups with them afterwards... on easy terrain these holds offer simple easy climbing... nothing spectacular at all, the shapes are on the whole intricate and that sometimes leads to wrong hand placements and some sore skin. Delire have a lot of holds out there, and they're in La Cordee and MEC if you're in Canada so you can go and feel some of their products before you buy them, and that's something we'd suggest because you're either going to love them or hate them... us we're split 50/50

SUGGESTED USES:



This set has a little something for everyone, get the joke? The set is called Petite! The holds aren't actually that small, ranging from 2 pads to almost mini jugs; there are pinches and edges as well, it really depends upon how you rotate the holds... that is what's going to dictate what you're going to get.

We set an interesting bunch of routes that encompassed most moves that you'd want to try with a set of holds, the two that stick in our minds are the two that you see in the video... Eve's tricky start route on the 45 and Noodles route that started under the steps... the one with the low undercut on a hold that's completely marginal

The holds are ok on the 45 degree wall, there are some sharp areas and 80% of the holds are not too bad on there.. where we suggest you go with these is nothing more than a 30 degree wall, the holds will give most people enough of a challenge there to be worth it. We would say... "go for it, hit the 45" but the shapes don't really lend themselves to super hard pulling, there are some sharp / thin areas that means we'd suggest some kind of caution on our part.

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 7
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): We don't know, there's no price on the packaging. The Alluviale set is five holds at $29.99 / 7 = $4.30 per hold
  
• Color: Blue and white swirled
  
• Bolt placement: Middle
  
• Sanding: Flat, one hold out of the seven was slightly off
  
• Texture: Standard resin
  
• Set size: Small
  
• Versatility: So-so
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: No

Overall build quality is pretty high with this set of holds, they're resin holds that stand up to abuse better than others made from the same medium. The texture is grippy but not overly so, the shapes are what dictate where you're going to grab and at times you're still going to fall off if you set crazy moves. The backs are all sanded flat, with one exception that's slightly off... colorwise you can order pretty well whatever you like, ours were grabbed from a store so it was limited on what we could grab, but the white and blue swirls are nice and stand out on our wall

All the bolt holes are bang on, straight and true as you'd expect. There aren't any set screw holes, they could be added but we had no problems with anything spinning on us

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Delire holds are all made from resin

PACKING / SHIPPING:
These holds are store brought they we pre-packed on a backing

RATING:
Noodles:
I'll be honest and say that I was never a fan of Delire holds, I've had some for ages that I grabbed before I started the site and I've never really wanted to review them. This years Tour De Bloc comp kind of turned me on to them a little more? Why? (And it's going to sound like I'm bitching) Because the comp, held at a Delire gym was 90, maybe 95% Delire holds... that means to be in the comp you had no choice but to climb on them. I enjoyed some of the holds so much that I've ordered some that we WILL review in the future, and this time it won't take two years, that much I can promise!!!

Why didn't I like their shapes? It's simple really, there are a lot of shapes that are too complex, even artistic for my liking... but that's me. Add some sharp edges in places (and by this I mean thin and therefore there's no space for them to be rounded) and then it's not something I want to spend a lot of time climbing on... and I spend a lot of time climbing, I've had enough injurys to know when I have to be careful or just plain to avoid.

Is this set something that I'd avoid? Yes and no is the simple answer. There are some nice shapes here that climb really well, there's one or two that i'd simply chuck if I'd not paid for them) because if misused (and I will do this) there is a high chance that I'd hurt myself or someone else. Eve's route really brought out the good in the entire set of holds, something I'll be honest and think couldn't be done, then my route... well my route was just evil, but again it highlighted that these holds if used correctly are a lot of fun.

I'm surprised, these holds are a pleasent surprise, after hearing all the neigh sayers and doubters and even if I admit it... I have some holds that I've used for 4 odd years that I didn't even know were from Delire (they were a present) that I still use today and still enjoy means one thing and one thing only... go and have a look, yes they're resin holds and yes some shapes should be avoided but they should be looked at as the prices really aren't that bad

Stay tuned, I went and picked some holds that flat out kicked my ass at the TDB comp, so much so I've brought them so you can see some holds that I think you'll really enjoy :)

Chris:
Her comes Santa Clause, Here comes Santa Clause, Right down Santa Claus Lane....So Noodles somehow convinced us to go to the Mountain Equipment Co-op on Boxing day, and although I ended up being happy with the purchases, the hour spent trying to get out of the parking lot was not worth it ;) The Tour de Bloc held a competition at the Delire gym in Quebec City and we sampled many of their shapes at the comp. They have a distinct feel to them and are more technical of a hold that force you to hold a particular way, there are a lot of small features that give a different grip as you rotate the hold.

Like Noodles, I never was a big fan of Delire holds. We don't see them around very much and the technical aspect makes it so you find yourself getting spat off the wall. Having climbed at the Delire gym in last years Tour de Bloc, I've come to appreciate climbing on these holds. They can be very deceitful, keep you on your toes and hoping that you catch the right part.

I liked this set. I've seen a lot of their shapes in stores around Montreal and I would be reluctant to buy some but these holds felt nice when we sampled them in the store. The shapes are nice and round, with the exception of one little jug. The holds are big for one hand and too small for two, and in our problems, we had matching the holds was always difficult. Our problem came when we got two hands onto the little jug. Its not the most comfortable of shapes.

PROS:

• Prices are great and you can get them at stores in Canada
• Beginner friendly sizes
• Good color
  

CONS:

• Resin holds, but they are pretty strong
• One of the holds is out of place in the set and is a little sharp on the fingers
• Delire logo sometimes gets in the way when you want to use a hold upside down
• Holds didn't come with T nuts, just normal nuts were used

Full post here!

New Stuff > Feb

Here's the new stuff for Feb

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Great Crimps... that's actually what they're called :)
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It was meant to end in Jan, now extended to the end of Feb!
New HOTM from Element as well-------------------------------

The Storm Board has been released!!!
Co-branded with Etch, it's so good two companies sell it!

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Osm'ose have their 2010 line up online----------------------------

Centre holds for FebMore new holds!-------------------------------

Nicros has a sale on!
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It's called the Crash Dummy, and it's huge

Full post here!

Review > Teknik > Aphids

Aphids are tiny little bugs. To put their size in context, they fall prey to lady bugs and this weeks featured holds are from Teknik and are the Aphids of the climbing hold world. Ten hot yellow crimps for us to play on:)Alright, you might be thinking: "What? is he color blind?" but our holds came in fluorescent yellow. We went to the Mountain Equipment Co-op on boxing day to get some presents that Santa failed to bring us (we were good this year Santa, why didn't you give us a hang board?) While looking around, something caught our eyes. The bright yellow Aphid holds were like a beacon that guided us and there are very similar to some Teknik crimps our local gym has recently bought. The Aphids look much like other crimps that Teknik makes, for example the Scarabs or the Crickets, but have a shape of their own. We climbed the crimps at the gym and realized that they didn't have this set so we bought them, when we got back to the wall we opened the package and realized the extent of pain we were about to endure. Now Teknik has named this set appropriately, taking into account their small stature, but "geometry" would also be a good way of designating the holds, each one of these heinous crimps has a geometric shape that results in some pretty sharp, incut edges.

Our biggest problem with these holds was to create problems that we could all work on, so we made a traverse from the vertical wall to the 30 degree wall. The holds should be set on vertical terrain and the since the holds are in cut, they were really solid. In our case, we had the choice of any footholds on the wall so the sequence through the vertical wall ended up being a balancing act between footholds. The second we got onto the 30 degree wall, we really had to rely on brute strength. These holds will make you work! As with any kind of crimping on overhanging walls, your core strength and foot work will be put to the test....and don't forget to breath. Yes, there were times when we were climbing and holding our breath, just praying to get to the next move.

So we accomplished our first task of setting up a problem that we could all feasibly send and we were onto bigger and harder problems. Since the roof was out of the question, the next best thing to test our holds/strength/ignorance was to get them on the 45 degree wall. The original idea was to get to the top of the wall. We quickly realized this was a feat for Superman, so we worked on a short four move sequence. We ended up putting in very large holds for the feet, swapped some holds around and worked the beta and we still couldn't manage to stick the holds.

We played our version of the one hold game for our next set. The set has ten holds and we were three climbers so we each set three holds, with one extra hold for the start, setting like this always creates a fun and interesting problem. The early stages of solving the problem has us scratching our heads but we worked out the beta and it turned out to be a good session.

We climbed on these crimps for two weeks. We set three problems and had some friends over to climb with us. In total, there were six who tried the problems in which only two couldn't send because of bad footwork.....I mean sore fingers;) These holds aren't for the faint at heart, as the Teknik website states: "Heinous crimps reminiscent of the type of hateful little holds you’d normally only find on real rock. Fun!"


SUGGESTED USES:




We tried these on the 45 wall, we really did... and Noodles just dropped to the floor and was straight out "I don't want to climb this", Chris on the other hand is a little daft and went at the route he set harder than expected. These holds could be used on a 45 degree wall.... as feet, we'd not use them for hands

For most people these holds are going to be hard and painful on a 30 degree wall and normally we'd complain about them being painful... but Teknik stated that these holds are heinous on their site so we're not really surprised that they have some bite to them. The bite is the only thing that is going to keep you on the wall, that much is clear as the holds are thinner than a high school math teachers comb over (and that's pretty thin)

If you don't mind some sharp edges and some finger pain, look at these holds, but keep the angle shallow and your fingers taped... digression from this formula will leave you in pain. Remember variety is the spice of life, and these holds do fit into a category that allows you to have what you want on your wall


OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 10
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt on... Martini headed bolts only
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): $27 USD / 10 = $2.70 per hold
  
• Color: Ours are yellow
  
• Bolt placement: Centered
  
• Sanding: 50-50
  
• Texture: Good
  
• Set size: Small, crimps
  
• Versatility: Limited
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Nope

The one big fault with these holds is the sanding, holds this small shouldn't need a set screw to stop them from spinning... but we turned these holds more than we expected and had to really crank them down HARD on the wall. It's kind of a surprise, sure small thin holds like these are going to be hard to sand, but some of the holds just hadn't be near a sander and that for us was a surprise! So the holds not being sanded resulted in some spinners, slightly moving holds.

Other than the iffy sanding, the holds are pretty well made. They're light and have good texture that's more aggressive than what you'd normally get on a Teknik hold, and it's needed to keep you on the wall. There aren't any inset washers, these holds are actually too thin to have them in the hold but the martini headed bolts that these holds take will spread the force of the hold being tightened down pretty well. (Update: All small holds now have inset washers)

Our holds are nice and bright yellow, there were some other colors that we could have picked out, but this was the option that we went with. The color is nice and even through the set and despite their small stature all the holds have the little Teknik star on them

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane, and they're pretty strong despite being thin

PACKING / SHIPPING:
We brought these holds from a store, they were well packed, they come in a bag with bolts

RATING:
Noodles:
Now I love Teknik, 80% of their holds are sublime sometimes there's something out of the ordinary... this time not so much. Why as I hate crimps so much did I buy them? Because being known for hating crimps Teknik were never going to send us a set. Now I see the reasoning for a hold company having a diverse mix of holds, every company should... and not all companies do!

I'm going to state flat out that I don't like Tekniks small stuff. No sir, I'm sorry to say. Anything that's a set of holds that is 1/4 crimp all the way if just plain evil... Actually let me contradict myself... The Crickets and the Spikes are small holds and are good small holds; I'd even say that the Runners are better crimps... mainly because they're open handed crimps, not full on crimps

There are two sides of the coin, I don't like these crimps, either at the gym or at home. Although I hate crimps, I seem to climb well upon them; don't ask me why, I just do. On a 5.11 set at the gym with a bunch of these holds I breezed through the sequence on these, straight out killed it, I was smooth, I was solid and I could cling on.... I almost flashed a couple of the routes that we set here... self preservation and finger pain made me stop

These holds are sharp, and that's where my problem lies. If these holds had a little.... and I mean tiny tiny more meat on them... they could be the same depth but if the edges were rounder then I'd be fine with them. Svelt Pinches... amazing, Spanky... sorry I mean the Arnold is great, it never leaves the wall... I just prefer the Runners as small small holds to hang on to. So these holds come down to personal opinion, some people love the pain of crimps and will always buy something like this... sure I grabbed these to see what they were like...

"Crimps are meant to be sharp, outside
Inside I prefer them lessened, so I crimp but I don't get the pain from sharp edges
I also take my scotch straight up with a two cubes of ice... inside or out!"

Chris:
I'm going to take this time to comment on something that we've noticed about the holds that we receive. Companies tend to send us the best holds and we are given the best service, knowing that they will be scrutinized. We've come across some disgruntled customers who have been unhappy with a product, or problems with communications or shipping of holds. Some want to give in their two cents but fall on deaf ears. Without naming any one company in particular, they must come to the realization that their customers are climbers, driven, as they are, for the love of the sport. We are all part of that community and it is the community that keeps these companies alive. We've had a lot of beef from people who claim that we don't hear the complaints, well we do. To act on them is a touchy subject to embark on in a review and we try to stay as unbiased as possible. In our reviews we comment on our own experiences with the holds/companies.

Teknik is one of the big players in the climbing hold world and if they had sent us this set, they probably would have come in with a high degree of quality control. The set was bought from Mountain Equipment Co-op and they weren't all made to the same standard. The shapes are nice, the texture even but when it came to flat sanded backs, the holds are not consistent. One out of the ten was completely flat and you can hear me crank down the holds with the wrench because the uneven backs made some of the holds spin.

So despite all that, I like the holds. The in cut crimps give more grip than say a flat or slopey crimp so at least I could pull myself off the ground on the 45 degree wall. We've had a shot at climbing a lot of Tekniks crimp line, thanks to Allez Up, and they're all pretty nasty, but...ahh, yes...there is always a but...they're much better than you would expect. The holds were reserved for the harder climbs, 5.10 and up, and I wouldn't want to be on them if I wasn't capable of climbing at this level. There were some people working on the sequence, but most had to put it to rest before they got to the top.

PROS:

• Great color, these small holds stand out
• Came with bolts included
  

CONS:

• Sanding was off
• Painful and thin holds

Full post here!

Teknik @ The Dutch Championship

Click on the Teknik logo for an interesting read about a traveling routesetter called Tonde who has been setting some big comps in Europe!
Full post here!

Review > Petrogrips > Mixed

Sometimes we write a review that causes a stir, one such review was one we wrote way back in our early days and it was on a set of grips that we just plain hated the look of, those holds were from Petrogrips. Two years later, we're back with another installment of Petrogrips holds! We're older, we're wiser and it's going to be nice to look back on something that we didn't like and see how they've grown, like us, from being an in fact into what we are today!! We give you, dear readers... a mixed bag of holds from Petrogrips:
We've broken the holds down pretty much my size, hang on kids it's going to be a wild ride :), overall build for the entire bunch of holds will be at the end, but suggested uses etc will be by set
But there are things that have to be said before we get into the nitty gritty of the review, Jim, the self styled "soup nazi of climbing holds" asked us to point out a few things before we begin:

1. BETA holds - not optimized for looks yet.
2. One of my mottos is that you climb with your hands and not your eyes.
3. Wouldn't the time I spend making them look nicer (which has nothing to do with how they climb) better be spent helping starving kids in Africa? Not that I am going to do that mind you.
4. You guys actually got a few "experiments" - I didn't send my best looking stuff.
5. and perhaps most importantly.... Don't compare apples with oranges. These holds are so different from anything else out there that you can't compare these to other plastic holds. And be careful with that workmanship label. Just think about the "workmanship" required to carve a piece of foam, make a mold and pour plastic into that mold. That doesn't require much skill. The amount of workmanship necessary to make these is much greater. There are parts that have to fit together. Plastic holds have ZERO workmanship. If the shape is nice you could call them artistic perhaps but workmanship is the wrong term to use in general.

