Our local gym Allez Up has a program called "Redpoint Manager", we'd seen it in action and liked what we saw so we figured that we'd dig a little deeper to see what it actually is and how it could help a gym owner... so we got in contact and here's what we found out!
1) Name and Job Dale Partridge Marketing Director & Graphics
2)What exactly is Redpoint Manager? Redpoint Manager™ is a product of Crux Software, Ltd. out of Southeast Texas. The product was developed by avid climbers William Hopkins and Dale Partridge in partnership with Thresh Hold Climbing + Fitness, in an attempt to more effectively maintain a climbing gym’s route setting management, setting quality, and overall setting structure.
This highly intricate software gives Gym Owners, Managers, and Head Route Setters the ability to adequately manage their company’s life line “Their Routes”. The software offers a dynamic system in which route setters can log-in via touchscreen or by home computer and log their routes by setter, section, color, and grade producing gym-wide informational charts & payroll data for members & management. On the contrary, the system then allows climbers to login and track which routes they have completed via touch screen image map. This allows climbers to now generate reports on their climbing progress as well as compete against fellow climbers in the gym.
Beyond the basics, the software offers a full array of tools that increase the organization and productivity of any climbing gym. Far too many to explain in writing. 3) How long did it take to go from concept to a working prototype? About 14 months of almost full time development with a team of 5
4)What does Redpoint offer for:
A gym owner- The product allows gym owners oversee the setting and setter payroll without micro managing their setters. The system allows admins to set the quotas of routes per section by grade giving the head setter and route setters direction. Setters no longer walk into the gym and set what they think the gym needs. Redpoint shows them exactly what's needed and whats expected. Overall, it allows gym owners to find a healthy balance in their gym. The system generates very valuable reports based off of climber usage including: High Traffic Locations, Highest Rated Setter, Total Problems / Routes, Most popular climbs, etc. Basically, it turns setting into a profession.
Head setter - Besides the info stated above, Head setters can assign tasks to their setters, approve routes, request changes or grade change on a route, or just plain communicate through the message center.
A climber- Climbers can log their routes, track their progress, compete against others by bracket and category, download training articles and videos, communicate with other Redpoint members, generate progress reports and much more. Its the indoor training software America has been waiting for. Imagine 8A.nu for indoors.
5) Is the program easy to set up for a gym? We think so, We do all the setup for them, provide them with free training sessions, full time technical support, and about 15 training videos that just about answer any question you could have. Another great component we offer is with your purchase we provide brochures and posters to give to your members explaining what Redpoint Manager is and how to use it. If our users don't succeed we don't succeed. We do everything it takes to make their climbers have the best experience possible.
6) Reading through your specs you suggest that people use a touch screen for their customers (climbers) to access information and to rate routes... is this really needed? No, you can use any desktop computer with internet. But the touchscreens really seal the deal, they look awesome in the gym and people love it! It truly becomes a sales point when signing a member at your climbing facility.
7) So Redpoint is web based rather than on a single computer / network. This means I can update from home after I've climbed? Yes, climbers, setters, and admins can all update from home or any other computer that has internet access. This also includes mobile devices.
8) It's on iPhone / iTouch as well? Does this mean I can rate routes as I get off of them? Yes, the iPhone app is in the development process, but it will allow climbers and setters to log routes and check reports via phone. It also allows climbers to log routes at other gyms that use Redpoint just select the gym you're climbing at a log away.
9) You said that at Threshhold (your local gym) that there's an almost permanent competition feeling with Redpoint being in the house. Care to explain what you mean? We have a 32 inch flat-screen television in the lobby that is constantly scrolling through the rankings and reports. Climbers walk in the gym and sit in the lobby for about 2 minutes and see where they stand or what is currently happening. After the end of each season (3 months, full route setting turnover) we then offer rewards to the winners of each category. Its really cool, but the gym has to fully embrace it to really get what we have. I will tell you this, our community has never been stronger. 10) Could Redpoint be used to track a climbers performance?, does a climber have a "home" area where they can track things like pull ups etc? No as of right now we do not have the ability to track exercises. But believe that we have thought about it. For sure one of the many features coming in version 3.0
11) Ok, what's a rough dollar price for all of this? There must be a cost to all of the tech! Its actually really affordable, we have $250 start up fee which get your digital map designed, all of your staff info added, all of the techy stuff completed, and your initial training. Then we have a 1 year commitment for $99 per month. No hidden fees, all upgrades and technical support included, just playing it straight. We do plan on raising these prices soon because of the crazy popularity but wont happen for a few months. 12) How many gyms currently have Redpoint? Well being that we haven't even had it open to the public for a month yet, we already have 9 gyms in the U.S. & Canada using the system all of which are pretty heavy hitters in the industry. We have new inquiries and meetings setup every week and expect to have a large chunk of the industry, including major competitions, by the end of 2010.
