Review > Holdz > Super Mini Screw Onz

Right is seems to be screw on month over here at Climbingholdreview :) This time we've got another bunch of screw ons again from Noodles home, the UK. This weeks offering comes from Holdz, we've seen their stuff before: Undercutz, Mini Jugz, and Dual Texture Pockets... some of the reviews are from way back when we were in our youth. Chris and Noodles both had hair :)

What we have here is what is possibly the thinnest screw ons on the planet, this was the plan for these when Holdz set out to shape them... make the thinnest screw ons possible, let's have a look:From the top down these holds don't actually look like they're going to be that bad, so we took a couple of other shots:

The shot on the left is just the holds on the kitchen table, the right hand shot is a couple of the holds next to a handy beer bottle top. As you can see the holds aren't much bigger than the size of the bottle top, one thing that is for sure the holds are thinner than the top in pretty much every case except in a few where the holds are about the same thickness.

Now, speaking to Steve from Holdz he made a couple of things clear...

1. If you have your drill set at a high torque setting they will likely snap
2. These were made to be the thinnest screw ons on the market
3. These holds have been used as crimp handholds at a couple of comps

Ok, so point 1 is pretty self explanatory, point 2... yup these would be the thinnest things we've seen and then that brings us to point 3. Oh point 3... really? REALLY?
Can you guess what's going to happen now? Can you? Can you?

Yup, it's time to get the drill out and to start using these as handholds at the same time as footholds. It looks like there are some gnarly routes coming up :)

Firstly let's talk about these holds as what they were intended for...
AS FEET: these guys are super super technical, they are the thinnest thing you'll have ever stepped on (bar smears) and using them comes down to how good your footwork is! No matter if you're using large hand holds the one thing that is clear the thing you're going to be worrying about is what your feet are doing and if they'll stick. Again (like the Planet Holds review) we tried a number of different types of shoes from 5.10 Projects / Prisms / Rock Wrenches / Vixens and a whole host of Sportivas and a couple of pairs of Evolvs. One thing that is noticeable is that no matter the stiffness or softness of the shoes they all seemed to be able to stick onto the holds, the softer shoes having a little more trouble on the small edged holds but the shoes are pretty old, slightly abused and their edges aren't the best.

As footholds they clearly work very very well and will test your feet on overhanging routes, on vertical / slab routes the same thing applies you can get onto them and you can stand you're just going to have to be very precise and very delicate

AS HANDS: Ha! We're always up for a challenge and well we tried a bunch of different routes, sometimes using the screw ons as our feet on the route and other times just for testing (when using them as hangs) we used larger feet. These holds can be used at handholds but they are so thin it's crazy that you can even hold onto them at all and even when you're up on the wall you need to use all of your balance and then try to make the move to the next dime sized crimp. These holds are hard and really you shouldn't try to get routes with them as hand holds... well unless you're Chris Sharma or a mad comp monkey or something like that.

Now that being said... let us contradict ourselves a little...do use them as handholds when they're on aretes or in our case we Swiss Cheesed some of the Motavation Volumes that we have and ended up making some super fun technical / balance routes that everyone could climb. Basically it's not about the size or the shape of the hold its the execution of the setter that deems if you can stick the moves or not.

We wanted to show a little more how thin these holds are, the video shows it pretty well when we have our camera up on the wall pointing down at a couple of the holds.. they are thin and you can use them as handholds but it's tough going unless they're on a volume or you use them as pinches around corners. As they are footholds they are in some cases a little sharper than you'd really want for your hands, they can be a little tweaky on your fingers.

SUGGESTED USES AS FEET:






These holds are rubbish on anything over 60 degrees and even they they're a real challenge to stick with your feet, especially if you're using the smaller smears at these angles. But as there are lots of different shapes with differing incuts you can get some interesting footwork (read: hard) if you want to play and work on your balance. These holds would be amazing on a slab route for hands and feet as it will be so thin it would be a proper balance challenge for anyone.

As feet these guys are pretty amazing a) because of their production value and b) what they offer to setters, don't get us wrong here.... super strong climbers or anyone with fingers of steel are going to be able to cheat a move with these guys set as feet if the setter doesn't think about it too much, but the normal climber is going to think about it, finger the hold a little bit and then decide that the move that was intended is a better option :)

SUGGESTED USES AS HANDS:







Again these holds will be amazing on a slab route and around aretes, everything else is super hard. We were able to pull a few delicate moves on the 30 degree wall and then gave up as we like our fingers; we really didn't push them that far... if they were half as deep again then they'd be more likely to be stickable. Keep these guys on shallow angles (upto 15 degrees) and vertical walls and you're going to have a hell of a time sticking onto them... and then use the other half of the set as feet and you're going to be having some barn-door action and some sore fingers.

If you have a featured wall or lots of volumes, go nuts, you'll be surprised how positive these holds feel when you add a few as a pinch or clustered together to make little rails, again it's interesting climbing and if you try to go to fast or just chuck to one of these guys it's a very interesting time!!

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 28
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Screw ons
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): 25 GBP / 28 = $1.60 each (USD)
  
• Color: Orange
  
• Bolt placement: None
  
• Sanding: Good
  
• Hollow backed: No! Ha!
  
