Review > Asana > Waffle & Logo

Firstly we'll start with everyones favorite treat... waffles (They're kind of hard to find in Canada eh?) in the blue corner we have the Waffle, straight out of...the Waffle house, a fully paid up member of the:we have from Boise Idaho we have the Waffle!!!!Now Asana haven't been in the hold game for all that long, but they've got game. This is the second Waffle that we've had from them because Canada Post like to play full contact hockey with parcels. Think I'm joking? Nope, fraid not. The postal service did a fairly good job of nailing the parcel, so much so that even with packing this hold had a huge crack in it when we got it. Normally i'd not worry about a crack, i'll run some glue down the fisure and climb on it anyways, this time I noticed that the crack was bad enough that I could snap the hold, with my hands....No seriously...Thanks Canada Post! Bunch of monkeys.... I talked to the guys at Asana about this and they had another hold to me in a matter of days (even thou it wasn't their fault)... this time it was unscathed! Asana have great customer service, they come back to you real fast and they'll make sure you're happy with what you've got. This in a world full of people ready to sue you for anything is great, I'm always happy to sing the praises of any company that go's out of their way to make you're pleased.

And then the session began...The Waffle can be put up anyway you want... ANYWAY! Upside down, it's brutal the Waffle texture is wicked to try to hang onto, I spent a good hour just sessioning one move from one hold to this!!!Stick it vertically, and you've got some wicked matches. Which ever way you put the hold its super fun to hold onto, some ways are going to be better than others, we span the hold all over the place....Hang it, chuck it into the centre of a route, spin it... hell do whatever you want with it, get enough of them you could use them as campus rails. The hold has become a staple of the wall, normally it stays on the overhang, but if you've got some lower grade climbers round bolt it onto the vertical wall and they'll have a blast! It's got a huge bag of tricks, some people will complain that it doesn't have a purpose, it's got too many ways of holding it but I see this as a mute point, the beauty of the hold is you can do anything with it :)

Next to the Waffle, from the Red corner... we set up the Asana logo hold... ...it's a tricky one, lots of potential for matching, lots and lots of matches and some really nice edges, again this depends upon which way you spin the hold. There was a small problem with the hold...
...the sanding was a little off, so we're getting the sander out this weekend and we'll sort this little problem out. Either way it went onto the wall, we applied a rule of no grabbing round the edge :P
On the overhang its pretty hard, thankfully you can get two hands on it most of the time so you've got a fair ammount of leeway for what you want to do with it!
Grab a corner, pinch the middle, hell if you're feeling strong undercut it, heel hook it and just go wild... Again it's got so many use's you can just spin it whichever way you want and have a good session!It's again one of those holds that does everything, its harder than the Waffle, but what it does do it excels at, again it's not going to be on roofs but on steep terrain or on the vertical it's great.

RATING
NOODLES SAYS
Ok Canada Post playing chuck the parcel and some sanding that I called them about and has been sorted, Asana have been nothing but helpful with whatever questions I had, gripes aswell! Their customer service surprised me by being both quick and effective whenever anything arose, this is important when buying holds!! I like both the holds because I can just spin them around and tweak a move out to make it harder or easier with just the spin of a wrench. Both holds have enough variety that you can use them however you really feel.

The Waffle has a texture that i've not seen before and it is very Waffle-like, it's super fun to haul on even when you're on the slopey side, I love using it as a side pull and matching it.

The Asana logo quite simply for me is a pinch-fest, I was grabbing the hold all over the place, falling sometimes, grinning the rest of the time.

Overall for a company that's not been making holds i'm very impressed, I know that there are going to be great things coming from this company! We may have to wait a while, but it's sure as hell going to be worth the wait....