From the get go we'll address these points:

1. Some of the holds as we can see can be called "Beta", but most of the holds (Labelled 1 & 2) look almost exactly the same as the holds we didn't like the look of way back when, don't believe us? Look to the left, don't those holds look almost exactly the same as sets 1 & 2? Why yes they do. But they're not actually the same, the sparkles aside the new holds Synrock portion of the holds don't actually contact the wall at all, so they're less prone to chipping. Jim really should update his website one of these days!
   
2. We kind of agree with this point, you do climb with your hands and not your eyes! But having something that is ascetically pleasing to look at and to hold onto is far nicer than something that looks really bad. We've had this discussion with Jim before, and sometimes it's just not worth trying to convey a point when the other party (who sent us the holds for critique btw) just doesn't want to listen
3. Actually, we feel you should do both of these things
4. Noted
5. Now we totally disagree, and Jim has actually said something daft... look here aren't these holds that have been shaped in the normal fashion? People that sit down and shape holds ARE artists in their own right, it DOES take talent. If you look at the holds we're reviewing / testing and their parts then there is a degree of workmanship that comes into play, they aren't just one part "poured" holds, they are two part holds. So yes a degree of workmanship and skill has been utilised in making these holds, they are more complex and probably time consuming to make. The bases have to be poured, the synrock grip part of the hold needs to be shaped and then the two have to be fitted together and then glued. Whether that workmanship has then been put together with some TLC is another thing entirely.

Now that that has been said, let's get on to reviewing and testing the holds. We've had these holds since before Xmas and it was nice to see what came through the post. Yet again when we opened the box it was one of wonder to see what we had, we knew beforehand as Jim had sent us an image of the holds, but it's when you start to touch and feel these holds that you start to get what Petrogrips and Synrock is all about.

Synrock is cooler to the touch, not much cooler to the fingers than resin, but there is a degree of coolness to this substance, the difference between Synrock and urethane in temperature when they're on the wall is clear. Some of the holds were just thin, 1/2 pad thing, others were two pads and then there is holds 3 / 4 & 5 which were just wonders to look at. First impressions were 3 /4 & 5 were going to be super fun to climb on, set 2 looked pretty much like our original holds but set 1 had a larger surface area so we could actually get on them more and see what these holds felt like, rather than just rip our finger tips off.

The holds went everywhere on the wall that sense allowed, we set short powerful routes and some stuff on the 45. The holds do actually climb really really well, they were fun and as we played with them more and more the crazier some of the moves we set became. The smallest holds aside... these holds climbed really well, there are some edges that could do with rounding off as they're a little sharp, this is something you can do with some sandpaper without too much trouble. The texture on these holds can also be lessened by using Mauriac acid, this isn't something we've done but we will try it at some point.

SUGGESTED USES SET 1:




Inset, positive and large slopers are all in the mix with these holds. These holds allowed us to to feel the Synrock and get what people have told us about the medium and how it feels, they're correct it does feel pretty good. The ledges felt cool to our finger tips and if your wall is a warm environment then these holds will probably be some of your go too's on routes time and time again. 30 to 45 degrees is where these holds came into their own, we pulled some pretty stiff moves on these holds and they were good to grab and pull on. Looking at the shapes you think that an angle of 30+ it's going to be hard to hang and pull on some of these holds, that's where we and you would be wrong! The shapes may not be prefect but the texture does allow you to get away with murder pure and simple... get these holds on the 45 and see what happens, you won't be sorry

SUGGESTED USES SET 2:



Small and crimpy, very small and crimpy, 30 is the absolute limit on these holds, we had trouble bearing down on these, most of the holds were flat rather than being incut which made sticking them hard. They'd actually work really well as foot holds more than anything else when you're on overhanging terrain... that being said on a vertical wall these holds are going to be thin going but more than doable. There are two or three of the holds that are a little larger and incut and therefore do make overhangs a little more climbable, we'd like more of these so we can set hard routes on the 45 degree wall. Size wise these holds are probably the best for home walls, just get the larger holds, or specify larger holds when you order

SUGGESTED USES SET 3:



The 8 pod is the most complete looking hold of the bunch, it looks like it could have come from most companys, if the middle was interchangable, and who knows in the future they might be, which is a good thing. This hold and the others we've seen on the site looks like they are good for a wall that is primarliy flat and something that you don't want to cut a hole in your wall. Fun thin slopes for your hands and good for our feet this hold is basically a bolt on feature for your wall. We took this shape upto 30 degrees and it was just plain hard as hell as the Synrock portion of the hold was thin and slopey, with a different more positive insert then the shape and the concept of these holds will, we're sure, become more and more of a staple of gyms and home walls alike.

SUGGESTED USES SET 4:



The Pill, probably our favorite hold of the bunch, this hold is good on steep terrain which is a surprise, and why is it a surprise? Because this is one big ol sloper, and on the steep terrain you're going to end up pinching, what keeps you on is the Synrock.. the texture just keeps coming and coming... but at first feel it feels like it's not going to go all that far and then it bites just enough to allow you get through the move. This hold is by far one of the best feeling slopers out there, bolt it on or screw it on, we did both... hell we even used one of the screw hole placements as a set screw to stop it from spinning.

What's interesting about the Slot and the Pill is that the Synrock part of the hold is the same! If you wanted the Pill base with the Slot inside then this could be done for you. It opens alot of options for Petrogrips and for the range of holds that they can produce!

SUGGESTED USES SET 5:



There is actually a symbol missing here, and if you look at number 5 the hold we've called the Slot then you can probably guess what it is.... yup we're missing a crack symbol! We'll have to make one up:), we never thought that we'd need that category, how wrong were we?

This hold is simply superb, a little thinner than we'd really like, but when it comes to climbing outside you have no choice when it comes to cracks, you can either climb them or you can't!! We have nothing like this hold on the market, and to say that it mimics the outdoors would be an understatement, it's the most realistic crack that we've found. Could you imagine a 4ft version of this on your wall? That's what we'd like to see!

We had this slot on the 45 and it's hard to hold, but it is fun trying to get your fingers locked into position and then move. Can you bear the pain? Well sometimes you have to just grin and bare down on your fingers and then just go for it :P Vertically this hold is technical depending upon how you set, and low down horizontally this hold is a bunch of hoots, it's hard to match and hard to move off of, you'll either love it or hate it. We know we want more of these in varying widths as it's a style that is missed from most climbing hold companies lists

OVERALL BUILD ALL HOLDS

• Number of holds: 19
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Both, these holds have both options
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): N/A
  
• Color: Disco, the holds are glittery
  
• Bolt placement: Mainly off center
  
• Sanding: Depends
  
• Texture: On the Synrock part of the holds amazing, the bases are smooth
  
• Set size: Various
  
• Versatility: Not bad
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: N/A all of the holds are bolt on or screw on

Right! The quality of these holds are all over the shop, there's no other way to say it... but remember they are beta holds, despite the fact that you can buy them. Jim sent them to us so we'd give them a test, he openly sells or gives away his holds to people so he can get feedback... kudos to him, he's got a broad set of shoulders to take the criticism. We'll break down the areas:

Bolt Placement
Sometimes the bolt hole placement on the holes is in the middle where you'd expect it to be, other times it's off center... remember these holds can be bolted or screwed on so on the holds where the hole is off center you can just add a set screw. We wondered why the holes were everywhere so we asked:
"2 reasons - the first I can't talk about because it is a trade secret, the second reason is that when the bolt hole is to the left then most of your weight is to the right of the bolt hole - serving to tighten the hold by trying to spin it to the right. I realize this is backward if you are using the hold as an under cling but I am mostly thinking about footholds."
So did we make a mistake and use the small holds that should be footholds as handholds? We'll they can be used as both.

Color
The color overall was glittery, it wasn't even throughout the bases of the holds, the Synrock is always the same light pink color. You're for sure not going to see anything like these holds, if the color was even then they'd not look so cheap and half finished. Maybe more glitter is needed in the base mix, that's something we'd never thought we'd say

Sanding / Hollow backs
On sets 1 & 2 the sanding is fine, sometimes it was a little over done and you could see the nails that are used to give the bases' their tensile strength.
3 was fine as well sanding wise, but upon closer inspection you could see where the synrock portion had been glued in.... actually on the back! The hold part where attached to the base was attached by running a bead of glue around the edge of the Synrock and then pressing them together... how could we tell? The base was probably too thin... the glue had burnt through and the join was soft. So soft we were able to pick it out with a finger nail!! The bases' need to be thicker we think.
For 4 & 5 the sanding was so-so, the holds had a bit of a wobble on when you placed them onto a flat surface, it wasn't the worst sanding job we've ever seen by a long shot, but it wasn't the best.

Now as we're talking about 4 (we call it the Slot) and 5 (we call it the Pill) the hollow backs were simply put "rubbish", they looked like they'd been attacked with a hammer, chisel and a drill. We asked about this, and sure it's not a massively important factor... who actually looks at a hollow back? That answer is simple, Noodles does, he loves a good hollow back... Teknik have it down, DRCC have it down, hell some of the smallest companies have it down (Element and Rock Candy) and he has said it time and again "a good hollow back is beautiful to look at, it saves weight and therefore postage, there's less material wastage and the strength of the holds isn't compromised" Sooner or later the molds that are used for forming the hollow back will be properly made and the holds will be optimised for lightness / strength. Right now the backs are just works in progress

Texture
The meat and the potatoes for all of us monkeys. The texture on Synrock is simply superb, it does feel like a sandstone kind of rock... it's something you're either going to love or hate (simply put). As these holds actually have a gripping area that we could feel, unlike our first review, we now know what Jim is going on about... he says "Plastic sucks" we disagree, we like plastic. Synrock has a feel like no other, the Pill is amazing to chuck onto... there's the right ammount of texture for everyone... no complaints at all. Same with the Slot, that crack was simply the most (and forgive the quote marks please) "the most ourdoor-esque crack / slot" that there is, and it's pretty nice on the hands as well. More of this hold with different widths and features we feel will become a staple of every wall. Number 3, the 8 pod, is brilliant aswell, it's as shallow and technical as you think it's going to be. Hopefully these holds will be made as interchangeable in the future... the concept and feel is simply superb.

The one hold that has a texture that we didn't like from the Synrock was the 2nd hold on the left of the big image at the top of the review. The synrock looks like it's been imprinted with the end of a ball point pen and it's given it some texture... but we don't like it. It's a little "bitty" for us and it really pulls on the skin when you have that hold on a steep angle.

So overall, Synrock DOES FEEL GREAT! But... oh you knew there was a but, didn't you?!! Synrock is brittle as all hell. The base of the holds can be used as a pry bar, we tried! It can be done :) Synrock is as strong as a fine china cup, if you drop these holds and this material is the part that takes the impact then you're pretty well done with the hold.... it is going to shatter. That for us is a shame, can it not be stronger? Some of these holds will be going into our next round of drop tests and we will let you know the results

Overall - The Final Comments on Build
We don't want to sound like a broken record, but we do like a good looking hold. We think that they're a thing of beauty. Jim has done a good job and is inovating his holds all the time, it's just a shame that some of the edges on holds were chipped, the color was uneven and there were some glued areas where the Synrock joins the base that were just a little ugly. For beta holds we take off our hat and we raise a glass for pushing the boundry of climbing holds. Wether it is the correct way for holds to go is for you, the consumer, to decide. Synrock is a great substance, make it stronger and work on the glued areas / color and we'd probably be in line to buy them. We're happy to have been able to give our feedback to Jim, and for being allowed to pass this information onto our readership. Jim should be rolling out the Beta program to everyone, so you can hopefully experience these holds first hand and then you can mail in your thoughts on the holds so Jim can continue to improve what is an already innovative product!!


WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Synrock, a rock like texture is the main hold part that you climb on. The bases are a strong plastic mix

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Not all that good, we had a little scrape here and there as the holds had moved about a lot. Jim ships by putting as many holds as possible into a single box to maximize savings, it was part of the test to see how the holds faired when shipped.

RATING:
Noodles:
There are some people out there that swear by Synrock holds, am I one of them now that I've been able to feel more than 1/4 of a pad of the material?

That's a tough one, but something that is easy to answer!

Firstly let me point out, that I still stand behind our original review.
Secondly let me answer the question I just posed.

Do I like Synrock?

Yes I do! I love the feel of it, especially on the Slot and the Pill. I think it's texture is just right and it's a wonderful climbing surface. Set 1 are fun to climb on and were a pleasant surprise, the feel nice. Set 2 is as thin as our original review, they're technical and pretty good crimps, but they're not super crimpy, they're nicer on your fingers than you thinl... unless you set a mental sit start that shuts me down :) The final holds, 3 / 4 & 5 are my favorites, I think that they're great holds and I want to see different sizes of them so we can set full on problems with them.

Do I like the look of the holds? Nope, not one bit. But they do climb well. I think Jim has done an ok job of cleaning up his product and they're better than they used to be, I also think that if he focuses on this facet of making of the holds I think that you'd see them in more gyms and then I'd probably recommend them to more people. I'd like to think that Jim will listen to what I'm saying and will do something about it, but I'm 100% confident that he won't, he likes what he does, he's happy with the product and thinks it's pretty well fine as is... how can I say this? The quality of the holds has gone up in the last 2 years, since our original review, but it's not been super super improved.

If people want something that is a little bit different then they should look at Synrock and Petrogrips holds... that is a point I'd like to make. I'd go for the bigger holds, and stay away from the slim, small crimpy stuff... get your hands on Synrock, it is good to climb on.... but just don't drop them! The Synrock is fragile and it will snap, which is a shame... it's more fragile than resin by far, so it is kid gloves when putting these holds away, we've only had one of these holds break in two years... and it was a foothold that had been used constantly for that time, we also broke the 8 pod hold, but that was because we picked out the glue from the back.

Even though I don't agree with Jim's view on plastic being crap, I do like the way he stands behind his product and it's nice to see that he's being innovative with it. Synrock feels nice, it's good to climb on... like we said it's like a hard sandstone, but it is a shame it's so brittle :( I think that the holds have come a good way, the medium feels right and where the Synrock meets the base is a weird one for me.... I complain about it, not because of it's medium A (the base) meets medium B (the Synrock) but because I'd rather there wasn't a glue as an in-between join between these materials... this right now is a necessary evil that I understand and I hope that there is something out there (even if it is JUST GLUE) that makes this join look and feel a little nicer and that it's application when applied is nice and clean

I know that I'm looking forward to the next batch of holds now, we'll happily give feedback on them... I'd like to see some finished holds first, but what I'm going to keep an eye on is the 8 pods, that is what I want to see as that is an innovative product that I'd like to see go a long way

Chris:
I predict that this review will have the same controversies as the previous Synrock review around the conflicting ideas that we have with Jim. Granted, we do climb with our hands but have you ever tried to climb with a blindfold? To say that we climb with our hand and not our eyes is a bit of an understatement. There are many factors that draw us to climbing. For some, it's to spend time with friends, or for a way to enjoy the great outdoors, others are drawn to it for the challenge. But what draws us to a specific climb, indoor or out? I think that in that respect, before we ever physically experience a climb, we are drawn to it with our eyes. The act of climbing only comes second.

