CRIMPS-EDGES

Review > Entreprise > Jug'R-Nots & Small Patina Edges

2009-01-13T09:40:00.001-08:00

Noodles has had a pretty long history with Entrepries as he's from the UK and has had his own indoor walls for around 15 years or so. He was pretty keen to see the new urethane shapes that Boone Speed had (re)shaped for them, if you've never heard of Boone then you've either been hiding under a rock for years or aren't as old as Noodles. He's a World renowned climber that put up or climbed many many hard test pieces back in the day, these days he's turned his hand to shaping and is a rather good photographer... if you're feeling skeptical about his shaping skills just remember that he shaped for (P)usher and the entire line of EP holds were reshaped by him in 2003

What we received from Ent were three sets, two of which we'll be looking at today (the third will be reviewed early next year), the ones that concern us are:

Medium Jug'r-Nots

Small Patina Edges

Both sets stand out from the get go, the Jug'r-nots because of the texture thats on the holds and the Patinas because they remind us of some other shapes that we received a little while ago, if you've got other Patina sets from other company's get these in the same color and they'll fit into the line nicely!! Before we even bolted these holds onto the wall Noodles was looking at the Jug'r-nots very closely, in fact a little too closely... whenever this happens it means that there's something that's bothering him, in this case one of the holds has a problem. The texture as you can see from the image above looks harsh, but that's not the part you hold (for the main part), it's just there for show, but on one hold, it is the area you hold and there was one specific area that really caught his attention!
"This is going to rip your skin off" was what he said, he showed me this one little raised bump that is close to the edge and is quite sharp... "They should reshape this hold and get rid of that bump, it's going to rip skin and dig into fingers!", ah more words of wisdom :) And I agreed, there is one hold that has a problem that needs to be addressed, so we went over the rest of the set with our hands to see if we could find any more obvious problems before we started hauling on them, and there are areas that are going to really dig into your fingers if you're using the granite like texture as the part to grab, if you're using the area you're supposed to grab then they're fine. The Patinas got a pretty good going over as well, and there are a couple of holds that look like they're going to be sharp but because of the Patina shape your fingers slip into a comfortable position and there's no problem!

Overall both sets climb pretty well, these shapes aren't as comfortable as some shapes on the market and the urethane although strong feels slightly rougher on the ol'fingers than a lot of holds that are on the market. But that comes down to personal preference more than anything else.. we found that extended sessions on the holds does take off a little bit of skin and that we had to stop climbing earlier than we wanted.

The route we set was an interesting mix of moves that allowed us to grab the shapes in a variety of positions and over most of our wall (we avoided the roof for once), and when Seb came over he managed to flash the sequence first time, which is a pretty rare thing. Once the congratulations died down we stopped and chatted about the holds, Seb weighing in quote vocally about the shapes, our comments are at the bottom of the review as per usual.

SUGGESTED USES

Good friction, positive edges and large enough to get a good grip both these sets are suitable for a variety of terrain. The route that I put up went across the overhang and into the vertical wall and even when I put the holds on less than optimal angles, we were able to get through the sequence with no sweat. These holds are great for pinches and I think that climbers from all levels will be able to increase their pinch strength training on these holds.

For the most part the Jug'R-Nots are positive jugs with a couple being closer to steep wall crimps than jugs. When you go check out the Entre Prises site they suggest that these holds be set on vertical to 45% overhanging terrain but we would go as far as putting them up in the roof.

OVERALL BUILD
Its the first time we've received holds from Entreprise and we are satisfied with the way the holds are built. We received our holds in run of the mill green and red. The advantage in this is that if you're buying for a gym, you don't have to worry about matching the color. After Noodles pointed out the sharp edge on one of the holds I took a closer look and I would have to say that is our only complaint. Bolt placements are nice and centered and the backs are all well sanded and flat, the holds also have little symbols on them, unfortunately we can't make out what the symbols say!

When the review was sent to EP for comments Noodles got a reply from Boone Speed himself about what we'd said about the holds, he mentioned that they wanted their holds to have a realistic rock like feel to them rather than the slick urethane feel that some holds have and that they were aware of some 'Hot Spots' (the area Noodles pointed out) and that climbers can take away the texture if they wanted to.

