Review > Atomik Climbing Holds > Positive Divots

So Kenny, he's the owner at Atomik Climbing Holds dropped us a package and what a package it was. This review is on the Positive Divots, 15 holds that are going to be a god send to any routesetter in a gym that needs to set some beginner routes!!

We've reviewed a crap ton of Atomik Holds over the years and on the whole they've always come out with a good rep, these guys even stopped using the first mold from their pours and switched to the second mold to lessen their texture on their holds waaaaay back because they listen to us :) This time what can we pick apart on these holds... lets see them and lets see where it goes:

 So you've seen what we're talking about.... pretty small holds but they do pack a punch!

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Review > Figure 4 > Lines One

We added Figure 4 to our listing of climbing hold company's a while back and eventually we knew we wanted to play with some of their line up. Now they don't have many holds right now (9 sets) but from what we can see they do have some nice simple shapes up there at a price that is pretty damn reasonable, FYI the highest priced set on there is $49.

It's always nice to read a description from a company's website that is just pure ans simple... "One handed incuts with a dish on the back to keep your thumb happy.", why does a description like that make us happy? Because it's simple and it states what the holds are like without confusing the customer, add the product shots and then you'd pretty much think the job would be done right? Nah, that's not the way we roll and you know full well that when someone sends us something this simple and incut that we're going to nuts with them

From the get-go we didn't know what Figure 4 were sending us, we looked at their line up and saw that most of the shapes have clean simple lines that don't look tweaky, that's always a good thing when we look at a company's holds because tweaky means that we're going to end up in pain!! What arrived were two sets, this one and a review that will be coming up shortly; what we did after we got them was get them onto the wall, none of the usual fondling we just bolted them up and went at it and we weren't unhappy about the way they climbed they were fun and easy to haul on. Then as we have a new toy in the office we took some "glamor" shots of the holds one by one just for fun and mainly so you can see some more details that may get left out when we video the walk through:

Figure Four: Lines One (Hold 1)

Figure Four: Lines One (Hold 1 logo)

Figure Four: Lines One (Hold 2)

Figure Four: Lines One (Hold 3)

Figure Four: Lines One (Hold 4)

Figure Four: Lines One (Hold 4 Close)

Figure Four: Lines One (Hold 5)

 See what we mean by simple clean lines and that really sums up Figure 4's approach to climbing holds, simple and clean. Now simple and clean can also make a bad climbing hold but in this case you're looking at a bunch of holds that on the whole are easy to grip and apart from hold 3 easy to get a match on, so their description is pretty much spot on when it comes to the shapes!! We took these holds from flat to the roof and as you know us by now you know that we'll try something stupid! When we set on the flat wall we have to admit that these wasn't much there for us, these holds are incut in such a way that even when you put them at a crazy angle they're still super easy to grab, you can just shuffle your feet get your body where it needs to be and then just pull through the move, where these holds get really interesting (for anyone that's not a beginner) is when you put them onto an angle where the incut is negated (therefore they become more of an edge) once this is done the gripping surface gets less and your thumb comes more into play, unless you grab deep and then you're just on your fingers... this is the way we like em that's for sure and it takes a simple set of holds that will suit any home wall that has beginners / kids bouncing around on it to something that people who have climbed a bunch can play with.

Now where they REALLY GET INTERESTING is when you go a little mad and stick them onto the roof, either on volumes or just up there and away you go. You can set all kinds of interesting opposing moves with these holds that will have you falling on your ass and wondering what you did wrong! One sequence involved a bicycle move that kept us amused for a long time because by the time your feet were in position your hand was loosing it's grip slightly and it was just a race for time to get to the next move before you fell.

We guess base case this set of holds holds a little for everyone, we'd err more on suggesting towards beginners as the holds are easy to grab but with a little creativity you can really have some fun with these... the one downside of these holds is the lack of set screw holes (Do we really need to start hammering people with this again?) because these holds will spin if you put too much weight on one side despite their diminutive size... c'mon people, set screw holes!!!

