Review ­­Chalk Buckets

 So occasionally we review some gear, you know back packs (Like the Asana Team Pack or the Pusher Sack) and of course we weigh in on shoes from now and then as well. As we`ve been on a break we figured hell we will do a chalk bucket review... it`s obviously climbing / bouldering season right now and indoor comps are going to be happening for the winter in a few months time.

What better way than to do a quick round up of the buckets we have kicking about the wall. There's some new, some old and lets face it some that are pretty god damn chalky!!!

WHAT WE DID:

To make the review as fair as possible as usual the comments are from more than one person and we all sat down to define what criteria we were going to use to actually test the bags. After a bunch of discussions we decided upon what you can see in the table that's further down in the review.

This time as lots of people have been weighing in on the bags with their personal comments the usual format is out the window, the commentators that we normally have at the end of the reviews haven't been included, they're scattered throughout the review and some of the most common comments have been included in the table.

These are the criteria that we decided we should look at:

• Overall build quality
• Is the stitching straight, the Velcro well seated etc
• Price
• In USD
  
• Volume 
• How much chalk can you get into them. This was done with water in ml and then converted to liters.
• Closure 
• Zip / Velcro / other
• Opening size in inches (Can you get both man mitts into the bag easily)
• Drop test 
• How much chalk comes out of the closure when fully closed and the bag is dropped? As if someone threw it from the top of a boulder to the ground and it wasn't caught.
• Stability 
• How well does the bag stand up by itself? If you land next to it does it fall over? We put the bucket on the mats at a local gym in the same spot and then dropped from the wall in the same spot about 5ft away from where the bucket was. We also did the same test at out wall
• Durability 
• All bags were used for a two week period by various people, any abuse was allowed (they all went on at least two climbing trips) The bags have all been used for 3 months or more in the wall at Climbing Hold Review
• Features
• Do they have pockets / key or phone holders, if so how many
• Did the phone pocket take a Blackberry or iPhone, did they protect from chalk
•  Additional features 
• What other features to these bags have?
• Team Comments 
• Comments that came up more than once from team / testers that helped with the test or a comment that was heard when the bags were out and about

So obviously we have our work cut out for us, there are a lot of things to look at and therefore a whole bunch of climbing to be done. This review was started months ago and we've been working on it for a while... so here comes the main course, lets meet the victims of the review:

THE BAGS AND WHAT THE SITES SAY ABOUT THEM:

(Italic text is from the manufacturers website, anything in normal font is from us) 

Asana Community Bucket: Carry this stylish bucket around the circuit for miles of bouldering and great comments on the smart design. The bag unzips and zips with east as you move from one problem to the next. Zipper does not clog with chalk.

• New combo zipper and shock cord closure
• Zippered pocket
• Carries tons of chalk
• Heavy nylon material
• Brush loop
• Carry handle
• Fleece/nylon lining
• Water resistant base

One thing to note about this bucket is that every bucket is hand made and you can probably specify colors. Asana are using their off cuts from their pad manufacture to make these buckets. This bucket was an instant hit with one of the team members (who already has one of the review buckets!) because they fell in love with our sample.

Made by Jamey and the team at Asana down in Boise, ID. All the bags are hand made in the US. If you want to get custom colors then you need to talk to them because most of the bags are made from off cuts from their pad manufacturing process so the colors of what you'll get are random. These bags are burly

 Metolius Bouldering Bucket:

• New - youth inspired designs
• Large, floor-standing chalk dispenser
• Stiffened body design keeps it open
• Pile lining with external stash pockets (side & bottom)
• Dual brush holders
• Bombproof construction with fully-taped seams
• Each bucket comes with M-16 Bouldering Brush and 2.5 oz. (70 g) bag of Super Chalk
• 9" tall x 7.5" dia. (229 mm x 190 mm)
• Colors: grey subway graffiti, blue graffiti drum, purple patch pocket, green patch pocket

Metolius didn't have any "youth inspired" design buckets to send our way for review. So we improvised with our original bucket that we've had in the wall for the last five odd years. So these new buckets are a little gangsta where as ours is redneck camo :), it's a matter of taste we guess, the design hasn't changed so we're good to go. Oh and we never knew that there was a pocket on the bottom of the bucket till we started doing this review.... well someone must have known as we found $2 and a roll of tape!

DZ Artworks Bucket:

• Recycled climbing rope
• Recycled cord
• Recycled fleece
• Recycled nylon

Well that's pretty damn simple when you think about it!! Someone actually sent us this link when they were looking for something else, what's funny is the person that sent us the link isn't a climber but does come past the house to chill out and to shoot the shit! These bags are handmade with rope, your rope if you send it to them, so you can re-use it again for something other than a tow rope. You even get a discount for doing this!!


Noodles made a phone call and voila here is a 100% recycled chalk bucket made from rope. It's the heavy weight of the buckets we're reviewing but what it lacks in lightness it makes up for in other ways

Organic Climbing Lunch Bucket: Time tested and simple, this design is a secure warehouse for your chalk supply. Burly 1000d nylon fabric is stiff so the Lunch Bag Bucket stays open while you're bouldering. The bag seals with a 3/4" hook and loop and then rolls down and clips like a boaters dry bag. Big outer pocket, two elastic brush loops, and signature Organic colors round this stylish, user-friendly bouldering necessity

 This bag was stolen quite quickly and was abused on a climbing trip when we weren't looking; when it returned it was good to see that it had survived with little or no damage. The comment from the person that borrowed the bad was "this thing is bomb proof". Once you get used to the closure system you have one of the biggest volume bags at your disposal. 

