Review > Summit Labs > Dual Tex Edges

Summit Labs rocked onto the scene with some real rock shapes the Granite slopers and a large Granite sloper that were kickass (You can read it here) They had a range of other real rock shapes that looked pretty good as well.... and then it all went quiet! The site didn't show any updates and there were no new holds being added to their line up... and then Morgan pings us with some images; some very interesting looking shapes and a "would you like to check them out?"

What were we going to answer? No? HA! There was no way that was going to happen; and besides Summit Labs was a company that we'd pegged for rolling out real rock shapes... oh boy were we wrong... lets look at the Dual Tex Edges:
Boom! Right there.... BOOM! Are these real rock shapes? Nope! And lookie here, dual texture holds. Hang on there is something not quite right here, something not right at all... no wonder they've been quiet, they've been shaping and figuring out how to make some D/T sickness.

Why do we sound like we're amazed?

Dual texture is something that is very hard to get right. The slick has to be slick and the texture (remember they were putting out real rock holds) has to be right on the mark otherwise you end up with something that is meh at best. Add to that the line between the dual texture and the texture is a supremely hard thing to get right, it's a thing that only a few companies have pulled off really well (DRCC / Voodoo / Globe / Holdz to name a few)) This little company straight out of the box going BOOM... look at these, slick slickness, grippy texture and the defining line is perfect!

No wonder they were so quiet for a while. Let's hope they get quiet again because we think that there could be some very interesting stuff in store for indoor climbers.

As usual, we're off topic (in a strange way on topic)...

The Dual Tex Edges... lets run down the check list:

• Dual texture: Yes
• Edges: Yes

We had these on our old wall and we set them with a bunch of other holds... from the get go they were very technical to play with, the texture is just right for the shapes; it allows you to feel in control and just about able to hang on and then... you're on the mats

On a vertical wall they're a breeze to grab, start going into the 15 and then the 30 and because only one of the shapes is really incut you start to take it a little slower and think about what you're trying to do. Stick them on the 45 and you're looking at some very very serious moves... no matter what you do with them, you're in for an open handed treat... praying that you can just move your foot to that hold before you go flying. There is something very special about these holds, something that's hard to put your finger on as to why... maybe it's because they're simple shapes done well, maybe it's the mix of grip and slick... maybe maybe maybe...

Now as we filmed on the old wall and the route was mixed we threw all of that footage away, it wasn't good enough for us to use... so as we have our new wall we figured "let's get it done". Noodles spent a couple of days figuring out some routes and then went nuts with Eve and Nick... getting a bunch of new footage! Check it out:

One thing that is very obvious with these holds is that it's easy to set a forced sequence, these holds are easy to grab one handed and just about matchable for most people, add in some really bad feet (we used the Suckers from Sequence) and the end result is a powerful and yet balanced route that's going to test your strength and your footwork. From easy anyone can "do this" routes to 45 degree screamers no one complained about the shapes or had any pain, instead of reaching for some salve people were reaching for a wrench and were moving these holds around and setting something harder, and more technical every time.

SUGGESTED USES:






45 is a generous angle to give these holds, 30 is a little more like it as most people aren't ever going to be able to pull on these holds on that kind of angle. If they were a little more incut then they'd be much more doable on the steeper walls.

We've had them all over the place and when we went near a roof or something steeper than 30 degrees we nearly always ended up using a volume of some kind to lessen the angle so our routes were easier for people to get onto. From blind slaps around corners to really powerful underclings we've tried most things with these holds (even doing the same route five times to see if the undercling move was ok with each of the holds (it is!)) and each time we've come away with a smile on our faces because despite being hard they have a good texture that doesn't rip your finger tips off. These holds as they're dual texture would make you think that they're aimed at the more advanced climber more than anyone else and in thinking this you'd be wrong, these holds are deep enough to be good for teaching technique to all levels of climbers.

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 5
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt on
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): 34.50 / 5 = $6.90 per hold
  
• Color: Neon yellow
  
• Bolt placement: In the middle
  
• Sanding: Great
  
• Texture: Dual texture
  
• Set size: Small / medium
  
• Versatility: Interesting
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: No
  
• Shaper: Morgan Barnes

We mentioned before that dual texture holds are very hard things to do well... many have tried and many have failed. Summit Labs have pulled a surprise out of the bag...
The sanding is nice and flat, the slick of the hold is slick enough that you can't get a thumb catch on the shapes or a foot for that matter; the textured part that you're grabbing is very very nice and skin friendly. The line between the D/T and texture is very well defined and gives the holds a nice polish that some other dual texture holds lack.

Summit Labs always put their logo on their holds and these are well placed and not raised to much that you could use it as a textured part of the hold... and the color although not the most neon yellow out there is a little dull but the holds still stand out nicely for a route

We've taken one of the holds to test it's strength for our next drop test, but they have been dropped whilst setting onto the floor, they've been placed badly in a bucket and moved from wall to wall and they have faired well... there is only one noticeable chip on the edge of one of the holds where it's been hit really hard, probably from the move from apartment to apartment from when we were moving the wall to it's new home

On the downside? These holds should have set screw holes pre-drilled into them (all holds of a certain size should anyway) and that's the only real downside, oh that and there aren't more of them. These holds are flat out ledges of varying angles, the angles never being very extreme (i.e: steep faces), so most people will have fun on them of course that's as long as you're not setting mental V problems on your walls... and even then we'd suggest trying something a little harder with these holds and see what happens; these holds are pretty forgiving

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Very very good

RATING:
Noodles:
Where are the other versions of these? (Although the do make a bolt on / screw on set of other dual texture holds called the Nanos Crimps that are much smaller (yes you read that right, you can have either!!)) what I'd like to see is some other versions of these... almost tailored for wall angles; add some more slopey guys, add some more incuts and expand the entire range to something like 30 or 40 holds so setters can put up full on routes in a gym.

