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

Only two holds didn't like being tightened up to these forces; they were small holds from Contact and Teknik. Basically what happened is the inset washer was 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 anymore. Now, both of these holds despite failing this test are made of the company's old mixes!

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 they all just bounced
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
• 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 it 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

Koru logo

Review > Contact Climbing > 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 five hold set in the “large sets” section of their homepage.

WALKTHROUGH HERE

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:

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

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 Granites 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 ;)

PROS:

• YADDA

CONS:

• YADDA

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

Review > Climb It Holds > 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

Review > 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 "Granite", 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!!!

INSERT IMAGES OF HOLDS CLOSE UP HERE AND THE PIECE OF ROCK THAT WE HAVE

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

ice holdz logo

Interview > Uprising Holds

We find new companies from time to time, a while back we found out that Uncarved Block were still kicking about making holds, now we've found that New Zealand has a hold company that's called Uprising, as we don't know anything them we decided to have a little chat with Sefton to see what's up with them and their holds

Name and job
Sefton - Director/Developer of Uprising

How long has Uprising been around?
Uprising has been in the mix for about two years now.



How hard was it to start a climbing company? Did it take long?
I guess I find the process of designing and creating holds and training devices really exciting, so it was easy from a motivational perspective. Always trying to find a new way to improve is really important to me.

Why the name?
I was looking at the cover of one of my favourite Marley L.P.'s and thought "Damn, that'd be a great name for a hold company". Guess I was kinda obliged to do it after that he he.

Where are you based?
Christchurch, New Zealand. It's the closest main city to Castle Hill and has a great climbing scene.

How many people work on making the holds?
I carve the shapes, but the holds are poured by a team of sedate but hardworking capuchin monkeys, led by Minty (pictured).

What's your process for shaping a new hold? Do you say grasp a door handle and find inspiration?
I tend to just throw some headphones on and go for it. I seldom have the exact shape a want in my head, it usually takes a few random swipes before I start to see the hold.

We love the look of your training shapes especially the Sky Hooks look interesting, how long did it take to come up with the shape for those?
Thanks! The Skyhooks were weird. I just woke up at 3am one night picturing these portable training devices that could flip up to have a bunch of different grips. I made them the next day. The cool thing with the training devices is that people always come up to me showing different ways they have discovered to train with them.

How about the Extensor? Is that an existing device or did you take a forearm bar and then refine it?
It started off as a forearm bar with climbing hold texture, then I realised that a shorter cylinder held with the fingertips was perfect for strengthening the wrist stabilisers on the side of the forearms (like the muscles you use for a gaston away from your body). Forearms are really complex machines with so many different muscles (about 18 each) so it is really important to balance them out to prevent injury. Great for increasing blood flow pre-exercise too.

The market is getting flooded with new company's, how do you feel about the competition out there?
The are some great companies out there. When climbers are motivated and creative it really shows in the holds. Other companies make holds that are so bad it defies belief.

Are there any particular hold company's product that you like?
Most of the big names have a some really good shapes in their catalogue, however I think that in a few years time the way holds are made will be completely different from the traditional methods.

What holds from your line would you suggest for (and why?):
1. A home wall
The Jugular and Anger Management Sets are great for a vertical wall for beginners and kids, and for overhanging home woodies especially if combined with the Rufus and Striata sets for some warm up jug hauling. Of course a Revolution Board is necessary for the best workout possible. ;-)

2. Gym looking to spice up their walls?
The 30-Hold Set has been a big hit in climbing gyms, especially with route setters who like making technical, subtle sequences which climb like rock and require the foot confidence of an outdoor climber. They are all dual-textured and are great value for money.



As you're in NZ, where would suggest someone that's visiting for a few weeks go and climb?
We are lucky enough to have one of the most amazing bouldering destinations in the world at our doorstep - the Castle Hill / Flock Hill basin. It is definitely world class and worth going the distance to experience. There are also 100's of crags in the South Island to explore from sunny limestone clip-ups in Golden Bay to epic alpine granite in the Southern Alps.

How often do you add shapes to your current line up?
I try to release new sets every couple of months. If I go too long without carving I start getting itchy fingers!

Any holds you're particularly proud of?
Well, to get a set of 5 holds I will usually carve around 50 and choose the 5 I like the best so I'm pretty proud of them all. Any hold that lets you feel the subtlety and enjoyment of moving over rock is great in my books.

Any shout outs?
To all the climbers in the Northern Hemisphere freezing their asses off right now - remember it's summer over here. Tempted?

Review > 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