With that said, the shapes climb very well. I'm not at all drawn to them when it comes to aesthetics, but they are nice shapes and finger friendly for the most part. Set number 1 consisted of edges and we had them up all over the wall. Nick set another problem that traversed on the vertical wall with these holds and he bolted them on as side pulls that we had to match. In this problem, the holds hurt a little. They climbed great on the 5 degree wall. I was surprised that I could grip the crimps from set number 2. These guys are small, I could even go as far as tiny. Since the Synrock grip is set into a very smooth base, you can't use your thumb to get any extra friction on the hold and you need to execute the moves properly to stick the hold. The crimps are probably the most comfortable crimps that come in this size. I've come to notice that most crimps are either sharp and bite into the skin or they're round and better used as foot holds, but the Synrock shapes are in that middle ground where you need to bear down hard on the hold without the pain of the hold biting back. At least you can bear down and get some time to sort your feet out.

I preferred the bigger holds. We came to know the Petrogrip holds when Jim sent us a batch of crimpers for our first review. There weren't too many larger holds in the range and these holds were our first and only impression too date. Then along came the second shipment and the holds came in all different shapes and sizes. I wasn't a fan of the blue and gold sparkly color of the holds...ok, I know that they're beta holds and they're "not optimized for looks yet", but we're climbers, not 12 year old school girls...the back could be hollowed out a little bit more but as for the shape of the hold, they've got a winner. Just like the crimps, these holds are made up of two parts and there isn't a whole lot of friction on the base of the hold so you need to rely on an open hand grip. The crack hold was my favorite. The inside of the crack is flat and even if you try a thumb or finger jam, there never seems to be enough friction to hold on.

So I'll get onto the million dollar question: Do I like Synrock holds?

Now that we've spent some time climbing a wider range of shapes, then yes. The shapes are well thought out, don't hurt the fingers and have a nice texture. What I'm turned off by is the look.

The next question is: Would I buy Symrock holds?

In their present form, probably not. We buy with our eyes grasshopper.

PROS:

• Unique two part design
• Texture is great
• Good prices
  

CONS:

• They're not lookers by any means
• There are some manufacturing defects that could be ironed out
• Glitter isn't for everyone
  

PRICE:
Depends, you'd have to check the site and mail them for exact pricing

Full post here!

Story Comp Winner :)

Boy did we get some stories... did we get some stories :) Whomever entered the comp is here, their names have been removed to, well, protect their shame!!

There were a bunch of entries over 50 words, but we let that slide :) the WINNER, ah the winner is in red.

Here are the entries:

1) Bouldering in Central Park, cop’s horse takes a massive dump in our proximity. Hour later a tourist is standing atop a slab with his dog. Dog gets spooked, pulls the man down the slab, time slows, and the guy does a face plant in the manure! (NP)

2) I was in Red Rocks doing some sport climbing and when my climber got to the top, I took in the rope and sat back - right into a cactus. I was pulling cactus barbs out of my ass for half an hour. (AE)

3) While walking across a dam to a local bouldering area, the rock we all had used to cross toppled under my friends foot and down he went. To avoid hypothermia, he took off his freezing-water drenched clothes until he was wearing only boxers, put on one of our down-jackets and proceeded to climb extraordinarily well without the weight of his clothing... still... you can never unsee the sight of a grown man climbing in his boxers. (JP)

4) A busy Frogland in Red Rocks. An ill G laid out a Space Blanket, squatted and EXPLOSION. Probably 25% on target and 75% on the back wall. Frantically, he packed the foil into his camera case, washed the wall with water and rapped off as the next party approached the ledge. (AC)

5) It was my first trip to Smith Rock, and i was SO PSYCHED to be there. I was a bit impatient on the approach walk and headed straight for the busiest are and set my stuff down at the base of an unoccupied climb. Wasting no time, i threw on my shoes and tied in. After a surprisingly difficult sequence off the ground and the typical Smith Rock 20ft. run out to the first bolt, i realized that there as not a single quickdraw or carabiner on my harness. It must have been amusing for the 40 or so other people in the area to watch me humbly downclimb and almost come off... twice. (GS)

6) I was in Bishop, California camping and bouldering at the Buttermilks.It was mid-afternoon, and I snuck into the field across the dirt road from the boulders to shit.I was leaning against a rock, pants at my ankles, thinking I was out of view, and a station wagon drove by. All I could do was wave. (RS)

7) Marty and I were bolting a route at the Projects, Arizona, and had sat down for a drink . As we got ready to climb the route, I asked Marty, "Dude, have you seen my belay device?" he answered, "Have you checked between your legs?" Sure enough, there it was on my harness. (RO)

8) Ok, so my friends and I headed down to the Red for the weekend about 5 or 6 weeks ago. As we hiked to the Solarium we kept giving one of my friends crap because he kept dropping stuff on the way there (At which point he would chase it frantically). Needless to say he was getting kinda upset. Once at the crag he placed his bag down and told us to stop, as he said that a spider crawled up his bag, he grabbed my friends guide book to kill it. He wound up to swing at it and on his swing the guidebook slipped out of his hand and flew down the hillside tumbling into the thick bushes (Probably full of poison ivy) We all immediately started laughing historically at him. In the end he had to go get the book as he fell over branches and other wooden items. It was very funny and he was a great sport about it. Now whenever we give him a guide book we quickly respond with LOOK OUT!!! (AB)

9) There is a cliff beside a highway my friends and I climb so I climbed it in a red one piece long underwear suit. When I was halfway up I slipped, the flap opened from under my harness and showed the drivers (who didn't hold back the honking) everything. (ET)

10) My boyfriend and I wanted to get a family discount at our local gym. When asked if we were married he hesitated and I insisted that we were married. They gave us the discount, but on our next visit they said they needed proof. We doctored up fake marriage license to try and save 15$. They ended up being jerks to us from then on, so we never renewed. (JH)

11) I weigh quite a bit more than my girlfriend, who was belaying me. When I slipped and took a huge whipper about 30 feet at Red River Gorge. My girlfriend flew up to the first bolt where me and her eventually collided. A "crag dad", who had been annoying us all day, seized the opportunity to lecture us on proper climbing and belay technique. I sat there and took it instead of telling the guy to F*** off. (QH)

12) While climbing at the local boulder spot in the hills above town, I found myself needing to take a piss break. I walked down the hill from our project to a tight turn in the path, had just unzipped and started doing my business when I heard my friend fall and let out a yell of surprise. I turned around to see him essentially surfing the stack of pads down the dirt path. We both wound up landing in the bushes past where the trail turned, unwounded apart my dignity. That trip more than most I found myself needing a shower afterward. We never spoke of it. (JF)

13) I finally convinced my girlfriend to try climbing. Just as I finished saying that bouldering was safe, the hold spun, and I fell and missed the crash pad. I broke 3 bones in my hand, and my girlfriend still won't go climbing. (NR)

14) After being at the crag for hours needing to use the restroom. I quickly dropped and took a squat. Finishing up I seemed too relaxed and peed all over my shorts and me. Having to do the walk of shame threw camp with everybody cracking up at piss boy was great. lol (DF)

15) I was working on a dyno from crimps to a huge hueco jug and had been spit off every time. My last huck of the day I stuck the dyno, but came down with the hold and a good portion of the wall, and a broken tailbone. (BJ)

16) OK... So, I was bouldering with a friend out in Sedona Arizona. This place is so beautiful with its red sandstone and really lush green trees. The name of the area is the anvils. Not a ton of rock but what's there is pretty good quality. In the background there is a little river to drown out the noise of anyone or thing in the area. Well, we had been putting a pretty good day in and hitting most of the good boulders. My friend was getting on this one problem and it has a really HIGH high-step. As he was moving his leg up we both heard a ripping sound. This was no small rip! He had torn his shorts on the seem about 7 inches! Now my friend has a habit of free balling as many of us do... just is a little more comfortable that way! When I looked up I got the clearest view of his JUNK! More then I ever needed to see of my friend! There are just parts of people you don't need to or want to see.

This wasn't the easiest of moves and he could have fallen but HOW was I supposed to spot him with everything flapping in the breeze? Luckily he got to the top and topped it out and I could open my eyes and put my hands down. I think I'm scarred for life! (SM)

17) So i took a girl that i met on a date to the crag, thinking it would be something new and exciting rather than a movie or something. anyways, we get there and i see my ex who is an avid climber, there at the same spot. fuck. were taking turns belaying and everything was going just fine. it was my turn to climb so i started my ascent. halfway up, i look down to see my ex talking to the new chick and i hear "he took me to this same place on OUR first date too. needless to say, the new chick never called me back. sick burn (RV)

18) Well, one fine night, me and the boys were having a session when one of the hottest chicks I have ever seen walk in. well, i decide its my time to shine, I hop up on one of the hardest problems that was set at the time, which had a nice dyno at the very top. well, being that I couldn't do the start for the life of me, I start halfway up. lets just say dynos aren't the best of times when they end up with you leaving in a ambulance with a broken arm and the hot chick laughing at you, (RV)

Congrats and thanks for all of the entries


Full post here!

Review > Atomik Holds > Font Roof Jugs

Woo hoo! We have more roof jugs! Atomik (that's Atomik with a K. There are two climbing companies out there named atomic, one that is spelled with a K and the other with a C) sent us a whole bunch of font holds a while back of various shapes and sizes but the range lacked some big roof jugs. Out of the sets that they sent us we received some smaller jugs that ended up on the roof but they weren't the most comfortable holds to grip on aggressive terrain, so this time Atomik sent us some proper roof jugs.

We've been supplied with some pretty nasty holds lately. Our suppliers are putting our tendons to the test when they send us small holds, and our local gym recently bought some crimps that they've been setting with, so between review and our regular climbing sessions, our fingers needed the break that came in the form of roof jugs. These holds were actually meant to hit us 6 to 8 months ago but once the holds had been molded and poured for the first time, Kenny (Atomiks head honcho), didn't like the way a couple of the holds felt so two of the holds were reshaped... that's QA for you right there people... 6 odd months to get a few shapes right!
The set consists of five large one hand jugs, with one of the holds actually taking two hands, don't get us wrong, the others can be matched as well but there won't be much room left for your pinky finger... of course this depends upon your hand size, Eve can easily match all of the holds without worry :)

We set some holds on the roof and to make things interesting, we started on a slope, went into the roof and the descended on the 45 degree wall. The weird moves on the 45 and the sloper (Which is Sebs that he won from Teknik) hold at the start gave the problem an added challenge, but the holds are big and easy to hold on to. The first hold in the roof is the most challenging. the jug is on a weird angle and it's harder than the rest to grip, but we did put it the wrong way around to make it slightly more tricky than a plain ol' roof hauling exercise.

From there we went all over the wall, Dave made an unscheduled stop over so he grabbed them and hit the 45 degree wall... putting all of the holds into undercut mode and they do make wonderful undercuts... but as you're gripping so hard on them they do feel as Noodles says "a little bit grippy", we'll come back to that point later on :) And then... ah then we did something that put Noodles back out for a few days... go and watch this video for that one :P
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Overall there's nothing here that you can really complain about, they're good for everyone, great on all angles and if you can stick the dyno then you don't end up walking funny for a few days :)

SUGGESTED USES:




Wow it's not often we get some jugs in... and even then sometimes we don't suggest that some of those holds actually get onto the roof. This set of holds is a different case! they should go on the roof and they perform well up there... they're not by any means perfect as there is a grip issue (which is talked about in the overall build)

These holds can and should go everywhere, do you have kids on your wall? Here you go, knock yourself out... they'll be able to haul about as much as they want. Do you want to monkey across the roof? Again... here's your set, go nuts. Want to hit the floor because you missed the holds on a dyno? Don't let Noodles near it as he'll miss the holds and will hit the floor really hard :D

The holds might seem to be expensive at first glance, but remember the price does include bolts and shipping if you're in the states

The holds are very Font like, as all of Atomiks font ranges are, they're some of the best Font-esque holds we've come across and they do keep expanding the range little by little so you can add to our own mini-font as you see fit.

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 5
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt on
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): 78.99 / 5 = $15.80 per hold
  
• Color: Standard Atomik, red, green, blue and yellow
  
• Bolt placement: Right in the middle
  
• Sanding: Super super flat
  
• Texture: Ah yes... see below
  
• Set size: X Large
  
• Versatility: Undercuts / Jugs / Sidepulls
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Nope

Ah lets get right to the point, if you've seen our reviews for Atomik you'll know that they now only pour from G2 (generation 2) molds as the G1's made holds that had a texture that was just brutal. These holds we're guessing are G2's... but due to the shapes means that sometimes the amount of skin you have in contact with the surface of the hold means that they feel super super grippy... almost "ouch that hurts" grippy! The two holds that you'll notice on the most are the yellow and green holds that we have at the top of the review, the yellow hold because even though it's super incut you have a lot of (we mean all of) you palm skin on it and then the green hold only when it's in undercut mode for some reason... So were wondering about the grip so we talked to Atomik about this and this is what they said:
"These holds are G2. Our feedback from gyms was to have the texture this way. It seems we get negative feedback from woody owners doing explosive moves on them such as yourself and positive feedback from gym buyers. When a beginner climber is 25 feet off the deck on their "project" in the local gym, they want the texture there to ease their sweaty palms. We opted to offer the texture this way leaving the option to "comfortize" the holds by the user with a sanding sponge. This way the climber can get exactly what they want. You can't but texture on a slippery hold but you can smooth down a textured one."

That's the only negative point (for us) with these holds, the sanding is superb.. there's not a single bubble in the backs so the mix has been agitated well so it's good and strong. Washers are all where they need to be and the bolt holes are straight and really well drilled (no oval shaped holes here)

On the color front Atomik have stuck with their tried and tested basic colors, the yellow is still one of the brightest out there and the holds are well shaped and tendon friendly. Cleaning the holds isn't too bad as the pockets where you're grabbing are large and friendly so getting a brush into any little nooks and holes isn't an issue as there aren't any :)
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WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane, strong ol stuff

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Bomber, nothing to worry about as usual

RATING:
Noodles:
Jugs are needed on any wall, they're a staple... part of your climbing diet if you will. We don't actually have enough jugs (if you can believe that) and it's always nice to get some and it's even better (for me anyway) when they're styled after one of my favorite climbing destinations :)

As usual Atomik have well built, well formed shapes, I'm trying to remember of late if there are any of their holds we had last year that we could really have a good moan about... nothing comes to mind. The only down side to these holds is a strange one, these shapes are big friendly jugs that have a nice large grip area and then as you'll see in the video I stop climbing on simple moves and point out that the holds are grippy.... really grippy, I'd like to say that Atomik made a mistake and gave us first gen holds but I doubt that this is the case, it's the shapes and the amount of skin you have in contact with the hold (which is a lot) that makes them feel so grippy... on a roof where these holds are intended this is my no means a bad thing... but sometimes climbing on these holds it's a little too much. Put these holds into a commercial setting where they're going to get gunked up with rubber and chalk and the texture will shine through and give no problems, there's just going to be an initial "bedding in" period for these holds to get to where you want them. We've had them on the wall over a month and have climbed on them a lot, every session in fact and we've not got to the sweet spot yet... but we're sure we'll get there soon enough

Anyways, jugs are something every wall needs, these do exactly what you expect them to do... but with a little extra bite to start off with

Chris:
Finally, some nice big holds got delivered to our door. We have tons of holds but we don't have too many roof jugs. It was nice to have some nice big holds to climb on and set some easier problems.