These holds are like the Globe Minidisks... but not so similar that they're a problem or a copy, these holds are much larger than the disks and if you have both sets then they're complementary to each other... in fact I could probably name a bunch of holds from a bunch of companies that these holds are similar to... but in my defence these guys are different from anything I've seen. Variety is the spice of life.

I'm pretty particular about dual texture holds so much so that I have a list of people that make good D/T holds that I'd recommend if someone asked which ones should be looked at. Summit Labs have sneaked onto that list... first impressions count, so they say. We were impressed by the granites we have and now we've been impressed by the Edges. It's surprising that a little company like this can do this, they've made a quality product and it's something I'm stunned by... not that they're putting out a good product but the fact that they got it right the first time; I'd love to see how many times they shaped and poured these holds to get something that they were happy with, I'm guessing it took a while :)

Sometimes a simple hold is a good hold

Chris:
I didn't spend too much time on these holds before we took down the old wall and began rebuilding it. I obviously dissapeared off to BC for a well earned climbing break before the new wall was finished and these holds were hauled out of their bucket and put back onto the wall.

What I do remember is the routes that we did set on the old wall. As Summit Labs had sent us a number of sets to review over a period of time we set them set by set as one long route so we could get a feel for them. These holds are actually labelled as edges and they ARE edges which is cool. The holds are very simple and look very clean, as we'd not set anything completely crazy with them (I think that they were on the 30 degree wall) I don't have too much of an opinion. What I will do when I get back to Montreal is I'll make sure I climb on these a bunch and I'll come back with what I think!

Nick:
Where

Eve:
Where

PROS:

• Very easy to set forced sequences with
• Forgiving texture on your fingers
• Amazing dual texture holds for a first attempt from a small company
  

CONS:

• No set screw hole
• Need some more shapes there's not enough variation
  
• The color could be a little more vibrant
  

Chris's BC adventure.

I originally planned to go to British Columbia in May to climb the much revered Squamish boulders in Stawamus Chief Provincial Park. I've always wanted to see Canada coast to coast and my original plan was to drive out in early May and take in the Canadian landscape. Unfortunately those plans didn't materialize and I took a flight in June instead.

I left from Montreal Trudeau Airport on June 11 with my friend Aryane and we meet up with some friends, took in the city of Vancouver for a day and headed out to the mountains on the weekend.

My experiences climbing outside of Quebec has always been on boulders. I went to Niagra Glen in Ontario and I also climbed at Horse Pens 40 during the winter of last year. I'm doing the same in Squamish, but I'm hoping to get some sport climbing in as well. If you've read this far, I haven't bored you quite yet and I hope that you'll bear with me and read on about my adventures in beautiful British Columbia.


June 11th

7:30 a.m
It's my first time on a plane in years and the farthest I've been from Montreal ever! I've been meaning to see B.C since before I started climbing and I'm finally going. I can't wait to land and start climbing:)

9:35 a.m
This would be local Vancouver time and after my five hour flight, its time to family in Arbutus Ridge.

7:00 p.m
Do you know what my family enjoys best together? Eating! I'm so full. It may weigh me down when I climb tomorrow.


June 12th

8:00 a.m
It's time to go to Squamish. Mark and Aryane are coming to pick me up. Finally, I get to see what Squamish is all about.

9:30 a.m
Out of the city and close to Squamish. The landscape continues to get more beautiful.

10:00 a.m
We're at Shawamus Chief Provincial Park and the mountain is but a stone throw away. The sky is shinning and the boulders are calling. Time to get our climb on. Woo Hoo!

6:00 p.m
What a day! I took it pretty easy today. This place is more than anything I expected. We walked around with Mark as a guide and we sent a bunch of V0 early in the day and then headed of to the Superfly boulder. I think I found my project for the trip on the backside of the Superfly. Its a slopey arrete that looks like a Squamish favorite. It's called Ali Baba something or another....I can't remember the name exacly.


June 13th

6:30 a.m
Why am I always the first one up? I'm going back to bed.

8:30 a.m
Time for breakfast

10:00 a.m
Mark asked me to free solo the Apron. I've never done any free solo and even the highball problems in Niagra Glen put me on edge. Mark really sold me on the idea though. We'll be doing Banana Peel, a 5.7 multi pitch up a slab. Mark tells me there is only one move that is 5.7. Sold!

12:00 p.m
Up the slab and back in one piece. That was the most peaceful and exhilarating experience of my life.

2:00 p.m
Went down to the Black Dyke boulder. There's a nice easy highball on it that didn't phase me at all. Climbing 200+ meters of free solo will do that. Time to hit my project. I think its called Baba Ganoush.

4:00 p.m
I'm figuring out Ali Baba Ganoush one move at a time. There's always people working on the problem and it gives me a lot of beta to play with.

8:00 p.m
Now I find myself all alone. Mark and Aryane left to go back to Vancouver. They both need to bet some work done. So I put up my shelter. I wish I had a camera because its the most ghetto shelter known to man. I bought a military poncho when I was doing survival training with the cadets and it also doubles as a tarp. With a few strings and pegs I made a shelter out of it.


June 14th

7:00 a.m
Whew! My shelter held up last night. I still need some sleep.

9:00 a.m
Time to find a crash pad and hit the boulders.

2:00 p.m
I found a crash pad under Dream Catcher. People stash their old pads there and its a good thing that there was one left. I found a really cool low traversing problem called Bo Bo Jones and the landings were a little sketchy. I worked out the moves one by one and when I had it all figured out I sent the problem with the crash pad protecting the hairiest part of the problem. I also found Easy in an Easy Chair. That one went a little smoother since there were a bunch of people on the problem and a stack of crash pads for me to fall on:) Now I need to walk into town and stock up on food and buy my bus ticket back to Vancouver.

