JTREE LOGO2

JTREE LOGO

Interview > J Tree

Last year at the True North round of the Tour De Bloc I was talking to one of the Beta Clothing guys, Mark, he was running the Evolv shoe demo and being the (better looking) taller brother of David Smith (the owner of Beta Clothing) I wanted to talk to him about life and the universe (I heard he was sponsored by Black Diamond I kind of wanted to see if I could get a deal on a new harness.. :P)

The harness didn't work out, but as we were talking he handed me this:15ml of "climbing salve" from a company called Joshua Tree. I'd like to say it was one of those sketchy type of hand offs where he gave me the pot and told me to "check this shit out bro, it'll blow your mind"... but it wasn't, I asked what it was and like a well informed ambassador for any company he told me what it was, how to use it. Aparently it was pretty good on scraped up hands and cuts, which there isn't a shortage of at Climbingholdreview!

This of course begged the question "Is this stuff better than Climb On?", he said he preferred it and we should give it a try.

Time came to pass and we decided to talk to JTree and see what's up with them and what they do. As they're on the road (more often than not) it's taken about 6 months but here's a quick chat with David Lawrence... aka "J-Tree Dave" :)

Name and job
David Lawrence (J-Tree Dave) Owner and Visionary

Explain Joshua Tree Products

Hand Crafted Organic Skin care products tailored to the performance needs of athletes

You're not in J Tree, where are you based and can you therefore explain the name (I believe that the company was originally based in JT)

Company was founded by Jenny Q in Josh. I bought the business from her in 07, and moved it home to Michigan, where I still had a day job

We're pretty big fans of Climb On over here, what do you have for a climber that would compete with their hand balms?

Joshua Tree Climbers Salve

Is it better?

In more ways than one. I often reply to this question in jest with "if climb-on worked, i would have bought that business instead of JTree!"

On a more serious note, here are a couple of points to consider when comparing JTree to climb-on, or any other balm.

1-Less beeswax. Beeswax is the cheapest and least effective ingredient. Using less wax results in a product that actually soaks into your skin to do the healing. You wont wake up in the morning with it still caked on your hands, and smeared all over your pillow! IF your hands feel oily for more than a few minutes, wipe it off, and use a bit less next time.

2- Freshly brewed herbal extracts. We roast our herbs for 2 weeks at a low temperature. this creates a very potent and thorough extract. These herbs are what do the healing... so less beeswax = more of the good stuff!

3- Great packaging. The jar is easy to open (unlike those tins), looks great, and seals up tight.

4- JTree smells awesome! you can smell how potent the herbs are as soon as you open it. there are no aded fragrances.

5- No skin Softeners - helps keep tough skin tough!

What products do you have that cater to climbers?
Salve, sunscreen, lip balms, scented chalks

What is it in the salve that makes it good for climbers hands?

see 1,2,5 above.

15ml of the stuff isn't going to go very far, are there larger tubs available?

our standard jar is 50ml (1.7 oz) it should last an enthusiastic climber a few months, or a hardcore climber a couple weeks.

We see you have "spice powered chalk" care to explain that one to us?

Our Scented Herbal Chalks sound ridiculous, but people absolutely love them! They both have natural sources of menthol to help soothe sore worn out tips. Apparently your olfactory sense is very powerful at controlling your mental state. Chalking up at the crux, and getting a whiff of that familiar smell can really calm your nerves... "I've been here before, i can do this!"

Our chalk is actually made from the scraps at the block chalk factory... so it should have a very familiar feel to it. The chalk gets roasted during our production process, so there is no residual oils or herbals extracts.

Fire Chalk... here
Spice scented... smells like Christmas cookies. this is my chalk of choice

Ice Chalk... What about that?
Minty and fresh... we sell this 2x over the fire.

What's different between the cycling salve and the climbing salve? I've had some pretty nasty stuff on my hands... shouldn't I use the cycling salve?

We learned quickly that we can't sell climbers salve to people who don't climb... so we market about a dozen different versions. Most of them are the same recipe, with the exception of the cycling salve. Cycling salve gets a good dose of eucalyptus oil in order to help fight the bacteria that reside in you chamois, preventing saddle sores from healing.

You guys always seem to be on a road trip somewhere... do you get to climb?

I have been living in an RV since November 09. Trade shows and events set the schedule, but those are usually in places that have a lot of recreation. have been doing an equal bit of climbing, mtn biking, skiing, and surfing on the road.

Favorite place to climb?

I should say Joshua Tree National Park... It is probably the most spectacular place on earth!

I think my honest answer is The Red River Gorge in Kentucky. This has been my home crag for about a decade. Its pretty ironic that after climbing all over out west, at the end of most days, we comment "hell of a view... sure would be nice to be in the Red though!"

Where can people find your products?

Most good climbing shops... if they don't have it... ask em to get it! We sell online through Mountaingear.com and our webstore at JTreeLife.com. Canadian retailers include Valhalla Pure in Squamish, TI cycles in Gananoque, and Climbers Rock in Burlington.

