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Review > Delire > Polisporine

So we picked up a couple of sets of Delire holds from last years Tour De Bloc and we've had them lying around with some stints on the old wall and the new. Delire holds aren't new to our wall and we've done some reviews for them in the past, notably a mixed set we picked up from Le Mec and the Red Point Training Board.

When we spoke with Lisa, the owner of Delire holds, she asked us what set we want. Our answer was all of them but since that was a bit of a steep demand, we settled on two sets: The Egypts and the Polisporine. This week we'll be looking at the Polisporines and keeping The Egypts on ice for a future review.

This seven hold set is a dual textured doppelganger. Are they pinches? Are they slopers? Are they edges? Now we thought that this set was full of pinches but there are some holds that gave us a surprise. The base of the set is made up largely of good positive pinches but there are some that have only one side of the hold that is textured for grip. Out of these guys, there are some that are slopey while others are more of an edge. Can you say alter ego?

Alter Ego! :D

So we sat there with a set of holds, some pinches others not so pinchy and we figured on putting them on the 45 (the old wall). . There are two types of holds found in this set. Now you could clasify them all as pinches although some holds only have one textured surface. The others have texture on opposing sides with an incut that make them bomber on the 45. The holds with one textured surface could also be used as pinches although you'll be finding yourself on your ass pretty quick if you're placing them on overhanging terrain.

So for us we found that the set was best suited on over hanging terrain. Putting them up on a vertical wall would not pose too much of a challenge and we used the angles of our wall to create our problems, even when you put them on a straight wall upside down you can actually hold onto the dual texture, it's not that slick :(

From easy to hard, we put some beginners onto the holds and when they're on a moderate overhang people just walked through the problems, get them onto a more competition style route and then things start to get interesting, thank god all of the holds are easily matchable

SUGGESTED USES:

A set like this can be used in all kinds of applications. The holds are diverse enough to have holds suited better for vertical while others can be used on overhanging terrain as well. We spoke about how the Comfy Pinches from Summit Labs could be used as system training holds but noted that they are very small. The Polisporines could be used for this set up but they are right or left hand specific and you'll need two sets of holds to make it effective, but the holds themselves....well the pinches anyways....are a good way to train pinch strength on a 45 degree wall.

Putting these holds onto the 60 degree wall was possibly one of the silliest ideas we've had in a while; if the holds are set with the edges with the most positive direction with some good feet (and there are some semi incut holds in here) it is soo close to being doable, so so close. Even on the 45 degree wall some of the holds some of the holds are pretty hard and as you can see from the video there were some interesting ways of getting through some of our sequences.

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 7
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt on
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds):
• Color: Mustard yellow
  
• Bolt placement: Middle
  
• Sanding: Ok
  
• Texture: A little rough on the part you're gripping, slick part is smooth
  
• Set size: Medium
  
• Versatility: Not bad
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes:
• Shaper: Lisa

Overall build isn't that that bad, the sanding is nice and flat as is the bolt placement, they're nice and centered and the holes are 90 degrees to the backs. Texture-wise is very grippy, maybe a little too much for some peoples taste. As these holds are dual texture with one part being slick and there other part textured (textured being the part you grab obviously) we'd expect to see a slightly better defining line between the two.

Color-wise these holds are what you'd best call mustard yellow, it's not a color you'd see everywhere... they're certainly unique.

These holds certainly have personality, they're an interesting mix of pinches / edges or slopers. They work best as pinches, but they do have multi use's and it's up to you which way you use them. Delire use resin, so these holds do weigh in as pretty heavy, the mixture is still also a little brittle so you have to take care to not drop them and make sure you store them carefully (no throwing them into a bucket!)

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Resin, and it's pretty brittle. Even though we put all of the holds we have for review into a separate box for moving some of these holds got chipped

PACKING / SHIPPING:
We picked these up direct from the maker

RATING:
Noodles:
Ah Delire, like Chris I'm going to come out and mention that I have a love / hate relationship with their holds. Some of their holds are sublime, some of them... well not so much :) The reason we asked for these sets is because we were at the Delire gym for a Tour De Bloc and as we were at the gym that is owned by Delire, and the wall was (surprise) covered with Delire holds it was pretty easy to pick out what we wanted. (think of the gym as basically a Delire hold showroom, there wasn't much from other companies)

The reason we picked these holds is because they were used in some problems that we really enjoyed... well maybe we didn't get up all of the routes and that was part of the reason that we wanted them.