I've had a landmark year. My climbing has improved more this year than ever before. Now that I'm finally able to send a V6, the problems that I work on and set tend to have smaller holds on them. The fonts forced me to get creative with the setting so it would be at a certain level of difficulty. Noodles and Dave set most of the problems and I had my chance on the third set. So I went on setting with my mind set on giving us stronger climbers a fun problem to warm up on, but my main focus was to set some difficult sequences with easy holds so Eve and Nick could have something to work on that they could work on. I forced a heel hook and Eve needed to work that one move and she was able to get through the sequence after a couple of attempts. Yeah Eve! Mission accomplished.

So all in all, I've always likes Atomik holds. The shapes are simple and the colors are great. I'm happy that we have a full range of font holds from them:)

Eve:
I like the fonts!!!! Yea they're big jugs and it seems easy... But not worrying about your fingers means you can push a little harder on the core and technique. Varied colours you'd think would make it hard to follow a route but they are pretty identifiable shapes!

I don't actually know what type of climbers they are meant for (don"t tell the boss - I didn't do my homework) but I'd presume they were made for beginners and if that's the case, the Fonts texture is WAY too rough. I know, we were playing on the 45 and on the roof (seriously though where else should we test jugs) and that might make things harder to hold on to but ripping off the Fonts is like a REALLY good finger exfoliation. Either way they're a blast and like Chris said: Yea Eve! ;)

PROS:

• Great for any angle wall
• Kid and beginner friendly
  

CONS:

• Texture is a little rough to start
• Could do with pre-drilled screw holes
  

PRICE:
$78.99 gets you 5 XL holds

Full post here!

Review > Element Climbing > Methods

Ah Element, you name your holds after the periodic table, then after elements, then natural disasters and now.... well now we have this:Yup! For those in the know it's a Method, and this is what we're going to be talking about today... Element Climbing's Methods:
Right so the name is from a snowboard / skate trick from way back when; one thing is for sure after climbing on these holds is that you're going to need some methodology of your own, some skill and power to get through most routes you set with these holds. They're thin, but not sharp... they're classed as ledges / crimps on the Element website and these definitions are pretty close, there are some small shapes in here that are hard to hold onto on a vertical wall and are going to need you to crimp down and then there are some larger holds that are ledges / single hand jugs that are over a pad in size that allows you to get away with putting them onto steeper walls. There's a good mix of sizes.

Some people are going to find the smallest holds hard to hold onto on even a vertical wall, so these holds could be used as footholds and as feet you're going to find them in the larger size in this mode, they make some nice feet if you want! We used them as hands and you're suddenly in a world of strange pinches and moving very very slowly... it was fun to watch people have to suddenly slow down and think about what they were doing.


As you can see that when we were filming the smaller holds are just hidden by the climbers hands... you just can't see em :) The set went down pretty well with everyone that's come into contact with it, from Marty setting small on the 45 to Dave setting weird sit down starts. Lots of people have had their sweaty hands on them and it's been interesting to see what people set

SUGGESTED USES:



For once there is a set of holds out there that have been classed correctly, these holds are crimps and ledges... but they do kind of act as slopers as well if you put the holds up the wrong way and then realise that you're not that strong :)

The variety in this set allows you to get away with murder, we've set hard on the vertical wall and then found that the holds are actually nicer on the 45 than we'd expected, some people are just not going to be able to hang onto the smallest holds but it will give them something to work at or they make some pretty good feet.

Going over 45 degrees with this set isn't something that we'd suggest, they're nice holds to hold onto but they are pretty thin (if you look at the overall size across the set) and the size coupled with a wall that's over 45 means that you're just looking for an injury. Please understand that there are going to be some mutants out there that can probably hold onto these on 45+ walls but for a normal climber it's pretty well out of the question.


OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 10
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt ons
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): 44.95 / 10 = $4.95 per hold
  
• Color: Ours are yellow with a red back
  
• Bolt placement: In the middle every time
  
• Sanding: Super flat
  
• Texture: Grippy, more than enough
  
• Set size: X Small to Medium
  
• Versatility: What you see is what you get
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: No

Element have got it down, there's nothing that you can really complain about with the overall build quality of these holds. The only gripe that we can bring up is that there aren't any pre-drilled screw holes in the larger holds and that's something that's weird as normally Element do cover this with their holds. Texture is nice an even across the range and gives you enough grip to make you feel that you can stick the balanced moves but it's not so rough that you're loosing your finger prints when you're bearing down your full weight on the hold and are screaming your head off :P

The color of these holds make them stand out on the wall and it's nice, but as soon as they get chalked up they do kind of merge in with other holds on the wall (I know as I was checking for screw holes and I actually went looking in a box for them as I couldn't see them on the wall) but for setting purposes on a wall covered in holds the red back meant that you could make them out so you knew what you were grabbing next.

Sanding is as usual flat and smooth, you can tell these holds have been put over a belt sander pretty well, all of the bolt holes are centered and have washers that are parallel to the backs of the hold

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Perfect, the holds were very well packed

RATING:
Noodles:
Ah crimping, something that of late I seem to be doing more of.... and as per usual my digits are feeling the burn from time to time. Despite these holds having a pretty nice radii they are still crimps; be it nicer crimps that aren't so bad to climb on. Element since we started looking at their stuff have been a constant source of surprise, sending out a set of crimps is a pretty bold move... people either look at them as a necessary evil or something that should be avoided unless you're outside.

I've held onto some pretty thin stuff in my time, I've had Elvis leg, the screaming jitters and setting with these holds I can't say that I was nice. I set low and I set wide; I made it short person friendly and I made most of the moves powerful or balancy. I got exactly what I wanted... a route that worked to some peoples strengths in some sections of the wall and then made them work harder than they'd expect for the rest.

I don't like crimps, something that is well documented (makes you wonder why I just brought some!) but these are like Contacts Hex / Rex & The DRCC Force Edges not as bad as you think. They're skin and tendon friendly and with the mixed size of holds that come in this set means that after your scream fest moves you can grab something larger and chill.

Chris:
I’ll just come out and say it: I like these holds. We have tons of crimps, and we’ve had a lot of these kinds of holds on the wall lately and our fingers feel the strain. The Methods are very friendly, but don’t take out the challenge of climbing with this kind of grip. Ok…so you might have read in some previous reviews that I like to climb on crimps. Usually, when we put some crimpy problems on the wall, most of us will have a few attempts before giving it a break. I can usually attempt a few more times before my fingers start to hurt, but with the Methods, the sequence can be worked on over and over without to much bother on the fingers.

For our Climbing Hold Review weekly climbing group, these holds were a lot of fun. Our problems were sustaining, and despite the level of climber, we all had fun working on the problems. For Nuds and I, we worked a couple of difficult moves and we got a good burn from the problems because the set is pretty large. With ten holds of various sizes, we could set them on any angle on our wall and made longer, more interesting problems. They’ve also done a good job with the colors.

Even though some of the holds are small and can second as foot holds, the bright color makes them stand out so you know where you’re going. For Eve and Nick, they could work on a difficult sequence without having to worry about their fingers being sore.

The next thing for these holds is sequence training. They can be put on any angle wall, in our case we could even get them on the 45 degree wall, and the shapes make it so you can endure the long haul on the holds. We haven’t done this yet with this set, but in our down time for the winter, we’re trying to find ways to train for the summer, and with finger friendly sets like the Methods, we can climb inside all winter long.

Eve:
I always appreciated Element Holds. At first, cause I'm a dork and I liked the periodic table stuff. Now well simply cause the Methods make you work on exactly that.... your 'method' of climbing and though the boys are all definitely stronger than me... I'm more flexible and have annoyingly small little hands that can match on ANYTHING! :D I observed that the methods seem to force the setter to make technical, balancy routes and so I had a blast strengthening my fingers and foot work on the buggers. Also, they're pretty, easy to find on a wall (I like the dual color ) and the texture is nothing special but ok. Good ol' climbing hold texture, you know, not to rough but it sticks! I don't think this is a set for beginners but definitely a useful asset to anyone training semi-seriously since they are great soft, rounded, finger friendly crimps, but they are by no means 'easy' to climb on!
PROS:

• Good price
• Nice range of sizes
• Surprisingly nice on the 45 degree wall
  

CONS:

• Could possibly do with a couple of set screws on the larger holds, it's a close thing the size is right in a gray area
• Smaller holds are going to be feet for beginners they're tiny
  

PRICE:
10 holds will cost you $44.95

Full post here!

New Stuff > January

Here's the new stuff for January

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The Blades and all UC's new urethane holds!-------------------------------

Yeah

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Better late than never, here's Project Holds monthly fix for December



-------------------------------

Lots of new volumes coming your way soon!-------------------------------

Big ol sale going on at RC!
-------------------------------


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Here are the HOTM options from Element, this month there's three to choose from:-------------------------------

Shroom for this on your wall?-------------------------------

$399 for all of this goodness... meet the Corpolites

Full post here!

Testing > Hangboards Part One > Metolius Hangboards

At some point in your climbing career you're probably going to have to hang on a board... to get into the 5.10's (for some people) or into the higher grades for others a hang board becomes a necessary evil. Now we're not trainers in any way shape or form, but we've read the reviews and we do train on hang boards... we wanted to write a review on what we've found with Metolius' new boards and how we found them. We have a fairly good base knowledge of what we're doing... here we're going to give you an overview of what we've been doing with two new Metolius boards, in the future we'll expand into other brands of boards and then we'll compare them against each other... look at their pros and cons and what could be improved

WHAT BOARD?
We've actually got three boards :) The Project Board / Simulator 3d and a Slim Gym... all three are from Metolius with the Project Board and the Simulator 3d being either new or redesigned for this year... the Slim Gym is the only that's remained the same.

Project Board

• Compact board that's easy on the wallet, yet delivers a solid assortment of holds
• The master is CNC milled for perfect symmetry
• The holds are arranged along a broad arc that tapers outward and downward for better ergonomics and reduced injuries
• Tapers from top to bottom in both dimensions for better forearm clearance
• Fine texture
• Includes comprehensive instructions, training guide and all mounting hardware
• 24.5" x 6" (622 mm x 152 mm)
• Price: $54.95

Simulator 3D

• The next generation of the #1 selling training board in the world!
• The master is CNC milled for perfect symmetry
• The holds are arranged along a broad arc that tapers outward and downward for
  better ergonomics and reduced injuries
• Tapers from top to bottom in both dimensions for better forearm clearance
• Fine texture
• Massive variety of holds
• Includes comprehensive instructions, training guide and all mounting hardware
• 28" x 8.75" (711 mm x 222 mm)
• Price: $79.00

Now if you go to your local gym(s) chances are somewhere in a dusty corner you're going to find a finger board or two. When it comes to training boards there is a lot of choice out there... and you should shop around and see what fits your price range and most importantly YOUR training needs. Technically most simple boards should give you what you want... but it's best to look about and see what would be best for you; for instance despite the fact that we have a Slim Gym (from a number of years ago) it doesn't get used very much because despite Noodles loving the slopes on the board the two finger pockets are just horrible so when it comes to him doing a 2 finger exercise he'll switch to a different board!

If you're looking for a board then here's a handy list of what's out there (It's not a full list):

• Revolution's Grillito: here
• Entre Prise's Hangtime: here
• Cryptochild's Ironpalm: here
• Asana's Talon: here
• Uprisings Revolution Board: here
• Rise Hold's Fingerboard: here
• Holdz Fingerboards: here
• Osm'ose boards: here
• Moon Climbing's Fingerboard: here
• Nicros Hangboards: here
• Bendcrete's Classic: here
  

INSTALATION
Got a door way ready? It's pretty much all you need! Thankfully we didn't have to make a video for this... Metolius has already made one for you!


Now as we have a wall what we've done is made up a frame that extends the wall (which means our routes are now longer) and we have places for hang boards. We could have gone for the door frame route and in the past Noodles has mounted a bunch of boards from different company's but as we had space in wall we went in that direction. The other option that people who are renting or have parents that really don't want some holes in the wall is you can build a simple freestanding frame with wide feet that you can mount your board onto.

TRAINING
Here's a link to the Metolius Training Boards basic training regime: here
We either run their 10 minute sequences or if we find that a person is having trouble then we modify the routine. There are three sequences that you can try, the easiest was tested on non climbers to make sure it wasn't too evil! Also in this link is a section on cyclic periodization...which goes into a little bit about how to train/and how to schedule the various cycles of training and when you want your training to peak etc...it really worth reading if you are serious about improvement


Noodles & Training
Now my introduction to hang boards was a long time ago, I grabbed a Bendcrete Classic board and had it mounted over a doorway that led to our back garden. It wasn't the best place to have it and it wasn't the worst. In the winter the house could get a little cold from the breeze :P At the time there wasn't much literature on hand boards or training on them, sure there was a smattering of information here and there but I'd not read it. What I used the board for with one of my old longterm partners was "The Pull Up Challenge".. what this consisted of was doing a pull up on every hold on the board (alternating people between holds)... so with that board you ended up doing 14 or 15 pull ups with the only rest being when the other person took their turn. I think if my memory serves me correctly we managed to get to round four... so you did four pull ups on each hold and then the other person went for their turn.... that's roughly 150 pull ups. Not only was that hard enough but if you do check out the board you can see the bottom corners are what looks like really thin slopers! That's because that's exactly what they are, and you can take it from me that any wobble or shake as you we pulling up on these holds resulted in some very nasty accidents (Couple of broken windows etc)

Then... then I had a (P)usher board, which I never trained much on in the traditional sense. I made a campus board with some S7 rungs in the back garden and then mounted the boards that I had out there and used them as campus rungs... I later grabbed some (P)usher system tiles and had a big system wall.

Anyway, I digress. When we said we had three boards, we actually lied, we have the Nicros Infinity Board (Pre-Release-Review: here) that we used for a while but because of mismatched holds we stopped using it as a board and made it into a feature instead... the Metolius boards are both good boards in their own rights... I prefer the larger board (Simulator) over the Project board just because there's more variety in what you can do with it, there are more pockets of varying depths that allow me to work on one of my weakness', and having the edges all over the place is nice... I do kind of prefer the edges on the Project Board as you can vary your spacing of your hands on a uniform shape. Now here's a surprise, the Slim gym has much better slopers in my mind... there's a nice little thumb catch that helps out a weaker climber and there's way more surface area which means you can get more skin onto the hold and hang about longer... and the Slim Gym has slightly more texture.. not much just a little

After a number of months training on these boards I can pretty well get through the 10 minute sequences without too much trouble.... I tape my fingers and I take it quite easy. Fingerboard training despite being a necessary evil at times is also a good way of getting an injury if done incorrectly or on hands / arms / fingers that haven't been warmed up correctly. I generally climb for a good long time before hand; as we climb and film when we're reviewing whenever I get near the board I'm well warmed up but not completely tired. I've played about with the sequences as well, modifying the routine so that I could work on my weakness' as much as needed... my weakness is finger pockets, specifically two finger pockets. So what I do is I train opposing pairs (middle & first finger / middle and fourth finger) and I also train at different pocket depths, but not too much as you risk a RSI (Repetitive strain injury). The other thing I don't enjoy too much is pull ups, I can run them off as needed... but I blew out both of my elbows (inner and outer tendons) so I tend to take it a little easier than say Chris.