How is the salve best used?
Based on the skin care regiment of our Canadian crusher chic, Leslie Timms, aka Les-the-Mess:

1-Climb harder than the boys!

2-Wash hands with soap and water... clean heals faster!

3-File down any calluses that are getting too thick. A nail file is great for this.

4-Rinse with rubbing alcohol to clean out all the micro cuts, and toughen the skin.

5-Apply JTree... use enough to cover your hands, not so much as to leave them too greasy to pick up your beer in a few minutes!

6-Reapply JTree before bed.

HRT LOGO

Review > Element Climbing Holds > Intesity

Here we are with this weeks review with a set from Element Climbing Holds. Now if you`re familiar with the company, you`ll see that Element has featured this set on their Periodic Table for the month of August.

If you've checked out Element Climbing`s website, you can subscribe to the Periodic Table where you'll get some of the latest shapes at discounted prices. This week we will look at one of the two sets featured in August, the Intensities.

The best way of describing the holds is a banana. They all have the half moon shape and although banana`s are yellow, we received our banana`s in orange. We got the holds out of the box and during our walk through, we were trying to figure out the best way of describing the features found on the hold. I mean, we could just say the hold has features but that would be too easy for us here at climbingholdreview.com, so we`re calling them intensity lines.

The set is straight forward: three holds in three different sizes with the same banana shape with a slight incut. Although all three holds look very similar, the incuts vary from hold to hold with the smallest having almost a flat edge and the mid size hold having the steepest.

The first thing we noticed with the shapes are the intensity lines. Do they help give you more friction, or just there for show? Your guess is as good as ours but the texture of the holds is pretty aggressive. Do you need the extra friction of the intensity lines? Probably not.

With three holds to play with, we first turned to the 45 degree wall. We played around with them trying to force the heel hook but we always managed to cheat our way through the sequence. These holds are big and the two larger holds of the set give you quite a bit to work with and you can just power your way through a sequence. We finally found a way to get a heel hook sequence. There is obviously plenty of room for your heel and the hold has a great shape for this purpose but the larger hold do dig into your heel. We set another route on the 30 degree wall and ending on he roof. For this problem, the medium size hold was the second hold and we managed to match our hands and get a heel onto the hold to finish the problem.

Some people liked the holds, some people didn't that's the nature of the beast. The roof is an interesting place to put these holds and we had to try by putting the worst one up there... result well out of: Chris, Noodles and Cedric, Chris managed to finish the route and well, let's face it the rest of the other people failed :( But it seemed to be fun failing

SUGGESTED USES:







With the exception of the small hold, they can be bolted onto any wall. Even set as a compression move on the roof is feasible for us (we climb V3-V5). The only downfall is the size of the set. With three holds, you'd need to have an arsenal of holds before you go looking at this set and begin setting a problem, of course the set isn't meant to be a boulder problem in it's own more something to complement your existing holds. That being said if you're looking to set three maybe four move routes then you're laughing, despite the lines these guys are ok (yeah we said ok) to play on. Despite the holds being friendly in nature the grooves (intensity lines) detract from their purpose :(

[Here we're kind of in a conundrum, Chris doesn't mind the holds or the grooves, Noodles likes the shape but hates the grooves. When we went to publish this review (and therefore passed it past Element Climbing) we received some feedback we quote:

"I'd argue that the "intensity lines" don't detract from the holds' purpose at all. If you want to make the case that they don't add anything, I'd go along with that - but only from a functional point of view. From an aesthetic point of view, I'd argue that the lines add visual appeal. Sure, they may not be needed - as you said - unnecessary icing on the cake. I guess I look at it like this: If I've got two climbers - one could care less about aesthetics and the other won't buy an "ugly" or "plain" hold if they've got other options - then why not do our best to make them both happy? This is the approach we've taken with Intensity"

Now you can see where we're at and where the hold maker is at when it come's to what we call the "Intensity Lines", Element has added them to make the aesthetic of the hold more visually appealing, and we agree that they do do that.. and it's something we've talked about on the site a fair amount from time to time. But in this case you have a climber (Noodles that doesn't like the lines and Chris who doesn't mind them... so it comes down to personal taste]

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 3
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): 49.45 / 3 = $16.65 per hold
  
• Color: Neon orange
  
• Bolt placement: Off center
  
• Sanding: Not bad
  
• Hollow backed: Two of them yes
  
• Soft back (Rubber backed): No
  
• Texture: Good
  
• Set size: Large
  
• Versatility: Ok
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Yes
  
• Shaper: David Filkins

The shape and form of these holds is great, we don't doubt that! It's the lines that are grooved in the shapes that kind of leave us standing staring. Chris likes the holds, Noodles hates them (loves the form but hates the grooves).... it's a fight over here that's for sure!!

Sanding is OK, there is one hold out of three that could have done with some more love on the sander, that being said it's really not that bad. The texture seems to be a little more aggressive than we've seen from Element before and we're not really sure we like it more than what we've seen before.