WHAT THEY'RE MADE FROM
Urethane, Entreprise have been a predominantly polyester resin company for years!! But they're made the switch and have had their holds reshaped for urethane.... wait, don't stop reading... they also still carry their line of polyester resin holds. So you can get the best of both Worlds, if you like resin or urethane. It's a shame that all the holds aren't' offered in your choice of medium :(

PACKAGING / SHIPPING
The sets came in sealed and well labelled bags. Everything was well wrapped within the bags and the box was packed nice and tight so there was little or no movement. All of the holds came out of the trip from Bend, OR to Montreal with out any dents or scrapes. What was worrying (well it made us laugh) was what was on the box (see image on the left), yup it says "Stoner" on the box in big red letters... no wonder Noodles next door neighbor was looking at him funny the other day (or maybe it was the shirt?)

RATING
NOODLES SAYS
Seems like I'm going to be the harbringer or doom today... out of the three sets we recieved we used two with another review coming later down the line, and I've talked in length about the holds with Chris, Seb and some other people that been over since we put the route up... and i've come to the conclusion that I don't really like the holds, it's something that I can't put my finger on per-se... there's nothing wrong with the shapes, they're fine and if you have other sets of Patinas and you match the color(s) then they'll fit in to your line and will compliment the other sets, the Jug'R-Nots well it's a shame that they're so textured in the area that you don't grab because using them as a pinch becomes a little painful on your thumb/fingers... it kind of makes them one directional, but then again (being devils advocate here) if you're using them as undercuts on a steep wall and your feet are trailing you have a great place to put your feet, the texture will bite into even the most worn climbing shoe or sneaker!!

I think that it boils down to the urethane mix, it's not that it's a bad mix... it just doesn't feel right under my fingers for some reason. The opinions are totally mixed, from me to Chris to Seb and some of the other climbers, some people like them, some people think that they're pretty generic and don't stand out all that much on the wall, a couple of people thought that they were some of the Revolution patinas that we have (which are in the cupboard and not on the wall)... it's a mixed bag of likes and dislikes. EP are releasing around 15 more sets of holds before Xmas this year, as soon as they hit the site we'll be sure to let you know first :)

CHRIS
I have come to the conclusion that the callouses on my hands have reduced my ability to feel pain. It's not the first time that Noodles has commented on the rough edges on a hold that I didn't notice, but then again the I had some issue with the texture of the Project holds that he didn't agree with. The Jug'r-nots have a section on the hold that is rougher than the rest, when I looked at all the holds I could see that all the holds had sharp edges on them. The one hold had the sharp edge right where you're fingers land so that was a bit of an issue and shouldn't be anywhere near a wall

I really liked climbing on these holds, they're made so there's is an ideal placement for each hold. The Jug'r-nots set came with two incuts (I guess those would be the jugs) which are designed one for the left hand and one for the right hand so if you get the hand sequence mixed up you could get yourself in some trouble.

SEB
The shapes are nice and provide a good grip for an average climber like me. I actually managed to flash a route... this says it all! They're not as skin friendly after a while compared to other holds, but that being said they don't suck chalk off of your finger tips like some other holds!

I only had one session on the holds, but I'd say that they're not as versatile as something that I'd buy for my home wall seeing as space is always a concern as is bang for your buck! These holds also don't look all that amazing, I'd say that they're average looking, they're not ugly but they definitely don't "shine"

Bottom line: I wouldn't buy a lot of them but would definitely get one set as a must have... especially when you need a break from all the slopers :)

PROS

Well priced
Colour easily matches other sets from different companies
Good on most angle walls

CONS

Sharp edges on some of the holds
Not a full range of holds, they only come in two sizes (each), so you'll have to get other holds if you're setting long routes (More sets coming before Xmas this year!!)
Rough texture, don't expect a long session chucking yourself at these holds

PRICE
Medium Jug'r-Not is 5 holds for $38.50
Small Patina Edges is a 10 hold set for $51.60

Review > E-Grips > Stealth Edges

2009-01-13T09:31:00.001-08:00

Just a quick note before we start this review, we've added some new stuff to the reviews that hopefully you'll all find helpful... we've added:

Suggested Uses: this is the angles that we think these holds will be good on, this of course depends upon you're ability.
Overall Build: are the bolts in a good place? Urethane / resin good? Good design overall? We've added a short section on the quality (or lack of) of the holds we're hauling on.