• Soft back (Rubber backed): No
  
• Texture: Pretty grippy
  
• Set size: XXS
  
• Versatility: Well that depends upon how adventurous you are
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Yes
  
• Shaper: Steve Goodair
  
• Weight: Super light

These were made for the Climbing Works International Festival and the British Bouldering Championship, they've also made it to Salt Lake... so there's some comp pedigree here! They're super thin and you can break a few of them in your hands... but why would you do this? Putting them onto the wall means a low torque setting on your drill (we used high torque and had no issues) these were made to be thin and they were made for comps so lets look at the build!

Color is neon orange and it's pretty damn bright, no excuses for not finding the right feet here :), all of the holds have been sanded flat and they have a DOM (date of manufacture) stamped on the back as well as a quality assurance stamp that gives a number of who and where they were checked. All of the screw holes are counter sunk and given the holds size they're well placed.

Texture ranges from pretty normal on the slopers (enough so you can get a grip on them... just) to grit like on some of the other holds, there's a pretty big range across the board to be honest. One thing that is certain is shoes stick to it and we climbed on them a fair amount without too much skin shreadage on the sharper holds and with no problems on the slopers

These holds aren't for everyone, but for routesetters looking for technical ass hard feet them these are pretty well the smallest things you're going to find on the market... period!

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Polyurethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Superb

RATING:
Noodles:
Holdz is a company that I've had products from for years, Steve is always shaping either for himself or for other companies and it's always interesting to see what he comes up with. I think he's like an English Louie Anderson :)

With the holds I received a note it said "It looks like you could do with working on your footwork" well ok fine, I think everyone could do with working on their footwork.. the other thing that the note mentioned is that "screwing these guys onto aretes and they make great additions for blank areas and yes they have been used as crimps in comps".... I thought that this was Steve having a throw down, dropping the gauntlet, giving me a challenge.... and basically I was all challenge accepted... let's do this! Ha, sometimes I just kick myself in the ass sometimes.

We put them onto some volumes and had a blast, same for a little hand and foot route we set... yes they can be used as handholds and considering their size they work really well, they`re painful as all hell but they do work pretty well. They work your feet and they have enough bite for your hands. Also unlike last weeks review these guys have double screws rather than singles (we have noticed that you can unscrew the Planet Holds feet with your hands since the review) so they don`t spin and they sit flush to the wall. For feet I kind of wish that some bolt ons could be made this thin but that's not going to happen anytime soon, they are amazing feet that really work your foot placements and how you stand on micro thin stuff super well they're kind of like the outdoors-indoors in a really strange way

Overall I am pretty impressed, I was nah these will never work when I saw them, thought cheeky bugger when I read the note in the box they came in and now I`m wow I can actually hold onto these... but they`re fking hard.

Chris:
Super mini screw on anybody? For saying that these holds are probably the smallest holds on the market they double for nasty crimp routes. I love using a foothold as a handhold and I get some grief from the setters at the gym for "cheating" a sequence by using a foot hold as an intermediate hand hold. Well my philosophy is if you can use it, why not? And these little screw on foot holds proves to all that you don't need to be a V10 climber to use tiny footholds for your hands.

What I like about having holds this size is that it will work your feet. I mean these holds are great and solid, but you need to be riding the tip of your shoes to maximize the leverage on the hold. Granted there are those in the set that are round and are more for smearing but just the same, your foot needs to be precisely placed on the hold or you'll find yourself on your ass.

As hand holds...well...they're not very friendly and it hurt the tips of your fingers after the session but they are footholds but for the size you can get more friction than you'd expect. And at the same time, working with these holds as hand holds will also give you a lesson in footwork and getting your body weight well balanced between all you limbs.

You need footholds with the option of setting them as hands? Want to get precise with your technique? Well I would answer yes for these questions and I say that Holds (the company, not the product;) have a winner with this set.

Mark:
These pretty little screw ons were a pleasure to climb on. As feet, the edges are great at working your feet, just big enough to hold on to and just small enough to not allow any sloppy footwork. As hands, they were the type you really have to bite down on. As for texture, they weren't too rough on my hands slipping off the slopers and as feet they gripped like magic.
They are well constructed considering how thin they are. Two pre drilled holes deep set into the holds. Shape wise, I liked the one with a crimp on both sides, making for one of the worlds smallest pinches and also a nice foot hold.
I wouldn't want to use these as hand holds in severe overhangs but foot wise why not! They are also great to screw into another larger hold to add that little edge for your thumb.
I guess the only downside is how fragile they are since they're so thin, but besides that, they're magic to the eyes, hands and feet, the type of hold that'll make you a better climber.

PROS:

• Double screw screw ons means no spinners
• Smallest feet on the market, great for comps
• Footwork ahoy! You have no choice but to work on your footwork with these
  

CONS:

• If you're not careful with the torque settings when putting these up you could snap them
• 
  

ROCK CANDY XMAS AD

Review > Planet Holds > Screw on Foothold 2

There are handholds and then there are footholds... and then there are footholds that can be used at handholds :) The footholds we're looking at this week are from the UK, Planet Holds dropped us a package of their new polyurethane screw on feet... this is what they look like:
Upon receiving these holds Noodles pointed out that they could easily be used for hands and upon looking at them closer they are pretty incut and despite being small they're not as small as some holds we've reviewed like Tekniks Aphids, DRCC ESC/DSC, or say the E-Grips 2-Tex Pure Crimps. We have to point out when we say small we're talking about how deep they are for your fingers not the overall size of the holds which in truth is just larger (in most cases) than the head of a number 10 sized deck screw... no when we see something that is about half a pad deep and is a foothold we laugh and then use them for hands... but would they work as hand holds??