5:00 p.m
So there's no where to get a Greyhound ticket in downtown Squamish but apparently you can buy it off the bus driver. I didn't take my chances, so I walked to Garibaldi and bought the ticket from the Greyhound depot. Time to hit Ali Baba....I mean Baba Hari Dass:)

June 15th

8:00 a.m
It's going to be a slow day. The past few days have been absolutely amazing and the locals have been telling me that its been the best weather they've seen in weeks. Well that all went away last night and it poured rain. My shelter is doing really good only problem is that the tarp is too small and my feet got soaking wet.

12:00 p.m
I went for a walk across the highway and saw that there is a waterfall near the campground. I went for a hike to go and see them and it was a great way to kill some time. This place continues to amaze me and I wish I had my camera.

1:00 p.m
Dry enough to climb. I hope the crash pad is still under Dream Catcher.

3:00 p.m
After warming up, I went back to the Easy Chair boulder. Someone told me that there was a variation of Easy in an Easy Chair that goes straight up instead of traversing called the Palminator. Awesome heel hook move. Now I need to walk to Squamish and catch the Greyhound.

5:40 p.m
Getting on the Greyhound to go back to Vancouver. I'll be back on the weekend.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What an amazing week! I spent a total of four days camping and I had sunshine for the most part. I love B.C and it has exceeded all my expectations. The forest is mystical and natures architect has created such a landscape blending both the new and old growth forest. I would have liked to send more problems but I accomplished some milestones just the same, notably the free solo on the Apron and working on a Chris Sharma problem. I've also made it a point to climb Superfly Slab three time a day to get comfortable climbing on slab, a style of climbing that I'm not at ease with. It will be nice to have a hot shower and to sleep in a warm, dry bed back in Vancouver.

My Sends

Superfly-V4
Stu's Fly-V2
Superfly Slab-V0
Bo Bo Jones-V3
Easy in an Easy Chair-V4
Palminator-V4
Paralyzing-V4
Huey-V1
Dewey-V2
Louis-V2
Warm Up-V0
Cheese Grater-V1
Banana Peel-5.7 multi pitch

How we build our walls

Firstly let us point out that we're not carpenters :) We've built a bunch of walls (3 for Chris and 8 for Jeremy) and we've simply read a lot of websites and have learnt from our mistakes!

Last month, we moved the wall that we built for Climbingholdreview. It was built from our second wall (on the left) it was only 8ft wide but it was 11ft high and it was the brain child that started the entire website. This is where we began to review holds and where we learnt thr rights and wrongs of what we currently do (we're still learning every month)

When Jeremy moved from this apartment the wall was dissembled and was moved to a new apartment. As much wood as possible was recycled and as the new apartment had lower ceilings we only spent about $500 for panels, t-nuts and screws to get it all together. What resulted from this wall moving was the wall you've all seen for the last two years (or so).

I'll briefly talk you about the wall and what we found out:

What we learnt from this wall is that having Jeremy's dad in from the UK meant that most of the work kind of got done before we got home from work :P The image on the left is of two of the frames that supported the back vertical wall and the 30 degree... note the vertical braces in the back middle of the photo, these were used to screw the vertical panels together when they were placed... we learnt that we needed way more (closer) vertical braces. Although there was never any trouble with the vertical wall it could have been a little stronger than it turned out to be.

This photo is the 30 panels going up. The original plan for the wall was that it was just going to be 8ft wide... in this image you can see that we have three not two frames that are supporting the wall; the reason for this is that on the right hand side there is the rooms door and we needed to cross over the frame as it was right in the way. I'd like to note that more frames are better than less, the end result of this three framed design is that the roof was pretty strong... but as we found out it could have been much better

As with most things, bigger is better, so less than a year into the wall being finished we used the other wood that we had left over to build a 45 degree wall. We built an outside and inside supporting frame (i.e: either side) that didn't span the entire width of the wall and then added the 45 supports. As we'd learnt from earlier wall builds it's always great to have lots of cross support on panels so we put more in than we normally would have done. But, to our surprise the wall still bowed a little in the middle under strain, not much but enough to make us wish we'd put in a third frame in the middle of the wall... unfortunately as there was nothing we could do about it (without ripping the entire wall down again) and it wasn't dangerous we left it as it was.

So I moved, and that means the wall moved as well! I had three weeks off and figured it wouldn't take that long to build the new wall.... wrong! The wall took four weeks of pretty constant work to get finished...

Here you can see the first frame going up.



The 45 wall goes from the top of the kick board to the main cross beam, the 60 degree wall is on the same plane as the 45 braces.. this joint has to be bolted with extra braces to keep it secure and straight





Here you can see the braces that hold the 60 to the roof beams. You can also see the beam that supports the 30 degree wall to the frame that is where the camera man is standing






Here's the box half complete and the edge of the 30 degree wall











Lets talk about construction and how we do it and what we've learnt:

• All of our frames are free standing, I don't own the apartment so I cannot bolt to the structure. So what I do is make frames and then build a wall within that frame
• Every frame is a 2x6 piece of wood in one piece, cut to size. 95% of the braces are 2x4's
  
• All of the joints are bolted and then screwed. We use 1/2 inch bolts that have washers on either side. There are four screws set around the bolt
  
• Get a good circular saw, one that cuts your frames but isn't so big that it's a) scary to use and b) small enough (manoeuvrable) so you can make exact cuts on 8ft lengths of wood
• Buy more screws than you need!! We have 1000; 3 inch number 10 screws in this wall and that doesn't include the screws used to put the climbing panels on
• Buy good deck screws to hold your panels and floor down
  
• Get good t-nuts... you'll be thankful. If possible get the ones that are hammered in and then take little screws to hold them to stop them spinning
• Buy a chalk line to mark your t nut spacing

What went right was the designing of the wall and the execution of that plan, sure we made some changes on the way but having a plan and sticking to it makes a whole world of difference. We pre-drilled EVERY hole that a screw was going to go into (except for the deck screws) so it means we don't have any screw heads sticking out anywhere on any surface... we've also made it easy to access the back of the angles walls and easy to take down any other panel in case we need to fix something.