All of the holds have set screw holes which you're going to need whatever you do with the holds because of their nature and the off center bolt holes... normally we've not had too many spinners with bolt holes that have been placed off centre but with these holds we found because of there being an area where you grab that is away from the bolt hole that they spin more often than not... so we used the set screw placement, nothing unusal in this, it's just the nature of the beast with holds this size. The bolt holes are all nice and straight and nicely drilled :P

The color is something that we're not happy with, if you hold the holds up to the light you can see through them pretty well. Now this isn't something new, but when you look at the shapes you can see the color is a little washed out. We thought that this was strange but it's because the holds are hollow backed and when we looked at some other companies holds the same thing occurs, the holds aren't thin in any way shape or form, they're strong as hell and can take a real beating. Element uses a high quality urethane and because of the floro pigmentation that is lighter than other flat colors sometimes this effect can occur

Each hold has a nice inset washer and the Element Logo is easy to see for the ease of sorting out your holds

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Very good

RATING:
Noodles:
These are the first holds from Element Climbing that I don't like.

Phew hit that one out of the park :)

Why don't I like them? Well it's pretty simple and it's a matter of taste in this case.. the shapes would have been perfect (or better depending upon which way you look at it) if they hadn't have had what we've been calling "Intensity Lines"; these lines are right on the lip of what you grab and even though in the walk through I said they're deep but they probably won't grab your skin I was wrong... yes yes it does happen sometimes. If these grooves had been shallower or even rounder than they currently are then the shapes would have come out better. They pretty well aren't needed and are just icing on a cake that wasn't needed.. the cake was fine as it was!
The hold market is saturated with holds and companies these days and people feel the need to have their product stand out, at climbingholdreview this is something we deeply understand, it's a reason why people send us holds for our opinions... because we help their product stand out, its' what we do and it's something we love doing. Our opinions are unbiased and people understand (at least we hope so) that is is our opinion and sometimes when they get a bad review or some bad comments they just roll with the punches and continue, take them on board and then go and improve their designs.

I like simple shapes, I also like super intricate shapes as well... but when you take what was a simple shape and take it too far that product does begin to stand out, unfortunately in this case it's the wrong kind of stand out as I didn't enjoy hauling on them.

Chris:
Intensity lines....we`re getting creative...not! Although setting with three holds can be quick, the problems were very limited by the amount of holds in the set but this kind of shape will most likely find some permanent residency on our wall. The shape is simple and caters to everyone. We could use these to make a traverse with emphasis on the heel hook or have them in a warm up route.

I made the problem on the 45 and I thought that my problem would force us to heel hook the starting hold. I figured that the holds would be pretty hard on the 45 degree wall but it ended up being much easier than expected. So after turning some holds around and placing one a little further, we made a heel hook sequence up the 45.

In the past couple of years I've been focused on boulder and competition climbing and some of the first exercises I did at the local gym was to improve the use of the heel hook. I would practice going back and forth on the boulder wall using only my heel and I would have loved to see these holds on the wall for me to play on. The shape is ideal for hand heel matches and its a really fun move when you have bomber holds like these. The only one that was an issue was the medium size hold (The middles sized hold of the set)

Now granted I did have a lot of weight on my heel for that move into the roof but the size of the hold made it so the edge of the incut was just bellow my Achilles tendon and it hurt. Nothing I can't handle, but painful just the same.

The one thing that was an issue was the texture. On a normal day, Element will send us these nice, simple shapes with a smooth but grippy texture. We noticed right away that the texture differs from what we've received in the past. After having them on wall and playing around on them, my callouses grew a bit. Despite the fact that the holds can second as a sanding block, I really like the shape and utility of the set.

PROS:

• Good hollow back
• Simple shape, good for a roofs if you use the big ones

CONS:

• Slightly washed out color
• The "Intensity lines" are uncomfortable
• Will spin if you don't use a set screw.. and we mean WILL spin
  

Logo

Text about what we did here

SUGGESTED USES:









OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 3
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds):
• Color: Neon orange
  
• Bolt placement: Off centre
  
• Sanding: Not bad
  
• Hollow backed: Two of them yes
  
• Soft back (Rubber backed): No
  
• Texture: Good
  
• Set size: Large
  
• Versatility: Ok
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Yes
  
• Shaper: David Filkins

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Very good

RATING:
Noodles:
These are the first holds from Element Climbing that I don't like.

Phew hit that one out of the park :)

Why don't I like them? Well it's pretty simple and it's a matter of taste in this case.. the shapes would have been perfect (or better depending upon which way you look at it) if they hadn't have had what we've been calling "Intensity Lines"; these lines are right on the lip of what you grab and even though in the walk through I said they're deep but they probably won't grab your skin I was wrong... yes yes it does happen sometimes. If these grooves had been shallower or even rounder than they currently are then the shapes would have come out better. They pretty well aren't needed and are just icing on a cake that wasn't needed.. the cake was fine as it was!
The hold market is saturated with holds and companies these days and people feel the need to have their product stand out, at climbingholdreview this is something we deeply understand, it's a reason why people send us holds for our opinions... because we help their product stand out, its' what we do and it's something we love doing. Our opinions are unbiased and people understand (at least we hope so) that is is our opinion and sometimes when they get a bad review or some bad comments they just roll with the punches and continue, take them on board and then go and improve their designs.

