What's got some mad swirly colors, a slick outside casing and a textured inner?
If you're thinking of something that Willy Wonker has made in his sweet factory you'd be close, but wrong! We're talking about the Dual Texture Pockets that Holdz sent us over the holiday period. Now there are holds that have a swirl color system, and then there are these:
Not only do that stand out on the wall but the climb amazingly, lets talk more about the colours and then we'll talk about the shapes... 
Not only are the shapes nice but Holdz holds come in lots of very bright very vibrant colors, how many colours?? THIS MANY COLOURS!!
and it doesn't stop there.. oh no, they'll make two or three colour swirls for you and offer spotty holds as well (You'll see these more in a later review), our holds are the three colour variety, white, pink and blue, they look like bubble gum! They stand out on the wall and just want to be pulled on... here's what they look like on the floor..
Now when you get these holds you're going to notice someting stamped on the back, this is the quality control stamp,it means that it's free from defects. The holds are also strength tested, and checked to make sure that the backs are flat and the bolt is perpendicular to the back of the hold so they will lay flat to the wall... all to international standards So you're going to get quality through the post. Quality that's been 12 years in the making... 
Steve the owner has been shaping for over 12 years, he shaped the Jerry Moffat ranges for DR climbing walls and has shaped for King Kong, Bendcrete and French Rock, so he knows the hold game pretty damn well! :P Right lets get onto the holds...
The first thing that you'll notice is that these holds are dual texture, not half arsed dual texture but the real deal. Depending upon the hold you're going to notice that the contact area is very well defined and that the rest of the hold is slick as hell, you're going to find that if you want to force a move that these holds are going to be amazing, there is no way that your foot is going to stick on the outside, you're going to have to be very exact with what you do or you'll find yourself on the floor! Kinda just like the outside, a good hand hold but a crap foot hold!
Setting with the holds will make you think, we're lucky as we set a huge route with the 5 sets of holds that we got, so we mixed and matched between the Mini Jugz, the Dual Texture Crimpz, the Dual Texture Pocketz, the Screw Onz and the Crimpz. (The other holds will be reviewed in the future) But as we were reviewing the pockets we paid attention to where they were and what moves we wanted to make happen. It's pretty easy, the holds can only be grabbed in one way and most of them are at least a pad deep, there's no sharp edges on them so they're finger friendly and the texture is just right. In fact the texture is just enough so that you know you're in contact with the hold, but still have to work holding to be able to move off of them, and this for us is where they're the best. They are forgiving, but not that forgiving, if you do something silly you'll pay for it, but not in a painful injury kind of way, you'll just be sitting on the floor wondering if you can stick the move.We've had these holds all over the wall, and no matter what you do with them they're always thought provoking, if you need to spice up you wall at home or at the gym these are going to be just the job...
RATING
NOODLES SAYS
I've had Holdz holds on my walls for a long time, it's taken a while to get them over to the Great White North that is Canada... I've had the Mini Jugz (a later review) for years and have loved them and I've had their Sloperz as well and I have to admit that I am a little bias on those holds. I've never climbed on the Dual Texture Pocketz and I was impressed, I shy away from pockets dues to a slight finger injury that I picked up a while ago, and I have found that some of the dual tex stuff I've had in the past has been a bit lacking, you could haul on the non-textured part which kind of defeated the object or you could easily use them for feet again they missed the point. Not so in this case, they're small but not too small, they have a nice texture that gives you confidence and they look awesome! I'd like to see some of these in more gyms in the US and Canada because I think the climbers will thank you.... love em, buy them... make sure you order the most off of the wall colours you can think of because they will stand out on the wall... hell buy a black light and have a neon wall :P
CHRIS SAYS
A black light, disco ball and club mix we could call it cosmo climbing:)
The only other dual text that I've climbed on (before the petro grips review that is) are the Mini disks from Globe. Unlike the Globe, Holdz has decided to give us climbers a variety of dual text holds to chose from. Fortunately for us Holdz has sent us multiple sets of holds to test. There are the swirly pockets and swirly mini jugs and screw on crimps plus these poka dotted........I'm getting carried away.......... Back to the dual text pockets. Precision, precision, precision. That's what you'll need to stick and move on these holds. Most of the holds in our set could only incorporate two fingers (two and a half at most). If you're weak with your open hand crimp these are good holds to train on. I noticed when I first picked up a hold was how dense it was. These things are heavy and you can tell by the quality that Holdz has the experience of a well seasoned craftsman. The investment that Holdz has put into its QC department has paid of with a product that is well made and feels good on the skin.
PROS
- Great for setting sequenced problems on or for teaching certain types of moves
- Good for where you need an intermediate hand hold, but a rubbish foot hold, good for routes that aren't reachy
- Mad colors - 3 colour swirls, 4 flourecent colours, 16 regular colours, spotty colours as well! (Spotty is good for colour blind people!!!)
- Each hold is traceable in case of problems
- Each hold is checked and certified
- Proper dual texture, you're not matching on these!
- Tendon friendly pockets
- Might be expensive if you're not in the UK (But well worth the expense)(Just hope they find a US distributor - fast!)M
- Not exactly for beginner climbers unless they're on vertical or very slightly overhanging terrain
- Holdz is a UK company so prices are in GBP > Great British Pound
- Set 1 is 6 holds at 17.99 = 3 GBP per hold
- Set 2 is 6 holds at 19.99 = 3.30 GBP per hold
- Set 3 is 6 holds at 21.99 = 3.70 GBP per hold
- Set 4 is 6 holds at 29.99 = 5 GBP per hold
- The full range is 24 holds at 84.99 = 3.50 GBP per hold