We've also used more braces than we have done before!!! There are four frames across the wall and then there are at least three cross braces on each climbing sheet; one at either end and one in the middle.... yes we know that "code" is a frame every 4ft and braces every 2ft... that would have taken forever to built and probably another $2000 in wood and screws etc

The end result is a wall that is solid as a rock, it doesn't move and it's doesn't bend when you jump about on it. Sure it took longer than we (I) wanted to build and some of our panels don't fit as nicely as they should have... but it is a work of art and it's going to serve us and you (the readers) well for the next little while... well that is until I decide that we need to add some more wall to it :)

If you have any questions we're always happy to answer them about the wall and how we built it, I get a few requests per month about how we did it so this is why I wrote this down
Just drop us a mail and we'll answer back as fast as we can

Thanks for reading and supporting Climbing Hold Review!!

Jeremy a.k.a: Noodles

THREE BALL AD

Review > Pusher > The Sack

We don't normally run product reviews.. we review holds.. but we're branching out a little at a time and when you're on the receiving end of an email from Clark stating that "I'm sending you a present in the post" you think... "cool, there's some new Revolution shapes on the way" and then you get this:

You begin to wonder what the hell is going on! Pusher? I thought that they were long dead, lost to the mists of time... setters staring forlornly at a broken hold wishing that they could get another one. It seemed that something was up :)

What is it? "The bastard love child of The Spot and a rope bag" (Pushers words not ours), but strangely enough they're on the mark. The Sack as it's actually named is the BLCOTSAARB. Clark, had paid off Pushers debts and the company was coming back; old classic holds were being remolded and a new line of softgoods was being made for the company. We were sent one of the prototypes so we could give our feedback on the design, how it works, how it fits and if it was ever actually going to hit production. It's nice to be asked to do stuff like this, the spring climbing season was just starting and we were hitting the crags... Clark's timing was spot on, and the bag was exactly what we didn't know that we actually needed :)

Let me explain why we "didn't know we needed this bag". Normally we'd load up back packs / crash pads etc and have lots of different bags mixed about with different people as we went out. Over the years you learn what you need and what you don't need, but still you end up with a rope bag and a backpack or a crash pad stuffed with everything. It sucks, it's a pain in the ass to carry and no-one really wants to hike for a couple of hours with an 70 liter backpack and a pad under their arm. The Sack actually means that we can take... get this... ONE BAG instead of loads of bags to the crag.... and our crash pad that can be carried in turns by the two other people. That's a pretty significant amount of clutter and needless bags for you and for the other users of the crag, and if you're just sport or trad climbing you're looking at one of these bags for two people.

Testing for this product started by reading the instructions that were sent out with it, as usual they were pretty explicit, so explicit that there were stipulations to questions that people may have asked to whomever was rocking the Sack. Why would people ask? Because this was before Pusher was actually relaunched as a brand; so it was a semi-secret. The helpful answers to questions like "What does Pusher mean" and "Where can I get one" had answers like "Oh, it says Pusher, I;ve never noticed" or "Me no speaky english" these handy notes in hand we hit the crag / bike / public transport and our testing began

The specs for The Sack are pretty crazy, so we checked them out and then made a check list of stuff that we'd expect from something that has features like these:
"When it's open, The Sack offers 16 square feet (1.5 square meters) of space to lay out your rope and all your gear. When it's closed up and ready for travel, it offers a massive 4300 cubic inches (70 cubic liters) of internal volume. That's enough space to cram in two 70 meter ropes, a full rack, shoes, water, snacks, small pets and children, etc. If you're not packing around that much stuff, The Sack cinches down to a minimal 1900 cubic inches (30 cubic liters) for smaller loads."

Packing up The Sack couldn't be easier: Fold the right and left sides, hook up the buckles, hook the top and bottom flaps together, then hit the road.

For short strolls to nearby routes, just hook the top and bottom flaps together, grab the side handles and carry it like a shopping bag. Way better than dragging your rope bag in the dirt, right?



To put The Sack in rope bucket mode, extend the side buckles, then hook the bottom flap to the webbing loop on the inside of the fold. You may want to fold the top flap down for full access. Since a bucket takes up less space, this is a great way to feed out rope at small, uneven belay stances or crowded sport crags.





Inside The Sack there's 1/4" (6 mm) of quality closed-cell Crosslink foam. The foam gives a little more structure to The Sack when it's in Pack or Bucket mode and offers a wide, comfortable place to lace up your boots or just chill out. 1/4" ain't thick enough? Just open up the Velcro seam and cram in as much extra foam as you want.

The backpack section of The Sack has a comfortable 3" wide shoulder strap. The strap is removable, so you can raise it or lower it depending on your height. Cinch down the metal buckles on the strap, hook up the 2" hip belt, and you're outta there.

That's pretty mental right! That's a list for a Transformer, not for a rope bag! If it says it does all of this stuff the question you're going to want to know the answer to is "does it do all of these things?" well.... let me talk you through what we did with the bag...

Size: 70 litres. Well we have a 70 litre backpack so we filled it up to the seams with stuff... mainly lots of clothes and towels. Once we had our 70 liters of stuff we took it all out of the back pack and then filled up the Sack with the same amount of stuff.
RESULT: We can actually get more stuff in here if we really wanted to

Carrying all the usual crag stuff: The bag has two (not one) tie in loops for ropes and hooking areas for your rack of gear.... you should be able to fit all the stuff you'd normally take to the crag into this bag right and still be organized after you've hiked in? Right?
RESULT: Two ropes... yup. Shoes... yup... food for the day... yup... camping stove and gas... yup... extra clothes... yup... rack of gear with all the cams on it... yup! We took everything we needed for a day for two or three people in this one bag, so that meant the big ol crash pad we had to haul around as well was carried in turns by two people.