With my training I always tend to use the Simulator and it's a nice width and as the board is angles downwards and slightly inclined I find it easier on my elbows in general, I also like the slopers on this board they're nice and friendly. The Project board is nice and compact and I'd er towards this board over the Slim Gym as it's friendlier for your hands and the skin wear you'll get is far less.

As we look at further boards I'm going to keep the same training regime but I'll tweak it out more so that I can work more on my weakness. I don't think that the boards will be taken down anytime soon.

What board from these two would I suggest people buy? Well if space is no problem then I'd go with the 3D, it has a lot of variety and it's a tool that you can use as you get stronger. Of course if space is limited them the Project board is the other best option. I'd never say get the Slim Gym as I hate the pockets that are on there... but that's just my taste.

I'd have liked to see placements for adding bungee cords to help someone that has trouble with pull ups... it's a little thing that should be added to most boards IMHO and the lack of pinches is a shame... it's something that should be added to these boards in the next generation!!

Chris & Training
When I started climbing, I quickly rose the ranks to 5.10 and the transition from 5.10 to 5.11 was one that took a lot of effort to achieve. During that time I read a few books on training for the sport, reviewed an array of articles in magazines and the Internet and have even found helpful advice from climbers around the gym. I tried my hand at training, trying out the hang board and campus rungs at the gym. I wanted to try to out the hangs on the two and three finger pockets and I wasn’t able to do it. But on the campus board, I was able to get through a tough sequence. The sequences involved me doing a dyno up two rungs and then falling down one, and repeat all the way up. I’ve stayed away from the campus wall since and the first few years of climbing took a big strain on my fingers where now my fingers can’t handle the strain of campus board training.

I had been told and read that the best thing to improve your climbing skills is climbing itself. I meet Chris Sharma (and to be honest, back then I had no idea who he was and I had to ask what the big fuss was about) and asked him about training and he told me the best thing was to climb. So with this in mind, my first goal was to get a grip on crimps. In the college that I attended there was a climbing wall in the atrium of the school and I spent most of my free time traversing and doing short problems on crimps. I’ve also done similar “exercises” at the gym. They had a short problem that was set with nothing but slopes and I made sure to get onto it every time I went to the gym. I worked each and every move its own and eventually got the send. Those weeks of working on the problem helped me work out the nuances of climbing on slopers. My experience has made me a firm believer that climbing is the best way to improve climbing skills, however, I have also come to realize that there is a time when climbing alone will not get your climbing grades to the next level, and training…real training, like ab work and finger board, becomes a must.

When it comes to hang boards, the ones that I have seen most often are the Globe training board and the Metolius Simulator. They have a board at the gym with the same kinds of variations as the previous two, only with an added pinch hold. They also have an old Pusher board that’s much smaller and compact. The highlight of this board are the slopes. The slopes themselves on this board are much rounder and feature a larger radius but they’ve even incorporated the slopes to the edges on the board. These kinds of boards lend themselves to a more specific kind of grip training and don’t offer the versatility of some of the larger boards on the market.

So which one do I prefer? The Simulator is a great board, and has tons of holds and its easy to make up a routine for the board. Its also just as easy to take the Metolius routine and make it easier or harder on this board. I prefer the Project board. It’s a tougher board without as many options as the Simulator, but for me it had all the necessities I needed in a board. We trained on these boards using both sequences, the Metolius Simulator sequence on the Project and vise versa, and the sequence was much harder on the Project. Now one of the main reasons (other than its getting me stronger) that I prefer the Project board is for the fact that its harder to make those sequences easier. We would train on the boards with the rule: if you can’t get through the exercise, chose easier holds and continue. There is a difference in size of the holds and the width of the boards. It doesn’t seem like much, but when you get onto them, the difference is obvious. Now if you’re like me and have never gone through a routine on a hang board, take it from me, it hurts. The Project board hurts more. The sequence that Metolius put together for this board is probably aimed at stronger climbers and the first few times I couldn’t get through it. Now, after doing the sequence once a week for a couple of months, I can hang 5 seconds on the two finger edge. The sequence on the Simulator is also hard. I’ve read that this kind of training should be reserved for experienced climbers and you could easily tweak a finger or muscle on the board, especially on the two and three finger edges. The main attraction for me is being able to train these kinds of grips. I’ve hurt my fingers in the past, and it’s always been on small crimpy edges and I shudder every time I come across one. The board will help develop those grips and will hopefully have a hand in me sending some 5.12's! OVERALL BUILD
There's nothing really to complain about with the boards, they're solidly constructed and pretty heavy. Both boards are CNC milled and are made from resin, the difference between the boards are the layouts and depth of the grips... (both images are clicky for larger)The texture on both boards is pretty fine and you should get no skin damage if you've been climbing for a while... Nick on the other hand had his skin destroyed on a few occasions :) The board masters (from what they're molded from) are CNC milled so the boards are completely symmetrical, something that's pretty hard to do if you're shaping by hand... this also means that production should be smooth and the product will be correct every time they roll out off of the production line. (Noodles went and checked at the local stores) But if you don't like texture or a radii of a hold you can sand that area down, just be sure it's what you want as you can't put it back!

Over the last few months the boards have been used on a weekly basis by a lot of people and they're pretty well chalked up; they need a clean from time to time and depending upon the board you're going to end up brushing them for a fair while. The texture is still ok even then the holds are well chalked up but sometimes the slopes and edges need a brush as you'll start to slide off backwards if you swing a little when you're trying to do pull ups or hand your moves.

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Resin, all the Metolius range is made from resin, except the Wood Training boards and their Wood Grips

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Both of our boards came in one package and there was no damage whatsoever

OVERALL
The boards are well built and a good price, not too expensive... there's a reason why the Simulator is one of the best selling boards on the market, the Project board is going to be a close second in a market that is expanding month to month and year to year... next up? Well we don't know what's up next what are you guys training on?

Full post here!

Testing > Contact Climbings > Reactors

When it comes to companies that have left their mark on the climbing hold industry companies like Metolius, Climb It or Nicros are some of those who ring a bell in the climbing community. One company that is up and coming is Contact. They have a wide selection of cool, colourful, well thought out shapes and we’ve done many reviews on their holds in the past. In this review, we’ll be climbing on the Reactors. Think of the Simpsons opening credits, before Dolph cuts off the head of Jedidiah and before Bart writes on the board, what do we see? The cooling towers for the nuclear reactor, visible by all of Springfield's residents and are exactly what you’ll see when you get your hands onto these holds :) You can find this six hold set in the “large sets” section of their homepage

So you can tell from our walk through that these holds have a dual personality. On the one side, you have a nice positive edge that when set horizontally is bomber edge to hold, but flip them around, you'll find the slopier edge that will pose a greater challenge when needed. When you have the hold bolted vertically, the pinch becomes useful and the positive edge comes in handy for the thumb catch. Not all these holds are pinch friendly. The larger holds of the set are really wide and its hard to get a hand around the hold and it will make for some barn door moves.

So we set the Reactors up on the 45 with the rail as the starting hold. The first couple of holds were set with the slopey edge up and it made for a hard start. With the exception of Jeff, we needed to work on the start move and on getting out of the 45 degree wall, and Jeff's height helped him get the sequence first time around. Now the funny thing is while Noodles and I started working on sequencing the moves, Jeff decided to jump back onto the problem again and had trouble with the same section we were working on: the start and out of the 45. Looks like he had some beginners luck;) The problems that we were having revolved around getting enough power to pinch the starting hold to get our buts of the ground and the distinct lack of footholds to get us out of the 45. The starting hold had the positive edge facing down so we could at least get a thumb around the bottom to get a good grip.

On our second set, we made the problem slightly easier, starting on the edge of the 45 and traversing across the 30 degree wall. The holds are quite big so we set long moves into side pulls and it was a problem that we all could play around on. The long moves caused a bit of trouble for some of us who have a shorter reach, but the holds are big and positive enough that we could commit to the moves without worrying about cutting loose.

SUGGESTED USES:









Vertical, overhanging the options are limitless. This set has an incut edge and makes for some easy climbing on a vertical wall and allows you to stick moves on overhanging terrain, but spin that hold around and you have use of a slopey edge. The set is made up of holds that can be set into a system training routine. The holds have a nice radius and the texture is nice on the skin so long sessions training or goofing around with the wrench will go without to much bother on the hands. If some of the holds were the smaller (not so wide) then these holds would be, and we'll say it again, on system boards all over the place. The only terrain these holds don't lend themselves to is a roof, they can be used up on the roof as bumps but hanging them is out of the question they're incut but not that incut.
OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 6
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): 59/6 = $9.83 per hold
  
• Color: Ours are black and white
  
• Bolt placement: Middle
  
• Sanding: Flat and smooth
  
• Texture: Grippy
  
• Set size: Large
  
• Versatility: Side pulls, edges, slopes... rotate away
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: No
  

The texture of Contact polyurethane mix is nice on the skin, the texture is even and the holds are very comfortable to grip even though the holds feel like resin. They've done a lot of detailing on the shape, with ridges on the hold to make it resemble more like a cooling tower than a climbing hold. The added detail doesn't effect the grip of the hold, its better off trying to get a thumb around the hold than to use the features of the hold for added friction. It's a running trait with Contact's holds, there's always a little detail here and there that makes a simple shape into something a little more.

During the drop test the Contact holds fared pretty well, we used an old hold; which was a little unfair on our part, but the fact that we took their old mix and cranked it well up over what you'd normally tighten it up to on any wall and it stayed nice and solid throughout, even on the drop test the holds came out pretty well, their current mix is stronger that's for sure!

Ergonomically the holds have nice rounded edges where you're going to be hitting and this means you don't get tweaked fingers as your fingers lay nice and flat, even when you see Chris cranking down on these with his thumb up over the top he says they're comfy to hold

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Bomber, nothing was breaking these holds

RATING:
Noodles:
Ah crap, Chris is off on a novelty rant again :P After the Warheads which people seemed very happy with come the Reactors... and I quite like them, the shapes are simple and make a nice change... easy edges, slopey edges... rotate away and have some side pulls or if you're of a certain kind of persuasion use the middle and ignore the edges and you've got some slopers. These for me are a threefer (one up from a twofer)... edge, side pulls or slopes; not counting the numerous variations in between here of course.

If people can pull themselves off of the floor on the 45 on these holds and by people I'm talking about beginners and people that hate the 45 degree wall... make the route and walk away with an accomplished smile on their face then my setting and the holds have done their job! The holds aren't in any way shape or form what you'd call hard, they're nice simple shapes that don't tax your fingers and leave your skin where is should be.

As soon as I put these on the 45 and pulled off of the ground I knew that I liked them... pulling, hitting and sticking a fairly hard move is sometimes an unpleasant experience, that's what I thought these would be like.. but they're easier on the 45 than their looks dictate and very nice to pull on. I disagree with what the Contact website says when you go and find these holds "Put these holds on your wall and have a meltdown"... nah, "put these holds on your wall and have a hoedown" cos they're fun

Chris:
Many of Contact's sets have themes and are on the fine line between a regular hold and what we've come to call "novelty holds". I say the fine line because the novelty texture on the holds are there for aesthetic purposes only and doesn't effect the grip on the hold. There are other "novelty " holds where the grips, being oranges or light bulbs, serve as both the part you hold on and the novelty of the hold. I personally am not a fan of the novelty holds but Contact has made their holds so that they still serve their purpose and not just some eye candy on the wall.

We have a wide range of climbers that come over and play on our wall and sometimes we come up with problems that only some of us can work on, but these holds cater to a wide range of climbers. We put them up on the 45, we had some problems with the start move (we set the hold up with the slopey side up. We had no choice but to pinch down and go) but it was a problem that everyone could work on. I like the holds. They're simple shapes that are easy to set, with big grips that don't bother the skin. Bottom line: fun, fun holds!

PROS:

• Good texture, grippy enough for steep walls
• Nice and strong
• Easy to set with, very beginner friendly
  

CONS:

• Almost system wall worthy, they're a little too wide in some cases

PRICE:
$59 gets you six holds

Full post here!

Review > Dream Holds > Gritstone

If you haven’t been keeping up to date with the site or just hiding out at the crag the past couple of weeks than you haven’t been introduced to Dream Holds, a new company from overseas who have gone the extra mile and molded their holds out of real rock from Scotland and all over England. First we had the Dumby Basalts, molded from rocks from Dumbarton Rock and they were nasty crimps with options to pinch. The gritstone, although they are much bigger, posed a different kind of nastiness: the texture.

The holds, like all of Dream Holds sets, have a large number of holds in them and make it so they can be set all together, in short routes or long problems, so you can really get that outside feel on an indoor climb. The holds simulate the real rock feel, and with the gritstone, the real rock skin peel along with it. Now these holds are rough. The large shapes are easy to hold onto and there isn’t a high risk of cutting loose from the hold and the extra friction is always welcome when you’re on the wall but as soon as you come off the skin will feel the burn

These holds are much larger than the Basalt holds and we set some low moves on the 30 degree wall. I’ve said before that the texture rips the skin but with shapes like these, small to large slopes and edgy pinches, there are some points where you really need the friction and it gave Eve and Noobie Nick a chance to work out these moves without it being the impossible that we sometimes set.

That being said, you wouldn’t want to work on a problem for any prolonged period, you’ll find that your fingers will hurt and it will be hard to do those menial tasks like zipping your fly or putting the tooth paste on your toothbrush in the morning.

The holds in general are pretty straight forward: what you see is what you get. They have some hidden features, a thumb catch here, and a finger pocket there, but they didn’t come into play on the vertical wall. The holds , with their texture and size, are pretty versatile and can be set on different angles. The real rock feel is a bonus…if your fingers can take it.

SUGGESTED USES:

With holds this size and with this much friction, you can set these holds on vertical to steep overhanging terrain. We’ve had larger holds on the 45, the ones that come to mind are the Cobbles from Climb It. We spent most of an afternoon throwing ourselves at the large Cobble and trying to stick it. There are no worries about sticking the holds on a 45, its just a matter of how much abuse can your skin can take. A wall that is more shallow may offset the inevitable burning sensation, but this is the price you’ll pay for climbing on these holds. The longer holds are unbalanced, and will spin on you if you don’t put in a set screw, we had them up and everyone, even 90 pound Eve, spun the hold... normally we don't use set screws as it's not needed but the bolt placement being off center on a lot of these holds make using a screw a must

Would we suggest you train on these for long periods of time? No, sorry to say the aggressive just doesn't allow you haul about on these for hours on end... if you want a second opinion you can read this, Dave MacLeod; all round hard man and complete climbing nutter (Have you seen the movie E11?) has his take on the holds. He should know, he's put up enough hard routes over the years... and probably has tough enough skin to put these holds to their full use.

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 18
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt ons
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): 95 GBP / 18 = 5.28 GBP per hold
  
• Color: Ours are "wasp", yellow and black striped
  
• Bolt placement: Not so good
  
• Sanding: Needs work
  
• Texture: The most aggressive you have ever felt
  
• Set size: Large
  
• Versatility: Loads
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Yes, with inset washer on every hold
  

Now its down for the nitty gritty. Most of the holds we receive from other companies fall within our guidelines of what we look for when it comes to the quality of the hold: inset washer, even finish and flat backs. Dream Holds is relatively new on the scene and their quality control is not up to par with most other companies we deal with. Don’t get me wrong, the holds are superbly made, the team at Dream Holds must have spend many hours trying to find the right shapes for their holds. The shapes match the details of the rocks they're molded from (we got a sample in with the Dumby Basalts, and they were an exact match) and the shapes themselves have many hidden features for the fingers to discover. An example of this is on the sloper where there is a tiny finger pocket located at back part of the hold.