As usual, enjoy. Any comments are welcome, just click on Contact Us up on the top right of the page or chuck a comment onto the post, we're always happy to hear what you have to say.

E-Grips have a great number of grips on the market, we were able to pick and choose what we wanted to see, we chose two sets, the first set we've already reviewed; you can see our review of the 2-Tex Pure Crimps by clicking on the link...

The other set we grabbed are the Stealth Edges, pictured below:

All though the resemble a jet fighter or a space ship, the Stealth Edges aren't as low profile as you'd think; they stick out way more than you'd expect, the only thing that is kind of stealth about the holds is the texture which is more stealth than most companys products; in fact when you first grip the holds you're going to wonder if it's going to be OK to hold onto!

We've had these holds on some pretty steep walls and they're great to grab, it's really surprising what kind of angle you can use them on, OK some of the edges are flat and others in-cut so they do end up being harder to hold as the angle gets steeper , but not as hard as you'd think given the area you have to play with. These holds are easily matched and have a texture, as Noodles would put it, "like petting a panther", you could session on these all day and have the softest climbing hands out there:)

All joking aside if you got these into a competition the climbers would just love them; unfortunately the set is limited by the number of holds....5. On a bigger wall, like they have at the gym, they could set some good dynos, and short boulder problems (if you added some feet) but on our home wall we lacked the height and the crash pads to be attempting those kinds of maneuvers. (Noodles: Phooey, we still went and dyno'd about anyways)
We set a number of traverses with long committing moves starting on the overhanging wall and into the vertical.As you can see even when I'm fully stretched and on the tips of my fingers the hold is still solid because they're HUGE! (They came at a good time considering all the crimp reviews lately).

Combined with other sets; the Stealth Edges can be used for system training as they don't tear your fingers to shreds, you'd probably want a couple of sets for this, but as E-Grips have a range of Sytem Training Holds it's probably cheaper and easier to get something that was built and is therefore dedicated to system training!

These holds have a big radius so they don't dig into your fingers when you campus, that coupled with the texture means lots of climbing time and little or no skin pain. The holds are pretty damn versatile, it really depends upon how strong you are and how crazy you are when you set, but bear in mind that for us these holds are large flat or slightly in-cut edges, so people with small hands will find that the in-cut holds err more towards a slight jug. We've used the holds in a number of different areas from matched side pulls to under clings, but where these holds start to really get going is when you set something that makes the climber use the slick part of the hold for their feet... Noodles got spat onto the mats a number of times trying to rock on up and over a hold on one route we set, getting your feet to stick on these is super tricky!
What's apparent about these holds (and the other holds we have from E-Grips) is that they're super well made, the sanding on the backs is impeccably flat, these things are smooth as hell! I was interested to see just how flat they were so I grabbed Noodle's level from the cupboard, they are FLAT!, all of them, they're just well made.. there's no burr's where you'd expect to see them where the textures join there's just a nice smooth arched line which must have been a plain in the ass to get right! I'd love to know how many times they carved these to get them right :), mind you considering I used to work in a metal work shop the line is so precise it could have been done be a computer, that, or someone has a very very steady hand with a Dremel!!

SUGGESTED USES

We suggest the above angles for the holds, most people will be OK using the holds on the 15, 30 and of course the 90 (vertical wall), but if you're strong you're going to be able to have a blast on anything up to 45 degrees, we have a couple of the holds on our 60 degree roof section for a while and although they're hard to hold with the right feet they're more than do-able.

The shapes are a mix of flat and in-cut edges, when we say in-cut they are flat but cut at an angle that makes them semi-jug like, not super juggy, but big enough!

OVERALL BUILD
You're going to get what you expect from this set, bomber urethane, clean lines and backs as flat as anything out there. The bolts are well suituated so you don't need to worry about the holds bending or snapping. Texture wise its clean and consistant with the lines between the 2-tex and the texture being well defined thus no sore skin... quality workmanship sums these holds up!