I like simple shapes, I also like super intricate shapes as well... but when you take what was a simple shape and take it too far that product does stand begin to stand out, unfortunately in this case it's the wrong kind of stand out as I didn't enjoy hauling on them.

Chris:

PROS:

• YADDA

CONS:

• YADDA

Review > DRCC > Bleepin Pinches

Now it's no secret that we think the DRCC has some of the best dual texture holds on the market; none what-so-ever... and when we heard that they had a new set of the month (for August) called the "Bleepin' Pinches" we just had to get a set

Now the DRCC runs a pretty good hold of the month club, there are lots of different levels and the holds that we've been posting month to month in the New Stuff section has always been pretty varied! Like we said, soon as we heard about the Bleepin' Pinches Noodles really wanted to get his hands on them as fast as possible!! So lets look at something that is probably going to make you swear :)

The entire range

Small Medium Large

All in all if you get them all you're looking at 15 holds, all of them from the get go given the way they are makes you wonder where they're going to be useful... slabs is the first thought that really pops out at you, mix these with some small bolt on feet and you've got the making of something pretty special... maybe add in the Rail and then you've got the option of some interesting lay back moves. The real question is how far can you actually go with these holds angle wise, you know that the large BP is going to be alright on a 45 degree wall, but the smalls and the mediums don't really have that much of an incut on them so are they going to go?

The short answer is well.... the smalls are pretty well useless at 45, but the mediums are alright, despite the fact that they're really not all the incut themselves; now we wondered why this was and the answer is interesting. The texture on the mediums we noticed was different when we were climbing we put this difference down to us being slightly mental.. it looks the same as the other holds in the range. We decided to see if there was just a different mold or if the mixture was different. Looking at the medium Bleepin Pinches on the DRCC site they mention that the texture has been treated, but what does treated mean? We're guessing that there is either a different mold or that the textured part has been etched after the shapes have cured. Basically we don't know, but there is a difference, you can still climb as long as you like on the holds without shredding skin!

That being said the smalls are an interesting breed to say the least and you have to be pretty careful when selecting what holds to use when you're say pulling off of the floor; Eve likes setting really low starts (because she's small) and she chose probably some of the worst holds for this... remember she has small fingers and lady strength!! The end of it all is the smalls are pretty hard all over the place, if you have small fingers then you're going to have a bunch of fun, if you're like Noodles then you're going to have to try to gently brute strength your way through the moves to better terrain.. and even that didn't work half of the time :)

We actually rolled so much film with these guys we had to be pretty brutal with the editing and yet we still ended up with two climb videos and one walk through. The only other editing jobs that have more footage are the Tour De Blocs and a Climb It review on a set of holds that we've had for a while and will be reviewed when they're released (we have 8 hours of footage right now.... and that's just from one route!!) Hopefully you'll enjoy the films, they're all rated T for teen... there is (to say the least) some swearing but as these are the Bleepin Pinches we decided to leave them in for a change... rather than bleep the language :)

(Don't say we didn't warn you about the language!!)

SUGGESTED USES:

Check it out, we had to make a new symbol!!





Normally we'd actually split the three sets into three sections here, but in this case there's no real reason to do that, all of the sets/holds are pretty well getting the same angle rating except for the small holds that basically become footholds on a 45, we'd only suggest going to 30 degrees on those little buggers, maybe a little less it depends on how you're going to set with the holds.

You've got two options with all three sets.. pinch or edge, well three choices really as there are two sides to every hold so you can get some pretty good longevity out of the sets, just don't expect huge edges or super positive edges because these holds are neither... there are slight incuts and we mean SLIGHT incuts

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 15 total across three sets
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt on
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds):
• Color: Varied for ours
  
• Bolt placement: Middle
  
• Sanding: Excellent
• Hollow backed: The large is hollow backed, the rest are too small
• Soft back (Rubber backed): Yes for all of them
  
• Texture: Dual tex, slick and shiny and then textured with a nice bite
  
• Set size: Small / Medium & Large
  
• Versatility: They're dual tex and pinches, but they do make some pretty good edges
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Yes on the medium and the large
  
• Shaper: Brian Emling

The overall build quality is as good as you'd expect, there is really nothing to complain about.. the large Bleepin Pinch could maybe have used a sliding bolt arrangement but it would have made the hold more expensive than it already is, considering the size of the hold it's pretty good value. All three of our sets came in different colors, and as usual they're very vibrant.

All of the holds are rubber backed and have set screw holes, except the small guys as they don't really need them... the texture is pretty DRCC standard across the range with the exception of the medium pinches which have a slightly stronger texture to give you a little more purchase... and to be honest you need it if you're going steep with these guys... overall you can pull till your arms give out on these guys without worrying about your skin. The medium holds have been treated to give them a little bit more bite, what treated means is up to any one's guess as we don't know.

The largest Bleeper is hollow backed in the usual DRCC fashion, that is to say it is pretty damn nice and we'd hate to think what this thing actually weighs without it.