CHRIS SAYS
A hold that's been named after a breakfast item
a) makes me feel hungry
and
b) makes me want to see what the hell Noodles is talking about when he calls me about new holds
Seeing the hold the first time I looked at the texture and wondered how brutal it was going to be on the fingers... answer, it's actually nicer than some holds out there. It catches a little bit, but nothing that a climbers hands can't deal with.... I like the hold, I was rotating it alot and it's easy some ways and super hard on others! I'm looking forward to getting the POW hold soon, I think its going to be a bunch of fun

The Logo hold if you like pinching and thin ledges is a good all rounder, it's almost suited to being a system hold, seriously a bunch of these would cover ledges and pinches for a wall. Onsighting this hold will be a beatch, and even when you know where to grab it, I don't think that that's a bad thing being surprised by a hold you know is always going to be interesting :P Both holds clean up really well, we know we chucked chalk all over them!

PROS

• Both holds have variety written all over them, spin them about as you wish
• The Waffle has a unique texture that you'll not see anywhere else
  
• Two tone always looks wicked on a wall
  

CONS

• Neither hold is suited to roofs, but everywhere else they're great
• Sanding was so-so on the Logo hold, but that's been fixed back at Asana HQ
• You can't really use either hold to force a move (But the Logo is going to be tough to onsite at a comp)
  

PRICE
The Waffle is $30 and well worth a look
The Asana logo is $52???

Review > Contact Climbing > Hex and Rex

We received the Rex and Hex sets from Contact during the build. There's nothing that makes you want to finish building a wall like fresh holds to pull on. Before the wall was even finished we had the holds up!Being the sneaky guys we are, we put some of them on the roof.... Once the wall was finished we moved the holds to create a single route... at this point we realised that we're either not strong enough or stupid enough to try and climb on them when they're horizontal, so we chucked some bigger holds on the flat part of the roof and used the Rex' holds on the slightly overhung roof, and then the Hex' around so it makes a big loop. Here's what they look like: Rex first...and now the Hex:
The two sets are pretty small, pretty much all crimps, the Rex being the larger hold set and the Hex being the smaller thinner_wedge_your_fingers_round_the_back holds. Now we've had a bunch of crimps as of late, and its hard to not take the Hex' and look at them side by side (which we don't normally do, we put the reviews into the archive section and let you make your own mind up!) against the E-Grips 2Tex Pure Crimps. There's positives and negatives with both of the sets, the E-Grips were made for comps and the Hex are crimps, no frills, no dual texture just plain and simple crimps! They're more positive than the E-Grips, and even thou they have a smaller area to grab onto (in most cases) it's because they have incuts for you to bear down on the makes them feel more positive... ... see what I mean? Maybe a pad if you've got small fingers, they're hard to open hand so you're forced to crimp on them. As usual i'll add my normal disclaimer that crimping will cause injuries if you over do it, so be sensible and make sure you don't haul on these holds for hours on end. Mind you with saying that the Rex' are larger and more comfortable of the two sets, and can be bolted onto way steeper terrain that the Hex' and i've been hauling on them over the past few weeks for hours on end without too much finger pain!

Thanfully Chris had his camera on hand, so here's a video of us playing on the holds.

The first part of the route on the steps is nice, the Rex' are super positve and are more than enough to get your fingers clamped around, the hold on the angled roof, is pretty big aswell, you have to bear down on it to make the move to the pinch on the roof, but overall it's good enough that you can take your weight and pull all you want. The roof isn't Contact's holds, they're some stuff we've got kicking around. The overhung wall is the Hex' and they're hard as hell to hold onto, you need to make sure you're on them really well before making any kind of movements, mind you the back wall is the same situation, matching on these holds is pretty hard (but doable) just take your time and you'll manage to stick the move.

Overall we're pretty damn impressed by these holds, and considering Contact have more stuff coming out pretty soon they seem to be a company to keep checking in on to see what's new!

RATING
NOODLES SAYS
Fresh holds on a fresh wall, what more can a man ask for? Contacts got some good stuff in their line up and i'd read about some of their holds on a forum, people were raving about the Hex and Rex holds so having a look seemed like a good idea! It's a well documented fact that i'm not a huge fan of crimps (yeah yeah broken record) but they're a nessisary evil in the climbing world! If I was asked which set I prefer I'd opt for the Rex as they are larger and you can get them pretty well anywhere on a wall and they're positive, steep walls is where these holds will come into their own, and as they have a small surface area they're not going to clog up your wall. If you're feeling adventurous then get them onto the roof, we can't but there will be people out there that are looking for a challenge, and these would be it :)

The Hex for me are well suited to a slightly overhung wall or on the horizontal, they make wicked traverses and will make some wicked hard boulder problems on steeply overhung wall, they're buggers to hold onto so if you want to spit you're local hardmen (and women) off of the bouldering wall these are just the ticket!