RATING
NOODLES SAYS
Wow, the name doesn't really explain these holds, they have a bigger profile than you'd expect, and a texture that is weird to start but once you've climbed on them for a little while you're going to be surprised. Like Chris says they're bigger than you expect, for a home wall they take up a lot of space, which is a good and bad thing depending upon your priorities... The 2-tex nature of the holds means that if you're using them with your feet following you have to be a little bit sneaky with how you place them to get full use of the slippy side of the holds, more holds are needed so you can set long routes at the gym. but chucking these onto a wall mid way through a route will stop most people and will make them think! Mix these up with the Pure Crimps and you're going to have a route that's going to be absolutely killer... infact that's just what I might do! Climbers at Allez Up beware, I have a wrench and a whole bunch of 2-Tex holds that are coming your way in the next week :P

CHRIS SAYS
Not what I expected. Don't get me wrong, I really like using these holds. Since the texture is soooo skin friendly and the edges are nice and round, they're a whole lot a fun to dyno on. With the limitationa higher roof we might have been able to experience the real potential of these holds. Maybe they'll be the next set to go to Allez Up, our local gym :) On the whole there's not much you can say that's wrong about these holds, they're skin friendly and built super well, i'd like to see more of this type of hold, there's only 5 and more would be very welcome. The texture takes a little getting used to because you feel like you're going to fly off of it when you first start using the holds, but once you realise that its actually very grippy then you'll have a blast

PROS

Super skin friendly
Great construction, no burrs to catch your skin
Matchable, their large size allows you to match pretty well on them
Depending on how strong you are these are well suited to overhanging walls to about 45 degrees (then they'd be super hard to hang)

CONS

Not enough holds in the set, there could be more and if they expand the range they could make the radii a little smaller so the range could go from small to large
Could be stealthier, these holds do take up more room than expected on your wall
Do get a little clogged with shoe rubber and chalk after a while, so cleaning is needed every so often!

PRICE
The Stealth Edges are $57.50

Review > Asana > Joes

2009-01-13T09:29:00.000-08:00

Asana has been in the holds business for a short time now and they have been able to create some unique shapes from their shop. They offer a hold of the month club so we hold junkies can sample the latest abominations to come fresh out of the mold. The Joes’s are modeled after the sandstone boulders found in Joe’s valley, Utah. So throw away your chalk bag, you won't be needing it to stick to these holds. After an afternoon of climbing on these we lost a couple layers of skin. From shallow jugs to crimps, this set has a bit of everything. They range from large to small, so you get a mixed bag when you pick these up.We've had these around the wall for a while, from some simple bouldering problems to full on get over the roof screaming your heart out routes, and there is one thing that is going to become painfully clear... painfully clear... these holds hurt. Not just hurt a little, they hurt a lot to climb on! I thought that it was just me, but Noodles has backed off of some of the problems that we've set because as he said "I like my skin to stay where it is!", he even backed off of the route in the video that's below a couple of times just because where he was gripping one of the holds (one of the biggest in the set) as his thumb was getting bruised quite badly.Now maybe it's because we set the holds across the roof, but I'm afraid it's not, we set simple problems with a traverse and found that they still hurt. There are good things to be said about the holds thou, they do work on most angled walls but anything over 45 is going to start your skin hurting more than normal, they even work on the roof, if you're brave enough (Or a sadist)

As you can tell by the picture these holds do not have a nice smooth texture and aren’t made to be sweet on the hands, although when you’ve got in your grip they won’t let go, which is why sometimes when you do get off of the wall your fingers will be screaming at you for mercy. We've had small holds on harder routes across the roof and haven't had this kind of skin pain from them, I guess it's just the nature of the beast :)

Now Noodles spoke to Jamey over at Asana and was mentioning that we found the holds painful, and this is what he said "I shaped these holds after I came back from Joe's Valley. They were shaped because I got my ass kicked and I wanted to train specifically for the area", so there is method behind their madness!

SUGGESTED USES

We suggest the above angles for the holds, which as you can see is everything from slabs to 45 degrees over. But the steeper the angle the more your fingers are going to hurt, so bear that in mind.. we didn't include anything steeper than 45 or suggest using them upon a roof unless you're well warmed up, know what you're doing. We're obviously going to try to get them on the roof and the opinion is pretty unanimous over here that they shouldn't really be up there!

Incut and very dimpled!! The Joe's are positive enough they include everything from a big two hand match to small crimpers. The texture and shape of these holds allows you to crimp down on them or use it as pinches. We were able to match every one of these holds although a novice climber will find it challenging to match some of the smaller holds of the set, but you pay the price with skin loss pretty much most of the time :(

OVERALL BUILD
I'd love to see who ever shaped these, they must have been a pain in the ass to make, mind you I think that getting these out of their molds must be a challenge everytime they pour!