Color always seems to be different with the holds we get from The D, nothing that we have matches so it's always easy to remember which sets of holds are which as long as you can remember what color... or in most cases colors your holds may have come in. The images above show you what we received color wise this time around, we're pretty partial to the black and lime green ones... Eve likes the blue / yellow ones as blues her favorite color


WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Very good

RATING:
Noodles:
We had to make another symbol because we'd never had a set of holds that really needed a "slab" symbol before... least we have it now.

If you read the DRCC stuff under the sets you're always going to smile... lets look at it for shits and giggles:
Large Bleepin Pinch
Put on your filter if you see this hold on your route. There’s just enough incut to assume you’ll pull the move but not enough to know you have it. Flip the hold and you’ll increase or decrease your route by a grade. Keep it G Rated
See? It's actually a pretty good suggestion / description of this hold.

Medium Bleepin Pinches
Making up the medium sized pinches in the Bleepin Pinches series, these holds are a handful (or mouthful). The usable surface is large enough for two to three pads and the surface is treated in a manner to give you a little extra grip.
There is actually a little more grip on these guys and you f***in need it as well

Small Bleepin Pinches
Do you remember swearing for the first time? These holds will help you revisit the feeling. Scared to death of the trouble you’d get in but refreshing at the same time! The pad pinches look small but will make you feel alive
Do I remember swearing for the first time? I'm English, the first word out of my mouth was something pretty foul I'm sure.

Everyone that saw or touched these holds loved them, there haven't been any complaints across the board. It's nice that they tweaked out the medium set to give you a little more purchase than their usual texture, but I'd question this decision as it's the smalls that really need the texture tweak and more bite than the mediums. The mediums we think would go on a 45 degree wall without the extra texture, the small sure as hell don't but they could have maybe have been better if this was done.

As usual we've not even bothered with using set screws in the holes on the holds as with the rubber back we've never had one of the holds from the DRCC spin; mind you we're pretty sure that if you didn't tighten the hold and were lazy when setting you could get one to throw you off of the wall pretty easily. Thankfully even with the temperature changes that occur in the wall so far (fingers crossed) we've not had any problems with spinners

These holds are very well suited to hard boulder problems that's obvious once you touch them for the first time and they'd make for some interesting competition problems, I'd expect to see them at a round of the Tour De Bloc this year... why do I say this? Because one of the gyms on the tour has a set of these already... so I'm looking forward to whatever Dustin cooks up... it's going to be powerful either way :P

These holds are harder than you think; beginners unless you're on a shallow wall or a slab take your time and be careful.. these guys probably had more people on the floor than any other set and we weren't really being totally crazy with them (Except of course putting the big guy on the roof as a finishing move!) Everyone else just beware because you are going to get you f***ing ass kicked by these holds.

Eve:
I can't say that the bleeping are not as bleeping as I expected, although the shape itself (small pinch) is usually bleep inducing. I find most shapes of this collection fairly solid to hang from but with my little fingers I might have an advantage :D! The dual texture, is well done but it's not like they can be much else than a pinch at that size, unless maybe an edge and then you might wish there were a thumb catch but alas.... lol. I love the colours, just like my old room, although I do have to complain in the name of my joints. A pinch that tight is felt to the elbow man but no long term damage and ah! do I ever feel strong when I stick them! Comfy...ish, nice looking, feeling and compact, hell for heavy weights that count on powering through (I am NOT profiling ;) ) all together appreciable for what they are... bleeping pinches !@#$@#!

Chris:
I would guess that some bleeping pinches are more bleeping than others. Aside from the awesome DRCC dual texture and impeccable quality, the holds have lived up to their name in one way or another. As a whole, the holds have a well defined edge between the slick and textured part of the hold and the texture is a good balance between friction and comfort. The texture is pretty smooth but I'm surprised at the amount of friction you can get on the holds. Noodles spoke with Vince at DRCC and he's informed us that the texture of the medium set has been treated. You can tell the difference between the textures, but either way I found that there was plenty of gripping power to the holds.

So what makes one more bleeping than the other...well for me it has to do with the size of the holds. The small set has more incut holds than the mediums but matching these munchkins is a challenge unless you have tiny fingers like Eve. The medium sets where very comfortable to grip but a pain to stick since there are more slopey holds incorporated in the set.

I would say that these sets are geared towards stronger climbers and could be used for system training. Now I say could because I thought at first that we could get some training done on the holds but after setting a few problems with them I realized that I wouldn't be able to campus these holds up a shallow inclined wall but someone who's training for V10 or competitions may tell you something different. As for my final words: These sets are worthy of the word BLEEP!

Dora:
What can one say about the bleeping holds other than that they're totally awesome for small hands and hence, no censoring is required. However if you have regular size hands, I could foresee there being a bleeping problem.

The design of the holds is really good. The dual texture makes them visually appealing and it feels nice on the palm of your hand, because even with small fingers, the most finger surface you're getting on the smaller holds is around 1.5 phalanges. What I particularly liked about these holds is that they were perfect as pinches and as crimps. The fact that the textured part goes down on the curve of the hold is also really nice, because it gives your fingers extra stability and grip on the holds!