14)Are you likely to release a version for "home wall" owners? Never really thought about it... But yes I'm sure we could if we saw the demand for it, and at a much lower price as well.
15) How can people get in contact with you? Gym owners can drop us a line here
Ah Xmas, time for our what we'd like from Santa this year; some of the sets we have already reviewed. We've done pretty much every company this year :)
At some point in your climbing career you're probably going to have to hang on a board... to get into the 5.10's (for some people) or into the higher grades for others a hang board becomes a necessary evil. Now we're not trainers in any way shape or form, but we've read the reviews and we do train on hang boards... we wanted to write a review on what we've found with Metolius' new boards and how we found them. We have a fairly good base knowledge of what we're doing... here we're going to give you an overview of what we've been doing with two new Metolius boards, in the future we'll expand into other brands of boards and then we'll compare them against each other... look at their pros and cons and what could be improved
WHAT BOARD? We've actually got three boards :) The Project Board / Simulator 3d and a Slim Gym... all three are from Metolius with the Project Board and the Simulator 3d being either new or redesigned for this year... the Slim Gym is the only that's remained the same.
Project Board
Compact board that's easy on the wallet, yet delivers a solid assortment of holds
The master is CNC milled for perfect symmetry
The holds are arranged along a broad arc that tapers outward and downward for better ergonomics and reduced injuries
Tapers from top to bottom in both dimensions for better forearm clearance
Fine texture
Includes comprehensive instructions, training guide and all mounting hardware
24.5" x 6" (622 mm x 152 mm)
Price: $54.95
Simulator 3D
The next generation of the #1 selling training board in the world!
The master is CNC milled for perfect symmetry
The holds are arranged along a broad arc that tapers outward and downward for better ergonomics and reduced injuries
Tapers from top to bottom in both dimensions for better forearm clearance
Fine texture
Massive variety of holds
Includes comprehensive instructions, training guide and all mounting hardware
28" x 8.75" (711 mm x 222 mm)
Price: $79.00
Now if you go to your local gym(s) chances are somewhere in a dusty corner you're going to find a finger board or two. When it comes to training boards there is a lot of choice out there... and you should shop around and see what fits your price range and most importantly YOUR training needs. Technically most simple boards should give you what you want... but it's best to look about and see what would be best for you; for instance despite the fact that we have a Slim Gym (from a number of years ago) it doesn't get used very much because despite Noodles loving the slopes on the board the two finger pockets are just horrible so when it comes to him doing a 2 finger exercise he'll switch to a different board!
If you're looking for a board then here's a handy list of what's out there (It's not a full list):
INSTALATION Got a door way ready? It's pretty much all you need! Thankfully we didn't have to make a video for this... Metolius has already made one for you!
Now as we have a wall what we've done is made up a frame that extends the wall (which means our routes are now longer) and we have places for hang boards. We could have gone for the door frame route and in the past Noodles has mounted a bunch of boards from different company's but as we had space in wall we went in that direction. The other option that people who are renting or have parents that really don't want some holes in the wall is you can build a simple freestanding frame with wide feet that you can mount your board onto.