The urethane holds up pretty well, and considering that some of the holds have quite shallow areas I was expecting there to be some bending, but there wasn't any that we noticed (and it got pretty warm in the wall). The bolt placements are nice and clean, we didn't suffer from any spinning holds even when we were matched on one side of the largest hold.

The backs of the holds are flat, and there's no big bubbles in the urethane so the mix is nice and consistant. There aren't any huge burrs to mention other than the obvious Joes Valley texture which we found to be pretty hard going on the finger tips. And this being said, if you chalk up alot these holds will take a lot of chalk in the dimples and do take a fair ammount of brushing to get clean.

These holds are a deep red that i've not seen before, so they do stand out on the wall, they are a little dark but at least the red is different from the other shades on the market so you can see the holds when you're chucking to them

RATING
NOODLES SAYS
The latest edition of Urban Climber (Issue 23) has the Joes in there on their gear review page, and here's what they had to say about the Joes:
"Gritty, gnarly, pock-faced Joe's Valley inspired grips. One minute you're sweating blood, biting down on itsy bitsy razor crimps, praying for relief - and the next you're moving off welcoming jugs to, well, more crimps. It's a vicious cycle for the send, but one thats completly worth fighting for. Bring it home"

Thought inspiring text... but I have to agree. I backed off of some of the routes we set on our 30 degree wall and the roof just because the holds were biting my fingers, I wasn't enjoying the pain... outside is a completly different kettle of fish as you'll do anything to get the send, but indoors I prefer to keep my digits with skin on them so I can climb more rather than less. I've got a wicked bruise on my thumb from where I was bearing down on one of the holds on the roof and it just dug in so well I had to drop off (This is why you don't see me in the video, because I get onto the roof and then go "ow" and just let go)

If you're sensible in your setting and don't mind a bit of pain then you'll like these holds, but for me unless i'm taking it nice and easy (moves and angle of wall) and not dynoing to them they're fine, steep walls and roofs on these holds are out for me just because i'm a big girl.

CHRIS SAYS
The larger holds of the set work well on overhanging terrain but aren’t quite big enough to set on a roof. Being the crazy yahoos we are we put them up in the roof anyways. Our problem started on a small crimp undercling and went straight into the roof. It continued into the overhang and back onto the vertical. Initially we put the three biggest holds of the set into the roof. Our sequence went through a couple of overhauls before we realized that they were not meant to be bolted onto the roof. Our test: try hanging on them with one hand, result: FAIL, but here at climbingholdreview we like a challenge so we continued working the sequence. The moves throughout the route are long and the roof is no exception. Although the big boys of the set are positive they don’t go in very deep so when we were on the roof it required the use of our thumbs. I guess that would classify them as crimps on the roof and jugs on a vertical. Even with the assistance of our thumbs we couldn’t manage to get through the roof so we decided to switch one of the jugs with a smaller hold that had a bigger thumb catch. It worked. This made our roof sequence easier to execute and we were able send the project.

When I say easier, I mean painful, the route got sent once and then we dropped it because it's just too painful to have up all of the time. The Joe's are staying on the wall but as parts of easier routes for now, if you're a huge fan of Joe's then these are a great buy, if you're a fan of skin... then we'd shy away from them and would suggest the "Nut Jobs" from the Asana line!

PROS

A good mix of hold sizes for a good price
Solid construction
If you've been to Joe's valley these seem like a good representation of the terrain, that's what they were made to do, and that's what they do do!

CONS

Not skin friendly
Are ok on most angles, but the steeper you go the more skin you'll probably loose
These aren't holds that you want to train on for prolonged periods of time

PRICE
The set costs $39

Review > Asana > Sharks

2009-01-13T09:28:00.001-08:00

These bite size crimps from Asana are actually named Sharks, but we took the liberty to call them Sharks Teeth cause they bite and when we saw them that's what Noodles said they looked like, so we had a little fun at the expense of the movie Jaws.