But I'm small, it looks too large for me: It fits us really well, if you're a girlie then just move the shoulder straps down and you should be fine and it should fit you really well. Noodles has been using it daily on his bike and he's been carrying crazy loads of food, cat litter, potatoes and has been riding around town... in his words "I've been purposely putting the heavy stuff on one side and have been trying to make the Velcro at the top slip. The loads are uncomfortable to carry and it's not been that bad. From full racks of gear to riding my bike (and I ride my bike like I stole it) the bag hasn't dropped anything out of the bottom (one of my concerns with the design) and it's kept food surprisingly dry when I've been riding in the rain"
RESULT: Good for most body types unless you're super small. We're pretty sure if you're that small then you could ask for some custom sizes if you ask nicely. Eve moves the top strap down and is fine carrying a heavy load to the crag...

What about the stuff I don't want to loose: There are top pockets that are zippered for your stuff
RESULT: The pockets are ok, they're on the big flaps at the top. But they're easy to access, but you do have to be slightly careful as if you put your phone in there and forget you could step upon it :(

More foam?: We've actually put waaay more foam in the pad than most people would really need. Remember... this isn't a crash pad in any way shape or form! It's for keeping your stuff organized when you're on the way to the wall... it keeps your ass dry when you're getting your shoes on and it does add a little bit of protection when you're going for the first clip. Our Sack currently has 3/4 inch of foam in it. It adds a little more structure to the whole shebang.
RESULT: Keeps your stuff clean and dry, organizes it and has a little bit of protection for if you hit the ground... and remember it's not a replacement for a full on crash pad so don't use it as such! The padding is more for protecting you from sharp rocks when you're putting on your shoes more than anything else and it does keep the rain off of your head if you get caught out in a shower

OVERALL: Would we have brought this bag? Well not really, it's just a rope bag right? Nah! It's something we all agree on... IT'S THE ROPE BAG, it's what you actually need, but like us you just didn't know it yet :)

Sometimes something comes along that is just amazing, the Sack is one of those things... shame it took Pusher coming back from the grave for something like this to happen... sure it could have gone under the Revolution brand... but Pusher has always been known for amazing shapes and amazing products. They took a hiatus for a while there but they're back, classic shapes are coming back and new products are hitting the market.

We've used this bag for huge loads, small loads, for chilling in the park and even a rain shelter when it was needed. Do we love it? Yeah we do, it's something that is currently being passed about the crew and is being abused by all of us... so far there's no flaws and it's holding up really well.

The Sack has changed little from the original prototype that we received, but there are a few changes that should be noted:

• Zippered pockets: There was a complaint about the pocket on the top flap. The pocket opening was facing the ground. So now there are 2 independent pockets on the top flap.
  One side of the pocket, which would face the ground when The Sack is open, closes with Velcro. Velcro won't rust or crack or clog like a zipper might against the dirt and mud. The "up" side of the flap has a zippered opening, easier to open and close than Velcro, away from the elements.
  Although both pockets are placed on the top flap, there is a fabric wall between them, so they are 2 independent pockets.

• People complained that they could not load The Sack from the top, like a standard backpack. So the webbing loop that is used to connect the bottom flap while in Bucket Mode. It has been repositioned and it's longer...
  So if you want to load The Sack from the top (although that's not really the intended design), just hook the bottom flap to the "Bucket" loop. When it's all filled up, hook that strap to the top flap.

That's it, Pusher is back, the old shapes are back and there are some new toys on the market. They do a bunch of R&D and listen before they release anything new to the market and lets face it that's something to be applauded! Check out The Sack, we didn't know we needed it til we used it... you might the same thing, you never know!!

Pusher

three ball june 10

Review > Project Holds > Granites

Project holds sent us two sets of their Granites holds, the XLarge version as well as a set of the Large version. These holds, we’re told, are supposed to mimic the feeling of hard, delicious granite found in the great outdoors. This got us excited to slap these babies on the wall and to climb the hell out of them.

To start off, we set a nice, easy and long problem that used every part of the wall starting from the 45 and finishing way on the other side. We used the XL holds on the 45, because that made perfect sense to us, and followed up with the smaller holds on the flatter walls. This problem, though, ended up being just a little too easy and was no more than a mere warm up in the end. So Noodles, who was angry that we set problems that were too hard for him earlier in the day, set a new problem that also started on the 45 that was designed to make us scream like babies. This time he used the X-Ls as starting holds only and put some of the smaller ones up on the 45 with some reachy, feels-like-the-skin-on-my-fingers-is-going-to-come-off moves. He also made good use of the volumes in the roof and put a few other X-L Granites in the roof too. He also tried to be creative with the last sequence on the flat wall, but this proved to be a bit difficult to make it difficult given the size, shape and texture (!!!) of the holds. It ended up being a fun, challenging problem that had to be modified slightly to make it more feasible and less painful.

SUGGESTED USES:










These holds will work almost too well on nearly any wall. Although, the XL holds will be a little too easy on the less-steep walls since they are pretty massive. They felt really easy even on the 45 wall so having them put up on the 90, unless up-side-down, might be a bit of a waste for more experienced climbers. They would be a pretty interesting change from the usual slimy, smooth jugs found on beginner routes in a gym. The smaller versions also worked pretty well on the 45 but be ready to scream really loudly while pulling hard on them and to stare at your fingers in shear pain while muttering profanities when you fall off them. On the flat wall, most of the holds at almost any size will feel pretty darn good given the shape and texture. So, most of the sizes will allow you to set for any climbing level on the flatter walls. But the smaller holds will probably end up just scaring the beginners away on the steeper walls. They can definitely make for some interesting setting, though.