From the old wall to the new wall these holds hit a lot of angles and a lot of people climbed on them. I'm not sure if they're edges, pinches or slopers; they're an interesting mix of all of these things. I find these shapes could do with the edges being sloped off a little bit more, they're not super sharp but when you're hauling ass on the 45 I find my fingers hurt a little. Saying that I find that Delires texture is a little rough but when I say rough it's a very close thing... it's probably about 2% off of perfect for my liking.

Resin? Really? We chipped holds just moving them around and that is something that people should take note of. Here anything that is resin are kept in separate boxes and are looked after. But even after mixing out to be reviewed holds in a small box (with no wrapping) and this was moved with a bunch of TLC the holds still ended up getting little chips in the edges. I'm pretty sure that if I pulled a drop test that there would be some pretty sizable chips and possibly a breakage, if you're a routesetter and you have resin holds of course you're going to take care with what you're doing, but I think one of these holds from 20ft to a padded surface might make some interesting results.

Do I like these holds? I like the way they look, and at the comp when my brain was in comp mode I was centered on just getting up the route. What I should have taken more notice of how the holds actually climbed when I was playing with them... but that would have been hard to do when I'm trying to climb for point. I learnt an interesting lesson... and that is "all that looks nice may not necessarily climb well" They climb fairly well, but they're not some of my favorites because of their weight and because the texture is a little rougher than I really like

Chris:
I'll say it right now: I've never been a fan of Delire holds. That may be a bit of a harsh statement but I've never liked the way they feel. Don't get me wrong, there are things I do like about their holds. They have some really awesome shapes that are both artistic and unique. Their holds are always challenge to climb on but it always comes down to the same thing, I just don't like climbing on them. It's hard for me to give you any specifics but I always know that I'm climbing on a Delire hold. With that being said, I 'll get into what I like with this set.

The texture of the holds is nice. You won't be able to keep you feet on the smooth part of the hold. The other textured part of the hold is actually quite smooth and is not abrasive but gives you just enough texture to grip. The pinchy holds of the set have an incut side to them that help you grip the hold but with the others that are flat or a little slopey, the texture quickly becomes a negative. Any bit of sweat will have you slipping of the holds in no time.

Now for me, I found the holds a bit of a challenge. The good holds (the ones with texture on opposing sides) are great on overhanging terrain and I could easily commit to a move without worrying too much about breaking off. As for those other holds that who find themselves in no mans land somewhere between slope, pinch and and edge gave me problems on the 45. Those holds are hard to grip since you can't use your thumb to pinch down on the hold and the movements on them needed to be very static.

So what's the verdict? For the price, its a good set and you find a diversity of holds and grips. The dual texture is very good, not as good as DRCC, but almost. The shapes are nice and comfortable and out of all the Delire holds that we have, they are the most comfortable. I have found in the past that Delire holds, be it a jug or crimp, bite into the hands and it doesn't make for pleasant climbing. The edges on these holds have a nice radius and the texture is nice on the skin. As far as the set is concerned, I'm sold, but I'll need to climb more Delire shapes before I come over to the dark side:)

PROS:

• Pretty nice Mustard Yellow color
• Good price
  

CONS:

• Resin holds that chip easily
• Heavy (because they're resin)
  

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Review > Summit Labs > Small Comfy Pinches

Small Comfy Pinches... read it to yourself... slowly...

Small COMFY Pinches. Whenever we see a set of holds with a name like this we're always going to think a couple of things; 1: Are these actually comfy? 2: Whoever named these is either completely mad or they've actually made something that is what it says.

Like Jeremy says in the walk through "naming a set of holds Small Comfy Pinches is like naming a hold large shi**y sloper". The name it self is a brave brave statement... and with that let's look at these so called Small Comfy Pinches :)What we received is what you see above, five pink holds and they're certainly small!
They're obviously pinches!
And...
The big question is are they comfy? This is where we hit the wall and see what's up.