Josh has been churning out pads for years and same goes for some other items that he makes (He does make a pretty good back pack, it`s not on the site you`ll have to ask him about it) You can order custom colors from these guys, just let them know what you want and they'll hook you up, all of the bags are handmade in the USA and they're top quality.... again they`re using the offcuts (recycling y`know) from their pad manufacturing so nothing is wasted.  

If you want a pink and green bag, they'll make you a pink and green bag, same goes for their pads. We`ve looked on enviously at people that have Organic buckets and chalk bags, each time they look amazing... it was just a matter of time before we got one!

Black Diamond Chalkboy Chalk Bucket: 
Far more than a typical chalk pot, the Chalkboy is an all-in-one bouldering bag.

• Upright design for stability
• Durable nylon pad fabric
• Equipped with 2 handles and external mesh side pocket for extras
• 4 inside brush sleeves

This bag was actually brought the day before the start of the Tour De Bloc a few years ago, maybe it was because of it's bowling bag looks or the bowling shirt that the member of the crew was wearing a little too much at the time that made them buy it we'll never know.

This bag will also go down pretty well at the bowling alley :) Black Diamond are one of the companies you won`t see on our site as they don`t make climbing holds for one, their website is a little lacking on details for this bucket... they went for simple

B.A.Gear - Growler

• Base- 7" x 7"
• Height- 8.5"
• Opening- 5.5" across
• Brush loop- 1 1" elastic brush loop
• Two pockets
• 3mm Bluewater accessory cord (stronger sheath so it wont fail you)
• Grab loop- 7" (easy to grab and clip to)
• Made of heavy upholstery vinyls for structure and durability
• Heavy fleece to hold your chalk in
• Every bouldering bucket has a unique stitched design on the bottom
• Every seam is double stitched for added durability
• All products are handmade in Bloomington, IN

This bag was sent to us in CHR colors :) That's a nice touch when it's going to be reviewed, there were actually two of these buckets... the other was promptly "borrowed permanently" by one of our regular crew.

These bags are hand made in the US and each one comes with a custom stitched pattern on the bottom, BA Gear are hard hitters for a small company, they have recently moved to a new place which is larger so expect some good stuff from these guys. We actually use their normal chalk bags when we`re climbing (you know with a rope and stuff), again the bags are top notch quality and are just the right size... if they`re not they actually make some larger chalk bags for people with big hands.



WHAT WE DID:
So all of the bags were used for a long time, they've suffered more than most people will put them through in a year in a very short amount of time. Here is the list of what we did and some of the stand out features / complaints:

• Overall build quality



Checking the stitching

• Every bag before it was used was looked over with a fine tooth comb, we looked at all of the stitching; we pulled on the seams to see if they would rip or tear in anyway... with the exception of the DZ Artworks bag, the rope that is the main material of the bag is glued together so we couldn't really look at the stitching. But in the sake of fairness we pulled on the ropes to see if they'd come apart; they didn't.
• Every bag including the Metolius bucket are well made the standouts being the Asana Community bucket and the Organic Lunch Bucket
• All of the bags use great durable materials, some of the buckets have better materials but they all stood up to a bunch of abuse. DZ Artworks are using recycled material for their buckets with Organic and Asana using offcuts from pad making for theirs.
• Organics bag is the only one that doesn't have a fleece lining
• Price
• Only the Black Diamond and DZ Artworks bags don't fit into the mid $30 price range that seems to be the going rate, the Black Diamond is $44.95. You're paying for a name and you're getting a bucket that at best is a little quirky. The DZ Artworks is a little more expensive but you're paying for something that is unique each time, they'll use your rope (and give you a discount off of the bag for doing so) so that old friend that has caught you time and again can be re-used.
• Volume 



Getting the volume

• This was an interesting one.... and there are a few points to mention here:
• The volume was done with water as it's more consistent than using chalk, chalk will change volume a little with temperature and humidity. We went with an easier medium
• The volumes that we have are probably +/- 10%
• The Metolius is obviously the bag you want if you just want huge amounts of chalk... it's a good wall bag (That's why we've used one of them since we started the site)
• All of the bags easily carry enough chalk for whatever you're going to be doing, it's a personal choice on how much of the white stuff you want to haul around all of the time

 
• Closure 



Closing a bag up

• We measured from side to side of the opening.... pretty simple
• You can easily get two hands into all of the buckets except for the Growler and the DZ artworks, they're a little tight for that
• If you don't want chalk all over the place when you're carrying the bag then you have a couple of simple choices here:
• Asana: Inner draw string and then a heavy duty zipper on top of that. The zipper is the best one in this test
• Black Diamond: Even though it's just a single heavy duty zip... once it's closed it does a bloody good job! But when you're zipping it and there's chalk in the teeth it does give you a little cloud
• BA Gear: These guys use Bluewater utility rope for their draw strings... therefore at a pinch you're got a prussic or a great shoe lace :)
• Once you get the gist of Organics closure then you're good, it's the most complex to close. Using this closure means you roll over the top of the bag so you do loose some volume
• Drop test 
• We closed the bags up and we dropped them off of a second floor balcony to a concrete floor. All of the buckets were closed as tightly as possible and then dropped in so that the base of the bag hits the floor as flat as possible. Someone was there to judge the cloud of chalk that came out of the bags:
• Asana came out best on this test, there was only a little cloud from residue chalk that was on the outside.
• Stability 
• Sometimes people leave their chalk buckets on the mats where they're climbing, we've done it you've done it and when it's open and someone hits it it just sucks... what's as bad is when it falls over and puts chalk all over the ground. You then have to get as much chalk back into the bucket because it's messy
• DZ Artworks came out best here, the bag is heavy so it takes quite a lot to get it to fall over. It's actually the only bag that didn't fall over during this test.
• When we say "not bad" for the other bags we mean that out of 5 drops to the mats next to the buckets they only fell over once or twice
  
• Durability 
• All of the bags are easily going to last for a good long time. Other than manufacturing defects you should have no problems at all.
  