OVERALL BUILD SMALLS

• Number of holds: 10 (we have both sets of smalls)
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): 35 / 5 = $7 per hold
  
• Color: Ours are lime green
  
• Bolt placement: Always in the middle
  
• Sanding: Good
  
• Texture: Rough
  
• Set size: Small
  
• Versatility: There is a little variation in the shapes
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: No
• Shaper: Charles Morris

One thing that should be noted with these holds is that as they're small you don't notice the texture so much, some of the edges are sharp but the shapes do have some variation with little areas that allow thumb catches and tricky little matches

OVERALL BUILD XL

• Number of holds: 5
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): 89 / 5 = $17.80 per hold
  
• Color: Bright orange
  
• Bolt placement: In the middle
  
• Sanding: Good
  
• Texture: Rough
  
• Set size: XL
  
• Versatility: Not bad
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: No
• Shaper: Charles Morris
  

You're going to notice the texture more with these holds because you're getting a lot of skin onto these guys... after a while you get used to the aggressive texture but they will cause you're sessions to be shorter than you think

OVERALL
The main thing that stands out with these holds is definitely the texture. It’s really important to note that on steeper walls these holds hurt. A lot. They can provide with some really interesting and creative problem/route setting but it comes at a cost – your skin. The texture is so gnarly that you almost don’t even need chalk at all, even if you’ve got the sweatiest palms at the gym.

These holds were meant to simulate real granite found in the great outdoors although its questionable if they were successful. Certainly, if the whole world was made of plastic than these holds would likely feel exactly like the plastic granite found in the plastic outdoors, but not so much like real granite. They definitely shred your skin apart like granite outdoors if you haven’t climbed on that kind of rock in a long time. It is the kind of texture that makes you stop climbing from your skin hurting rather than from your muscles hurting. The texture also isn’t just a constant, rough pattern. They got real detailed in the resolution of the texture and some of the holds will have thicker ridges than other areas, much like real granite outdoors. So kudos to Project for being so detailed on the grain patterns.

The shapes of the holds weren’t anything too crazy or fancy but they worked for what we used them for. They don’t hurt your fingers much to use (apart from the skin, that is) on any angle. All of the bigger sizes were easily matchable and even some of the smaller ones too, and the shapes allowed for creative matching on different parts of the holds rather than just on one simple edge. A small problem though, was that the ‘granite’ texture of the holds was usually only found on one side so the holds can only really pulled on from the textured side. These holds are shaped so that they aren’t too hard on the tendons; unless we were just too concerned about our skin to care about our tendons while climbing on these. Although like any holds, if you pull too hard you’ll rip more than just your skin.

The holds were of solid construction; they didn’t feel fragile or have any thin fragile edges that we saw. They could certainly be thrown around without too much fear of cracking or chipping. There were no hollow backs, however, so the larger holds were a tiny bit on the heavy side although nothing too crazy to be concerned about. The only problem with the shapes is that at first glance, the holds won’t pop out too much from the wall in terms of shape. They managed to make up for this with the really bright orange colour of the ones they sent us, but the shapes themselves don’t scream unique-ness unless you pull on them. So people probably won’t talk about them until they’ve climbed on them.

SCREW HOLES ETC / TEXTURE

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
The holds were bagged in sets and then well wrapped in the box

Jason:
I think the easiest way to describe these holds is to summarize it with a nice little picture of Noodles just coming off of the problem:Ow indeed. These holds did better at simulating cheese graters than they did real granite. The things we talked most while climbing on them was how much they hurt. But there were some positives to them as well. The fact that they are so grippy means they'll likely last longer than other holds that will become slick when covered in packed chalk. Also you need less chalk when climbing on these guys, the texture bites into your skin to keep you on the holds.

The shapes and sizes are good enough to set for any kind of skill level and I got really good feel of the spectrum with both the warm-up route and Noodles route. They were definitely fun to climb on (skin pain aside) and it was quite fun to reach high and pull hard on the smaller holds on the 45. The texture makes it a little easier to use those smaller holds on the steeper walls

Noodles:
Right, if I want my skin shredded off I'd stick my hand into a shredder
Holds that, I know to have been shaped and poured without being climbed on..... get this by the shaper!, are something that are going to be special!

Special is an "interesting" term I'd use for these holds... not the way you think though.
I'm thinking "special" in the way of...

get this:

If you like the feel of outside inside and holds that have bite... then these are something that you should look at... if you have girly soft skin then you probably want to avoid them

I'm done, I don't like them, I don't like climbing on them, they feel like someone is sanding my skin off of my hands. These holds aren't nice, the shape and form of them is great... it's just the "granite" texture that just turns me off. Christ, Dream Holds actually took rock and molded that to get their holds and it's not as rough on the skin as these holds.

Honestly, there is texture and then there is TEXTURE, sure there are ups and downs to the holds, they're well built, with good sanding and a very solid construction; the shapes are simple and will work well on shallow angles... hell some of the XL shapes are just about grabable when they're on the roof. The down side is that the texture is so harsh that no matter where you put them they're always going to be pretty painful

It's really a case of what you want from your holds. Do you want the outside inside? Or do you want to train for hours without feeling like your skin is going to peel off of your hands?
UPDATE: Also another point is that after a few months the holds are covered in chalk, we've not brushed them at all and the texture is evening out and becoming more friendly... but this has taken months and months for this to happen... my thoughts are that if they took the original mold of these holds and re-poured them a few times then you'd get a good texture that "feels" like the outside but without your skin taking a complete kicking!!

Chris:
HA! Noodles has lady hands :) I love the outdoors and as I was training to head out to BC so I was loving the pain. We did loads with these holds from sticking the XL's on the roof (not the best idea) to having some tricky routes on the 45 and the rest of the wall... the main thing you're going to notice is that a) you're not going to need much chalk and b) you really stick to these holds when you get onto them.

Like Jason says these holds aren't anything special to look at, they're just going to look like a normal set of holds... that is until you grab onto them and then people are going to start feeling the difference. If they like that difference is a case of personal taste, I don't mind them, they're painful and then feel like you've hit fresh rock outdoors but I can see why some people won't like them. It's a ying-yang thing, if you're planning on climbing a lot to train then these probably aren't the best but if you own a gym and don't want to clean (or don't clean your holds very often) then the texture on these will shine though for months and months

PROS:

• YADDA

CONS:

• YADDA

Review > Teknik Holds > Fat Rings

Teknik has unveiled a new line of holds! The Fat Rings are Seth and Zoes latest creation and they're much in the same flavor as their old resin jugs that they have down at the gym.
They're essentially big handles, like the Jugs from Project Holds, and having their similarities and differences.