These guys hit both walls (old and new) and we played with them an awful lot, probably more than we should have; from setting super simple problems to stuff that was just a little bit too far. Well I guess that's the way we roll, we take holds and we push them as far as possible to see where they begin to become useless.

Where did we decide to stop? At about 45 degrees if you like pain, 30 degrees if you want to work a problem for more than five minutes. We also set some interestingly long routes between the holds and they do allow you to get away with pushing the limits... all in all they're not what we expected.

SUGGESTED USES:







Holds that are this size if you have multiple sets then they're going to be a pretty good addition for a system wall. But a system wall is 45 to 60 degrees overhung so these holds are waaaaay too small for that use, we suggest the exact same shapes but larger and then you've got some great system training holds. As usual that being said, if you're system training on say a 15 degree wall then these are something that should be looked at. (Chances are that system training on a 15 degree wall is going to be pretty well useless... we're not training gurus, so please read up on system training before you do it)

We put these holds on the 45 degree wall and they're just not big enough to be comfortable, you can just about get onto them but it's a very very hard send... and even then we were using them as crimps/edges. On a 30 degree wall they're super comfy and then put them onto a vertical wall and they're super nice to climb on.

These holds, if you're looking to set long pinch routes would be well paired with Element Climbings Ions and if you're ;ooking for something larger then probably the Teknik Svelt Pinches.

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 5
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt ons
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): 26.95 / 4 = $5.39 per hold
  
• Color: Pink
  
• Bolt placement: Dead center
  
• Sanding: Good
  
• Texture: Slightly crystalline
  
• Set size: Small
  
• Versatility: Not bad
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: No, they're not needed
  
• Shaper: Morgan Barnes

Like we said in our last review it's a surprise to see holds like this from a company that started out making real rock like holds. It's not a bad thing to have both types of holds in their line up, it give us more choice when buying holds.

These holds are well made and there are only a few places where they can be faulted... the logo is a large SL and despite looking a little gangster is is more indented than it really needs to be and if this logo was used on larger holds then it would probably catch your skin and cause some pain, the other main complaint is that when in bright light (our new wall gets a lot of sun) you can see that the color isn't totally uniform, there are a few light patches towards the outer edge of the shapes.

Sanding is great, the texture is a little crystalline.. but that is what you need with something this is so small. If the texture was less then these holds would be 200% harder to grab on to; there is just enough texture to keep you on but not so much that you're going to get skin burn. The shapes are all very ergonomic i.e: there are no sharp edges anywhere, the radii of the holds are all nice, in fact the shapes are so uniform that if you're super strong you could use these as system holds...

All of the bolt holes are properly drilled and flat (90 degrees) to the back of the hold with the inset washers are all nicely placed... there's no need for set screw holes as these holds are too small to warrant them.

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Good

RATING:
Noodles:
Yeah I swore, and I think I made a pretty good point in the walk through that if everyone named their holds what they are it'd be a different World we live in.. can you imagine? "Weird looking sloper thing"... "Utterly crap piece of BS"... HA! Maybe I'm on another planet (maybe not) but wouldn't it me nice if there was (and get this)...

A UNIVERSAL SIZING GUIDE FOR CLIMBING HOLDS

You know as it currently stands one mans XL is someone else's 2XL and so on and so forth... that'll be the day.

I'm off topic again.. let me talk about the holds as that's what we're all here for...

These holds are actually pretty comfy, even if you use them as small edges/crimps.. they're not big by any means but they're not small. Would I suggest that they should be used on a 45 degree wall or steeper... sadly no... they just don't hit the mark as they're not incut enough to warrant this happening! Yeah I know we used them on the 45 and lets face it on the 60 as well and here's the problem... they can be used on the 45 and they could be used on the 60 degree wall as well if you're someone like Daniel Woods or if you just don't like your fingers

I'm suggesting to Summit that that make the exact same shapes but in larger sizes, maybe with some variations on incut so that people can pick and choose what they want for their wall and their training needs. More is good, even more is superb.