Given that both sets are $22 a piece, and they're small shipping is going to be cheap! I think that both sets will be a welcome addition to any home wall. Erring on the Rex for me, but the Hex are where the crimp-monkeys will be hanging out if you get them

CHRIS SAYS
Sexy Hexy! Oh I do love the crimps, the smaller the better, the more evil is all good in my book. That routes been up for a few weeks, and unknown to me Noodles changed the back traverse from the E-Grips to the Hex, changed the overhang from Nicros to the Hex's and then removed half of the feet on the roof :) Give that boy a wrench and he will play, thankfully he knows how to set a route that's going to make us work, and work we are! I'm loving the Hex' holds, they're small and they're hard to match, hard to catch aswell if you're moving at any kind of speed through a move. These are my favorite holds on the wall right now, I need to work on my crimping (Noodles is making me tape my fingers when I play on the really small stuff) and these are perfect for that!

Rex... hmm, thankfully we'll be building a steeper wall very soon so that's where these will end up residing. I'm looking forward to getting these down the gym pretty soon, inconjunction with the Hex' and see what nastyness we can make up :P I like the Rex, they compliment the Hex really well as you can set nasty problems and as the Hex are so small you can chuck in a Rex to give someone a little breather... not much of a breather, but a little break!

PROS

• Both sets are cheap as hell
• You'll soon have enough crimp strength to get up that project you're failing on
• Small surface area on both sets so they don't take up much room
• Depending upon your wall's build one or both sets will be a great addition
  

CONS

• Crimping is hard on the tendons so be careful with the holds they're crimptastic
• The Hex aren't well suited for steeply overhung terrain
  

PRICE

• Cheap at half the price $22 for both sets, 10 holds in each set
  

Review > E-Grips > 2 Tex Pure Crimps

We've had these for a few months, moving and rebuilding the wall has stopped us from getting a review out on them. Sorry about that, but now we're back in full swing and we can pass our judgement on the 2-Tex Pure Crimps from E-Grips!
Now, the word pure means this:

• clean, spotless, or unsullied: pure hands.
• (of literary style) straightforward; unaffected
• without any discordant quality; clear and true: pure tones in music

if you read a dictionary that is, and when I first got onto them this video was the result:



On an overhanging wall I had lots of trouble pulling an easy sequence, it took me a good number of tries, as you can see but eventually it went, the use of the word pure in the name of these holds is correct, they are pure crimps! Ranging from thin to REALLY thin! Really really thin! I've never been much of a fan of crimps for home walls, you're asking for an injury unless you're either very strong or stupid. I know that crimp strength is something that we all need, but over training on the small stuff over a long period of time will at somepoint leave you sitting icing your hand. These holds were made for competitions pure (ho ho) and simple, and when you get them onto some easier terrain then they become very interesting to climb on, add tracking with the feet and you're asking for a fun ol time as your feet will flail all over the place!

As you can see i'm having to be very careful with my feet even when you're using the part of the holds that has texture upon it as they're so thin! We've had these on the 30 degree wall, the steps as underclings and on the flat wall, they perform pertty well with anything over about 15 degrees making you think about how your next move is going to be executed. They're a complete no-no for roof's unless you're Spiderman or have super human strength.

Pairing these holds with another set of E-Grips the 2-Tex Stealth Edges (review coming soon) will allow you to take your routes onto steeper terrain, but still not into a roof section. The mix of the two sets allows you to set horrible crimpy sections and then allow a semi-rest inbetween the onslaughts :P

Where these holds are going to come into their own on a home wall is for traverses and very short boulder problems, their main forte in my eyes is in the competition setting where you can force a mover very easily with these holds as there is normally only one way of grabbing them and its super thin. The texture on the is enough to hold onto, but does get a little clogged up after repeated attempts, so make sure you have a brush handy!