Despite the simplicity of the shape, they're really useful for big comfy holds or roof jugs. Teknik has done a good job in using a simple shape and giving it a new edge. Their old resin handles are the same size and despite the look of the hold there is only room for two hands....barely! It wouldn't be much of an issue until you get into the roof and you have all you weight on you hand with no room for the other. The old shape was geometric and the jug (handle?) is more shallow than the lates re-incarnate. I found that those holds on the roof would dig into my fingers especially when I went to match the hold. The new shapes are round and big and are very similar to the Jugs from Project. But the similarities stop with the aesthetics and Tekniks shapes are a bit smaller that give them a character of their own.... and there are more of them, 20 in all!

We set on with some long moves into roof. On 45 degree wall, even with our feet on big holds it was hard to match the holds with all the weight on one hand. There's one of the holds on the 45 that has a cool twist to it and it iss by far the most comfortable hold of the set (its the one that Noodles talks about at the end of the walkthrough). The hold is twisted so there is a place to get both hands on it but if you're in too deep there's not much there for the second hand. The others are big wide handles and easy to grab, but if you grab the way you'd really like to then you end up overlapping your fingers on top of each other and will have trouble getting your bottom hand out to move :P

One thing that we lack are good holds for the roof. We have some jugs but once on the roof the sequences get hard and sketchy. With these holds we could set hard sequences on the roof without being on marginal holds; all of the holds are matchable if you don't mind bumping your hands a little. We do a lot of bouldering here and at the gym and we wanted to work on other aspects of the sport so we put bunch of bolt hangers on the wall and practiced using quick-draws. (We don't put those in the video, the rope gets in the way) If you have a roof on your home wall these holds and hangers would be a good investment. They're good for any grade climber and we all had fun climbing and setting with the holds.

Where these holds come into their own is on the roof or steep terrain with people that want to monkey about or just work on their foot technique, the one thing that they are lacking is a set screw hole (which Teknik are looking at adding) as these holds when set horizontally will spin on you if you hit a little off of centre on them. It's one thing that we've mentioned on a lot of holds and Teknik really should have taken note before now! We've retro fitted screw holes into all of them now because even on the roof you can see the ends of the holds lifting from the wall by about 1/4 of an inch in some cases... why do we mention this so much? Because in the case of holds like these the force on the t nut is torquing it into the wood of you wall rather than being evenly distributed across the bolt and a screw, you could get locked tnuts / bolts in the worst case and possibly a nut that's at a funny angle in the best! It's a minor downpoint to be honest as Tekniks mix doesn't need to be pre-drilled you can just add a screw to the hold and it should be fine. We've since learnt that we should use a counter sink drill, which we since grabbed from the store and you can drill a screw hole in one shot without three drill bits.

SUGGESTED USES:





Want to try out some long moves? Campus train maybe? Although these holds are big old jugs, they have their uses anywhere on the wall. Their shape is ideal for roofs and steep overhanging walls and you could easily set campus routes or sequence train. We all learned early that a holds difficulty is not judged by its size and the Fat Rings are no exception, they look simple but in some cases they're harder to grab than you rhink
Depending on how you set you can get a work out with these holds... they're great on the skin

Having a couple sets of jugs like these is always a good investment. On top of being well thought out shapes and great for the roof, they can also be set into difficult sequences on vertical terrain without having any problems returning e-mails the next day ;) (Your fingers don't get tweaked incase :P)

When you see the shape you can tell what it is but its when you get your hands on the hold is where you`ll get the real feel for the hold. The holds are thick and might be a little hard to get your hand around the hold to get a better grip especially if you're like Dora or Eve, they both have small hands, but they also have the advantage of an easier match

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 20, we have 5
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt ons
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): 5 /62 = $12.40 per hold
  
• Color: Dark green
  
• Bolt placement: Well placed on one side
  
• Sanding: Ok. some sides were a little off
  
• Texture: Better than you think
  
• Set size: Large
  
• Versatility: Not bad. great for all terrain
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: No
  
• Shaper: Zoe
  

At first we thought that there was a defect on the holds, the seam of the mold shows on the inside of the hold all of the shapes we have like these all have the same seam mark and we figured its a detail nobody has figured out yet, same for other shapes we have that are similar!! The seam itself is of no issue but they do lack set screw holes. Our first reaction when we got the holds: Yeah! Roof jugs! Our second reaction: There's no screw hole on this? A screw hole is a must especially on the roof or horizontal terrain, you can spin the holds or they lift on the roof a fair amount. Talking to Zoe at Teknik she mentioned that she saw this video:

She mentioned that with their material you don't need to drill a pilot hole you can just put a wood screw in and attach the hold to the wall. We'd still recommend grabbing a counter sink drill the same size as the screw you're using just to be on the safe side.

The sanding is a little off on one of the holds and it's just a little off, nothing serious. Texture-wise well if you compare this to the Arnold (another of Tekniks holds) it does feel different, the texture is almost the same but with the Arnold you're open handed slapping alot of the time and with the Fat Rings you're grabbing around; it's a little disconcerting at first as it feels like it could be slippery but it's not at all.