At first glance the Sharks from Asana are, for lack of better terms, tiny. These holds are very similar to the Contact Hex and Rex that we reviewed some time back in that they're quite positive. Although the Asana Sharks could be put up in the roof, we came to the decision that one crimpy roof sequence on the wall was enough, besides my fingers have finally had enough of the strains and pains of bearing down on crimps. Hats of to you noodles, you were right:P

The color of the holds that Asana sent us are in a cotton candy pink and beige/brown tone. Since we like to have our holds in primary colors so we can see them on the wall, we weren't to keen on the colors that Asana chose for us. We also noticed the back of the holds were not flat, in some cases we were able to jam the tips of our fingers into the space between the wall and the hold.

Asana only sent us five out of the ten holds in the set. This made it difficult for us to set a problem so we decided on using some intermittent holds (also from Asana) to not only make it longer but to relieve some stress on our fingers. Out of the five holds that we received, all of them were crimps with the exception of one tiny sloper but thankfully Asana have designed this hold with a small thumb catch so I guess we can classify this hold as pinch as well

Like I said we chickened out on sticking the Asana Shark teeth in the roof so I started the problem on the overhang and ended it on our newly built box of death :) I set the problem so that we can bump off of each one of the crimps. My fingers hurt and I don't think they would hold up to the stresses of matching or crossing into another crimp. To my surprise Noodles was able to flash the problem quite gracefully. Then it was my turn. The Shark Teeth are much bigger than I had expected. Now that I think of it, I should have put a match in the problem or thrown them on the roof....Ok...maybe not the roof....that's just plain evil!!

SUGGESTED USES

Vertical terrain always works best with any crimp but with the help of the thumb catch, the Teeth can be used on angles from vertical to 15 degrees. These are not for the roof! The Asana website suggests that they be used for feet and vertical walls and I know that when we're done with this review they're going down low to be used by our toes only.

Depending upon the hold they're either incut or slopey, but these holds are small, you're looking at maybe a half pad at best. The thumb catches help an awful lot in making these holds better than you'd expect.

OVERALL BUILD
So far we've done four reviews for Asana: The Waffle, The Logo, The Joes and The Teeth. Out of four sets only the Joes and Waffle hold would sit flush on the wall while the remaining two sets could use some more work with the belt sander. So Asana is batting a 50/50 on the sanding. Remember that all of these holds turned up at the same time, speaking to Jamey over at Asana he assures me that they've sorted the problem out and the sanding issues that they've had have been fixed. We've got some more sets on the way, so we'll see what's up.

The urethane mix that Asana uses is solid and the holds didn't want to rotate even though the backs weren't completely flat, bolt placement is nice and clean and in the centre of the hold. You're going to want to run cap headed bolts in these holds as a normal socket head does stick out, so you've not got any of these bolts make sure you pick some up! These puppies don't exactly have the best coloring, but they do the job well enough.

RATING
NOODLES SAYS
((Considering in the same evening I managed to semi rip my index finger's tendon as we were climbing, and then had to leg it to the hospital you'd wonder if I'd ever go near a crimp again! And know what, I didn't even nail my finger on these tiny holds, it was on a jug!))

The Sharks a.k.a: Sharks Teeth aren't as bad as you think, they're by no means huge and aren't for most people, unless you're rocking them as feet, but on the whole I was impressed by them. What makes these a little different from most tiny crimps is that these have some nice shallow thumb catches on them that allow you to hang on a little bit more. I'm going to be taking some time off of small stuff for a while whilst my finger gets back to full strength so these holds will be getting moved and will be used for feet!

On the sanding front they were a little bit off, for larger holds you notice it, on smaller holds you don't, but there's really no excuse for these not being flat. But like Chris says, even with the sanding not being on par these didn't spin.

CHRIS
When I first laid eyes on these holds my thoughts were I hope this is the last crimp review that we do for a while. My fingers are screaming at me. I like working on crimps because when they are under my fingers I feel that there is no way I will pop off the hold. The Teeth are no exception. Now that I've climbed on them I would say that they're on the bigger side when it comes to crimps. (Actually Noodles informs me that these are about the same size as the E-Grips 2-Tex pure crimps, and a big smaller than the Contact Hex and Rex's) So big enough for the roof you might ask? Now that both my hands have some degree of tendon strain I'll have to say no, these are a set of holds that aren't going up there at all!