There's something to be of note here and that this review is not going to mention us using these holds as footholds so we'll get this bit out of the way right now :) These holds when you use them for your feet are bomber, even when on the steepest angle and you're hanging by your fingertips you can just dink your foot onto one of these holds and get enough purchase to make the move. If you use them on a vertical wall they're just plain massive, we tried a route (that we didn't film) with a bunch of different shoes from stiff (5.10 Rock Wrench & Sportiva Scorpions) to super soft (5.10 Projects & Boreal Falcons) and found the holds texture and positive nature of the holds to make them just easy to use... the holds have a pretty gritty texture to them so they do gather shoe rubber if you really screw your feet down onto them. We know that we shouldn't be using these guys for hands we should be using them for feet but when we see something of this kind of size we just have to try you know :)

Right.. back to what we wanted to see with these holds... Can we use them as handholds?
Yup you can... and it's an interesting ride that's for sure!!
Like children with too many toys we grabbed the drill and went to work

Maaan those routes are hard, pulling from the floor is brutal until you get the right feet and then you're just in a World of balance and pain. One thing you're probably not going to notice is that in most of the routes we filmed we are actually using the holds for hands and feet, that's how big and how positive these holds are as feet (although in the real world they're not actually that big) and even though you're on finger tips and trying some stupid stupidly tricky matches your feet are something you're just not worrying about... they just stick, no matter what shoes you're wearing on whatever angle (although when you're on a roof you do need to be super exact with your toes) you feet just seem to stick to the texture and give you a nice positive piece of reassurance that you've got your foot on something

SUGGESTED USES:






AS FOOTHOLDS: If you look at the above table of angles that relates to when you use them as footholds not when you use them as handholds.

What you should do (in no particular order):

• Put them around aretes they're great like that
• Use them as footholds
• Not pretend that they're Skittles
• Play about with them as they're pretty big for footholds

These are a good set of all around foot holds... they're bigger than you'd expect so chuck them on the wall for some beginner routes to inspire their footwork. Grip-wise these guys seem to have it in spades, even when you're being sloppy with your feet you seem to be able to not worry about what or how you've placed your foot... they just seem to stick!!






AS HANDHOLDS: If you're going to play with the small stuff for hands then 45 degrees is probably way further than you should go, 30 degrees should give you enough of a challenge. We're in no way saying that you should do what we did with the holds it was just a test to see if you can hold onto them... you can, but it's not wise and unless you're training for some braille like hell routes you shouldn't really do this (Wait til you see the Holdz route with those holds.. these things are so big compared to those)

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 22
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Screw on
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): 19.50 GBP / 22 = $1.38 per hold (roughly at the current conversion rate)
  
• Color: Pink
  
• Bolt placement: None
  
• Sanding: Great
  
• Hollow backed: No
  
• Soft back (Rubber backed): No
  
• Texture: Very grippy
  
• Set size: Extra Small
  
• Versatility: Depends
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Yes
  
• Shaper: TBC
  
• Weight: TBC

These guys come with a QA stamp and a date of birth stamp on the back of them, so you can tell (and they can be tracked) if there are any issues with them. All of the holds are well formed and you can tell that they've all been across the sander, the holds texture is very grippy and you have to be careful when you're using them as hands as you might loose some skin but that being said even when they're chalked up the texture does come through. No matter what shoes you wear these holds grip so well you almost feel like you're cheating... they're almost Grit-like but there aren't any Grit footholds like these :)

Given that these holds are super small and that their small size could mean that these holds could be weak. We've put them on and off of the wall a bunch of times, used different torque settings on the drill and just hammered them without any trouble at all. The only problem that we can see is the fact that they are held onto the wall by a single screw means that if the holds aren't screwed on super tight they can spin and in a couple of cases they did spin a little on us, it would be better if the holds had double screw holes rather than just a single

Our holds came in a nice shade of purple which is slightly more like violet more than anything else, it's a color you don't see too often that's for sure.

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Good

RATING:
Noodles:
Screw ons footholds as handholds... hahahaha. Brilliant idea... the holds can be used for hands, they're actually be pretty big and given their grit like grip they are nice if a little bit tweaky on the old digits. Mind you they're a little tweaky because we set a bunch of routes (Mark, Chris and I) that were just plain hard because we wanted to play hard and we wanted to push the holds to a point where we could go "Yes! You can use them as handholds... upto this angle X"

What is the angle?