When you look at the Figure 4 site you're going to notice one thing... 99% of the holds are "easy" except the Mini Geos which are rated as "hard", and when you look at their current line up you can see that they're actually rating their holds correctly, well we look at the Mini Geos and we'd say "medium" because they're still pretty damn big ol edges as far as we can tell :) and their rating is a good thing and a nice thing to run by because of the two sets we're playing with so far their ratings are pretty well hit the nail on the head, we're wondering how they're going to make "hard" holds that are finger friendly and we guess only time will tell on that one

 SUGGESTED USES:

Feeling strong?? Roof! Beginner, easy angles and you'll be fine! That pretty much sums up this set, their incut enough for kids to haul on and when the angle gets steep their still comfortable and fun to play with, if you're daft and feeling strong put them on the roof and set a hand bump sequence that will have you gasping for air and time before you slip and fall... it's totally doable and fun at the same time, if the texture was any less then it'd be super hard.

These holds will stand up to lots of abuse before having to brush or clean them!

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 5
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): $37/5 = $7.40 per hold
• Color: Bright orange
• Bolt placement: Middle
• Sanding: Great
• Hollow backed: No
• Soft back (Rubber backed): No
• Texture: Very grippy
• Set size: Medium
• Versatility: Good
• Pre-drilled screw holes: No
• Shaper: George Reynolds
• Weight: 2lbs

Lets roll with whats missing first... set screw holes because we made these holds spin a bunch despite how tight we did them up... it's a little thing and the one thing we can (and will) complain about, we really thought that people had got the message already!!

Simple and clean with a texture that has a good bite to it, it gets better over time and with lots of chalk and maybe that's a complaint as well, straight out of the box these holds will take skin off, but once we'd run a lap or two we added more chalk and then the texture is just fine. Of course there is a fine line between a chalked up (slippery) hold and one that's just right, so far we've not brushed them and they're super comfortable

On the color front we're rolling a bright orange on these guys, it's not quite floro but they do seem to stand out on the wall more than most people normal orange color. If you hold the shapes up to the light you can see that the urethane mixture has been mixed really well as the color doesn't fade towards the edge of the holds.

All of the holds have a QA stamp on the back of them, and you can see that they've all been sanded totally flat, we tested this on your bench and they're all perfect. Some of the bolt holes seem a little tight but not so much as you'd think that they're crooked, all of the washers it perfectly to the backs of the holds which is something bigger company's seem to not be able to do consistently these days

The shaping is clean and simple, giving you ample space for matches on all of the holds (except one) with no sharp edges in places that would cause concern, the price isn't bad either as these holds are a medium sized set the pricing is right on the nose. We cranked up one of the holds (as we normally do) to see if we could sink the washer and we're glad to say that we stopped before we got hurt in the process, we took them up pretty damn high and the washer was still in the same place as when we started.

Overall, strong mix, clean simple lines and great colors

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Polyurethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Awesome

RATING:
Noodles:
Right, technical problems aside the site is back up and running :)

What you'll notice about the video from this review is a) we have a tripod again and b) the holds are being used at a commercial gym! Yup we're working with Shakti Roc Gym in Montreal for some of our reviews, Phil and Lacey are kind enough to let us set and film in there so we can get higher and have more fun with the hold we review... and then we take them back to CHR HQ :)

So lets talk about what we did at the gym, Phil set the route at lunch and then in my 5.10 Warhawks and without a warmup I killed it apart from the last move; so in my mind a V3ish route for the masses. Later that day we rolled in with Bob and Mark, set up the camera and went at the route, having beta I killed it pretty easily but everyone else seemed to have trouble at the start... I think as it was a quiet night only three people made it up the problem but others were happy to work it (Bob is blaming the PL glue on his hands as his excuse for not climbing it)

One thing I noticed about the holds from the lunchtime fore-running to the evening is that the holds when throwing hard at them have a real bite to the texture but later in the day as the chalk got into the pores they became more mellow and a little tricky to hang... and then once a bunch of people had hit them they needed a little brush