I really liked the holds mainly because they feel good, the texture is good enough that your fingers stick to it, but not so abrasive that it rips off your skin. which is great for when you first use them, i'm looking forward to seeing what happens after some extensive use, if the textured part was not abrasive and grippy enough... and becomes very smooth very fast - then they'll be bleeping holds for all - regardless of hand size...

PROS:

• Beautiful dual texture
• Nice range of sizes, you can just about get a full roped route of the range (just)
• Pinches or different edges just rotate
  

CONS:

• Brian the shaper may have been at the soft back mix a little too much
• The smalls are really made for people with smaller fingers
• These holds are slightly limited on angle usage as they are pretty hard holds to stick
  

barndoor logo

Review > World Cup > Diablo Duo Tex 1 & 2

Its been a while since we've spoken of World Cup...no I'm not anticipating the 2011 World Cup Climbing season but of the World Cup dual tex Diablo climbing holds:)

World Cup Climbing Holds is a relatively new player in the hold game. Jeff is the owner of World Cup and he's been operating his company out of Columbus Ohio for a couple of years now he sent us the Diablos when they were fresh off the press. The Diablos are one of the newest shapes available from World Cup Climbing Holds.

Now you can see that these two holds are duo textured but their shapes are quite different and there is a good reason for that. These holds are sold separately and can be found in different locations on the World Cup Climbing Holds website. Diablo 2 is in the pinch category on the site while Diablo 1 is found in the sloper category of the site. Now both holds can be used as pinches since the textured part of the holds are on opposing sides of the holds and gives you some friction when pinching down on the holds with your thumb. Although both holds can be considered pinches, the Diablo 1 is round and brings your hands into more of an open hand position.

We would consider these holds to be aimed at a experienced climber. The grip is very specific and you can only grab the holds one way and when we had them up on the 45, the holds took us for a ride. When we initially set the route, we wanted to put both holds onto the wall but realized that we would be in over our heads so we decided on one. The debate was over which one do we put on the 45? Well we settled on the sloper and went onto trying to send the problem. While Chris's abs were aching over a workout from the previous day, Noodles and Eve both found different sequences to get them though the problem. Now we know that these holds are not good on the 45 for the average climber.

As the night went on we each had our chance to set a problem with the holds. These holds ended up being harder than expected. Our saving grace was in the fact that we managed to use the slick part of the hold. When Eve set a low start on the vertical wall, we used the textured part as a pinch but we needed the slick part of the hold to help get ourselves off the ground. We also used the slick part of the hold when we placed the Diablo 2 on the roof. The hold was positioned so that we had minimal use of the textured ares so we managed to use the textured part to get through the sequence. Now its not to say that their duo texture is not slick but quite the opposite, it glistens. The reason we could hold onto the holds is in the shape. The Diablo 1 is geometric in shape and there are flat spots on the hold were you can get enough of your fingers onto it to pull.The Diablo 2 cuts in a little where the hold meets the wall and we could squeeze our fingers into that area to keep us afloat.

Three different routes by three different people in one night? WHY? Because despite using these holds a bunch we've not managed to film anything that actually made any sense, they've always been moved around the wall but we found that having them on a corner the best place (for us) to have them as it gave us some nice transition moves for our long routes on the wall :)

SUGGESTED USES:







Ok I know you`re expecting us to say that we were thinking of putting these guys on the roof but the thought didn't even occur to us. We're crazy, but not that crazy ;) So either of these holds may be classified as pinches or slopers although the Diablo 1 is much slopier than the second incarnate of the hold, the hold is small enough so anyone can easily get their thumb around the other side. With that said, since they can both be considered pinches, they can be placed on steeper terrain than you would expect.

These guys only rock in at 30 degrees because after that they're pretty well unusable, unless you set something really really specific, a real specific move with the hold... moving up from underneath these guys is super hard!!

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 2 each hold is sold separately
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): $19.95 each
  
• Color: Red and Black but available in other colors
  
• Bolt placement: Centered
  
• Sanding: Good
• Hollow backed: Yes, with a center column
  
• Texture: Duo Texture
  
• Set size: medium
  
• Versatility: Limited, but there are a lot of options if you're creative
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: None
  
• Shaper: Jeff

The Diablo 1 is classed as a sloper and the Diablo 2 is classed as a pinch... both holds are hollow backed really well, they're very nice hollow backs!; But they are a little heavy despite this being done, we've seen better and we've seen far worse :)

Texture-wise these guys have a quite crystaline but not painfully so, the slick part of the hold is nice a shiney and slick... the only reason that we were able to grab on the slick part is because of the base shape of the holds... there are a few minor flaws in the texture and one hold seems to want to pack every grip type onto one shape so it feels a little cluttered

Color? Woo they're the same as the images we show; they definitely stand out on the wall that's for sure the color is nice and even and super bright