45 degrees, but only if you're using a bunch of the holds to make wide pinches / crimps. The holds by themselves (as all of them, except one take single screws) when on a 45 aren't going to good to hold onto at all as they're small as hell, but if you cluster them then they're hard, bitey and do-able.
If you play on a lesser angle then the single holds can be used, just don't try to match on them because this is bloody hard when you're trying to move one of the two finger tips you have on the hold to put on another fingertip whilst at the same time trying to not breathe too much in case you fall off the wall :D

Bottom line? As footholds they're great, as handholds they're painful... BUT THEY"RE MEANT TO BE FOOTHOLDS, so it's not really surprising as we're using them for something that they're not really meant to do. But if you add them to volumes, or around the corner on aretes or use them sensibly in shallow angles you can pull on them and they do a pretty good job... be-careful if you're setting sequences with these guys as feet as people will cheat your moves... and good luck to them if they try! As footholds if you're just looking for something to put onto the wall or onto a route then these guys will fit your need, if you're looking to work upon your footwork then you probably want something a little more technical than these...

Mark:
Purple little nubs. They have a super high texture that could be a bit much for the finger tips if you rip off. They're a bit large for foot holds as in they stick out too much and lots of climbers could screw the climbing sequences by using them as handholds. I don't know what would happen if you shoe peeled off one of these but I'm sure you'd lose a lot of rubber. They make for great screw on hand holds! Gnarly but different.

They're light weight! Seem mix seems strong despite their small nature and the screws work well with them. Thank god they're bigger than those other screw ons that we're reviewing soon :)

Chris:
Screw on footholds for handholds....scary thought. Noodles might think it brilliant but my fingers will always say no. Anywho enough with the excuses, the holds are big and can be strategically placed as handholds. I thought it was surprising that each hold came with only one screw hole but the holds are so small that they don't require anything more. OK...back to using them as hand holds. Good idea or bad idea the holds are big enough to get some skin on and with some thought the holds can be placed so you can climb on as hand holds.

It was a surprise for me that we could get thought the sequence. You'd think that a foothold that can be used as a handhold is a bad thing but these are really great foot holds. The set had enough holds that we could set both hand and footholds. I could tell from the get go that the holds have enough meat to grab But my hands burned after the session for ripping off the holds. The problems set are not for everyone but as foot holds, it would be a great addition for any home or commercial wall. If its foothold your looking for, these will fit the bill. With their size, it will help develop precision footwork and at the same time be big enough to be used in an overhang without to much bother. Footholds or handholds? Well I think if you want some small holds to add to your wall, this set can easily find itself on your wall.

PROS:

• Big enough to be used as handholds on shallow angles
• Light and strong
• Cheap shipping rates as the set fits into an envelope
• Great for introducing beginners to smaller positive feet
  

CONS:

• Screw ons are a pain to move and reset
• Screws aren't included
• Having a single screw rather than a double means that they could spin if they're not screwed on tight enough
  

ELEMENT AD

New Rock Candy Ad

Review > DRCC > The Rail

This week we're looking at The Rail, we've had it for a long long while and as we've been running some hold demos locally and our first one in the States... we've been lending out the holds and totally forgot to review it :( In fact before we moved the wall to it's current location we'd actually done all of the videos and we'd already filmed a climb that involved the Slots and the Rail in a session that was crazy... enough excuses... here's The Rail:The Rail pictured above in maroon with a purple soft back is a part of a new generation of large sliding bolt holds that seem to be hitting the market, Metolius have had the Colonettes on the market for years and there are whole hosts of other companies that make large screw on rail features. There are positives and negatives to having large rail like features that screw on.. but there is a trend a-coming of large features that have a sliding bolt as well as a normal single bolt so the hold can be rotated and can fit onto walls easily!

Again the DRCC have, like dual texture holds, taken this technology and have introduced it to a bunch of their large shapes (Peace, The Hole, Smile Ledge) and they've done it really well; you don't need to have a washer on the bolt as the metal sliding rail takes a normal bolt head and is made of high grade material.

Bah.. tech specs and praise! What is the thing like to actually use? On the old wall we had a 5 inch centre on our t-nuts, this spacing at times has given us some trouble with some holds; the Nicros Infinity Board being one of them (we had to make an adapter for it to fit onto the wall), in the case of the Rail we didn't have any problems as given the single bolt and then the slider we were able to angle it pretty well wherever we wanted without a care. We went straight for the nuts with where we put it as well, we chucked it straight onto the 45 degree wall; thinking that there is enough texture and a couple of deep enough (although pretty shallow) scoops that would allow us to get onto the hold and then move off into the Slots (which aren't great on the 45 degree wall at all)... maybe we over played our hand a little, but as the wall was being taken down it was pretty empty and as Jason, Chris and Noddles were up for a challenge it seemed like a great idea... here are the results:


(Just in case you're wondering about that route... Jason actually managed to get it right at the end of the video... we faded a little quickly on that, but if you watch closely we had moved the two final slots around because the Slots in case you've not read this review are hard on the 45 degree wall)

As you can see the Rail is holdable on the 45 degree wall... what you can also see is that moving off of it at that angle is pretty hard. Sure we weren't setting for everyone, we were setting hard as there was a problem from Val David that we were replicating as we wanted to train some pretty specific moves. Putting the hold onto a vertical wall gives you a nice long slightly slopey, slightly incut rail that's really nice to hold, rotate it 90 degrees and then you have some really interesting laybacks that will test your balance. One of the best angles we've found for this hold is between 15 and 30 degrees, it makes the hold just_that_little_bit_harder_to_stick and will challenge most people to trying some moves / matches and crosses that you don't see too much with indoor climbing.