If you grab two sets of these and chuck them at a 30 degree wall you could have yourself the start of a nice system wall... I believe (off of the top of my head) that system walls should be 45 degrees and steeper... but I'm not 100% on this fact. Wether this is going to be of any benefit to anyone I don't know, I'm not a sports trainer or Eric Horst :)

Final thing, do I like these holds? Yeah, what I like more is that Summit Labs are getting a bigger range of holds, they're got some slick dual texture and some nice pinches. There will be more sets coming soon I'm sure. I don't like the SL logo on the small holds, it looks a little cheap (compared to their normal logo) but that's just personal taste really.

Chris:
When we get a new set of pinches we're always wondering whether we can use them on the 45 degree wall. Usually we can tell right away if we have any chance to stick the holds on the 45 but most often than not the holds are in the shady ground between white and black. There were times when Noodles had a laugh when I couldn't get through a pinch problem on the 45, others when I got under his skin for the same reason. When the question of whether we bolt the Comfy Pinches on the 45 I was a little apprehensive with the idea. These holds are small, I can barely get three fingers on most and they're very narrow adding to the degree of difficulty of the holds. We went through a lot of trial and error finding the beta on the problems we set but we knew after the first attempt that our sequence was tough and painful, but not impossible.

There are a couple of things that helped us: 1) These holds are Comfy and we could try the problems over and over 2) The holds are incut. Considering the size of the hold you can imagine that there isn't much of an incut on the holds but it give a surprising amount of friction. One of our problems started with a throw to the first hold and after getting it the first time, we managed to get onto that hold every attempt there after. I was able to get through the two problems we set on the 45 but some of the moves were at my limit and it's hard for me to hang on some of the holds but all in all, I like them.

PROS:

• Could be used as system holds (you'd need two sets) as they're not left / right biased
• They are actually comfy, despite their size
  

CONS:

• Color is a little faded towards the edges on two of the holds
• The SL logo is a little cheap looking
  

Review > World Cup Climbing Holds > Morbs Set 1

It’s been a hot week in Montreal, luckily the wall doesn’t get too much sun and we had our first review on the wall with the Morbs from World Cup Climbing Holds.This set is made up of a series of pinches, of varying shapes and sizes but why this set is called Morbs is anyone’s guess. Some of the holds are simple in shape, while others are more intricate in design. The smaller hold are a plain and simple one pad pinch where the larger ones which are sculpted with more and more grip options. The manufacturing of the holds are consistent and the texture of the holds is like those we’ve received from them in the past. (As in we have a bunch of their stuff that we're currently reviewing!) The texture is smooth and nice on the skin and even though some of the holds may be small, there is plenty of friction to keep you on the wall.

Even though there are only seven holds in this set, the shapes worked well with all the angles we have on our new wall and it made for some great problems all on their own. It can be difficult to set a fun problem with a small set of holds, the size of the set limits you to the amount of moves you can make in a problem, but with the Morbs, the shapes of the holds create more options and as a setter you can easily force moves. On our new wall, we have three different angles, vertical, 45 and 30 degrees (Actually we have five angles... the roof and the 70 degree) and we’ve had pinches up on these angles and Noodles has always liked to see me fall on those routes so he set.

The Morbs are much easier than you would first think. With the exception of the smallest hold, there was plenty of space to get a second hand on the hold. Although you’ll be getting a lot of weight onto the hold the shape gives you edges and features that will give you more friction, they're skin friendly little shapes that can be trickier than you think, especially if you let Noodles loose on the wall with a wrench.