• Features
• We counted the pockets and brush loops
• All of the bags can take a cell phone and most of them your locker keys...
• The Asana bag will take your keys, a phone and some snacks without too much trouble
• Same for the Metolius bucket, with your keys being in the velcro pocket that's hidden on the bottom
• The DZ Artworks bags pocket is a little snug for a Blackberry or iPhone when they have a case on them. Just tell them and they'll make the pocket to the right size!!
• Black Diamond's bag has lots of pockets, your brushes are all going to be inside and your phone etc can go into the zippered pocket, the rest can hit the pocket that has the flap (the stuff you don't really mind loosing :P)
• BA Gears pockets were the only ones that don't have any closures on them
• Organics bag will easily take a most of your stuff in it's big pocket
• Additional features 
• All of the bags have carry handles, all of the draw strings have sprung loop sliders so you can close them as tightly as needed.
• The Black Diamond has a pocket that can be used for change (or a larger brush) on the inside

THE RESULTS:

So here you go, the below image is a table of the prices, features and what we found out about the bags as we used them for a two week period (Although the bags have been around much longer than just a two week trip).

WHAT WOULD WE BUY?:
Well here's the meat of the review, what would we do with these bags? Would we take it Deep Water Soloing? Is it pimp? Which one will probably last the longest?

• Best For Deep Water Soloing: Organic, because it will dry out the quickest
• Best For The Environment: DZ Artworks as it's 100% recycled
• Most Chalk: Metolius, and it'll carry some extra gear as well
• Best Closure: Asana, this thing doesn't throw chalk everywhere
• Best Stitching: This is a three way tie between Organic / Asana and BA Gear
• Best Looking: This is a personal one, most people agreed that the Asana and the BA Gear bags were the best looking, some people really liked the Organic bag
• Probably going to last the longest: Well we know that the Metolius bag last forever as we've had it forever, but if we look at this new batch then most of them will be around a long time. But from the feel and the abuse we gave these bags then it's Asana / Organic or BA Gear again  
• Best Bags For Travel: Organic (as it packs down small and doesn't leak) and Asana because it doesn't leak 

And here's the one that you've all been waiting for.... what bag would we recommend that you buy? Of course it really depends upon your needs, do you want lots of chalk and brushes?, do you want easy access to your phone and snacks? For us, at Climbingholdreview it's a pretty simple choice... but it was a really close run between this bucket and the Organic bucket; there was just one vote in it!!

COMPANY CONTACT INFORMATION:

Asana: adam@asanaclimbing.com

 Organic Climbing: info@organicclimbing.com

Metolius: info@metoliusclimbing.com

BA GEAR: BAGear@live.com

Black Diamond: climb@bdel.com

DZ Artworks: danielle.zeigler@dzartworks.com

Review > Core Climbing Holds > Limestone Medium Jugs

One thing has to be said is that Core Climbing do have a website that allows you to see their products pretty damn well, we've added most of the photos from their site to this review so you can see these holds in their glory. What holds? These:

 

 The Limestone Medium Jugs is what they're called, and jugs are most definitely what they are. Now jugs normally are just jugs; they're not particularly hard to shape and most of the time they're a little plain... there are only a few companies that can make a simple shape into something that you really want to grab, Teknik is one of those companies, they don't embellish their holds they're simple shapes that you know you want.... these holds are on the other end of the spectrum, they are a limestone inspired set of holds that have a bunch going for them. They tick all of the boxes for a jug, they're super positive and they're pretty comfy... the kind of thing that you want to use for warm ups and they can go onto any angle... they're jugs.

Where they kind of fall down is their texture... we said that they're comfortable, and they are unless you're really getting a swing on and then the dimples kind of pull on your pads a little whilst you bite down. The only thing about these holds that even relates to limestone is that they look like limestone but they don't really feel like the real thing, this is because Core Climbing has a texture that is very good for training, it's super smooth and in most cases it's very very good! In this case it's a strange mix of yey and hmm. If you're being pretty static with what you're doing them you have no problems, when you start swinging about then you might get a little bit of skin pain. It's a weird thing, because like our first review of Cores shapes their Font Slopers are just sublime, they're some of the best out there, and their Grit holds (review coming later) feels like Grit. These limestone holds are limestoney but without the sharp edges and the bite that limestone normally has; you can think of it as limestone lite :)

 Now here's a weird thing we also have their limestone super slopers and if you've ever slapped anything on limestone then these are bloody amazing and feel like the technical "oh I'm going to come off of this" that limestone normally gives you. Maybe their texture in this case relates to larger holds better than smaller holds.

 Ah but what can you set with these? Noodles being the evil bugger that he is decided that a super long fingertip to fingertip move (for the shorter climbers that climb here) was the way to go but he may have over done it a little :P Watching people hit and then have to power through a move that they'd normally back away from was good to see... watch the video, especially Eve who has to crank down so hard to get to the hold and then with some special footwork she manages to match and then pull through... and that kind of leads us to a point about the holds... if you have huge hands then matching these holds on steep terrain is super hard and you're going to be hanging on finger tips and trying to slot your other fingers in to be able to move. This isn't a problem for Eve as she has tiny hands and has no problem doing this. Mark set a couple of routes where the holds were used as finger cracks by opposing the juggy parts towards each other, finger locks aren't something you really get to play with on an indoor wall and it just shows that with a little creativity you can make a set of jugs into some interesting routes.