The texture was good and my fingers didn't burn after the send, which is good when you're on crimps as you bear down on them more than normal holds!

PROS

Looks can be deceiving, they are quite big for crimps.
The set included crimps, pinches and slopes
Great for feet
Well priced at $35 for ten holds

CONS

The back of the holds aren't flat
Not for beginners
You're not going to put these on much more than vertical or 15 degree overhangs

PRICE
$35.00 gets you ten holds, which is a great price for holds, even if you use them only for feet!

Review > Fricton > Moon Rocks & Organics

2009-01-13T09:23:00.001-08:00

Along time ago we were sent some Friction holds, at the same time Routesetter had just run a fairly long expose on the company so we decided to hold back and review the holds later. I just checked and the review on Routesetter was in February, so we've been more than slack :( Now this means we've had these holds for over 6 months, Luigi was one of the first people to help us out in getting started and really helped by letting me chew his ear off on the phone about problems that we experienced with the site and how we went about reviewing the holds that people were sending us.

So let's get rolling and talk about Friction a little!

Hailing from Toronto, Friction has been around since 99', but their shapers have been around the block a few times, most gyms that I've visited in Canada have a good staple diet of Friction holds, and rightly so when they're so skin and tendon friendly. Luigi who owns Friction is pretty well know in climbing circles because of the Tour De Bloc, the Canadian bouldering league that's running right now... and I've always loved their comp posters (on the left) and the comps have always been pretty well run, and same go's for his company, I've always found him to be very approachable on any subject that springs to mind.

We've had our holds since the beginning of the year, I'd brought a bunch from Le Mec before I started running this site, so we're pretty well versed on the holds... and we have a great variety of shapes to choose from... today we're looking at two sets, with some extra bonus holds :P
The Moon Rocks:
and the Organics:As per usual we looked at the suggested uses and saw that they're not recommended for the roof, and yes you've guessed it... we set a route across the roof. Thankfully as we've got some bonus holds from Friction that are prototypes of their new urethane range that will be dropping in 09 we had a couple of extra jugs to play with :) Looking at the video of what we set and the way we set it I was super happy that the Friction holds are so skin friendly as there is one roof move that stopped me dead, and this is a comment that will probably come up more than once... the shapes even though they may look that they're going to be mean on the fingers and skin are really really nice! Sure when they're new they do take a little bit of skin off of your hands, but once they've got some chalk on them they really do become nice to hold onto, the resin is just good on the skin.

Now when Luigi sent us some prototypes of the urethane mix and their shapes I was worried that his shapes would loose the feel that is unique to their brand, the holds feel very very sandstone-esqe, which lets face it is a good thing for me as I spent a great number of years in Font and climbing on Southern Sandstone in the UK. We compared a resin hold and urethane prototype hold side by side and here's what we found:

The urethane is lighter than the resin, by a country mile
Thankfully the proto uretane actually took the texture so they don't feel all that dissimilar to the resin holds... and remember there has been lots more work done since we got our holds!!!
Urethane.. well this mix is just plain STRONG, these holds are light (and I know I've said that already) but these holds are two things that we love... STRONG AND LIGHT

I was really worried about the pending switch to urethane and I talked to Luigi about the pro's and cons of what I'd seen with some urethane holds, thankfully their holds look like they're going to be sick, and with being so light you're going to save a bunch load on shipping costs :)

(there's no sound, we know, youtube was being a pain)

As you can see from the video we set some fun moves, with the roof being the crux (as per usual). Whichever way you put the holds they're pretty bomber to grab onto, or course there is always going to be an exception if you're being completely crazy, but we've found that from vertical to steeply overhung there's more than enough space on the holds (even the small ones) for you to grab and then haul on. If you're looking at getting some holds we'd suggest you look at the Friction line.