Sanding is bomber, the slick is slick and the textured part isn't so bad it'll kill you. The base shape of the holds are what allows you to stick onto the slick parts of the holds and that's the problem... they could have been shaped a little thinner to stop this, or the base could have been a little more sloped (actually waaay more sloped) to stop this from happening. That is kind of the point of D/T holds... so you can't actually cheat the move that's set and here they kind of fall down, which is a shame

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Very good

RATING:
Noodles:
Anyone else think that the World Cup logo looks like a benzene ring? Ok, just me then.
It's always hard reviewing just two holds, you always end up using other peoples stuff to flesh out the route some... in this case we rolled with the DRCC big Bleepin Pinch (actually called the Fudgin' Pinch) and Setters Delight as we had them kicking around on the wall... the fact, as you can see from the video, that we were able to hang onto the Diablo 1 hold on the 45 doesn't mean we're recommending either of the holds for this type of angle... overall 30 is about the best for these guys... you could use them on the 45 but it's not going to be fun and it's not really recommended... the only reason we got away with it is because of the route and the way it was set.

These holds if you watch closely have been on the wall for a long time, they stayed primarily in one spot... right in the corner as an arete move and in this position they're superb, infact we're probably going to put them back there.

Looking at either hold you can and will notice a couple of things:

• World Cup's slick part is actually pretty slick... but not so slick you can't hold onto it, we were able to use the slick part when the holds were on the roof to balance ourselves and then move off. I didn't use the textured part really
• The defining line between the slick and the textured is a little but wavy, it's not as well done as some other companies
• Their hollow backs are lovely to look at
• They seem to love their thumb catches... that's for sure

It seems that they tried to pack a little too much into the Diablo 1 hold, there's a little of everything and it feels (in my mind) a little cluttered; if the hold were the same but a little simpler in design then they'd be much better... that being said the Diablo 2 is great, it reminds me of a Franklin dog dish we have... I'd be happy with the D2, the D1 needs a little rethink... there should be more of these, different sizes and a little cleaner and then they'd be cooler. The entire point of D/T holds is so you cannot cheat the move in anyway shape of form (setting aside here) and these shapes both fall down as I can use the D/T and then go around using the textured part to complete a move... again this is because of the base shape of the holds... they're just too positive

Chris:
You won't see many holds with a cool color scheme like the Diablos. I was really impressed when with the red and black color scheme that is very fighting for these holds. Althoughyou can get them molded in whatever color you want, in my opinion the color scheme doesn't get any better than this.

As Noodles pointed out we've had these holds on the wall and they've become a staple hold that always has a home on our wall. We never had it on the 45 until it was time for this review. I though that we could get up the wall but when I had the holds bolted to the wall I realized that they're not as good as I first expected. I changed up the sequence a little and it became manageable. Noodles and Eve both got the sequence, while yours truly found himself on his but more often than not.

Now you've been reading on how we were able to use the slick part of the hold and this would be the major downfall of the shapes. The shape itself is very well thought out and only has one hand placement if you take into account the duo textured nature of the hold. Unfortunately the size of the hold and a creative mind could find ways of getting around that. We needed to use one of the holds as a foot hold and our shoes landed on the slick part of the hold and our feet never broke off the hold. An experienced route setter will be able to force sequences but must be aware that one foot hold too many could alloy the climber to cheat the sequence.

PROS:

• Nice hollow back.. not the best not the worst
• Great colors
• Good first effort on D/T holds
  

CONS:

• You can cheat around moves because of the shape of the hold
• Some texture flaws
• You max out at 30 degrees with these guys
  

Samsara logo

Review > Uncarved Block > Large Edges

It's been a while since we've run an Uncarved Block set of holds, we have a bunch and bit by bit we've been working though them. This time we're looking at a set called the Large Edges:

One thing that is always apparent with UCB sets is that the texture never varies between the holds; the texture is always grippy with enough friction for you to stick a move but without it being too rough that you can't spend all day playing on their holds. The other thing is that we don't think we've found a hold from them that has a sharp edge on it, except of course where the back of the hold meets the wall... in days gone by this sharp edge used to get chipped; but as the holds are now mainly made of urethane (you can still get most of the sets in resin if you'd prefer) this has become less of an issue.

Any set of holds that comes from the other side of the World (Australia to Canada) is always going to be one of those boxes that you worry about, shipping companies aren't exactly known for their TLC when they ship their holds, thankfully this box didn't come via TNT it came via airmail and nothing was broken or chipped during transit (The reason we talk about TNT is because one box we had was just destroyed... you can see the reenactment of this: here. Go watch the walk through video for some giggles)

So the holds are unscathed, they're urethane and the texture and shapes are nice... so how do they climb?

These holds are by no means large when it comes to edges, they vary from a couple of pads to just single pad, but they're very very matchable and when you get them on a 30 degree wall they're a little harder than you'd expect, put them onto a 45 and you're going to be making some pretty desperate moves just to stay on. As we've had these holds for a long while they've been moved about, either as a full set or as parts of other routes... and when they're part of a longer route whenever someone is a little lost all you generally have to say is "ying yang" and they know that they have to hit an UCB hold :)


SUGGESTED USES:






We'd say rock on all the way up to 45 degrees, but that'd just be a little crazy... hang on... we said goto 60 degree's, we must be plain mad. To put it very simply, these holds are matchable on a 60... but you're going to be pretty sketched out getting into and out of whatever you decide to set :) On a 30 these holds are harder than you think but fun, on a 45 you're able to pull but it's hard and on a 60, well that's just where things get interesting. Interesting if you're watching someone else do the route... bloody hard if it's you that's actually trying to maximize the amount of grip you can get out of the holds.