Kids will love these holds, the little fossils that are in some of the holds is cool and maybe it'll inspire them to ask about what "that shell thing" is and then you can give them a little lesson on how in real life these things happened....

 SUGGESTED USES:







Stick these holds absolutely anywhere, they're jugs :) You can go as steep as you want as often as you want, we went mental with these holds... from mental long moves to cramped undercling moves to some strange crack moves. Go more static than normal with these guys but other than that one fact they're kickass

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 16
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt On
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds):  TBC
• Color: Ours are green
• Bolt placement: Centered
• Sanding: OK
• Hollow backed: No
• Soft back (Rubber backed): No
• Texture: Limestone, pretty smooth overall
• Set size: Medium
• Versatility: OK
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Yes
• Shaper: TBC
• Weight:TBC
• Distribution:
• US: TBC
• EU: http://www.coreclimbing.co.uk/

From the bolt hole that takes any bolts, to the pre-drilled set screw holes (that are taped for the screw head) these holds are very well made. The sanding is good, the shaping is amazing and the set consists of lots of juggy fun that's for sure; all of the holds have either a big or small Core logo on them

The holds are heavy, but they do have a good feel to them, they feel very solid

Colorwise our holds came in what can only be described as neon green, they're pretty damn bright. They're probably some of the brightest holds we've seen to date. On the texture from these holds are limestone lite, Core Climbing holds smooth texture means you can climb for long periods of time with little or no pain, but we don't think that it's the best on these smaller shapes as it translates superbly to the larger holds. The addition of the fossil on one of the holds is a nice touch

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Composite resin

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Awesome, holds were vacuum packed onto cardboard and arrives with no problems

RATING:
Noodles:
JUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGS! Every wall needs them, and sometimes you just don't have enough of them; especially if you have steep areas and lots of roofs. These holds are plain good enough for any wall and any angle. The texture is nice enough that you can monkey about all day, there were a few instances where we rotated about on them and we got a little skin pain, admittedly there are only a couple of holds that have this problem... overall there's not much wrong with them.

If you look at the overall construction of the holds they're very well made, from the screw holes to the sanding you can't complain about that, you could complain about the weight... we did really reset them a whole bunch. There wasn't a week that went past where we didn't set something new with them and they're probably not going to be leaving the wall anytime soon.

The super slopers that we also have feel more like limestone like these guys. These are probably some of the nicest jugs out there and we've reviewed a few sets, they're definitely up there

Chris:

These jugs are some creatively shaped jugs. If you want small jugs with some flair to them, then Core limestone jugs are what you want (get them in bright green like ours, they'll really stand out on the wall). Now even with all the bells and whistles, the shapes are ergonomic and comfortable to grab and making them great small roof jugs.

So you've probably heard me rant about European holds and how they pay close attention to detail and Core Climbing is no exception. Lets break it down. The Shape: nice and ergonomic and we set long moves without any chance of tweaking a tendon and they perform great on the roof. Every on of these holds are unique and have its own character, and I especially like the fossil that they've molded into the one shape. The Colour: Holy crap! Someones highlighted my eyeball cause these guys are bright! We like bright and flashy holds at ClimbingHoldReview.com and they are probably the brightest holds we have. Texture: Smooth and nonabrasive. Even though the holds have an amazingly smooth but grippy texture when new, they wear out nicely as well. We have the font set at the boulder wall in the gym and even when they're full of chalk and rubber, the texture remains the same.   

I think this set is ideal for someone who is looking to fill up their wall and with 16 holds to the set, it gives you plenty of options to set some sweet warm up routes.

Eve:
Mmmmmmmm.....jugs!  Always limiting the local setters in how hard they can make a route, most jugs allow me to push my limits without hurting myself and these are no exception.  The nice and smooth texture allows a comfortable friction that is neither slippery or painful!  Although I'm not sure that's what they were going for!  The whole fossil thing is original and pretty and doesn't really cause any climbing discomfort although it is almost strictly ornamental, they also give variance to the shapes.  Core has brought a set of solid holds to warming up on an inside wall.  These are also perfect to avoid deterring a new climber from giving up.  All and all useful but barely challenging I really like these jugs and will be making sure they stay on the wall in some way.

PROS:

• YADDA

CONS:

• YADDA

fig 4 logo

Review > Black Swan > Worms, Paw-Kets & Warblers

Dalton over at Black Swan wanted to surprise us with some new shapes... but he forgot our address so he had to ask for it :) He was keen to see what we thought of his new shapes that he has put up onto his site the last month or so... we review holds, we like surprises and despite knowing shapes are on the way he didn't tell us what was actually going to arrive.

The postman knocks and we get a box... oh sometimes it's like Christmas when the postman arrives and to be honest this box was something we were really keen to see. Now those of you that read Climbingholdreview will know that we reviewed Black Swans first offerings a while back and they were under par in a bunch of places, that being said what was in this box made people stop and take a second look. From unwrapping to that first special touch, we knew that Black Swan and Dalton had kicked it up a notch!!! What did we get?