SUGGESTED USES:







Yeah. stick it on the 45 if you're feeling strong but if you just want to test yourself without being spat off of the wall then stick it onto something more 30 degrees or less. We've had the Rail on the roof and we were moving into it and managing to match it and then move, it was by no means easy but it was done by a bunch of people... mind you a bunch of people did take a trip to the mats on that move!

There is a large surface area on this guy is over 20 inches long, but there are only a couple of palm sized shallow dimples (one larger than the other) for you to really use, the rest is basically a sloper. It's a test that's for sure.


OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 1
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt on, single bolt and slider
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): $109.95
  
• Color: Ours is brown swirled
  
• Bolt placement: Single at one end and slider bolt at the other
  
• Sanding: Good
  
• Hollow backed: Yes
  
• Soft back (Rubber backed): Yes
  
• Texture: Dual texture
  
• Set size: Feature
  
• Versatility: Ok
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: No, not needed
  
• Shaper: Vincent Cocciolone
• Weight: TBC
  

Quality is something that we've come to expect from the DRCC and the Rail is no exception, the texture on the hold isn't as grippy as you'd expect it gives you confidence to the point where you'll try to do something a little crazy with it and get shut down... that's where you find your and it's stopping point. The hollow back is superb, it takes enough weight from the hold without sacrificing the holds overall strength and as per usual it's a thing to behold.

The sliding bolt arrangement, which is laser cut... LASER CUT!... is very well formed, to the point where you don't need to use a washer for this to work the bolt head is more than enough to hold it tight to the wall, the main (single) bolt hole is nicely placed and is also pretty... well pretty, it has nice round edges to it so nothing can catch and the inset washer is nice and flat

As usual on any hold that the DRCC produces that they deem to need a softback this hold has one and it sits really flat against the wall without and areas lifintg at all. The DRCC is known for their dual texture and it's the same high quality shiney material that's just useless for any thumb catches that you might think are going to help you.

Now we've been running some hold demos of late, lending out holds here and there to see what other people think :) The Rail has been shipping with a bunch of other holds (all wrapped in paper) to a number of different places and so far it's come back unscathed from it's travels... and we all know how some parcels are handles by the postal services... so it's pretty damn strong as well

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Good

RATING:
Noodles:
When we got this hold way back when I remember email Vince raving about it and asking the question "why have you haven't you made more of these?"... "why isn't there one of these with more incuts for steeper angles?"... I guess it's because they're a pain in the ass to make, get the dual texture right and to get the hollow back complete. That's not really an excuse.. Vince, get to work! :)

This hold is what we'd consider the next generation of colonettes / rails... a colonail if it were, it's a shame it doesn't have more grab able features. Having a bunch of these and a huge wall would be a hoot in my mind.. imagine long long lay backs on lots of different feeling versions of these?

Putting this hold on the 45 (or the roof for that matter) was never a great idea, but it sure was fun. I can't remember if anyone actually ever finished that Rail/Slots route, I think I got close but I never finished it... technically the Slots and the Rail are going to be super hard on that steep of an angle, but what the hell someone had to try it :P I like the hold, the texture is just enough that you feel you can stick it, what's the word(s) I'm looking for??? Confidence inspiring, yeah that'd be the one... the hold is confidence inspiring and then it uses itself as a huge bat and beats you into submission in one foul swoop

I want more of these, I want a whole range of these, different sizes, different incuts... but all in the same color. I really like the hold, the fact that there isn't more is something that kind of brings me down a little. For home walls, if you've for about $100 kicking about it's a pretty good investment as you can do a lot with it... if your wall is super steep then I'd wait for the next installment before investing

Chris:
So how many of you enjoyed watching us fall repeatedly on our asses? Well we had a lot of fun trying out the problem and we've set a great many problems with it and always had a blast. If you're unfamiliar with DRCC, they make the best duo textured hold on the market. That's not an opinion, its a fact, and if you want gnarly technical holds, DRCC make some of the best there is...and that is just an opinion :)

So The Rail is one of those holds that will give you a taste of humility. The dual texture made it impossible to utilize the thumb to give you a better grip. Gotta love that dual texture :) So for me, I found that it was really hard to set a problem to the grade that I expected. If I were to try to set something in the V2 range, I would end up setting something that is at least a V4, with the possibility of being a Vimposible. The hold can really only be used with an open hand and there are only a couple of places on the hold where its slightly positive that adds to the degree of difficulty. Now even though this hold gave me a good kick in the ass, I liked climbing and working on the problem.