As always the holds are skin and finger friendly, they're a little more technical than they look in any images you see of them... so be warned, they're not that easy, they're slightly hard to read and harder than you really think

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 5
  
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt on
  
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): 50.95/5 = $10.19 AUD per hold
  
• Color: Blue
  
• Bolt placement: Slightly off center as these are edges
  
• Sanding: Not so good
  
• Texture: Classic UCB, grippy but skin friendly
  
• Set size: Large
  
• Versatility: Not so good, you're not really going to want to use these as under clings :P
  
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Yes on each hold
  
• Shaper: Todd Free
  

One thing that makes UCB holds stand out on the wall is the ying-yang logo, it's inset and whenever people are a little lost you can just say ying-yang and they'll be on the right track pretty quickly. The sanding on these guys was a little off, and some of the edges look as though they've been run across a sander to lessen the edges... which is a little strange for these guys; we've had large sets from them in the past and there's never really ever been a problem with the sanding.

All of the holds have a smooth even texture and the same goes for the shapes, one thing that UCB always has is very ergonomic finger friendly shapes, these are possibly somewhere between edges and crimps... but we always seem to climb with very open hands with them. Inset washers are nice and square, same for all of the drilled bolt holes. These holds came in a darkish blue color that is a little flat when it comes to our wall as we have lots of blue holds, but because of their size and the logo they stand out pretty well

Inset screw holes are included with all of these holds, because of some of the forces you can generate with these holds means as some of the bolt holes aren't in the center (they're placed to the side) means you're going to have to use them. Normally we'd not bother, unless the hold was going onto the rood, but we had a long pull to one of the longest shapes and as the wall had been through a few temperature fluctuations it meant that a quick trip to the mats was in order :)

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Australia to Canada in perfect shape!!

RATING:
Noodles:
Sometimes I wonder how UCB make a shape, do they make some horrible stuff and then just smooth it out until the shape becomes nice? Who knows, but they do a good job and i'm still impressed with their new urethane mix... did you see me smash one of their thin holds onto my coffee table? It's strong ol stuff.

So far, there hasn't been one UCB shape I don't like... actually there is, but it's a pocket and it's not something you see around very often... the only reason I don't like it is because we always put it somewhere stupid and I end up falling off and tweaking a finger :(

The large edges are another one of the sets I'd say people should look at, we spent weeks and weeks pulling on them in one route or another and no one ever complained of anything other than they can get a little chalked up and the texture (which is fine) can get lost... so you brush and continue climbing to your hearts content.

It's a shame the sanding was a little off, it's not something we expect from any company and it was a surprise to see something so simple as that taking away from a set of holds that is way more technical than you think. Angle wise it's up to you, on a 45 they're hard but fun... it depends upon (as usual) what you set and how strong you are... I think Chris puts it very well when he says "you need to have both strength and technical finesse to feel comfortable climbing on these deceitful double edged swords", I would go so far as to change that sentence to "decietful double edged b*srds"... still fun holds thou

Chris:

Anytime I see that Yin Yang logo on a hold I know that I'm in for a world of pain...pain for my ego that is...and as with the concept of the Yin Yang, Uncarved Block holds have always showed a duality in their shapes. There was a time when I would climb at the gym and fail miserably on routes set with Uncarved Block holds but I've come a long way since and I manage to stick the holds now. It seems as though all their shapes are slopey and even with edges like this, there are no corners, just nice round edges to keep our tendons happy but at the same time, the round slopey edges adds a level of difficulty to their holds.

So how about these shapes in particular? I don't see these holds being used on any kind of steep overhanging terrain by most climbers and they would be too difficult to climb on for the average climber on these angles. The shapes of Uncarved Block holds are on the technical side and you'll be hard pressed if you try to use brute strength and ignorance to get you through a sequence but here's where the duality of the holds come in. Now I've mentioned that the shapes are technical and that they're probably geared towards a more experienced climber but at the same time, even when the problem/route is hard and frustrating, I keep coming back to try to get the send and even though the holds are hard to climb on, you get the feeling that with just a little more effort, you can get through the sequence and it keeps me coming back for more. If you were to ask me in the moment what I thought of these holds I would tell you straight out that they suck, but in the end I think they're really good holds. Climbing on these holds will make you a better climber, but not in the traditional "get strong" sense but in the fact that you need to have both strength and technical finesse to feel comfortable climbing on these deceitful double edged swords. In my book, they're winners :)

PROS:

• As usual superb construction
  
• Nice even texture
• Easy to locate because of the logo
  

CONS:

• Sanding was off
• Could be harder than you expect
  

New So Ill ad july

Trial

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)