Now despite the fact that the shapes are great, there are some of the finer details that Dream holds has overlooked. They still mold in resin, and there is not much of an issue when you have smaller holds like the Basalts, but when it comes to larger shapes like the gritstone, the weight takes its toll. Also, they should spend a little more time sanding the back of the holds so they sit flush on the wall. There were some gaps between the hold and the wall, having an uneven back of a hold will create unwanted stresses on the hold and could increase the risk of breaking. On that note, Dream holds have redesigned the bolt hole using two washers and a dampener to prevent the hold from breaking. Noodles thinks that this is also a major weak point in the holds (see our earlier Drop Test) as there is so much space taken up inside of the hold for this device that there's not much material around this area.

Looking at the walk through you can see Noodles (should we just start using his real name?) get one of the holds and knock the end on the floor, breaking off the end. Now this is because the holds are resin and resin (generally) is quite brittle; it's one of the downsides of the medium that Dream Holds have chosen to use. Although they have really looked for holds to mold and have "kept it real" they should really look at the holds once poured and then smack the ends on the floor to see what breaks off... once done they can then adapt the mold to make sure that any thin / weak points are removed before they're put on sale

They have also included a washer in the screw hold, something we have not seen from any other company that we’ve reviewed. So Dream Holds has paid a lot of attention to detail, they’ve just overlooked a couple of points.

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Resin

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Best we've ever seen. Think of a Russian doll... a couple of well packed boxes with the holds inside a larger box that had packaging in it. The box and holds came through in perfect condition

RATING:
Noodles:
Love, hate, love, hate... it's like a police siren going off

Love, hate, love, hate...

I love the Basalts, they're smooth enough that you can play on them for a while and not destroy your hands.

I hate (although that is a strong word) the gritstone... because they destroy your hands.

I know that Dream Holds has gone out and made real rock holds, kudos to them, the company is still in it's infancy and they have some kinks to work out (the holds being brittle as hell being the major one) and over time I expect them sorted. The term "Real rock" has some strings attached to it, these holds mimic rock very well and they feel like gritstone holds that you'd find outside... if you've ever climbed on gritstone you'll know it's a matter of time before you get a split finger or skin so sore that you can't pick up a steaming cup of tea; it's one of it's characteristics that you either love or hate! I've climbed enough on gritstone to know what it's like and to be prepared for that inevitable outcome... pain and sore skin. This is what people climbing indoors aren't going to expect and if I were setting with these holds I'd probably affix a note mentioning that these holds are skin rippers.

Hey we all like surprises and I was surprised by the way they felt, aggressive and rough to the touch... like the real thing. So Dream Holds has created something that is as real as the real thing. Kudos!

They've also made holds that will fit into a niche market. Kudos

They have also made two sets of holds that we like shapewise, the Basalts for their slippery goodness and the gritstone for their evil evil textured madness. Good work

I guess it comes down to would I, ME, NOODLES, buy these holds?
Short answer... nope.
Long answer... if I were training for a particular route on gritstone and I wanted to get my tolerance of pain up so I can work a project, well yeah maybe I'd buy them. If I were someone that loved gritstone so much that I had to feel the pain that I'd love so much... well yeah I'd buy them (or so to an S&M club or something). Would I suggest a gym buy them? Sheesh that's a tricky one... they have to know what they're getting into because these holds aren't for everyone in any way shape or form :(

Chris:
So while Noodles may bite into the “nitty gritty”, I have one thing to say: holds made from real rock…molded straight from real rock , is there anything else I’d like from a climbing hold? I’ve dreamed of climbing on holds like this and we’ve spoken about it, seen it with holds from Climb It and Summit Labs, but nothing like this. Two different kinds of shapes, two different kinds of rock. Ok, so my hands hurt, they spin and you have to be suuuuper careful when you’re putting them in boxes but these are sweet holds. With the Basalts, the texture is very smooth and the Gritstone contrast and show the expanse selection Dream Holds has to offer. The shapes are of various sizes and shapes and leave it open for some fun setting. These kinds of holds are something you don’t come by very often. There are some great shapes out there, but the Dream Holds have encompassed the spirit of climbing. I’ve spend most of my time pulling plastic in the gym and when I first got my feet wet outside I realized that there is a difference between climbing outside versus in. These holds have taken that outside feel and brought it indoor.

So maybe these holds aren’t for every climber. If your focus is on climbing indoors as training for your most resent project at the crag or competing at the local comp, having a wall full of finger ripping holds may not be the best idea. I just like to climb, and in my eyes, the novelty of having a real…I mean REAL…rock feel outweighs the negative qualities of the hold.

NICK
Hey guys, Noob here again for your reading pleasure. As you my have guessed my hands hurt but only a lot :P These new holds are wicked in the evil way. Kinda like training on a hang board, you know its good for you but you love and hate the thing with equal passion.

These holds are supposed to simulate grit (I think) rock and while I've never climbed on any the guys over here and CHR assure me the feel is pretty accurate... which makes me think climbing gritstone is the closest thing to sadomasochism a climber can do.... unless of course you were try try an assent neked :S Anyway, I enjoyed them though they hurt me so. I was lucky enough to set the route and (miracles happen every day) I managed to get through it too!! Lots of different types of holds in this set. There's some really nice long slopes (but I will mention one of them is made in such a way that you'd swear it'll break... you're probably gonna see something about that in the walk through), some interesting little pinches and a great, honking big juggy type thing as well as a we others. So its a large set and a good one I'd think if you're starting your first wall. I say this because while the holds do to your hands what a sanding belt does to a 2 by 4 there's enough in the set to set some really interesting routes for beginners and up not to mention that if you take it easy and work your way up to harder problems you'll develop the all-important callouses you'll need later on.

So I like them, they hurt like crazy and I don't have fingerprints anymore but maybe that's part of their appeal. I mean if you wanna have fun and then rob a bank after these holds are for you.... not that I condone breaking the law or anything, just saying ;)

EVE
I really only have one word for these: OUCH! I mean have you seen my face on that video.... that wasn't fake and you can argue I have girly hands all you want.... Ouch! Point is the shape is great ( Duh! Gaya had a say, therefore they are perfect!) but that texture is murder. If you are training before an outdoor trip then the Gritstone's are what you want to prep your skin on cause rare are the crags that are as rough or worst.

On the other hand, if you are training for indoor bouldering or intend to do a hand modeling gig... Keep away from these holds, you'll just damage yourself. On a brighter note, as long as you don't plan to climb the next day, Gritstones are FUUUUUUUUUN!!! and I can't stress it enough. That kind of texture can help you stick to impossible walls through impossible moves... Just try not to slip off or you'll get a flapper.

PROS:

• Real rock holds like no other, shapes and hand positions
  
• Good for training for a grit route
• Color makes these holds stand out
• Lots of hold variety
  

CONS:

• Texture may put people off
• Holds are brittle
• Might be expensive (depending upon where you're based)
• Needs some work on sanding / bolt placement
  

PRICE:
95 GBP gets you 19 holds for set one and two

Full post here!

Interview > Redpoint Manager

Our local gym Allez Up has a program called "Redpoint Manager", we'd seen it in action and liked what we saw so we figured that we'd dig a little deeper to see what it actually is and how it could help a gym owner... so we got in contact and here's what we found out!

1) Name and Job
Dale Partridge Marketing Director & Graphics

2)What exactly is Redpoint Manager?
Redpoint Manager™ is a product of Crux Software, Ltd. out of Southeast Texas. The product was developed by avid climbers William Hopkins and Dale Partridge in partnership with Thresh Hold Climbing + Fitness, in an attempt to more effectively maintain a climbing gym’s route setting management, setting quality, and overall setting structure.


This highly intricate software gives Gym Owners, Managers, and Head Route Setters the ability to adequately manage their company’s life line “Their Routes”. The software offers a dynamic system in which route setters can log-in via touchscreen or by home computer and log their routes by setter, section, color, and grade producing gym-wide informational charts & payroll data for members & management. On the contrary, the system then allows climbers to login and track which routes they have completed via touch screen image map. This allows climbers to now generate reports on their climbing progress as well as compete against fellow climbers in the gym.

Beyond the basics, the software offers a full array of tools that increase the organization and productivity of any climbing gym. Far too many to explain in writing.
3) How long did it take to go from concept to a working prototype?
About 14 months of almost full time development with a team of 5

4)What does Redpoint offer for:

• A gym owner - The product allows gym owners oversee the setting and setter payroll without micro managing their setters. The system allows admins to set the quotas of routes per section by grade giving the head setter and route setters direction. Setters no longer walk into the gym and set what they think the gym needs. Redpoint shows them exactly what's needed and whats expected. Overall, it allows gym owners to find a healthy balance in their gym. The system generates very valuable reports based off of climber usage including: High Traffic Locations, Highest Rated Setter, Total Problems / Routes, Most popular climbs, etc. Basically, it turns setting into a profession.

• Head setter - Besides the info stated above, Head setters can assign tasks to their setters, approve routes, request changes or grade change on a route, or just plain communicate through the message center.

• A climber - Climbers can log their routes, track their progress, compete against others by bracket and category, download training articles and videos, communicate with other Redpoint members, generate progress reports and much more. Its the indoor training software America has been waiting for. Imagine 8A.nu for indoors.

5) Is the program easy to set up for a gym?
We think so, We do all the setup for them, provide them with free training sessions, full time technical support, and about 15 training videos that just about answer any question you could have. Another great component we offer is with your purchase we provide brochures and posters to give to your members explaining what Redpoint Manager is and how to use it. If our users don't succeed we don't succeed. We do everything it takes to make their climbers have the best experience possible.

6) Reading through your specs you suggest that people use a touch screen for their customers (climbers) to access information and to rate routes... is this really needed?
No, you can use any desktop computer with internet. But the touchscreens really seal the deal, they look awesome in the gym and people love it! It truly becomes a sales point when signing a member at your climbing facility.

7) So Redpoint is web based rather than on a single computer / network. This means I can update from home after I've climbed?
Yes, climbers, setters, and admins can all update from home or any other computer that has internet access. This also includes mobile devices.

8) It's on iPhone / iTouch as well? Does this mean I can rate routes as I get off of them?
Yes, the iPhone app is in the development process, but it will allow climbers and setters to log routes and check reports via phone. It also allows climbers to log routes at other gyms that use Redpoint just select the gym you're climbing at a log away.

9) You said that at Threshhold (your local gym) that there's an almost permanent competition feeling with Redpoint being in the house. Care to explain what you mean?
We have a 32 inch flat-screen television in the lobby that is constantly scrolling through the rankings and reports. Climbers walk in the gym and sit in the lobby for about 2 minutes and see where they stand or what is currently happening. After the end of each season (3 months, full route setting turnover) we then offer rewards to the winners of each category. Its really cool, but the gym has to fully embrace it to really get what we have. I will tell you this, our community has never been stronger.

10) Could Redpoint be used to track a climbers performance?, does a climber have a "home" area where they can track things like pull ups etc?
No as of right now we do not have the ability to track exercises. But believe that we have thought about it. For sure one of the many features coming in version 3.0

11) Ok, what's a rough dollar price for all of this? There must be a cost to all of the tech!
Its actually really affordable, we have $250 start up fee which get your digital map designed, all of your staff info added, all of the techy stuff completed, and your initial training. Then we have a 1 year commitment for $99 per month. No hidden fees, all upgrades and technical support included, just playing it straight. We do plan on raising these prices soon because of the crazy popularity but wont happen for a few months.

12) How many gyms currently have Redpoint?
Well being that we haven't even had it open to the public for a month yet, we already have 9 gyms in the U.S. & Canada using the system all of which are pretty heavy hitters in the industry. We have new inquiries and meetings setup every week and expect to have a large chunk of the industry, including major competitions, by the end of 2010.

14)Are you likely to release a version for "home wall" owners?
Never really thought about it... But yes I'm sure we could if we saw the demand for it, and at a much lower price as well.

15) How can people get in contact with you?
Gym owners can drop us a line here

Full post here!

Testing > Climb It > Moderate Slopers

Anyone that's been following us for a while should remember this review: here because it was one of the few reviews where we set and set and basically got nowhere! The holds in question were what were called at the time "Top Out Slopers" a set of holds so large and yet so thin you could barely get a grip on them. The now renamed to "Shallow slopers" these holds were designed for gyms / walls that allow you to top out over the top of your boulder. At the time we wanted more of the shapes, but with a more friendly usable area, slopers are great training holds... and low and behold some months later a package arrived.... the Positive Slopers was in the house.

One thing we're positive about is that they're slopers :)

Are they positive slopers? Well compared to the Shallow slopers, yeah. But compared to say some other slopers that are out there that you can get you whole hand over they're not all that positive. When you look at them against their counterparts in the range then yeah they're positive... and then when you set most of these holds on the vertical they're far more like ledges or edges than anything so therefore very beginner friendly

We've had these holds on the wall for months as part of an endurance route that we set so we could work upon our stamina, originally they were mid way through a 60 move route that worked your grip groups in different sequences and then of late we've had them at the start of the route.... waaaaay back when we had a shorter endurance route we had them at the end and that was a pretty bad idea, or good idea... it depends upon how you look at it... after 30 odd moves around a wall and then hitting these holds they were hard to hold onto because of the pump.

Aren't slopers meant to be easier to hold onto when you're pumped?

These holds lend themselves to pretty easy routes overall, they're big and friendly for your fingers, so they're very beginner friendly, so we mixed them up with the Shallow slopers and what we got was something that was just brain melting. These holds when you mix the sets are pretty hard to tell apart and harder to read than you think... in a more than a couple of cases you'd think you'd be going into a simple move and find it more tricky to hold onto.

SUGGESTED USES:



Unlike their slimmer counterparts these holds are pretty good up to 45 degrees, then the going gets very very tough, nigh on impossible would actually be closer to the mark. Some of the XL's and larges can easily be held onto with a little work and some core strength; it's a case of picking what you think you can hold onto and then going for it. We tried all of them, and when we found that the hold was too hard we put it around the corner onto the vertical part of the wall and then used it there as a helper hold. All of the holds on a vertical wall are positive enough that 95% of climbers will be able to haul on them with little or no problem, this is true probably up to 30 degrees... and then it becomes a strong climbers game only.

The variety of shapes that these holds encompass is quite remarkable, you've got every kind of sloper, except for sloping pinches (we used the Teknik Svelts to fill in this gap) most of the holds from the medium and above sizes are easily matchable where needed.

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 4 holds per set (size wise)
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt ons
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds):
  

• XL: 78 / 4 = $19.50
  
• L: 45 / 4 = $11.25
  
• M: 31 / 4 = $7.75
  
• S: 21 /4 = $5.25
  

• Color: Orange
  
• Bolt placement: Centered
  
• Sanding: Flat and smooth
  
• Texture: Even across the holds, quite grippy
  
• Set size: Small to XL
  
• Versatility: Slopers or slopey side pulls
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Nope

Now we've come to, and so should you, expect a certain quality from Climb It! As per usual they deliver, the urethane is solid and the shapes all have a nice even texture across the range... same for our other review... they all feel the same... as they should. The shapes are all nice to hold and tendon friendly, except for some of the smaller ones on steep terrain as you want to get your thumb onto the slopey lips for extra purchase. All of the holds have an inset washer that's square to the backs of the holds and an indented Climb It logo.