Small holds with lots of variety is a good thing for people with limited space and these holds certainly hit the mark! If you're running a single panel wall, or something that's small then space is always at a premium and you want to get as much stuff up there as possible... Morbs anyone? Hell both sets (there are two)... check what we did with just seven holds... you can set some pretty interesting stuff. Easy or hard, your choice

SUGGESTED USES:





Well, as usual someone suggested that we put these on the roof. Our common sense kicked in and the Morbs didn’t make their way on the roof. Granted the larger holds of the set could be big enough ;) but we never tried

The set is best for vertical to slight overhanging terrain and once again it's the variety of shapes and sizes in the set make it versatile and can find a place on any angle even though the holds aren't large. These holds are going to be good for beginner to intermediate climbers and even though we're saying that we had lots of fun on the 30 degree wall trying different ways to get through just one move... there's something to be said for that, the move was fun but the fact that Jeff, Noodles and Chris all stopped and started playing on one move of a pretty short route means there was something there. Even Nick who's only really just started climbing had no problem with the holds and was getting pretty far on the one route that we filmed.

Putting these holds onto the 45 is probably not the wisest thing, but having them there does start to show the holds true colors... simple to look at and really when you get down to base facts pretty plain to look at, and despite that and the fact that they are pretty basic shapes they are pretty tricky on a steep wall. Again nothing completely crazy, but for someone that's just starting to climb and has a steep wall something that will test them and will give them good value for money to boot

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 7
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): 35 / 7 = $5 per hold
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds):
• Color: Semi swirled purple on purple
  
• Bolt placement: Middle
  
• Sanding: Good
  
• Texture: Pretty grippy
  
• Set size: Small
  
• Versatility: Better than you think
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: No, they're too small
  
• Shaper: Jeff Lemaster

Overall build is pretty damn good for a new company! The sanding is right on, the texture is not bad and the holds don't need constant brushing... the color is a good one as our holds are purple on puple (two tone) and they do look pretty neat. Material wise, Noodles threw them around the wall and they've been chucked into a box and moved across town with nothing adverse happening to them... so they're pretty strong.

The holds are too small for set screw holes so they obviously don't have any and each hold has the World Cup logo on them.

Shaping... ah shaping. These aren't amazing holds to look at, that's for sure, but they are nice to grab onto... they look a little plain and in some cases they're actually deceptive to grab (or to find the correct way to grab the hold) and for sure it's not going to be to every one's taste, but that's a matter of person opinion. Given the size these holds are good fillers for any home wall, they're cheap and they're pretty versatile with sneaky thumb catches on most of the large shapes. What these sets need to be really is one large set (rather than two) as it will give route setters a chance to set routes and will give the home wall owner a bunch of hand or foot holds for a cheap price. So the shaping is pretty basic, no mad flourishes and no new leaps in handhold design... but they do get the job done well without hand/finger pain

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Bomber, the box was padded with foam around the inside and the holds were all perfect

RATING:
Noodles:
World Cup Climbing Holds are pretty new kids on the block, we've had a bunch of their stuff for a while... and what did we choose to review first? The Morbs, the first set of holds that Jeff shaped and that was just a weird coincidence! So our first review for a new company is also on the holds that were first shaped... ah this could be interesting!

There seems to be a running theme through the World Cup lines and it's something you'll see us repeat over the up coming reviews and that is the thumb catches... it is something I noticed from the start when we were running the walk through is that there always seems to be (more often than not) thumb catches on the holds.

The Morbs are an interesting little set of holds that are kind of hard to classify, there seems to be everything in the set; they're not focused on any one style or shape and that's a pretty good thing as it means you can really play around with the seven holds and will end up making some fairly varied problems with them. We had them on both walls, our old wall in a rough set (where we took all the World Cup holds) and just set something set by set in one long route and then we became more focused on the new wall on the 30 degree wall; setting something that go's from the Diablo dual texture holds into the angle and the Morbs... it looks pretty simple and given the easy nature of these holds it is easy... until you get to the one small sloper of the set on the side wall. Matching this hold is pretty hard, doable, but hard to do. As you've seen from the video we played around with one move of the route to see how many different ways we could get through it.

On the 45 degree wall for me 5 of the holds are fine, the smallest sloper and it's bigger brethren are always going to get relegated to footholds, there isn't enough to catch and hang on..