Although this hold is very technical, it doesn't have any sharp edges or require all that much brute strength to climb. It's really just a test on footwork and core strength. The texture lends itself to working on problems all afternoon in that you'll always find enough friction to keep you on the wall, until you suddenly find yourself on your ass. Now these holds aren't for everybody, but we've had the DRCC dual textured holds in a commercial gym and the strong burly climbers couldn't stay off the DRCC route. For me, I would buy this hold and for the record, it climbs well with the DRCC pinches :)

PROS:

• DRCC's shiny dual texture is beautiful
• Hollow backed for low shipping weight
• Layback fun for all
  

CONS:

• Not that positive so it's only good for shallow(ish) angles
• Price might put some people off
  

Review > Element Climbing > Carbide

Logo



SUGGESTED USES:








OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 8
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): $44.95/8 = $5.62 per hold
  
• Color: Orange
  
• Bolt placement: Middle
  
• Sanding: Good
  
• Hollow backed: No
  
• Soft back (Rubber backed): No
  
• Texture: Good
  
• Set size: Medium
  
• Versatility: Ok
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: No
  
• Shaper: David Filkins
  
• Weight: 2lbs
  

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Good

RATING:
Noodles:


Chris:

PROS:

• YADDA

CONS:

• YADDA

Review > Summit Labs > Medium Muscles Pinches

Ah Summit Labs, they've made some interesting stuff from the Small Comfy Pinches, Dual Texture Edges and then their Large Granite Slopers... they're a small company but when they do put something new out there has been a couple of things to note:

1. Their products have always been very well made
2. Even though their shapes are simple they seem to be very well thought out!

The set we're talking about today is something we've had for over a year, they've been off and on the wall numerous times, but most notably they were part of one route that stayed on the wall for about 6 months.... mainly because people loved it so much... without further ado lets look at the Medium Muscles Pinches:

What you're looking at is six pinches that are going to test you.... a lot of the time these holds dwelled upon the shallow angles of our wall.. they never went past the 15 degree wall and then as we came closer to writing the review we decided to put them onto something a little steeper... only 15 degrees steeper mind you but steeper none the less... we knew that there was no way we'd every want to meet one of these guys on the 45 or anything steeper than that so we grabbed the holds off of the floor and put them onto the 30. What ensued is something that doesn't happen very often.... an almost epic ass kicking :)

All we wanted to do was set something that was a little spicey, nothing crazy, just a quick route where we could film the holds easily and at the same time have a little fun. Oh man, head locks, chin bars, drop knees, swear words and child like laughter were all seen within a short space of time. What Chris set was something that we never expected.... it was gloriously painful to start and then it all just came down to one move and one move only... one thing was for sure; there wasn't going to be any hanging around on the final hold for too long :)


SUGGESTED USES:






Looks can be deceiving and in this case deception seems to be the name of the game, these holds are nice to hold onto but at the same time really quite hard to stick but they do double quite well as slopey crimps... but when they're on shallow walls up to 15 degrees, as soon as you add another 15 degrees to you angle then you're into a World of balance and some very technical matches.

These guys are hard but comfortable as pinches, they have a nice radius to them and the lines (like what you'd see on a muscle) allows a degree of leniency for your fingers as you can use them to position your hands for maximum grip... but be warned if you're pinching on the lines you're probably seconds from pulling that fabled climbing move "the one hand clap" because more than likely you're seconds from flying backwards!! Overall... technical fun!

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 6
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt ons
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): $28.95/6 = $4.83
  
• Color: Blue
  
• Bolt placement: Middle
  
• Sanding: Good
  
• Hollow backed: No
  
• Soft back (Rubber backed): No
  
• Texture: A little crystalline
  
• Set size: Medium
  
• Versatility: More pinches than anything else
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: No
  
• Shaper: Morgan Barnes
  
• Weight: 4lbs

One thing that Summit Labs seem to have in spaces is quality control, their holds always arrive in perfect condition... from the first set we have from when they started making holds (the Granites) to their latest sets (Comfy crimps (which will be reviewed soon)) we've seen their holds from day one and they're all very well made. We've not broken any of them, we've not chipped them... overall it's pretty impressive

The Muscles have some interesting shaping going on, they do actually look like muscles if you pull the skin off of your body! The lines help these guys with gripping the holds, but not so much that they intrude and give pain, they're not sharp they're nicely rounded and actually give some personality to the shapes. Size wise these guys fit nicely into the palm of your hand they have a nice radius to them, the only part of the holds that could cause some skin irritation is the Summit Labs logo which is a little raised and could cause some minor problems

Other than the texture being a little crystalline these holds are very well built, the sanding is great, the holds double as pinches or small sloped crimps/ledges and there's nothing to complain about the only thing is the fact that you can't really put these onto super steep angles.. there's no way that's going to happen as the holds aren't incut enough. Oh one other thing... these guys do seem to gather chalk more than you'd expect, so have a brush handy

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Very good

RATING:
Noodles:
These holds have been part of a route I set on our last wall and then transferred to this wall... the route consists of Rock Candys "Ruffles", Project Holds "Tankers" and of course Summit Labs "Medium Muscles". It's a fairly long route with lots of technical moves on most of the wall, the Muscles come into play right at the end on the flat wall right when you're good and tired. What makes these holds stand out is that even on a flat wall with ample feet you have to have your body in the right position to cross and rotate your hips to get to the next holds... and even then when the holds are set more like edges than anything else you still have to be super careful when moving. It's something that's been a lot of fun for a lot of people... now it's been taken down and will be replaced with something that (hopefully) will be as much fun.

Luckily we have Summit Labs "Comfy Crimps" to play with now... so I think that we're going to have another interesting time on those guys.