Overall like I say these holds are like couscous salad, a little plain but there's something there that makes you want to play with them time and again, maybe because they're matchable, maybe because putting them upside down makes them way harder to climb on or maybe it's because they're cheap. What I know now is that Figure 4 has put out a good product, set screw holes would be a nice addition but other than being a little bitey to start with I've had a blast with them here and at the gym.
Also I'd like to apologize to George because this review has taken far longer than needed to be finished


Chris:
I ended up at the gym on these holds... I wanted to see the new gym and Noodles wanted to watch me fall; the gyms great and I flashed the route despite the fact that I've not climbed in months :P I used these holds in a number of warmup routes as I just played about on the wall and they're super comfy, the holds were pretty chalked up by the time I got near them but you can see what the texture is like, it comes through the chalk and gives a good grip, god knows how they were when they were clean! I guess that's a good thing for a home and commercial gym setting you don't need to chalk or clean them too much because they seem to be ok when they're caked in magnesium.

Despite not spending a bunch of time on these holds they're pretty sweet, super incut even on steep terrain and I liked em

PROS:

• Solid simple shapes
• Great price

CONS:

• No set screw holes
• Texture is a little rough to begin with

Review > Holdz > Piggy Back Hold 2

When someone just tells us that there's a surprise in the post but don't tell us what's coming then we get excited. If it's Steve from Holdz in the UK then we know it's going to be something very different, Steve is a man of very few words he lets his product speak for him... if you've seen any of the other Holdz reviews we've done over the years you know all the usual stuff! Steve is a shaper for many many companies, and chances are if you live in Europe then you've probably climbed on one of his shapes.

This time he sent us the below:

Yup! A piggy back volume :) Thankfully we don't need to roll with videos this week because we have enough words and images to make up for it (You know we have the words :P) Now as it was pointed out to us over here this is a Piggy Back Hold, not a volume, it was conceived to break up roof sections mainly for home walls. The difference is in the eye of the beholder really, it's a volume in our eyes.

It's not the biggest thing on the planet but what it lacks in size it makes up for with features... you can place 10 holds onto this little guy, it takes any bolt you want to use and then if there aren't any T-nuts in the area there are four screw holes for you to use to attach it to the wall. Yeah, you can do either straight out of the box, no need to add your own screw holes!!

Then look at the back, it's center braced, the screws going through the braces as well as the bolt hole; yeah it's well thought out and has all the features you want from a volume. And then you realize that it's pretty damn light (Not HRT light) but light enough that your setters aren't going to complain when they're using it. Lets look a little closer at this guy:

As you can see our Piggy Back hold is red and it's a nice color of red as well, the screw holes are nice and tapered and even when it's on it's back it's just like you see it on the Holdz website. We've had this thing all over the place and it's a nice well built addition to any wall, even without holds (if you can manage to not sneak a finger tip into a bolt hole) it makes a nice volume that's tricky to grab onto even when it's on the flat. And here's a top tip for you: put bolts in from the back to stop the sneaky little finger catches!!

It's just a well made volume with one little flaw, see overall build
  
SUGGESTED USES:

It's a volume stick it where you want, just don't expect to haul on it with no holds bolted onto it! Put hold on it an then you're laughing, it's small so great for home walls, it doesn't take much space and it adds variety to small spaces

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 1
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): 45 GBP
• Color: Ours is red
• Bolt placement: 10 placements
• Sanding: Great
• Hollow backed: Yes
• Soft back (Rubber backed): No
• Texture: Good enough that you can use it as a hold
• Set size: XL
• Versatility: Awesome
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Yes
• Shaper: Steve Goodair
• Weight: TBC

So it's well made, we parked a Jeep on it; there's no strength issues at all! It takes any bolt you want to throw at it AND you can screw it to the wall, or use the screw holes to stop spinners. It's all up and up, want to use it as a hold? Knock yourself out, it's not the best, but it's hard to grab onto; it's got a grippy texture that's not great for training but great for feet to smear on