The only point we'd make, like we've done before is that the holds have a sharp edge where the bottom of the hold meets the wall and if dropped or mishandled during storage chipping will occur. In the larger shapes the backs have been hollowed out to save weight, all of the holds that have this feature have a column for the bolt which means strength isn't compromised in any way. Adding a pre drilled screw hole is something we've mentioned before when it comes to Climb It's holds, although these holds shouldn't spin they do from time to time and adding this feature will give gym owners a little piece of mind... have you ever drilled a screw hole onto a hold? You need to be gentle because you don't want to make a huge mess out of it, or snap your hold... if there was one you could use it (or not) as you'd see fit. It's something EVERY company should do on ALL of their shapes (We'd say from Medium up)

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane, one of the pockets bounced and took a little scuffing during our drop tests

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Not bad, box was a little beaten up during transit. Some of the holds had very minor scuffs

RATING:
Noodles:
Now it is a well known fact that I believe that slopers are the best shapes to train on and after being shut down by the Topouts I was interested to see what these would be like.
We've said that on a vertical wall that they're pretty good for most people and if that person is climbing sensibility then they "should" have no problem... I've been spat off of some of the routes we've set because I was just being careless... or for that fact because these holds seem to chalk up very very quickly.

There are lots of plus' and minus' to these holds. There is a lot of shape variety in the set, the holds are all have pretty well the same "outer" shape, it's the angle of the slope and as these are subtle shapes that makes them feel different when you weight the hold. I think that Louie has taken a blank that he's shaped and then just carved many different variations on the sloper theme... I don't know this for a fact, it's just a guess. Could the holds be improved? Well yeah they could, but only in a limited sense of the word improved.... after the Topouts (Shallow slopers) we asked for more positive versions in the same style.... and here they are, and they compliment each other as in they're slopers that are in the same vein.... we got what we asked for.... so how would I improve them?

That's the question isn't it!

See, these shapes are I suppose pure slopers, there are no thumb catches or dimples for you to cheat the shape. The texture is enough that you can use your thumb to get some more skin onto the shapes. What you see is pretty much what you get. So the question still remains... how would I improve these holds.

I'd make another set that has little areas for a thumb catch. Nothing major, no huge divots, just subtle little areas that I could get a little more purchase with my thumb etc. Why do I say this? Because sometimes the Top Out slopers will be too much (hard to hold onto) and the moderates too easy... but you want something in between. I pitched this idea at Chris and Eve and they went one further... why not hard on one side and then the easy(er) on the other? More bang for your buck, less material being used (better for the environment) and better for you. The other thing would be a letter or symbol on the holds so that you can sort your sets out, finding the difference between the shallow slopers and the moderates was really hard to do.

That said, I like the holds. They're simple and there's not a whole bunch of ways that you can cheat any single move that's been set... sure I've powered through stuff that we've set, mainly because I could (I find them easy to play on)... give these holds into the hands of a more experienced routesetter and watch the fun begin.

Chris:
I remember a time when I loathed the sight of a sloper. It took a while before I got accustomed climbing on them and the Moderate slopers are good holds to train on for someone wants to improve on that kind of grip. I`m not saying that they`re easy, but if you compare them to the shallow slopers there is a big difference in friction, fingers will be constantly searching for a better grip on the hold. With the moderate slopers, the incut on the hold makes for a better grip.

When we had them at the end of the endurance route, we had a hard time getting through the whole problem. The Moderate Sloper sequence in itself was not all that difficult and in time even the newbie Nick was able to get through it. The problem is if your pumped, or tired, or over trained or all of the above, these holds don`t have much to offer, but fresh, a newbie like Nick will gain confidence and will improve technique.

As for the term ``pure sloper``, these holds are close but not quite there. Ok...so they`re round open hand grip shapes but they do have an incut on them that makes it so you can really bear down on your fingers. In my eyes a ``pure sloper`` is open hand and when you try to bear down on it, you`ll get spat off and really need to keep an open hand grip to get any kind of grip on the hold. That is the definition I would give the Shallow Slopers.

We have a large variety of slopers, from pure slopers to slopes with a twist of pinch on them, and when I first started climbing with Nuds he would always tell me that slopers will make you strong. I didn`t ponder too much on the idea at the time but I`ve personally seen my climbing improve after working some hard sloper problems down at the gym. The Moderate Slopers are easy shapes to climb on, but the smaller ones are harder to grip and are a great way to see stronger climbers work hard for the send.

PROS:

• Beginner friendly, angle dependent... for slopers
  
• Wide range of sizes, lots of variety
  

CONS:

• Sharp edges might chip
• Chalk up really fast
• Hard to tell apart from the other holds in the same range
  

PRICE:

• XL set is four holds at $78
  
• Large set is four holds at $45
  
• Medium set is four holds at $31
  
• Small set is four holds $21

Full post here!

New Stuff > December

Here's the new stuff for December

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Mini Slopers

Mini Jugs


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No matter which way you look at this volume one word will come to mind... MASSIVE!

From the mind of Jason Kehl comes the Growth... for info on pricing head on over to the Rockwerx website!

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Here's Elements HOTM for December. They're also running 15% Off All Orders plus a FREE set of Electrons (20 feet) with all orders over $199

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Another new company... there's lots to see. Click the logo to head on over!-------------------------------
oooof that is a big ol hold
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Here's Osm'ose new holds... 2010 style

Full post here!

Testing > Dream Holds > Basalt

Straight from the box you're going to look at these holds with their evil black coloring and think WTF are these. You're going to hold them in your hand and you're going to think "heavy"... and then you're going to touch them and wonder what the hell you're going to do with them.

Now, Noodles has spoken to the makers of these holds... Dream Holds and when asked what he wanted to review he said "Basalt" and "Gritstone", both types of rock that he's climbed on a lot. The reason, he explains, for picking the basalt holds was pretty simple... he wanted to see if someone could make holds that feel like the evilness that is the crags. Basalt is a particular type of rock he explained, and it has a particular style of climbing... you have to hold on, but not too much... clamping down too much just leads to you falling off. So here we go... Dream Holds Basalt!Now that you've seen them you can probably get what we're talking about when we say evil :) First thing that has to be said is that we have one of the rocks that these holds were made from (and we're holding it for ransom!) and when you look at the rock compared to the hold all of the details are there, the hold is just a little... (maybe 2mm) smaller. Even before climbing on the holds we could tell we were in for something special... could it be that we have a manufacturer that is making real rock holds that are ACTUALLY LIKE REAL ROCK?? It couldn't be so!!!

Ok, so evil or as we like to think a little bit metal... here come some devil fingers and here comes some climbing!
--

--
As you can see we let Jeff set the first route, Jeff's not set before and he likes to run fingertip to fingertip moves. That's a good and bad thing, problem is that Jeff is a tall guy with long arms, and so has Chris, Noodles on the other hand is always going to have trouble with long wide moves and as you can see even after we tweaked out the start move, came around the corner of the 45 degree wall into the 30 wall there was a stopper move for a while... Jeff and Chris managed to rock through the move but Noodles was shut down. As it was so long a move Noodles moved one of the key holds a little closer so that he and other people might have a chance of finishing the route. Once that route was dispatched we set something that ran the other way across the wall, this time finishing on the 45 with some of the holds bolted onto some Motavation volumes.
--

--
This time the route was far easier, but still tricky, Noodles set all of the holds in some of their worst positions. Nothing but slopers and nasty little edges for us this time :) But with some good footwork the route was dispatched with little ceremony; but some skin was shredded during the process.

SUGGESTED USES:










Now these holds could go steeper and there's one reason why we're not putting a 60 degree logo up here, and it's pretty simple really... it's because despite having lots of options on these holds, much like their real rock counterparts, there's just not that much to hold onto.

The holds do range from pretty small to pretty large, most of them can be matched without too much worry but you have to be careful about how you grip these holds as they are formed real rock and therefore you can expect to get some skin damage much like when you climb outside. Despite these holds being nice and very realistic they're something you could train on for a pretty long time, just not as long as you'd probably really want to as we found with some of the people that hit certain areas of the holds got some flappers and split finger tips.

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds:
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt ons
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): 69 / 12 = 5.75 GBP per hold (approx $9.50 per hold)
  
• Color: Black
  
• Bolt placement: Middle on all of the holds
  
• Sanding: Needs some work
  
• Texture: Hahahaha... slick
  
• Set size: Various sizes of holds
  
• Versatility: Varies with the hold
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Yes

These holds are well built, they're resin and they're heavy as hell and each hold has an inset screw hold... and by the looks of it the screw holes have a little inset washer in them... a pretty nice touch! The sanding on the backs of the holds is a little off, nothing massive but you can tell from the back of the hold that they've not been sanded down on a bench sander so that they'd be uniformly flat... none of the holds were warped but you can see that there are a few minor gaps at the backs of some of them

With the holds being resin a degree of care will have to be taken when storing them, I'd not want to drop on of these from up high to a padded or semi padded area... we've not run a strength test as of yet but the weight of one of the holds and then a concrete floor is going to make a loud noise and we think some shattered holds.

Texture wise you're looking at a near perfect replication of Dumby basalt rock from up in Scotland (see Noodles comments) and thou there are a lot of "real rock" holds out on the market these are probably the most realistic holds we've seen and have climbed on; and that's not an easy thing to say as Summit Labs granite holds were amazing as were Climb It's Silverado Cobbles. Right, sorry, went off the page there a little! Texture wise you are going to wonder if you can hold onto these holds when you first get them, some chalk later and you're going to be very surprised at how well they climb and the level of precision that you're going to have to use to climb on them... you'll not get away with brute force moves very much.

From a shape perspective this is where you'll have to use a degree of common sense when setting with these holds as they are molded from real rock and therefore there are imperfections in the shapes and there are some areas that are more than a little painful to grab onto. Dream Holds have looked around and have found something that gives the feeling of real rock and the texture of real rock, in this case basalt, and have limited (from what we can see) any areas that could cause too much discomfort.. but there are a few places that remind you where these holds came from... outside

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
The holds are heavy resin

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Best we've ever seen. Think of a Russian doll... a couple of well packed boxes with the holds inside a larger box that had packaging in it. The box and holds came through in perfect condition

RATING:
Noodles:
Lets do a simple equation! Because kids, math is fun!
If you take a set of basalt holds and then add chalk what do you get?

Probably some of the best real rock climbing holds out there..

The above line does come at a price and there is a disclaimer. Let me explain.
We're seen real rock holds, Summit Labs Granites, Climb It's Silverado Cobbles, Atomiks Fonts and a whole host of others, the ones listed are shapes that we like and we'd recommend for people to try... some of the others are OK, and a few are just plain not so nice. How can I say that these holds are "probably some of the best real rock climbing holds out there?" simple really, I've climbed in the area where they're from and I remember just what it was like to first get on that rock and these holds are 90% of what that rock and those crags feel like! They represent, for me, the area and the type of rock very well but they're not something that I'd run laps on... nope! I put a lot of work into the routes that we set and climbed on in the videos, as well as a bunch of stuff that hit the editing room floor and I climbed hard on those holds, set some silly moves; easy moves and pretty well everything in between... and I paid the price. Eve paid the price, KC really paid the price and Nick paid the price!

What's the price?

Skin. You will at some point loose some skin, not much in my case, but I did loose some.. KC got a flapper and a few other scrapes along the way. That is the problem with "real rock" holds, they treat your digits like you're on real rock.. so it's always a good idea to be careful

Chris:
Not having been around Europe to climb and thus never experiencing the various rock that they have in the region, these holds bring that real rock experience to the inside. Besides, here in Canada our winter is longer than climbing season and anyway of experiencing the real rock feels inside is welcome.

I have spent most of my time climbing inside. I have a great deal of confidence when climbing on familiar holds but with The Dumby’s you’re always guessing and praying that you’ll stick the hold. They found the best shapes to mold from and that made for highly detailed holds. After Noodles bolted the holds to the wall there were still little detail gone unnoticed before that now stood out. At some points the little ridges and imperfections were the only thing giving you any friction and there are plenty of grip options. The bigger holds are my favorite. They’re not any easier but there are more options for grip. Where most of us were matching the top of the holds I found that I could crimp the top and pinch the bottom to get through the move. There is also one that has a small thumb catch that you can really dig into. On that note, the holds are sharp and hurt. I came away with my fingers feeling like they’ve spent the day climbing hard outside.

They really do feel like you’re climbing outside…only with a heater 5 feet away…and being able to set with these kinds of holds makes for something different and appealing. As hard as the holds are and as much as we all left with something sore, the holds drew us all in and we had a fun session climbing hard.

PROS:

• Some of the best real rock holds out there
• Inset screw holes in all of the holds
  

CONS:

• Slick til you chalk them up
• Heavy as hell
• Expensive if you're paying in dollars
  

PRICE:
69 GBP gets you 12 mixed size holds (There are two sets)

Full post here!

Testing > C.H.R.D.T > Climbing Hold Review Drop Test

We've been working on this for a long long time... we wanted to look at peoples holds and then see if we could break them. Through trial and error we've got some numbers and a video for you all.

Now let US, and when I say US I mean the folks over at Climbing Hold Review put something straight before we start. We're not trying to damage anyone's business, we're just testing holds and seeing what we find out along the way, this is simple testing, simple everyday things that could happen to your holds.... that's it. Enjoy the read... but first let me tell you what we called this little shin dig :
Now first of all we made a test bench and we started torquing holds up on it, we also tested what someone with a normal T wrench can tighten a hold down to, taking the average, we found that if you're really hanging on the wrench you can get between 12 and 18 ft lbs of torque. Now not many people understand torque... so we went and tightened holds down to 20 ft lbs which is 240 inch pounds of force on the area of the hold.

Every hold was taken up to 20 ft lbs of torque and here's what we found:

• At this force you're likely to pull your t nuts into the wall and into the back of the hold
• We used a 5ft long torque wrench so to get the forces we applied with a T wrench you are essentially the Hulk!
• One of two things will happen if you hit the magic number of 20 ft lbs:
• 1) You've got a great chance of shearing your t nuts threads
• 2) You might compress the material of the hold you're testing

Basically what happens is the inset washer is pushed towards the back of the hold... this means the hold doesn't sit flat on the wall anymore and has now become dangerous to use as the structure of the hold has been compromised.

With that test done, we went to 30 ft lbs and gave up! At that pressure you just pull your T nut through the wall. In a one off "let's see how tight we can tighten a hold til it snaps" moment we took one of the hollow backed Holdz Ripplez and went nuts on it (for regular readers this is the hold that Noodles threw out of the 2nd storey window onto concrete to have it bounce!)... the hold took 30 ft lbs and then we grabbed a scaffold bar and went up to 50 ft lbs (600 inch pounds) and then we got scared and stopped because if this hold broke into pieces then someone was going to get killed by shrapnel... it would have been like a bloody grenade going off!