The Muscles were a surprise as they were harder than I thought, despite the simple design there what seems to be lots of grabbing options on these guys... pinch, slopey edge or evil crimps you can pretty well get a little of everything on them. You're never going to be able to run on super steep angles with them because they're so shallow... but that's one of those things. If you pair these holds with the Small Muscle Pinches or Summit's Comfy Pinches then you have the making of a very interesting route, with the Comfy Pinches allowing you to hit the 45 and the other sets being good of a 30 and a 15; you'll be pumped but you'll enjoy the result... pinch strength without destroying your hands

Top notch stuff; I'd love to see a much larger set of these shapes that allow them to be used on steeper angles.

Chris:
Awesome, wicked ass pinches! One thing I wish they had done was design more of these shapes. The holds can be described as slopey pinches but if they were to design larger holds with the same theme as these, they would be more of a slope than a pinch. Now although they become increasingly difficult even on the shallowest of overhangs, the groves and crimps let you grip the holds with confidence.

You may have noticed that I used the term "crimps" in that last sentence and it was not an error. As Noodles stated, we've had these holds for a year now and when we went to set for this review, we set them up on our 30 degree wall for a spin. I set that problem thinking that it would be hard but not impossible. Well, it was more on the impossible side and in order to get our butts off the ground for the starting move, I actually crimped the hold...I think I was using my finger nails more than relying on skin contact.

Now if you're looking for a set of pinches to compliment your collection of holds, than this is a good bet but I find that these small grip specific sets are limited. When we review holds, we try to set problems exclusively with the holds to be reviewed. This set was hard to create problems with and I ended up setting problems way above the level I intended which is not neccesarily a bad thing, it just makes for a hard boulder session.

PROS:

• Very well made
• Comfortable design, but harder than you think
  

CONS:

• Limited angle use
• Gather chalk a lot

So Ill Ad

Review > Metolius > 40 hold pack

Continuing with our starter pack reviews we have another one for you, winter is kicking in and lets face it... it's time to get the drill out and to start building. We're going to making additions to our wall over the winter and as Metolius states that this pack it basically "a home wall without the plywood" we figured we'd test that claim and see what's up with one of the longest running hold companies out there. Firstly what you generally see is not exactly what you're going to get, you are going to get a mix of holds in differing colors and from Metolius' current hold line up, so if you want a specific color and a specific hold then you're out of luck... remember what this pack is made for is someone that's starting a home wall not really for someone that already has a wall if you're looking for just a bunch of holds to fill out a wall from Metolius then you want to be looking more at: this which is a pretty good option.

Everything that is within the pack is listed upon the side; what's inside well, lets make a list and check it twice:

• 6 Screw-On Footholds
  
• 6 Screw-On Handholds
  
• 1 Screw-On Rail
• 1 Screw-On Plate
  
• 1 Screw-On Outside Corner
  
• 5 Screw-On Modulars
• 8 Micros
  
• 7 Modulars
  
• 4 Mini Jugs
  
• 1 Macro/Roof Jug
  
• Multi-Wrench
  
• How to Build a Home Bouldering Wall booklet

Which ever way you look at this it's a fair amount of holds and there is a lot of variety in the box and here's where we get to something that Chris and Noodles have been talking about whilst playing with the holds: "Is this a good start a wall set or is it a better introduction to Metolius' hold line up?" The answer to this question is really both. It is a pretty good starter set for some one wanting to build a wall and it's also a pretty good look at what Metolius has in their line up as there are some classic holds in the box and some of the newer stuff as well (But no Wood Grips!! WHAT!)

What we did was let Eve set the first route and she set something that was a real surprise, she wanted to have something to work on but it ended up being a challenge for most people that went near to it; some people found the start moves hard; some people found the roof moves to be hard; some people found the finishing move tricky. Like we said there was a little of something for everyone. Chris and Mark (who was a surprise visitor from BC) came in and he walked the route first time... but he's a tall genetic freak that's been climbing for the last year everyday!

One of the other routes that we set was on the 30 degree wall and it included some of the below holds:
The pink guy one of the screw on plate from the Rib range and it is an interesting beast to hold onto, what you've got is two slots for your fingers (neither of them big by any means) and that's about it... maybe we set it a little low for Mark, but we thought that we'd be able to match upon the holds and just cruise on through to the rail that is on the edge of the 45/70 degree wall. Boy were we wrong... if anyone asks you "whats the sound of one hand clapping" then you can answer "a climber on a 30 degree wall on a Metolius Rib Plate blowing off backwards at speed when attempting to match and move from that hold" :) In all seriousness it's a hold that will be great upon any wall less than 30 degrees and will be bomber on any slabs. There is so much variety within this pack that it does get kind of hard to set problems with the holds... something that we overcame quickly as having a lot of different styles means you have to adapt to what you have in hand and adapt we did :)

There was a second question that bounced around the wall whilst we climbed and set... "Do you want to many screw ons in a set of holds?", this is a tricky one, sure, we'd loved to have had more bolt ons in the box and to have had an option of just bolts ons / bolts etc within the box (We guess that's why there are the bulk packs) but right now this isn't the case (unlike the So Ill kit we looked at a few weeks ago: here), you get a bunch of screw ons and some of them are pretty small and are only going to be good for feet (great as this is a variety pack of holds) but bad if you'd want more handholds than footholds. Screw ons are a pain in the ass to move about and most people just aren't going to bother moving them, so there's a plus side and a negative side to having them included!