Cross braces, check, bolt and screw hole placements, check... this thing checks all the boxes of what you want... except one thing, if you fuck up the thread on a T nut you're done, you can't replace them as they're encased :( On some volumes we have we have changed the nut, on this guy you can't so when you destroy a nut you're done, that hole is finished so you'll need to tap it out (as in re-thread the nut) or not use the hole again... and that's the only negative of this volume, that's it, the rest is perfect in every way shape and form!!

Again we did some talking to Steve and the reason for the captive nuts is because it means there will be less chance of a cross thread scenario as all the nuts are perfectly flat!

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Polyurethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Great

RATING:
Noodles:
Non replaceable T nuts, really? I know how consumerism works but the next level for me is a volume that allows replacement of nuts. Maybe its me but a hold, or a volume is for life not just for Xmas :) Hell I could if I wanted change a but on a Nicros volume but here in this case I can't, shame really because what's going to break first is the nut, not the volume. If I know anything about Holdz it's everything else will break before the hold!!

So where am I with this little beast? Perfect, I can't fault it, apart from the nut issue and lets not dwell upon that because if you're cross threading nuts as a setter the go work at Starbucks or something! It's strong, it has TEN yes TEN placements on it and it's pretty small, sure you can't lob an XL hold onto it but maybe there will be larger versions of this in the future, but when you sit down and look from a home wall stance you've just found what you want, from a commercial stance there is bigger and better out there but here's what most people don't realize is that this will bolt onto most of the big volumes out there adding more dimension to your customers climbing.... you know that box you just built for your last comp? Yeah, well add this and you've got another angle to play with, sure it's not something that you can put large hold onto, but look at it as something to add more versatility to what you already have and you're onto a winner, just be careful with your nuts :)

Chris:
So Holdz and volumes... this is the first I've seen from these guys and I'm wondering if I like it or not. We have way larger volumes that "seem" to add more and we have volumes that don't have T nut placement that add less, you can see the problem here.Motavation volumes add more, Nicros add less placements but you can grab the shape (Jug-orNot) and there's this, you can grab it but it's what you can add to it, small hold wise, that makes it what it is. It's not a VOLUME volume in my mind but more of an addition to your climbing fun, sure if you had a bunch of these volume I could see a difference on a flat wall but we don't and we review what we have

I agree with the not being able to replace a nut issue but I love that it bolts or screws to most good sized volumes to add another dimension to them. For me it's as addition to a volume not a volume by itself, it does a good job and it's strong but for some reason I expect more from Holdz, maybe because Noodles loves them so much but I wanted next level from this and all I got was current.

PROS:

• Breaks up a flat surface nicely
• Pretty light
• Lots of hold placements
• Bolt on and screw on!

CONS:

• If you do cross thread a nut you can't easily change it

BASE FILE MARCH 2011

Logo

Text about what we did here

SUGGESTED USES:













































OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds:
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons):
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds):
• Color:
• Bolt placement:
• Sanding:
• Hollow backed:
• Soft back (Rubber backed):
• Texture:
• Set size:
• Versatility:
• Pre-drilled screw holes:
• Shaper:
• Weight:

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:

PACKING / SHIPPING:

RATING:
Noodles:

Chris:

PROS:

• YADDA

CONS:

• YADDA

Review > EP Holds > Comp Slopers and Comp Pinches

So last time we looked at some EP holds was way back, this time there's a new shaper and a new mix the shapes are in urethane and the shaper used to own Stone Age Climbing... yes Sander Culliton is shaping for EP which means there are some great new shapes coming.

The Competition Slopers and Pinches are some of those new shapes and boy do they look good.