Paw-Kets

Warblers

Worms

Paw-Kets, Warblers and Worms; we didn't get the full sets (except in the cast of the Paw-Kets) so we decided to put them all together and to set some longer routes and see what we could see... and feel :)

Let's kick off with:

THE WARBLERS

We only got three of these shapes and from the start you see the sharp edges and think "oh crap these are going to hurt"... but they don't and we kind of wish we had the full range. You can think of these shapes and cubes that have been twisted a little with a nice sloped edges. They climb really well and have way more grabbing and matching options than you'd expect

THE WORMS

We have three of these, the two larger ones and the top middle one. These guys allow you a variety of pinches any way you set them and the grooves allow your fingers to slot in for a little more grip and pull-ability. They have some nice screw holes as well

THE PAW-KETS

Pockets, argh, they're either going to be nice or they're going to be crappy and hurt. You can get at least three fingers into all of the holes and they're positive.... AND get this, they're pretty deep so you can be a little silly when you set because you have so much skin on them. It's a nice thing to see... some pockets that don't actually suck

Like we said we wanted to set some longer routes with these guys, so that's what we did, we decided to go from one side of the wall to the other using these holds and the Molecule (there are another set of Black Swan holds in there as well but they're for a later review) Getting across the door and out of the Molecule that was stationed at the bottom of the 45 degree wall was going to be the trickier parts. Despite what the video looks like we did move the holds around on the two routes that we filmed (there were many more that we didn't film) if you watch closely you'll see some of the Paw-Kets change positions and the Worms get turned. What ended up happening is a route that was technical without much of a chance to stop and rest... pretty much what we wanted.
INSERT VIDEO HERE
One thing that was apparent from all of the climbing we did, and we spent a good long time on these holds and just climbed on these holds some evenings, is that they're friendly to the skin and to the tendons. They're good training shapes, they may not look amazing but they climb superbly....

SUGGESTED USES:







If you look at the sets we're reviewing the stand outs are the Paw-kets and the Warblers. The pockets are finger friendly and you can go up to 45 degrees without too much bother, they're deep enough to allow some steep pulling. The Warblers are pretty well the same, on a 45 they're hard but fun to grab on, it's a shame we don't have the full set because we would have set some much longer routes with just those holds

We'd suggest the Warblers and Paw-Kets for a home wall and a bunch of fun. 

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 
• Paw-Kets: 3
• Worms: 5
• Warblers: 8
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt on
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds):
• Paw-Kets: $20/3 = $6.67 per hold
• Worms:$50/5 = $10 per hold
• Warblers: $55/5 = $11 per hold
• Color: Black
• Bolt placement: Good
• Sanding: Good
• Hollow backed: No
• Soft back (Rubber backed): No
• Texture: Fine but grippy
• Set size:
• Paw-Kets:Medium
• Worms: Larger to medium
  
• Warblers: Medium
• Versatility:
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Yes on the Worms
• Shaper: Donovan Craig
• Weight: Various

From the little Black Swan logo on the tops to the fine texture that gives them their grip there isn't much to complain about.... except that we feel that the set screw holes on the Worms are a little tighter than we'd really like, they're also not pre-drilled so you have to drill them out yourself.

The quality of the holds and shaping has gone up 1000%, they're all sanded nice and flat, the texture is fine but it shines through when they're chalked up to all hell, and the shapes allow you to play around with a route and tweak it out more so than some other holds. There aren't any flaws with these holds their mix is good and strong (we dropped a bunch of holds whilst setting) and there wasn't a problem

As the holds are deeper than what we saw originally you don't need to worry about how ape handed you are with a wrench, tighten them up as much as you'd like and don't worry about it.

As usual the holds came in Black, which is something we like as you can see how you're gripping when you first touch the holds you can leave chalk prints on them and figure out how you did it the first time and then you can play with your grip to climb the route in a different style just for fun

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Polyurethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Good

RATING:
Noodles:
I read Routesetter.com a bunch, and I've spoken to Donovan Craig the shaper of these sets of holds. When I saw he posted this on there:

Foam blanks of the Worms: Donovan Craig

I was kind of... "Oooo those look like fun", three months later I get some of those holds :) Donovan is an up and coming shaper and I think you'll be seeing more of his shapes from various companies in the future... mark my words. Shapers are rare breeds and they generally don't disappear :P

Off topic as usual... Black Swan have totally got their shit into shape. Our first review was something that was hard (for all of us here) hard to write, but we pride ourselves on being honest so we went ahead and said what needed to be said. This time there is little to complain about, the shapes climb really well, the mix is solid and as usual the holds are black lol. So really no worries. My only concern is the screw holds on the Worms as they look a little and are a little too tight for my liking... but seriously if that's all I can really point a finger at then they're doing a pretty stand up job.

On a different (and more praising note), Dalton who lets face it took a bunch of harsh criticism from us has great big balls to send more holds! Think about it, if you sent something and it got a bad review you'd not do it again. Dalton is a rare creature, like Donovan, he listened to what we said and then he did exactly what needed to be done... that needs some praise and a tip of the hat.

I will and I suggest you should keep an eye on these guys, they're not a big name company and they don't have many sets (YET) but I think that in the future they will produce some shapes that you're going to want to look at. For me the Warblers are sublime, love em... Paw-Kets are pockets that don't hurt (yey!) and the Worms, well they're pinches... a little different from the rest and fun to play with, they're strangely a little Hueco in style

Oh yeah, they look kind of pretty when your camera over flashes:

Chris:
I've been busy so I've only spent a little time on these holds, I climbed the routes when they were there (and when I had time) and there are a couple of things that stand out. The cubes (Warblers) look like they will hurt but they don't at all and the pockets allow you to crank down and stick a move and then pull through really well. The route that Noodles set had a crux that went from the Molecule to the pockets to a Worm as a finishing move... Mark fell off of the last move HA!, as he was too casual with his hand placements... me, I ripped through it and it was fun.

There were some other holds in there that is another review for Black Swan... but I'd say between the holds I can't really talk about and the Warblers, I'd get the Warblers as they are versatile and have a really clean style to them.