What is paramount with this box of joy is the fact that you can go from flat walls to something that has a little for everyone for about $120... given that you get everything that you need and that you're going to use most of it means that you're going to be getting possibly one of the best deals on the market for a "set up a wall kit" and that's no bad thing


SUGGESTED USES:







There isn't much you can't do with this pack, there is such a variety of shapes and sizes that it's kind of crazy. Screw on's and bolt on's and some screw on corners and and and and there is just so much stuff you can do with this pack of holds. Chuck them on the ceiling an overhang, make some traverses basically if you're making a wall or you're really low on holds there is only your imagination and creativity that's going to limit what happens. The holds are super varied with little or no theme, the packs could be made with a theme if Metolius wanted... like having a Blue Ribbon wall set or a All American set... that'd really be neat to have as an option.

We set hard with these guys, putting the hold through their paces and other than the Natural holds that are real rock like there isn't anything to really complain about with the holds, they're friendly on the skin and fun to play with


OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 40
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Both
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): $129/40 = $3.20 per hold but remember all of the hardware is included within this price
  
• Color: Mixed
  
• Bolt placement: Well placed on all of the holds
  
• Sanding: Good
  
• Hollow backed:
  
• Soft back (Rubber backed): No
  
• Texture: Classic Metolius
  
• Set size: Large
  
• Versatility: Very good
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Not on the bolt ons
  
• Shaper: Various
  
• Weight: 8.61kg

There's a lot in this box so lets look at the overall:
All of the holds are really well made, with the exception being on some of the holds there are some bubbles in the backs on some of the holds... overall just a minor point in the grand scheme of things. All of the holds have a very consistent resin feel to them with the exception being the "real rock" like holds that feel like limestone and the texture here can be a little hard on the skin.
The colors are mixed, there aren't very many simple single colored holds in what we received they are mainly swirled colors of varying types, the flat colors that are in there in the normal Metolius colors (Incut Edges are brown, the Blue Ribbons are blue etc)

Hardware wise all of the metal you get within the box is top notch you get all of the deck screws / normal bolts and champagne headed bolts that you're going to need along with enough t nuts to get your new wall up and running. The Salvation Army style wrench is the let down in this section as it's just two Allen keys welded together and then are grounded to make the weld smooth. It looks cheap and brings an otherwise great product down a few notches

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Resin

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Good, everything is bagged and labelled

RATING:
Noodles:
I'm going to say it because I'm not sure we said it enough (and it's one of those things that irks me somewhat)... the wrench is embarrassing to have something that is so crap within a product that a) introduces someone to a brand of climbing holds b) a climber that's possibly starting to climb and c) otherwise a well rounded starter wall set. I really don't think that it's been well thought out... I love tetanus as much as the next person and the only time I removed the rust spotted cobbled together "wrench" was for the walk through. IMMEDIATELY after that I threw it in the bin in case someone either use it for setting and hurt themselves or mistook it for a medieval throwing star and started throwing it about.

The set is one of those things that I think the market needs more of; this set is being donated to a new wall that's opening soon... it's going to give them a great start and something to play with on their new wall. They're going to need some tape to set with as the colors are a little mix and match. We set some pretty fun routes with these guys, some of it was pretty damn hard some of it easy there's such a variety of shapes and sizes of hold within the box that you can be pretty creative with what you do. The stand out route was the one that Eve set, she wanted something to work on and she pretty well stopped us for a little while there

Although you're not going to see these packs being brought by any commercial gyms... if you're building a wall then this is something that could be worth a looking at, like they say there is everything you need within the box to pretty well build a wall... plans included as well!!, so all you need is some wood, some space and away you go!

Would I buy this set if I was building a wall? Yeah I probably would have done just to have something on the wall that I'd built otherwise I've just basically have built myself a huge wooden sculpture. Given the options I'd probably go more with the Bulk Holds packs from Metolius because I'd not want as many screw ons as are within this set; BUT and this is a big but the screw ons are the holds that add the variety to this set of holds and will probably end up being used as footholds most of the time anyway

Chris:
Great diversity in this set. You get everything you need from jugs to foot jibs to get you started on your home wall. The only thing you'll have to look out for is what exactly you're getting in the box. I say this because the images of the holds that are on the box are not necessarily what you'll get when you open the box. When we opened the box to check that all the holds were there we used the description to sort out the holds in the box. It would be nice if Metolius would homogenise this set so that every box has the same kinds of holds. For instance, one of the options you can get for the bulk set is "5 macros/roof jug". What does this mean? Well, you get either 5 macro holds or 1 roof jug. If its the roof jug that you want, you may not get it in the box that you purchase so if you're thinking of getting this set, get it from a store and ask the clerk if you can check the contents of the box.

I think this is a good set for home walls. The big issue I have with Metolius holds is that they do not come in custom colors and it becomes undesirable for a gym. We also like to have holds with bright colours so that way we can set problems without having to tape the holds. Would I have bought this for our home wall? Probably not, but for someone who has built their new home wall and is looking for their first set of holds, this set is a winner.

PROS:

• The pack comes in 30 / 40 / 50 or 60 hold packs
• Everything is included
• Price per hold is cheap and hardware is included in the price
  

CONS:

• You might want to check what's in the box as you might get a jug or a macro
• Limited color options