TRAINING Here's a link to the Metolius Training Boards basic training regime: here We either run their 10 minute sequences or if we find that a person is having trouble then we modify the routine. There are three sequences that you can try, the easiest was tested on non climbers to make sure it wasn't too evil! Also in this link is a section on cyclic periodization...which goes into a little bit about how to train/and how to schedule the various cycles of training and when you want your training to peak etc...it really worth reading if you are serious about improvement
Noodles & Training Now my introduction to hang boards was a long time ago, I grabbed a Bendcrete Classic board and had it mounted over a doorway that led to our back garden. It wasn't the best place to have it and it wasn't the worst. In the winter the house could get a little cold from the breeze :P At the time there wasn't much literature on hand boards or training on them, sure there was a smattering of information here and there but I'd not read it. What I used the board for with one of my old longterm partners was "The Pull Up Challenge".. what this consisted of was doing a pull up on every hold on the board (alternating people between holds)... so with that board you ended up doing 14 or 15 pull ups with the only rest being when the other person took their turn. I think if my memory serves me correctly we managed to get to round four... so you did four pull ups on each hold and then the other person went for their turn.... that's roughly 150 pull ups. Not only was that hard enough but if you do check out the board you can see the bottom corners are what looks like really thin slopers! That's because that's exactly what they are, and you can take it from me that any wobble or shake as you we pulling up on these holds resulted in some very nasty accidents (Couple of broken windows etc)
Then... then I had a (P)usher board, which I never trained much on in the traditional sense. I made a campus board with some S7 rungs in the back garden and then mounted the boards that I had out there and used them as campus rungs... I later grabbed some (P)usher system tiles and had a big system wall.
Anyway, I digress. When we said we had three boards, we actually lied, we have the Nicros Infinity Board (Pre-Release-Review: here) that we used for a while but because of mismatched holds we stopped using it as a board and made it into a feature instead... the Metolius boards are both good boards in their own rights... I prefer the larger board (Simulator) over the Project board just because there's more variety in what you can do with it, there are more pockets of varying depths that allow me to work on one of my weakness', and having the edges all over the place is nice... I do kind of prefer the edges on the Project Board as you can vary your spacing of your hands on a uniform shape. Now here's a surprise, the Slim gym has much better slopers in my mind... there's a nice little thumb catch that helps out a weaker climber and there's way more surface area which means you can get more skin onto the hold and hang about longer... and the Slim Gym has slightly more texture.. not much just a little
After a number of months training on these boards I can pretty well get through the 10 minute sequences without too much trouble.... I tape my fingers and I take it quite easy. Fingerboard training despite being a necessary evil at times is also a good way of getting an injury if done incorrectly or on hands / arms / fingers that haven't been warmed up correctly. I generally climb for a good long time before hand; as we climb and film when we're reviewing whenever I get near the board I'm well warmed up but not completely tired. I've played about with the sequences as well, modifying the routine so that I could work on my weakness' as much as needed... my weakness is finger pockets, specifically two finger pockets. So what I do is I train opposing pairs (middle & first finger / middle and fourth finger) and I also train at different pocket depths, but not too much as you risk a RSI (Repetitive strain injury). The other thing I don't enjoy too much is pull ups, I can run them off as needed... but I blew out both of my elbows (inner and outer tendons) so I tend to take it a little easier than say Chris.
With my training I always tend to use the Simulator and it's a nice width and as the board is angles downwards and slightly inclined I find it easier on my elbows in general, I also like the slopers on this board they're nice and friendly. The Project board is nice and compact and I'd er towards this board over the Slim Gym as it's friendlier for your hands and the skin wear you'll get is far less.
As we look at further boards I'm going to keep the same training regime but I'll tweak it out more so that I can work more on my weakness. I don't think that the boards will be taken down anytime soon.
What board from these two would I suggest people buy? Well if space is no problem then I'd go with the 3D, it has a lot of variety and it's a tool that you can use as you get stronger. Of course if space is limited them the Project board is the other best option. I'd never say get the Slim Gym as I hate the pockets that are on there... but that's just my taste.