Bobby:
The Black Swans, I climbed on them a whole lot on them, I did really enjoy the route we had set up, mostly cause there was a nice little variety to the sets, Pinches, crimps, even some small juggy edges. As for their texture.......Great! They offer plenty of friction without sanding your skin off. I never felt my fingers hurting on these, and I find that to be important. climbing is supposed to be fun, and in a nut shell that's what Black Swan offers with this sets.

PROS:

• Nice and strong
• Good price

CONS:

• The set screw holes on the Worms are a little tight and not drilled

Mandala Holds Logo

mota new

Review > Kando Holds > Erosion

Unless you're European, or probably more likely specifically Italian you've (we're guessing) not heard of a company from Italy called Kando holds. We had, in fact we added them to climbingholdreview a while back, we checked out their stuff and liked the look of it, so we grabbed a couple of sets to see what those sneaky Europeans were up  to :)

The first set we're looking at are called the Erosions...

Review > Core Climbing > Font Mini Slopers

There are a bunch of Font inspired shapes on the market, today we're taking a look at Core Climbing's (from the UK) Font Mini Slopers

The word mini is a misnomer in this case as these holds roll into the medium / large size range of most normal climbing holds, but the word sloper fits very very well. If you've climbed at Fontainbleau or are looking to train to go and climb in Font then right now (and considering we've seen a lot of Font inspired holds) you're looking at some of the best on the market. If you want Font on your wall you have in our opinion a couple of options that we've climbed on... you have the Project Holds Shellshocked series which have a simple take on a Font texture, Pusher Gears Font sets and of course the Boss and then there is Revolution Climbing that have their Font range and their Font Huge (which is very like the Boss) there are of course lots more sets from other companies out there that you can order from.

From the get-go the first thing you'll notice is that these holds are heavy, they're definitely not the lightest holds on the market for sure. Each hold comes with a nice pre-drilled set screw hole and an inset Core Climbing logo... but what you'll really notice is the texture and the detail of that texture. We were half sure that these holds could have been molded from the rock in France so we actually checked to see if this is the case; unfortunately it's not, someone has just put a lot of TLC into shaping these holds to be as realistic as possible when we say a lot of time we mean it, the level of detail on these holds is amazing. Another thing you'll notice is that when you climb on them they have a subtle way of spitting you off, you have to hit them with balance and poise, and then you have to be in the right position with your body and hands to get the most out of them. There are of course downsides to this type of climbing, it means the holds are pretty hard to stick so when you're climbing on steep angles you have to set for the holds and the moves you want to replicate, on anything steeper than 30 degrees these holds are super hard and the amount of  body tension you need to use to execute a move is hard.

We played with these guys a lot and really had to work the routes in order to complete them, none of the climbing was particularly easy and was just what we were looking for, from simple traverses to no break V5's everyone ended up on the mats at one time or another. As we took so much footage and there was one route that was just shutting people down we made a second climbing video, a great deal of that footage is us failing on a couple of moves. The route had two cruxes, one on the 60 degree roof where you have to execute a hard foot match and then foot movement where the Font's were on some volumes and the second was getting down and matching the last hold... we set feet sparingly on this route... there were enough feet to get it done but none of them were particularly large :) Needless to say it got done by a few of us, not all of us, but it did get done. It only took about 3 weeks of on and off trying, some bets and a bunch of hard pulling :)

SUGGESTED USES:













If you keep these holds on simple shallow angles you'll have an interesting time, you're going to learn to place your hands carefully and to move slowly between moves. As soon as the angle gets steep (45 up) you're going to be using the meat of your palm to stick onto them. We'd say these holds are technical and will be hard work for beginners to use, but if you're nice with your setting a beginner will be challenged and even stronger climbers will have to think about what and how they're climbing.

Steeper angles are going to make you work harder than you think as these holds are slopes and basically you'll end up pinching them; basically on anything over 45 degrees you want to be mentally strong :)

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 12
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds):
• Color: Ours are neon yellow
• Bolt placement: Great
• Sanding: Great
• Hollow backed: No
• Soft back (Rubber backed): No
• Texture: Grippy
• Set size: Medium / Large
• Versatility: Ok
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Yes
• Shaper: TBC
• Weight: TBC
• Distribution:
• US: TBC
• EU: http://www.coreclimbing.co.uk/

Composite resin in a way of saying resin with fillers, we checked with Core about this and the answer they replied with is long and complicated, the short answer is yes they use fillers but they are careful with what they use to not degrade the strength of the shapes in anyway of form. From the bolt hole that takes any bolts, to the pre-drilled set screw holes (that are taped for the screw head) these holds are very well made.

The sanding is good, the shaping is amazing and the set consists of lots of slopey fun. One the downside is the weight of the holds, they are heavy and they will weigh down a setter bucket... but we think the extra weight is worth it the holds feel very very solid to the touch

Colorwise you can choose from a mix of the colors Core have, we were surprised to see these guys in neon yellow as it's not easily shown on their website. All of the holds have a Core logo so they're easy to pick out of a bin of holds (that's if the color didn't tell you what they were anyway!)

On the texture front you're looking at something that very closely resembles Font, so much so we thought that they'd been molded from real rock. Even when extremely chalked up the texture is enough to hold onto without skin burns or feeling like you're going to slip off, well until you slip off :P. If the holds get super super chalked up a good brushing brings the texture back quickly.