Comp Pinches from EP

Comp Slopers from EP

Interview > Ivan Greene > Pudge Knuckes

Right, as we're writing reviews and have been busy with some side projects you've probably seen that the name of a coffee company has come up a few times in the last month or so. Dave Bursey if you watched his interview talks about them and I've mentioned them in a few videos that are about to be posted. Why you might ask are we even bothering to talk about a bloody coffee company on a site about climbing holds?? Because it's run by Ivan Greene, the man from the Gunks... you know that big ol'mofo that climbs really hard!?! Yeah him, he's a strong climber AND he co-owns Pudge Knuckles!! Plus we love our coffee over here and it's what we've been taking to the gym and it's what fires us up late into the night as we edit and write reviews.

So we had a little chat with Ivan:

1) Name and job

Ivan Greene - Creator and owner of Pudge Knuckles and I'm a rock climber. 

2) You're a sponsored athlete right? By who?

Yes. Currently I am with Adidas Outdoor, Evolv, Edelrid, and team Pudge Knuckles :)

3) As a climber you're probably one of the most focused and intense people out there, much like Obe, your charisma and drive work well when on camera; what are your goals for climbing?

Well considering I have ADD, it's nice to thought of as focused.

Intense yes for sure. Intense like Obe haha. Obe and I are like brothaz from other mothaz. My goals for this upcoming season regarding climbing are... send all of the projects I started working on in the fall up in the Gunks. I found so many new, inspiring lines that are at a new level for me. And a new level for the Gunks. It has turned me on again to what an amazing place it is to climb and how much potential there is for new lines. You will see... I will send  you some pics and vids. There are some already up from the fall.


Other then that, I am writing the new guidebook for Bouldering in the Gunks this season. And really excited to get the Pudge Knuckles climbing team set up! I know so many climbers who are roaming around with those hands... those knuckles.. those PUDGE KNUCKLES!!! No one has ever had true
pride in our swollen fat ass fingers before. Now we can finally walk proud with the chubby digits!

4) You're a big ol bugger as well, do you train for climbing or climb to train?

I'm a big bugger? Is that a reference to my previous porn career? If so, who the hell showed you those films.. and why would you watch them??!! Hmmmn, maybe you are talking about the size of my fingers? Well, I am not big into "training". It is probably my biggest weakness. I have always been pretty uninspired at climbing gyms. Though I do like hanging and having good sessions with my friends, or just playing around in a bouldering cave making up problems.
Back when I was doing route climbing competitions, like 1968 or something, I used to train a lot.. doing laps up and down in the gym. That didn't last that long and the motivation for me for comps was never there authentically. All in all I just don't spend much time on it.  But get me outside on a project I am psyched on and I can be there all day and night.. in the cold, with headlamps and hand warmers in freezing temps. Or in the middle of the hottest days in the summer. I don't give a shit usually about conditions as long as I can be outside climbing or exploring new areas. It's what I have always loved. A few years ago I got really into Parkour for awhile. Oddly because I had arm surgery from rupturing my bicep and all I could do was run and bug out in the urban jungle. It was a form of high intensity ninja like movement that really got me pushing limits in a different way. It was a different flow from climbing and the almost static power of hard bouldering. It was an all out fast paced, high risk, all encompassing flow that felt perfect. Until.... I got really badly injured (torn ALC, destroyed meniscus, torn MCL, and bone fragment damage) and had to have knee surgery last fall. The doctor says I will probably never run again, let alone flip over rails and land on concrete for hours at a time. He even said I should stay away from bouldering because of the impact.. but that aint gonna happen.

 5) I suspect that you know Urban Plastix, the new NY based hold company, have anything to do with them? (if so what)

Yeah... I started shaping holds with my boy Pete. We both really love creating holds. We were planning on going into biz together but I had to bounce to start Pudge Knuckles and he went on to do UP. I'm really psyched for him because he is one of the best shapers I have known and he's really passionate about it. A true gift when talent matches passion. I haven't kept up with what he's been doing specifically with UP but I am sure if he is shaping.. it is f-in dope!!