I'd have liked to see placements for adding bungee cords to help someone that has trouble with pull ups... it's a little thing that should be added to most boards IMHO and the lack of pinches is a shame... it's something that should be added to these boards in the next generation!! Chris & Training When I started climbing, I quickly rose the ranks to 5.10 and the transition from 5.10 to 5.11 was one that took a lot of effort to achieve. During that time I read a few books on training for the sport, reviewed an array of articles in magazines and the Internet and have even found helpful advice from climbers around the gym. I tried my hand at training, trying out the hang board and campus rungs at the gym. I wanted to try to out the hangs on the two and three finger pockets and I wasn’t able to do it. But on the campus board, I was able to get through a tough sequence. The sequences involved me doing a dyno up two rungs and then falling down one, and repeat all the way up. I’ve stayed away from the campus wall since and the first few years of climbing took a big strain on my fingers where now my fingers can’t handle the strain of campus board training.
I had been told and read that the best thing to improve your climbing skills is climbing itself. I meet Chris Sharma (and to be honest, back then I had no idea who he was and I had to ask what the big fuss was about) and asked him about training and he told me the best thing was to climb. So with this in mind, my first goal was to get a grip on crimps. In the college that I attended there was a climbing wall in the atrium of the school and I spent most of my free time traversing and doing short problems on crimps. I’ve also done similar “exercises” at the gym. They had a short problem that was set with nothing but slopes and I made sure to get onto it every time I went to the gym. I worked each and every move its own and eventually got the send. Those weeks of working on the problem helped me work out the nuances of climbing on slopers. My experience has made me a firm believer that climbing is the best way to improve climbing skills, however, I have also come to realize that there is a time when climbing alone will not get your climbing grades to the next level, and training…real training, like ab work and finger board, becomes a must.
When it comes to hang boards, the ones that I have seen most often are the Globe training board and the Metolius Simulator. They have a board at the gym with the same kinds of variations as the previous two, only with an added pinch hold. They also have an old Pusher board that’s much smaller and compact. The highlight of this board are the slopes. The slopes themselves on this board are much rounder and feature a larger radius but they’ve even incorporated the slopes to the edges on the board. These kinds of boards lend themselves to a more specific kind of grip training and don’t offer the versatility of some of the larger boards on the market.
So which one do I prefer? The Simulator is a great board, and has tons of holds and its easy to make up a routine for the board. Its also just as easy to take the Metolius routine and make it easier or harder on this board. I prefer the Project board. It’s a tougher board without as many options as the Simulator, but for me it had all the necessities I needed in a board. We trained on these boards using both sequences, the Metolius Simulator sequence on the Project and vise versa, and the sequence was much harder on the Project. Now one of the main reasons (other than its getting me stronger) that I prefer the Project board is for the fact that its harder to make those sequences easier. We would train on the boards with the rule: if you can’t get through the exercise, chose easier holds and continue. There is a difference in size of the holds and the width of the boards. It doesn’t seem like much, but when you get onto them, the difference is obvious. Now if you’re like me and have never gone through a routine on a hang board, take it from me, it hurts. The Project board hurts more. The sequence that Metolius put together for this board is probably aimed at stronger climbers and the first few times I couldn’t get through it. Now, after doing the sequence once a week for a couple of months, I can hang 5 seconds on the two finger edge. The sequence on the Simulator is also hard. I’ve read that this kind of training should be reserved for experienced climbers and you could easily tweak a finger or muscle on the board, especially on the two and three finger edges. The main attraction for me is being able to train these kinds of grips. I’ve hurt my fingers in the past, and it’s always been on small crimpy edges and I shudder every time I come across one. The board will help develop those grips and will hopefully have a hand in me sending some 5.12's! OVERALL BUILD There's nothing really to complain about with the boards, they're solidly constructed and pretty heavy. Both boards are CNC milled and are made from resin, the difference between the boards are the layouts and depth of the grips... (both images are clicky for larger)The texture on both boards is pretty fine and you should get no skin damage if you've been climbing for a while... Nick on the other hand had his skin destroyed on a few occasions :) The board masters (from what they're molded from) are CNC milled so the boards are completely symmetrical, something that's pretty hard to do if you're shaping by hand... this also means that production should be smooth and the product will be correct every time they roll out off of the production line. (Noodles went and checked at the local stores) But if you don't like texture or a radii of a hold you can sand that area down, just be sure it's what you want as you can't put it back!