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Composite resin

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Awesome, holds were vacuum packed onto cardboard and arrives with no problems

RATING:
Noodles:
Ah my favorite place to climb... and now some of my favorite holds! Why? Fontainbleau teaches you to climb delicately and the rock / types of movements used to climb there are unlike anywhere else. If you want to replicate a Font route then get these holds and the smallest smeariest feet you can find and the go set, I don't think that you'd be disappointed!

I've seen enough Font holds and enough of Fontainbleau in my 20+ years of climbing to be able to know what a good Font inspired hold is... these are exactly that, they're well shaped and they feel like the rock. But I do have a small issue with them... nothing major just something that irks me a little. These holds, although superbly shaped and poured are of a size where you can get the meat of your thumb around the hold... this is something that I can't remember doing when climbing there. Sure it gives the holds some extra use and extra grip for the climber but I'd have liked to not have been able to do this... that being said, in some cases I was super happy that I could grip them like this because when you're on a V5 with no breaks you need to pull out every trick you can think of to get through the moves.

I spent more time than I care to think about on the bonus / extended route that I set... every time I walked away from the wall tired but not hurting. To say I was tested with these holds is an huge understatement to say the least. I think I'm pretty strong and I can climb some alright grades but I got my ass kicked a number of times when I thought that I had the route, had gripped the hold in the right manner and was feeling like I was kicking ass... infact I got my ass kicked time and time again, and then I went back for some more and I'll keep going back for more as these holds are brilliant replicas of Fontainbleau and what Fontainbleau, for me, means.

Chris:
I have yet to go to the French bouldering Mecca of Fontainbleau, but this classic climbing area has inspired many a climbing hold. I’ve seen these shapes in the gym and we’ve received quite a few sets of these kinds of holds, notably the 60 pound box we got from Atomik climbing. I’ve noticed that each company who makes these holds has their own spin on the shapes. The aggressive,  bulbous texture of Climb It fonts are full of surprises while Atomik made their fonts slopey and open hand. Our latest edition to our font collection is just as unique as the rest. Now I’ve heard about the climbing in Fontainbleau and the emphasis on the technical quality of the problems mainly from the fact that the place is littered with slopey holds. Although Core’s font holds have that bulbous look, there are a lot of crimps found in the set….are there crimps found in Fontainbleau? I’m sure there is and this is what I would imagine them to be.

I’ve only been recently introduced to Core and their shapes and I am really impressed with the workmanship in the shapes and the quality of the holds. The holds are poured in resin, like many European made holds, and I prefer the feel and texture of resin holds. You’ll probably disagree with my preference have to lug 50 hold up and down a ladder. I also like the bright colors. We received a box full of holds and they were all bright and vivid colors.

The shapes themselves are awesome. They’ve managed to stuff all kinds of grips into one little hold. If yopu can’t get a good pinch on it, well switch to an open hand or better yet, you might find yourself a good crimp. Being bulbous (I know, I’ve used this description a bunch of times, but it best word I could find) makes for small, comfortable crimps and it gives the set a nice dynamic.

We made good work of this set. I wasn’t around for some of the stuff that Bobby and Jeremy set but I climbed my fair share on the holds. They have a lot of chalk on them and the texture still has a good grip. I like these holds and the only downside is they aren’t found on routes in the local gym.
 

PROS:

• Some of the best Font holds on the market
• Will test most levels of climbers
• Awesome neon yellow color

CONS:

• Heavy
• You'll have to set carefully, don't think you can just power through on these holds

Review > Pusher Gear > Molecule

Ah "Big Black" as we call it... ah "BB" as it's known to us, to you it's called the Molecule and it's one of what we call classic holds from Pusher Gear. For those of you not versed in the language of Pusher, let us introduce your worst nightmare:

It's big and it sure is beautiful to look at, Noodles took some "artistic" shots of it whilst it was going through it's paces (you can find them amongst our usual Facebook updates). The Molecule is a shape by renowned climber and shaper Jason Kehl, this is probably one of the first large holds that Jason became known for, the first time this shape saw the light of day was back in 2001 at the first PCA competition (anyone remember those comps?) and it was well received. If you've climbed indoors at all you'll know the story of Pusher and that they stopped making holds for a good long while until they resurfaced last year... and the reemergence of Pusher meant that shapes like the Boss and Molecule came back for another generation of indoor monkeys

So it's big and it's black, what else is there to this thing? Well it's heavy as well, 26lbs is a lot of urethane to put up on the wall, even with it's new hollow back this thing is a two person job rather than the old days when it was a three person job; sure it's a pain to get up and move about but once it's up... well that's when the fun starts :)

Now it's going to look like we didn't rotate the hold from it's original position on the wall, or move it around. We did, but the other routes we set weren't anywhere near as enjoyable as the ones we filmed, the best of them is right at the end of the video and is the last two clips... let us explain:
Start on some Kando holds and then into the Molecule, set yourself up with the top sloper and then get your arm all the way underneath "BB" and then back step into a long move to another Kando hold... needless to say getting to the Kando hold was hard, getting out of "BB" is something we're still trying to work out as the move is just pure power. It's something that was set late one night and was worked on and off for a couple of weeks until we moved the Molecule... but it will come back.