6) Inside or outside (Ups and downs of both)

Haha.. see above answer about training. I guess the best things about inside climbing are the friends and good vibes. It's cool to see a bunch of peeps climbing and having good music and a positive vibe at a gym. Feels great. And it can be fun pushing each other and buggin out. Outside... don't know where to start... it's infinite. I love climbing outside... always have. For me this is climbing. 

7) Home gym... which one is it? (as in where you climb in the winter)

Right now I have been pretty focused on Pudge Knuckles. Building the cafe and launching the brand. We just got the website up and these crazy Canadians and Japanese have been ordering our coffees like it was laced in crack (I'm not sayin' it aint). So I gotta stay on the 'grind". Peeps need the beans.. so I gotta keep roasting and coming up with the new freshness. But if I have an hour or so, I bust over to Chelsea Piers to hang in the cave. And I don't know how it's been in the north pole where you guys are.. but down here this winter has been..well, not winter. Up until I got mad busy last month, I was climbing in the Gunks straight through. And I'm planning on getting back out this week at least one day. 

8) Now, lets talk about something that we're super stoked on.... Pudge Knuckles... care to explain the ethos of it all?

WE ARE ALL PUDGE KNUCKLES! Have a sip.. just one. Just ry it.. come on... it can't hurt ::))) I will explain more... later. But for now, lets just enjoy it! 

9) So a climber making coffee... interesting, how did this start?

Bro, probably like you.. I've been making strong ass coffee since before I started climbing. Obsessed! Just one of them things. I met my partner in PUDGE, Hartje Andresen, climbing. We were both always psyched to climb and always met for coffee before. Or one of us would bring some coffee out to the crag and boast about how this was the serious shit. We were in the process of trying to find the best coffee maker.. her being from Europe, she boasted about this company that made the most ridiculously good machines. So we tried finding them. The only way we could track them down was through a distributor. He told us to meet him at this roasting spot out here in Brooklyn and while we were waiting for him to show up I started looking at the roasting machines. Hmmm... the idea came to me. I asked the roaster guy a million questions and by the time the dude with the coffee machine showed up Pudge Knuckles was born. I was like damn... I can create my own blends and roasts of coffee. Instead of the endless search for good coffee, I could create the strong ass climber coffee. Just how we like it. And so it was.. I left Red Bull and decided to do my version of energy drinks. The Godfather of all energy drinks.. coffee. Hartje and I spent all last year learning the art and mastery of the bean. Then bought a friggin cafe full of all the dopest coffee machines to make the PUDGE. 

10) Lets talk about the coffee itself, Dave sent me a bag of the Organic Dark. Now let me set something straight, I love coffee, people have been trained to not even speak to me in the morning until I've got a coffee in my hand... and I drink a lot of coffee, today I had my first cup and I was sold at the first sip. I had two mugs of coffee before work and I didn't touch another one all day... and I drink coffee all day. So tell me about this coffee, get all coffee geek on me!

That, my friend, was our first blend. What we did was invite a few dozen of our climbing friends over and tasted about 6 different roast and blends we had come up with. By the end of this highly caffeinated research project, everyone loved that blend. Two organic beans... one from Peru and the other from Sumatra. Roasted to that specific taste that you now know as EAST COAST THRILLER. I had to name it after a high balls boulder problem here in the Gunks. It's like the same feeling 

you get!!

11) So how hard was it to set up a coffee company?

Oh boy... thank god I have a mental illness that makes me want to do hard things. Explore new experiences. Climbing has taught me this... If I am going to do something harder and more bad ass then anything I have ever done before I had sure better be ready to feel it. And to push through... to push, knowing that the vision becomes reality. The first sips you had of PUDGE make it that reality bro. 

12) Coffee and climbing go hand in hand for you?

Always has... always will. 

13) How do we get your coffee in Canada?

PUDGEKNUCKLES.COM baby!! It works. Or just go to Dave's gym :). Or raid your stash. 

14) Whats in the future?

Let's just see about that...