Overall being another new company World Cup Climbing Holds waited for the bell and then came out swinging. Not having the biggest line out there but also not having the smallest, they're trying to make a name in a market that has expanded a lot over the last two or three years... it's a good for us (the hold buying public) but hard for them to get noticed. The Morbs aren't the most creative holds out there, but there is some great variety within the set... you know a little something something for everyone and the price is pretty good; I'd point people looking for some cheap holds towards this set (there are actually two Morbs sets) they're pretty good filler for a wall that needs some holds, pretty beginner friendly and very well made. They're not for everyone, as hold shape / size / style is going to be subjective to the person looking at them... I'm honestly 50/50 on them because they don't give me the degree of challenge I looked for in a set of holds (that's just my personal taste), I enjoyed climbing on them but they're not a.m.a.z.i.n.g.

So that's the end of Round One with World Cup... we kept the more interesting stuff for Round Two... we really wanted to kick the crap out of the next set of holds that we've got coming up sooner rather than later (and for us to do that we needed a new wall... well now we have no excuses :P)

Stay tuned, there's some more stuff coming and it's pretty jaw dropping

Chris:
Ok…I was pleasantly surprised with these holds. At first glance I didn’t think much of them and passed them off as “just another set of holds”, but after a setting with them I changed my tune. We had these holds a while and they’ve seen some time on the old wall. We used them mixed in with other holds and they’ve been one of our staple sets lately. It all comes down to the fact that they’re fun to set with. They're finger friendly and have more options than less that's for sure, I came back from BC and was thrown on a route that Noodles set on the 30 degree wall... we ended up getting all caught up playing with just one move of that route as it really captured our imagination; a lot of fun was had that afternoon!!

From 45 to vertical these holds will serve you pretty well, they're not much to look at but they do get the job done that's for sure. I'd have liked to have both of the sets at the same time so we could have set some longer problems

PROS:

• Small sized holds that are great for small walls
• Pretty versatile shapes, there's a good mix of styles
  
• Good price
• Well built
  

CONS:

• Shapes maybe a little too simple for some peoples tastes
• 7 holds isn't a long boulder problem
  

Chris goes to BC part deux

Now that I've spent a couple of days in the city, I'm ready to go back and rough it out in Squamish once again. While in Vancouver I had a chance to see Stanley Park and spent an afternoon on Granville island. Stanley parl reminds me a lot of our own urban park back home in Montreal. I also had a chance to go climb at the Edge Climbing Center. The Edge is smaller than Allez Up, the routes are about 15-20 meters high (Allez Up has high ceilings and our routes are quite long) but they boast a large boulder section. They have a good wall to warm up on and they have some nice roof and steep overhanging sections. It's a little out of the way and you need to cross the Lions Gate Bridge to get there but there is a really good vibe in that gym and my friends living in Vancouver suggest that I go to the Edge. So I spent an afternoon climbing with an old climbing partner who relocated to Vancouver last year and we climbed hard and got re-acquainted.

I planned to get back to Squamish on the weekend but the local forecast calls for rain this weekend so I decided to go early and hope for some nice weather.

June 18

1:oo p.m
I'm at the Vancouver Bus Depot and it's a beautiful day. I hope it's like this in Squamish.

3:30 p.m
It's a cloudy day in Squamish. People have been telling me that the weather hasen't been great this week but its been climbable. If it doesn't rain, I should be able to get a session in before dark.

5:00 p.m
I've got my shelter up and I'm stilltrying to locate Aryane. She's been here since Tuesday. She's probably out climbing some sport or trad. The weather held up and I heven't seen the rain all afternoon. The boulders are calling me.

9:00 p.m
I went up to Dreamcatcher and found the crashpad that I found there last week. I want to focus my attention on Baba Hari Dass so I warmed up on some of the problems I sent last week. So far I find the Black Dyke boulder is the best place for me to warm up. The easy highballs put me in a good head space. I moved onto the Easy Chair boulder and then headed back to Baba Hari Dass. I have three quarters of the sequence dialed in and the few hours spent at the Edge has prepared me for working on this problem. Now I'm pretty much getting to the top most of the time but I'm trying to figure out hoe to top it out. So far, out of all the people working this problem (and there are a lot of people who try it out) I haven't seen anyone finish it so every time I get to the top I'm trying to figure out what to do and I fall off. Thank god the landing is flat, its a scary fall.