Over the last few months the boards have been used on a weekly basis by a lot of people and they're pretty well chalked up; they need a clean from time to time and depending upon the board you're going to end up brushing them for a fair while. The texture is still ok even then the holds are well chalked up but sometimes the slopes and edges need a brush as you'll start to slide off backwards if you swing a little when you're trying to do pull ups or hand your moves.
WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM: Resin, all the Metolius range is made from resin, except the Wood Training boards and their Wood Grips
PACKING / SHIPPING: Both of our boards came in one package and there was no damage whatsoever
OVERALL The boards are well built and a good price, not too expensive... there's a reason why the Simulator is one of the best selling boards on the market, the Project board is going to be a close second in a market that is expanding month to month and year to year... next up? Well we don't know what's up next what are you guys training on?
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
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
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
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
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! --
-- As you can see we let Jeff set the first route, Jeff's not set before and he likes to run fingertip to fingertip moves. That's a good and bad thing, problem is that Jeff is a tall guy with long arms, and so has Chris, Noodles on the other hand is always going to have trouble with long wide moves and as you can see even after we tweaked out the start move, came around the corner of the 45 degree wall into the 30 wall there was a stopper move for a while... Jeff and Chris managed to rock through the move but Noodles was shut down. As it was so long a move Noodles moved one of the key holds a little closer so that he and other people might have a chance of finishing the route. Once that route was dispatched we set something that ran the other way across the wall, this time finishing on the 45 with some of the holds bolted onto some Motavation volumes. --
-- This time the route was far easier, but still tricky, Noodles set all of the holds in some of their worst positions. Nothing but slopers and nasty little edges for us this time :) But with some good footwork the route was dispatched with little ceremony; but some skin was shredded during the process.
SUGGESTED USES:
Now these holds could go steeper and there's one reason why we're not putting a 60 degree logo up here, and it's pretty simple really... it's because despite having lots of options on these holds, much like their real rock counterparts, there's just not that much to hold onto.
The holds do range from pretty small to pretty large, most of them can be matched without too much worry but you have to be careful about how you grip these holds as they are formed real rock and therefore you can expect to get some skin damage much like when you climb outside. Despite these holds being nice and very realistic they're something you could train on for a pretty long time, just not as long as you'd probably really want to as we found with some of the people that hit certain areas of the holds got some flappers and split finger tips.
OVERALL BUILD
Number of holds:
Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt ons
Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): 69 / 12 = 5.75 GBP per hold (approx $9.50 per hold)
Color: Black
Bolt placement: Middle on all of the holds
Sanding: Needs some work
Texture: Hahahaha... slick
Set size: Various sizes of holds
Versatility: Varies with the hold
Pre-drilled screw holes: Yes
These holds are well built, they're resin and they're heavy as hell and each hold has an inset screw hold... and by the looks of it the screw holes have a little inset washer in them... a pretty nice touch! The sanding on the backs of the holds is a little off, nothing massive but you can tell from the back of the hold that they've not been sanded down on a bench sander so that they'd be uniformly flat... none of the holds were warped but you can see that there are a few minor gaps at the backs of some of them
With the holds being resin a degree of care will have to be taken when storing them, I'd not want to drop on of these from up high to a padded or semi padded area... we've not run a strength test as of yet but the weight of one of the holds and then a concrete floor is going to make a loud noise and we think some shattered holds.
Texture wise you're looking at a near perfect replication of Dumby basalt rock from up in Scotland (see Noodles comments) and thou there are a lot of "real rock" holds out on the market these are probably the most realistic holds we've seen and have climbed on; and that's not an easy thing to say as Summit Labs granite holds were amazing as were Climb It's Silverado Cobbles. Right, sorry, went off the page there a little! Texture wise you are going to wonder if you can hold onto these holds when you first get them, some chalk later and you're going to be very surprised at how well they climb and the level of precision that you're going to have to use to climb on them... you'll not get away with brute force moves very much.