We made the decision right from the get-go to put this beast of a hold on the 30 degree wall, it was going to be too easy on the vertical and a little trickier on the 45 (it makes any route a hoot on this angle)... we even put it on the 60 (talk about powerful moves!)  For instance when this hold was at the PCA comp it was used as a mantel on a V5 or V6 problem, it's just about big enough to do things like this with it. We wanted everyone to get onto the hold and to play around... the 30 degree wall seemed like the best option for all... and it was, anything less makes the features of this hold too easy and anything more makes them a little too hard (for some climbers)... and the 30 degree wall allows nearly all of the intricate sloper / undercut / pinch moves you could want. The amount of times we set a route that used this hold wasn't even funny; from three move, get on, get off the Molecule to routes where you had to position your body in the right place (at times it involved 3 or four hand movements just on the one shape) the Molecule took it all... even though she was injured before anyone climber on her :( This is pretty unusual for Pusher as they normally drill out the holes and we've never had a problem before... maybe because it was the first pour that came out of the mold they just over looked some of their usual steps

Injured, yup. Chris cracked the hold when he was putting in a set screw. A number 8 set tapper to be exact, with the drill on almost minimum torque. Noodles was not amused. It's not the first time we've cracked a hold and it sure as hell won't be the last... but something that is $200 and a classic... well that's something completely different!!! The are a number of reasons why the hold cracked, we had the drill angle right, and the correct sized screw AND the drill on super slow and easy... despite having placements for screws the holes aren't drilled all the way through so you either have to use a self taping screw (which we use a lot) or you have to pre-drill the hole. We took self taping and the hold cracked.

SUGGESTED USES:








The only reason this hold doesn't get a roof rating is because we're not that evil :) You could put it up there but a) it'd be hard and b) it'd probably be a waste of a feature like this. If you have a gym or a wall with a lot of space (the middle of an 8ft by 8ft surface is good enough) then you're going to enjoy owning this hold; it's not for everyone and when it's down from the wall it does take up a bunch of space for storage but considering what you can do with this hold it's worth it, sure it's not cheap at $199 but it is a (as the Pusher Gear website classes it) a MONSTER hold.

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 1
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): $199
• Color: Black
• Bolt placement: Off centered
• Sanding: Awesome
• Hollow backed: Yes
• Soft back (Rubber backed): No
• Texture: Good
• Set size: Massive, they call it a monster
• Versatility: Great
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Yes but not drilled through
• Shaper: Jason Kehl
• Weight: 26lbs
• Distribution:
• US: www.pushergear.com
• EU: www.revolutionclimbing.eu
• Scandinavia: www.frictionwalls.com
• Japan: www.crux-jp.com
• Australia: www.bigjohn.com.au

Right it's heavy.. but it is bloody massive... sure compared to some of the stuff that Jason Kehl has shaped of late it's not actually that big :) But it is still massive, you do need some wall space for this puppy that's for sure.
The hollow back is perfect, the walls of the holds are nice and thick and give the shape a lot of structural strength.

The texture is grippy but not so grippy that you're going to walk away with flayed skin and sore tips, we spent many hours on the hold and never had a problem, from slapping it to pinching it the whole shape is well designed. If you over chalk then you will find yourself brushing the hold a bunch as chalk does build up quite quickly.

Our hold is called Big Black, guess what color it is... yup black. As the hold was the first out of the mold it did have some little bits of dust within the material, but considering it's now covered in chalk it's something that you don't notice at all.

The bolt hole has a good straight hole and wall placed washer. Considering this hold is so big the fact that the sanding is perfect is a feat in itself, the hold sits level on a wall with no little areas where you could sneak a finger tip for some extra purchase (aka: cheating)

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Awesome

RATING:
Noodles:
Right, consider this statement: Jason Kehl shaped this hold back in 2001. For it's time it was probably the biggest bad ass piece of resin (now urethane!) piece that people could bolt onto a climbing wall... let's face it, it's pretty bloody impressive. This hold and the Boss started a revolution (ha!) within the industry, so this hold and the fact that it's back on the market means you're buying a piece of history.. consider the size of some of the holds that Jason has been putting out lately, they're not so much holds as art, the industry has moved on and so has his style but you can see and feel it with this monster.. you can feel the beginning of something much bigger (ha!)

Whenever a box arrives from Pusher or Revolution it's always an interesting time as you never quite know what is going to be inside, Clark likes to keep us on our toes that's for sure. This time we knew it was coming but we didn't quite realize how big the Molecule actually is. Again, considering when this hold was made it's impressive to say the least.

The stand out route using this hold was one that didn't get finished, I'm going to put it back up again soon. The back-step undercling on the Molecule with the pinch and then up into the roof... amazing movement, super hard but great fun. I must have hit that problem more than I care to think about and I never had a problem with the Molecule or my skin. It'll be back and we'll film it because it will be hard as all hell.

The Molecule (considering I don't think I'd ever seen or climbed on one ever) actually kind of blew my mind a little, I didn't know what to expect, apart from pictures I'd seen and now I have climbed on one I can say that I enjoyed the hell out of it, yes it's big, yes it's heavy but it sure as hell is a good addition for a gym...and then if you consider the price of it... and that it's actually a feature and from what I can work out considering the size it's about 1/2 the price of much of the stuff that's on the market

Chris:

Look out plague, black death has a new contender and its name is the Molecule! Now if you're a fan of the Boss from Pusher Gear then you'll find a different kind of modular hold here. What we've got with this hold  are options and unlike the Boss, this big boy has pinches, incuts and slopers all in one. With the Boss its hard to get away from the open hand sloper and this has its limitations.


So I made a rookie mistake in not piloting a screw hole and on this first note, this hold need screws. I wouldn't trust a hold this size with just one bolt.

Whichever way you rotate this hold it has options... some are obviously better than others and it can take a little while for you to find out which way you want to grip the hold. We tried it every which way and then how and there's no mistaking that this is a hold that has a lot to give. On the downside it is still heavy and it will take two people to put up, but it's more than worth that hassle for the fun you can have playing with it.


PROS:

• Lots of grabbing options
• 
  

CONS:

• Heavy, needs two people to put up
• Screw holes should be drilled out before sending