June 19

8:30 a.m
I found Aryane at the cooking shelter last night hanginf out with the Quebec contingency. No surprise there, we make up a large part of the climbing community here in Squamish. We're heading out to Cheakamus Canyon for some sport climbing. Should be fun and it will give me a break from Ali Baba...I mean Baba Hari Dass;)

8:00 p.m
What a productive Day! We started off on Foundation Wall and although there are only six climbs in that area, it's a good place to warm up, with climbs ranging from 5.7 to 5.10. I find that the grades here are light comparedto what I'm used to at Montagne D'Argent back home. We moved onto the Forgotten wall and I found a really good 5.11d to work on...I think it's called Rug Munchers, although I'm not sure since I don't have a guide with me. I worked on it and sent it on my third attempt. It's a pumpy route with one good rest despite the obvious good holds found throughout the climb. My friend Jason sent a nice 5.12d with a hard throw to a three finger pocket in the crux of the route. Its a really impresive climb that I would like to work on the next time I'm in Squamish. We've been invited to go out and party in downtown Squamish but we're pretty tired from climbing today and we'll be taking it easy back at the campsite. No Baba tonight.

June 20

10:00 a.m
Breakfast is in my belly and I'm ready to go climb. Aryane went to go spend a second day in Cheakamus Canyon with Jason. It's been a pretty overcast all day, but I don't think it'll rain and I've decided to stay in Squamish and try to send Baba Hari Dass. I think this is becoming an obsession.

2:00 p.m
I went and did my regular warm up on the Black Dyke before moving onto my project. I can execute every move...start matched, cross onto a slope, left hand pinch, foot onto start hold, roll and cross into crimp, etc...and the moves come so easily the first couple of attempts but then I lose my juice and my sequence gets sloppy and I fall of the first couple of moves. Maybe a V7 will be unattainable this trip.....nah....I think I just need a rest day.

6:00 p.m
I went out to hit some new problems to boost my morale. I met a guy from Utah named Sam working on a cool problem on the Titanic boulder called the Mantis. The first move is a throw from an undercling and its a move that is really my kind of style. It goes from this to a top out. Short and sweet:) I also sent Titanic and Jer's Arrete on the same boulder. This ended up being another great climbing day.

June 21

9:30 a.m
This should be a rest day but I met some tree planters that Aryane was hanging out with and they've invited me to go out to Cheakamus Canyon. They're planning on taking it easy and I won't climb any harder than 5.9.

3:00 p.m
Did I say 5.9? I meant to say 5.10 c. There was one climb on Foundation Wall that I had left untried and unsent the last time I was at Cheakamus that I neede to climb to complete the six climbs in that area. We tried to find another area with easy climbs but got lost so we decided to come back to the campsite.

June 22

8:00 a.m
It's early and I've alredy taken a walk around the park, eaten and ready to warm up and hit Baba Hari Dass.

11:00 a.m
I found the crash pad under Dreamcatcher again. It must be my lucky pad:) There are many boulders around Dreamcatcher that go untouched. I can see that they've been climbed before from the faint chalk marks washed away by rain under the overgrown moss. I worked on an arrete that is a V6 or higher that I wasn't able to send so a changed the starting holds to make it a V0. I sent the Easy Chair problems to prepare for work on Baba Hari Dass. It was a good warm up and I made it to the last move on my three attempts on the problem. Now it's time for a break and lunch.

1:00 p.m
My bus leaves at 5:30 and I have enough time to give Baba three more attempts.

6:00 p.m
I'm on the Grayhound going back to Vancouver and I still haven't sent my project. I'm disappointed but I've made progress. I'm consistently getting to the last move but I'm having trouble toping out the problem. I don't know if I'll be back in Squamish on this trip since I'll be leaving for Skaha Lake on the weekend and may stay there for the remainder of my trip.

My Sends

Random 5.8-5.10c sport climbs in Cheakamus Canyon (I don't have my guide book)
Rug munchers-5.11d sport
The Mantis-V4
Jer's Arrete-V4
Titanic-V3
Random V0 near Dreamcatcher

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!!