From a shape perspective this is where you'll have to use a degree of common sense when setting with these holds as they are molded from real rock and therefore there are imperfections in the shapes and there are some areas that are more than a little painful to grab onto. Dream Holds have looked around and have found something that gives the feeling of real rock and the texture of real rock, in this case basalt, and have limited (from what we can see) any areas that could cause too much discomfort.. but there are a few places that remind you where these holds came from... outside
WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM: The holds are heavy resin
PACKING / SHIPPING: Best we've ever seen. Think of a Russian doll... a couple of well packed boxes with the holds inside a larger box that had packaging in it. The box and holds came through in perfect condition
RATING: Noodles: Lets do a simple equation! Because kids, math is fun! If you take a set of basalt holds and then add chalk what do you get?
Probably some of the best real rock climbing holds out there..
The above line does come at a price and there is a disclaimer. Let me explain. We're seen real rock holds, Summit Labs Granites, Climb It's Silverado Cobbles, Atomiks Fonts and a whole host of others, the ones listed are shapes that we like and we'd recommend for people to try... some of the others are OK, and a few are just plain not so nice. How can I say that these holds are "probably some of the best real rock climbing holds out there?" simple really, I've climbed in the area where they're from and I remember just what it was like to first get on that rock and these holds are 90% of what that rock and those crags feel like! They represent, for me, the area and the type of rock very well but they're not something that I'd run laps on... nope! I put a lot of work into the routes that we set and climbed on in the videos, as well as a bunch of stuff that hit the editing room floor and I climbed hard on those holds, set some silly moves; easy moves and pretty well everything in between... and I paid the price. Eve paid the price, KC really paid the price and Nick paid the price!
What's the price?
Skin. You will at some point loose some skin, not much in my case, but I did loose some.. KC got a flapper and a few other scrapes along the way. That is the problem with "real rock" holds, they treat your digits like you're on real rock.. so it's always a good idea to be careful
Chris: Not having been around Europe to climb and thus never experiencing the various rock that they have in the region, these holds bring that real rock experience to the inside. Besides, here in Canada our winter is longer than climbing season and anyway of experiencing the real rock feels inside is welcome.
I have spent most of my time climbing inside. I have a great deal of confidence when climbing on familiar holds but with The Dumby’s you’re always guessing and praying that you’ll stick the hold. They found the best shapes to mold from and that made for highly detailed holds. After Noodles bolted the holds to the wall there were still little detail gone unnoticed before that now stood out. At some points the little ridges and imperfections were the only thing giving you any friction and there are plenty of grip options. The bigger holds are my favorite. They’re not any easier but there are more options for grip. Where most of us were matching the top of the holds I found that I could crimp the top and pinch the bottom to get through the move. There is also one that has a small thumb catch that you can really dig into. On that note, the holds are sharp and hurt. I came away with my fingers feeling like they’ve spent the day climbing hard outside.
They really do feel like you’re climbing outside…only with a heater 5 feet away…and being able to set with these kinds of holds makes for something different and appealing. As hard as the holds are and as much as we all left with something sore, the holds drew us all in and we had a fun session climbing hard.
PROS:
Some of the best real rock holds out there
Inset screw holes in all of the holds
CONS:
Slick til you chalk them up
Heavy as hell
Expensive if you're paying in dollars
PRICE: 69 GBP gets you 12 mixed size holds (There are two sets)
Redpoint Manager™ is a product of Crux Software, Ltd. out of Southeast Texas. The product was developed by avid climbers William Hopkins and Dale Partridge in partnership with Thresh Hold Climbing + Fitness, in an attempt to more effectively maintain a climbing gym’s route setting management, setting quality, and overall setting structure.
This highly intricate software gives Gym Owners, Managers, and Head Route Setters the ability to adequately manage their company’s life line “Their Routes”. The software offers a dynamic system in which route setters can log-in via touchscreen or by home computer and log their routes by setter, section, color, and grade producing gym-wide informational charts & payroll data for members & management. On the contrary, the system then allows climbers to login and track which routes they have completed via touch screen image map. This allows climbers to now generate reports on their climbing progress as well as compete against fellow climbers in the gym.
We think so, We do all the setup for them, provide them with free training sessions, full time technical support, and about 15 training videos that just about answer any question you could have. Another great component we offer is with your purchase we provide brochures and posters to give to your members explaining what Redpoint Manager is and how to use it. If our users don't succeed we don't succeed. We do everything it takes to make their climbers have the best experience possible.