RATING
NOODLES SAYS
I've had some good sessions on these, and most of the time i've walked away pretty ok from it. On overhanging walls you're going to be holding on for dear life and your fingers will complain if you overdo it on them. When they're on a vertical wall they're not so bad and you can set some really nice moves where you've got to cross, matching is hard, it can be done but it'll take you a few go's to figure out where exactly to put your one (sometimes two) finger tips so you can balance and get your match. These should be a staple of any competition setters bucket that's for sure because they will sort the wheat from the chaff!! And when you look at the price running at $46 for 10 holds you're not going to go far wrong. I hope they actually extend the range of these holds some more, making them bigger but still keeping the same texture / slick combination!

CHRIS SAYS
Tiny, tiny, tiny! I'm going to mirror a little of what Noodles says. Training on small stuff will give you an injury if you over do it! So becareful people :) I like crimps, so i'm the polar opposite of Nuds. These for me are what dual tex holds should be like, we've got a whole bunch from lots of companies and these are some of the best out there! My current list of dual tex crimps favorites are from Holdz, E-Grips and then some of the Globes that we've had for years, it's not a list that's easy to get onto as there are alot of companys that are dabbling with dual-tex and as the bar has been set so high buy the above guys it's a tough field to stand out in! These holds are hard, real hard but i've seen strength gains in using them, I do prefer then on the 30 over wall when they're set in a short boulder problem rather than the vertical like Nuds likes them but we're different people so we want different things :)
Next time the Tour-de-Bloc rolls into town these are going to be on the wall in one variety or another, competiton settings is where these holds will shine.

PROS

• Comp crimps as they should be, dual tex and thin as hell
• Will make you strong
• Will make you use your feet if you set a problem that tracks
• Some of the slickest Dual Tex out there
  

CONS

• Not for super overhung walls, they're too thin
• Could cause an injury if you go mental with them
• Do chalk up and need to be brushed more than most holds
  

PRICE

• $46 for a set of ten
  

Not an Inch To Spare

All of Noodles despair has paid off. After a hours of constant wrench turning we got all of this:

to look like this:

with holds to spare.

When we were done setting and and filling every available bolt hole we came to a realization that:

• we need to make the wall BIGGER!
• we need more bolts
  
• we need more boltswe need more crash pads
• we've created a monster

Thankfully the second phase of the wall will start after we catch up with the reviews that are backlogged!!

-Chris

seb 2

Tek comp

Teknik Art Comp

(Click on the image(s) for full size view)

The $200 Question... Pt 5 > Climb-It

Q1) Hey, we've thought long and hard about the question so we sat down last night and came up with this list that encompasses a good section of our holds and will suit all climbers...

We wanted to get a set together that got the customer a lot of our best holds while still staying under budget. The ones we picked out have great variety, really represent what we want a climbing hold to be, and come with a good amount of holds per set

Patina crimps set a or b - $45

Weathered Sandstone Crimps set a or b - $45

Sediment Medium - $28.50

Limestone Small - $19.50

Southern Sandstone Small - $19.50

Coastal Sandstone Med set A - $28.50

Foot jibs - $7.00

This runs to $193

There are a couple of options for switching up the holds depending upon the climber and their ability... but for climbers that wanted slopers, I would recommend:

Font 2xl - $42Weathered Sandstone 2xl - $42, or Southern Sandstone 3xl -$60













For finishing off the $200 with some juggier holds I would recommend anything from the Hueco set.. (Have a look at the site to see the whole range)

I'd add the Sediment feet, when they get remolded, instead of foot jibs.... this puts this pick at over $200...

Q2) We do have a hold of the month club, purchasing it the first time signs you up for an entire year with the first one shipping when the order is placed and the other twelve to follow shipping on or before the first of the month. You can expect to find about 6 holds every month, every hold being something we really feel represents the company in its entirety. We like to bring fresh designs that looks and feel like real rock that can make you exceptionally strong....