In a separate test when we were researching what we wanted to do Noodles' dad drilled and tapped a 3/4 inch piece of steel plate (not a simple task) he grabbed one of Noodles holds (which in this case was a Holdz Mini Jugz from 7 years ago) and then tightened it down to the steel plate. The thinking behind this is that the thread won't rip like a T nut and therefore you can really tighten the hold down.... wrong! Holdz holds take martini headed bolts, and therefore the driver used to tighten them is small... what we found with this: is that even with really expensive allen drivers all you're going to do is snap them. (Three of them to be exact)

So we moved onto the fabled DROP TEST! Yeah, this is basically where you're going to break most of your holds anyway! Of course throwing holds into a box without a care will also crack and chip them, that's why we're careful with ours :)
The test is a simple one, no rocket science here.. knock a hold off of a ladder that is 57 inches high (just less than 1.5m), film it and see what the damage outcome is... and cue the video:


PROBLEMS WITH OUR METHOD:
Right, we know there are some flaws with the science in what we've done, here's what they are:

• Compounds > Some holds are resin some are PU
• Mass > We have a 700% varience in force because all of the holds were different weights
• Shapes > Not everyone makes the same shape, so this will impact results

Now using some simple math and a quick calculation we can even things out a little work out the force that was exerted upon the hold at the moment of impact! Using:

F = ma

Where F is force in Newtons, M is mass in kg and A is acceleration (9.81 metres squared) we can work out and see some interesting figures!

RESULTS:Damaged means: that the hold took some scuff marks or chipped slightly, nothing that would stop you using the hold
Broke means: The hold broke either fatally or to a degree that rendered it unusable

CONCLUSIONS:
Now you can see that urethane holds in general took a larger force hit (across the weights) than the resin holds and still remained intact! The only resin holds that broke in test 2 (Dropped from the garage ceiling) was the Friction hold and the Nicros hold. The Friction hold snapped clean in half at the bolt hole and the Nicros snapped on one end (But the climbing area is still intact)

Not one urethane hold broke during the tests apart from the Element worm, and that is because of the shape of the hold, think of a big handle, really it's not all that surprising. Even when dropped from a greater height the urethane holds just bounced, some took some light scuffing but nothing that compromised the holds in anyway
What has surprising to see what the Holdz hold breaking, you can really tighten up these holds and they always remain intact... but drop one from a small height and they snap

WHAT WE'LL DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME?:

• Multiple drop tests of each hold
• Take the time that it takes for the hold to hit the floor from a standstill (so we can get better figures for our calculations)
  
• Have a smaller mass range
• Try to use similar shapes

AWARDS:
Despite what we found, we do have some awards :)

Best Noise: Go's to the Globe for making the loudest noise when it hit the floor
Best Bounce: Element Climbings Aftershocks, from the ceiling of the garage, bounced and hit me in the knee when I was on top of the ladder.
Highest Torque: Holdz Ripplez took the highest load, we actually stopped as we were scared
Surprise Surprise: Megahold's Roof Jug, we've broken these because of their badly placed bolt holes when we've climbed on them but when dropped they were fine

We're going to make sure to test all new holds and mixes in the future with a drop test. Chances are we'll do mass drop tests like this one and then publish our findings.

Full post here!

Testing > Osm'ose > Friction

Again, hailing from France comes Osm'ose...
And you'll know that the last set of holds we tested from these guys was the Manip (here) and we basically had our asses handed to us on many occasions; we figured that this time it's be a little different... were we right or were we wrong?

Once out of the packaging these holds actually felt larger and slightly easier than the Manips, this set only had one screw on hold, so ease of movement for setting was much faster than pulling out the drills. The holds have a completely different feel to them despite being made of resin, these feel like they have slightly more friction to them and more space for your fingers, and surprisingly more options for subtle matches and sneeky sidepulls than the Manips.

As we've been training for the Tour De Bloc we were working on some hard sequences, so straight out we decided to set something that would be "semi easy"; here's what the video shows

I guess we were wrong, again these are super technical handholds to hold onto; I mentioned this to the guys at Osm'ose and they agreed that both the sets we have are hard and we're made to be that way... I guess we can see how our working relationship with these guys is going to go, we even suspect they're sitting in high wing backed chairs, stroking cats and laughing manically at out attempts to climb anything on these holds with a degree of grace :) Well that's the way we roll sometimes, we're not graceful, we sometimes have to brute force our way through some moves... sometimes we hit the wall by ourselves and just work (see Noodles comments)

Osm'ose have done themselves proud, if we look at the two sets we've reviewed, they're both technical out of the box, well made and easy to set hard sequences with. We set a fair amount of routes with these holds, we tried a bunch of different moves and sequences that tested us and the holds pretty thoroughly

SUGGESTED USES:









If you're strong you'll be able to pull on these holds on a 45 degree wall, at most and to be slightly nicer to your fingers we'd go no further than 30 degrees, 15 for beginners. There are most hold shapes in this set, with anything that is a jug missing entirely from the set, you're looking at mostly crimps. subtle slopers and edges with the occasional tricky pinch thrown in for good measure. Now we're no slouches where it comes to climbing (we think anyway), but the route that Noodles set at the end of the video was just plain crazy at the end, so much so that he spent an hour in the room by himself and Tyler throwing himself at the end of the problem... he went so hard at the move that he ripped a hole in his index finger on the second to last move. Kudos to him he managed to get the move.

If there's a competition and you have a flat wall then this set is going to fit in and you should be able to set pretty well whatever you want, as long as what you want is hard. Unless you have a home wall that's either flat or slightly overhung then you shouldn't even look at these unless you want to work really really hard.

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 16
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Mainly bolt ons with one screw on
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): 41.90 / 16 = 2.62 per hold (Euros)
  
• Color: Sandy
  
• Bolt placement: Right in the middle
  
• Sanding: Flat and smooth
  
• Texture: Good, a little rough at times
  
• Set size: Medium
  
• Versatility: Loads
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Yes on every hold

Again these holds are super well built, they're well formed; you can tell they the shapes are well thought out and will lend themselves instantly to harder routes. The shapes are well thought out and construction is solid throughout the range, they holds have that resin weight to them, these holds certainly are heavy so shipping might be a little expensive. The bolt holes are right in the middle and are well shaped to take martini shaped bolts.

Color wise we were surprised, we're seen two tone colored holds before... but these look almost like light desert coloring a good mix of camo. They're not meant to be camo colored at all, but how these holds have turned out was quite pleasing to the eye.

The texture on these holds feels slightly gritstone-esque and you can really feel that the texture is going to be grippy, from the packaging to the wall if you're setting nicely these holds really don't need chalk but soon as you start taking liberties you're going to need to chalk up.

Versatility wise there are a lot of options, there are subtle moves to be had on most if not all of these holds, none of them are going to be easy matches but the moves will be doable... really really hard moves or subtle; the way you set dictates what you're going to get

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Resin, they're making urethane holds soon

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Super well packed, the holds were shrink wrapped onto cardboard

RATING:
Noodles:
Again Osm'ose holds give me a kicking, this time in a right proper fashion. I thought the last set, the Manips, were hard and technical; these are just as hard but in a slightly more tendon friendly manner. These aren't SO hard, you can set reasonable routes with them whereas the first set the Manips were just hard even when you thought you were setting a nice easy route.

The first route that I set had a series of technical moves that were part of a low traverse, I was simply shut down on the move and even thought I worked it for a while I could never find the hard / foot placement to make the move, it always felt like I was uncomfortable in the move... sometimes it just flows and when I myself feel uncomfortable in a move it means I'm either going to find it hard or I'm not going to be able to do it, or I'm going to have to do it in a weird fashion that most people would think would be uncomfortable. What suits one climber, might not suit another.

Now next time I set with the holds I tried to play nice, only sticking in one absolute killer move near to the end... and boy was it harder than I thought, it was a side pull to a hand drop on a hold that one way is great, but when you're trying to reverse the move just an absolute stop dead killer. Here's the video of me spending an hour trying the move that shut us down on the reversal of an otherwise fun route. WARNING: There is a bunch of swearing in the video, so it's not suitable for all people if they're easily offended... (Normally I'd not post something like this but as Tyler had shot it and I re watched it I decided that it shows a climber just working hard at something that makes them happy.... climbing)

Sure I get frustrated from time to time with a move or a route and I'll train / try to get the route til I can walk away happy knowing that it's done. And yeah, I swore my ass off, that's part of my nature when I get shut down...

Where would I suggest you put the holds? Vertical to easy overhangs should make some interesting bouldering problems or routes. That's what I think they lend themselves to and they're tech as hell to climb on.. not for everyone that's for sure.. but they will suit some people

Chris:

When I first started climbing, I spent all my time in the gym. I didn’t have a car, was in school and I didn’t have a steady climbing schedule so pulling on plastic was my gateway to the climbing world. When I started climbing outside I realized that having good technique and foot work is critical. With indoor climbing you can always get away with a little brute strength and ignorance to get you through, >but if you encounter the Frictions, they will spit you off if you’re over zealous.

I don’t think that a set like this is best for a set-up like ours unless you already have plenty of holds to play with. These guys are small, technical holds that most people would use as footholds, but if you have access to a large commercial wall, then setting a hard vertical route will be using these holds at their best.

So my thoughts….I’m not sure what side I’m on. On the one hand they’re really unique shapes unlike anything we’ve reviewed in the past, on the other technical little bastards that I probably wouldn’t invest in if I had my own home wall. To make the holds so we could actually hold onto them, we found ourselves squeezed in the corner or setting the holds on volumes to change the angle. Having big footholds helps ;)

I guess I’m still caught between two worlds. The holds have a certain appeal, and although they are hard to grip, it’s not impossible when everything goes your way but you will come away with some sore fingers if you’re not used to climbing small holds. Setters can easily force moves. With a small area for your fingers, these holds don’t give you much room to match, if there is any room at all. They’re well made and the shapes are unique but when you climb on them, you’ll work for every inch.

PROS:

• Superb construction and shipping
• Super technical, there's lots of subtle ways to grab these holds
• Would be good in a comp or long lead route

CONS:

• Very heavy for their size, might push up shipping costs
• Not really for beginners, they can be a little finger tweaky
• Fairly limited in use, slight overhangs and vertical are where they're best placed
  

PRICE:
41.90 Euros gets you 16 holds

Full post here!

Review > Element Climbing > Aftershocks

Element has been around for a while but has kept under the radar working on shapes and recently released some of their creations upon the climbing world. One of their newest shapes, The Aftershocks, kept up with the cracked rock theme found on the Quakes and Tremors.
The Aftershocks have the same texture as the holds mentioned above but are of different shapes. Where the Quakes are by far the biggest holds and rock on roof sequences, the Tremors are medium ledges/pinches, the Aftershocks have filled up the void and consist of small to large pinches. Now we use the pinch classification for these holds lightly, they are actually classified as large ledges and slopers on the Element Climbing website. Their classification is a little misleading. There are no set guidelines that hold manufacturers use when classifying their holds and we here at climbing hold review have had some feedback on the issue; we have some stuff in the works that we'll unveil in the New Year; maybe it won't be industry wide but you will have some way of seeing the sizes of the holds :)

So suffice to say that Element Climbing has their own way of classifying their holds. When it comes to the kind of shape or grip, the fine line black and white can be askew, and the Aftershocks are round like slopers and have one good ledge on each hold, but since we’re exclusively bouldering we find them to be used more as pinches than anything else. As for the size, there are eight holds in the set, two of which could be called a “large hold”. As for their little brothers and sisters…well that just says it all…they’re the same kinds of shapes only smaller. If Element had to give this set one designation, it should be a medium size set.



We like bright colored holds. Not only do they look cool but it’s easy to spot the next move when the holds stand out. Element sent us our first set to review in dark green and we weren’t to keen on the color, but this time around their holds are bright. The set has eight holds and the sizes are from two finger pinch (I mean ledge;) to large open hand matches. Although



The shapes are easy by design and we raised the difficulty by setting the holds far apart. We’ve had these holds sent with the Quakes and Tremors and we’ve been climbing on them for a while. The sets compliment each other and we set a round all the way around the wall using the three sets.

SUGGESTED USES:



A set with this wide a variety can be set on any terrain bar the roof or super steep angles. Not every hold will be good on the 45 but there is a hold for every angle. We mainly put them on the 30 degree wall and they made for some fun warm up routes or for some bounce around routes where we took it relatively easy. When they were set on the 45 they were very hard to hold onto even though the holds range from small to large, the large holds are ok, but the small holds are just plain hard to grip there's not really enough to hold onto comfortably; mind you sometimes a challenge is a good thing... but these were just plain hard to hold onto... probably too hard to hold onto for most people comfortably.

Mixing these holds in with others that are the same color (like we did) will make for some very interesting routes, when we set with the Rock Candy Ruffles the route was fun and allowed us to have way more fun than with the holds by themselves. The smaller holds should really be foot holds, so that means you've got four good handholds and four good footholds.

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 8
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt ons
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): $44.95 / 8 = $5.62
  
• Color: Lime green
  
• Bolt placement: Right in the middle
  
• Sanding: Excellent
  
• Texture: The cracks in the holds help, you can dig your fingers in a little more
  
• Set size: Small to large
  
• Versatility: So-so
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: ?? CHECK ??
  

Where they could save weight, they did it. Although the larger holds of the set are large enough to match, they still only fit in the palm of your hand. Element molded these shapes with hollow backs and it a good attention to detail. I think that if they could, they’d scoop out the backs of the smaller holds as well. The texture is nice and has good friction without the burn. If they’re like the hold we’ve had from them in the past, they can get a thick layer of chalk on them before they start to lose their grip.

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Well packed, no damage to speak of

RATING:
Noodles:
This is the first set from Element Climbing that I'm not so mad happy about, there's nothing wrong with them, nothing at all. They're perfectly fine shapes, nice to hold onto and there's a good mix of sizes to allow you to set whatever you like. They're just not my favorites that's all. The holds are all well built and most of the shapes are hollow backed, something that some of the larger company's should look at, if Element can hollow back their holds of this size then so could you :D

When we'd climbed all over the place on them we decided to rock in with the Ruffles from Rock Candy to spice up our route and to add some edginess to our sequence. Adding these holds added a degree of fun that we needed, it was raining outside and we we're getting shut down on a couple of problems we'd set. Before we added in these holds I was having trouble with the sequence that Chris had set the smaller holds were just too small for me to be pulling myself off of the floor on time and time again; so I sat it out and let the others beat themselves up on the route.

If you get these holds in the same color as a bunch of other holds then they'll fit in nicely on any routes you'd like to set, for short bouldering problems they're not so bad, you can set some fun stuff but nothing massively outstanding in my honest opinion; you win some, you loose some

Chris:
Element climbing has sent us plenty of holds in the past. They have a large selection of shapes and the ones we've seen in the past have all had a degree of challenge to them, the Aftershocks are much easier to climb on than the previous holds we've reviewed. The shapes of the Aftershocks are straight forward, its obvious where the good part is and despite the grip you use, you will always feel solid. Personally I find that the set by itself is nothing special and serves better purpose if you have other holds to set with. We had more fun with the problem we set with the Ruffles than anything else. It didn't take too much time before everyone sent the problems we set on the vertical and 30 degree. Even with the long moves we all got around it. The Ruffles added diversity and a degree of difficulty that the set can't offer on its own.

As a whole, this set would not be my first choice from Element. I find that the shapes are very simple and there isn't a whole lot of variety for setting. What the set has going for it is the variety in size. The grips may stay the same from hold to hold, but the degree of difficulty increases as you get onto the smaller holds.

PROS:

• Nice hollow backs on small holds
• Large variety of sizes
  

CONS:

• The small holds are very small and hard to hold onto on steep terrain
• All the grips you'll use are the same (Minor)
• Color could be hard to match it you want it exact
  

PRICE:
$44.95 gets you eight holds
Full post here!