When we look at the color, well it's best to watch the walk through for that one, Noodles makes a point about Teknik normally having very vibrant colors, these holds aren't vibrant which is kind of surprising as when we take a poll on Teknik holds color is always something that crops up. That being said there's nothing wrong with the color, it's just a little muted for our taste is all

The holds have some heft to them, they have a nice solid feel that really inspires confidence in the build quality.. again Teknik have taken something that should be plain and boring and have added a new twist that makes them prett interesting, the sneeky double match on one of the holds is sweet

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Poly wants a cracker... urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Actually pretty good, the holds all came through without a scratch

RATING:
Noodles:
When you think of a Teknik hold what do you think of?
Me, I think of some of the best shapes on the planet and I always think of semi mental colors, two tone or just a plain yellow... but they're never really just a two tone or just a yellow... I always find the colors to be quite vibrant. This time it wasn't the case, the color is a semi-dark green and I'll be honest it's not a color I think of when I think of Teknik; of course some people don't care what color their holds are and of course it makes no difference in the way the holds climb!

These holds climb really well, they're a pleasent surprise, you can monster around on these at will on anything on any angle they're super easy to climb on, they're skin friendly, the only problem that I have is when I match on them I find that I get my hands locked one over the other, it kinds of makes some of the routes we've set harder for me as I have to sort my hands out a little before moving.... since filming we've continued playing with the holds and I've managed to figure out that when I grab with one hand I need to have my hand at one end of the hold so I can get a couple of fingers in for the match before I remove my original hand... simple really, I should have been a little smarter when I was chucking myself at the wall :)

The price is pretty good considering the size of the holds, I'd like to see the rest of the holds from this range I'm sure there are some pretty tricky holds in the set that look like they're plain but are a little more than is expected

Chris:

We don't receive too many holds from Teknik, but when we do the holds always stay up for awhile. The holds are really comfortable to climb on in comparison to the old handle shapes. We've done quite a bit of climbing and reviewing of crimps and small holds and to have received a set of jugs was welcomed with open arms:)

What I like with these holds is that we're able to easily set routes that are hard enough to pose a challenge for everyone. Dora came over to climb with us on the Fat Rings and she wanted to work on long moves. She's small and at 5"2', one of her weaknesses are the long moves that some of us don't think twice about. We set a problem with some long moves and although Noodles sent it the first time, it took me a couple of attempts before I got the move down. Dora got through the sequence after two or three attempts.

I've always likes Teknik's holds. Their shapes are really well thought out and they tend to be more technical holds, like their geometric shapes and crimps. These holds find themselves on the other end of the spectrum, but that doesn't mean you can't climb hard on jugs. I liked having them on the wall and setting hard sequences, it gives my body a work out without any strain on the fingers. If there is any black marks on this set, its would be in the fact that their heavy and don't come with a preset set screw holds. The holds are solid all the way through and if Teknik can figure out how to remove some material, setters will have an easier time hauling these holds up and down the ladder.



PROS:

• You can put in a set screw into these holds without a pilot hole, Tekniks material will allow it
  

CONS:

• No set screw holes
• Color isn't all that Teknik on this set of holds
  

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Interview > Karl Guthrie > Climb Tech

As soon as we see something like this:

ClimbTech Co-Founder Falls 50ft Using ClimbTech Removable Bolt from Vinny on Vimeo.

We feel we have to talk to the person that a) innovates products and b) has confidence within that product to take a pretty big fall onto it!

Meet Karl Guthrie, he's been climbing a while and has been making some climbing products stronger and safer. We'd not heard of the company and maybe you've not either... lets have a chat

Name and job
Karl Guthrie – Co-Founder, Head of Sales

How long has Climb Tech been in business?
Since 1998

ClimbTech isn't a company that'd we'd heard of before, someone sent us the link to this video of you taking a 50 footer onto one of your removable bolts.... why per-chance did you feel the need to go all Dan Osman?
I took the jump using our industrial bolt, mainly because I get lots of people asking if I personally trust our anchors – I did the video to prove it – plus it’s great for marketing!


So you're that confident in the gear?
Yes – absolutely! The jump proved I trust my life to it.

How long have you been climbing?
Started in 1974

So you’ve seen it all! What would you say has been the biggest and best advance in climbing technology?
For climbing equipment, I think the best advance was sticky rubber shoes. As far the sport itself, the advancement of Sport Climbing tops my list.

Where abouts is your favorite place to climb?
Yosemite, CA.

Checking out your line there are a whole bunch of really innovative products, who's responsible for them or the ideas behind them?
Both myself & my partner, Joe Schwartz. We identify a need in the industry that lacks innovation and develop products to fill the gap.

We assume there is a lot of trial and error involved in making a new product. How long does something take to R&D and then to hit the market?
Anywhere from 6-12 months.

Let's look at some of the stuff you produce:
Permadraw, is the steel braid stronger than say a dyneema sling?
No - it's not stronger, but it's much more durable

The Permadraw with quick-link and carabiner is a good idea; why not offer it as a double carabiner with the permadraw? Wouldn't it be stronger and safer?
We don’t sell those as a quick-draw because of the heavy steel & cable. Ours is a durable, permanent anchor for inside gyms and sport climbing.


The removable bolts come in some different sizes? What's the pull force on those?
12kn, 22kn, & 44kn

What are the "superlock" and "twistlock" features on your carabiners?
They’re similar to others on the market – but at a 25-40% lower price than the competition, we'd like to become known for offering "every man's pro deal".

Why don't you make normal anchors? (Expansion bolts / glue in anchors) It seems that you'd have some nice variations on the standard product.
Our market is construction/industrial. We make the climbing RB’s because many climbers use them to put up first accents. We don’t make much money off of those, but we enjoy contributing to the sport in this capacity.

Most of your products are construction based; the beam walker and concrete anchors are pretty amazing. Have you ever thought of making products for route setters?
We actually do - the ½” RB was designed for route- setters as well as our bolting ladder which is like a etrier with hard rungs and is used for putting up steep overhanging routes.



What are you guys working on right now? Or is it Top Secret?
We’re working on quite a few things right now, at the top of our list are some extremely cool flexible ladders with a very innovative rung system that does not kink when you apply weight to them. They will come out at the end of this month and should be great for big wall climbing, establishing sport routes, photography and video rigging

Where is the best place to see or to get Climb Tech products?
www.climbtech.com