SUGGESTED USES

The roof....I don't think so. The holds that we reviewed range from crimps and ledges to shallow jugs. If you're a advanced climber you could have some fun on the roof but in general I would use them on vertical to 45 degree terrain depending on the set. Of holds the used some are ok for the roof, but you're going to have to be very strong to pull the moves off... but get them on slabs and gentle overhangs and these holds will treat you right

OVERALL BUILD
All of Frictions holds are textured, they'll either have little dimples in them where your fingers are intended to land or, like in our case, are textured like real rock so you're always finding different hand positions to get you through the send. The resin mix that Friction uses could be prone to breaking (since resin is more brittle than urethane) but we haven't had a hold break on us yet. The back of the hold is flat and the texture is great:) You'll need to be careful to use the proper bolts since the moon rocks use both tapered and regular bolts and you could weaken the hold by using the wrong bolt. Friction has some great colors, their best I think is the orange that they have in their range is really nice

WHAT THEY'RE MADE FROM
Currently the holds are made from resin, but the entire range is being switched to urethane in early 09. If the R&D that Friction has done since we were sent some of the early produces shapes with a feel like ours then everyone is a complete winner.

PACKAGING / SHIPPING
The box the holds were sent in was pretty big, but the packing was excellent and none of the holds were broken, which is a suprise as resin holds are prone to chipping and breaking in transit.

RATING
NOODLES SAYS
People are either going to love resin or hate it, me I like it. Friction is making the switch to urethane but the holds (I feel) feel just as good, the only noticable difference is the weight. Friction have one of the largest hold lines on the market right now, so chances are there's something that will take your fancy!

If you're in Canada, chances are you've been hauling on some of their holds throughout the winter, wether you know it or not you're pulling on some pretty sweet shapes!! Considering that we've had these holds for close to a year I cannot remember once brushing or cleaning any of the holds, resin or urethane, which is pretty cool... I checked the holds and even thou I chalk alot the holds seem pretty clean! The shapes are something that caught my eye when I grabbed them (I think I went to MEC and grabbed the Moon rocks), and they're just as nice to grab onto, stick them on an overhang and you're going to have some fun hauling on them, they are hard to hold onto and some of the angles of the shapes do look like they're going to pull off some skin but I've never had a problem with them. I love the colors that Friction comes up with, i'd like to see some brighter colors for sure but that is just my taste.... from big to small we've got a fair ammount of them kicking about and there is nearly always some of them on the wall, sure resin breaks if you're a little crazy with the wrenches but if you're careful and look after your holds they'll last for ever.

I'd recommend these holds to most people :) On another note the Tour De Bloc hits Montreal this weekend, so if you're in Montreal head on over to Action Directe and come compete. Myself and Chris will be there, come and say hi!

CHRIS
When the new urethane mix arrived from Friction I personally found that they felt different from the urethane mix from other companies in that they feel soft (kinda like styrofoam). I've always liked the shapes and texture from Friction and I was interested to see how the new mix would change the qualities of the holds. Once the holds make it onto the wall its hard to tell weather you're playing on the resin or the urethane mix. I think that the biggest difference is in the weight. The resin mix that Friction uses is not acceptionally heavy, I think that it's the least dense mix that we've come across, but with the urethane mix the holds are less likely to snap if you over tighten them. Friction has been in the game for only a short time but they make good holds and they've done a good job in teaming up with the tour de bloc so if you're looking for some sweet holds and want to support Canadian buisiness go put in an order with Luigi.

PROS

Skin friendly, even though they simulate real rock.
Canadian made, support the economy:)
Luigi is always near a phone so the customer service is kickass

CONS

Make sure you use the right bolt! Many of the smaller sizes use tapered head bolts and if you use a regular bolt you might snap the hold.
Little more expensive than urethane, but well worth it (get them before they make the switch)
Some people don't like resin, it's a matter of personal choice

PRICE
The Moon Rocks are $55 for10 holds
Organics are $47 for 5 holds

Review > Nicros > Burly Bits / Diff Tex Footchips

2009-01-13T09:22:00.001-08:00

We've have had the pleasure of reviewing some sweet holds in the past month, some big jugs, some not so big jugs and slappy sloppers, but now we're going back to my personal favorite the crimps :P Enter the Burly Bits from Nicros.If we want to get technical, the Burly Bits aren't all crimps. The set was designed by Kimberly down at Nicros to simulate the feel of granite. Although all these holds are small (three fingers at most) they aren't all crimps. The set includes pinches and (for lack of a better term) slopes. Enter stage right the Diff Tex foot chips from Nicros, the perfect compliment to the Burly's:So we took the two sets of holds and put up a route at our local gym, Allez Up. If ever you get a set of the foot chips in your possession you`ll realize that its going to take a laser sight on your shoes to pinpoint the good part of the hold, we had a lot of people with sloppy footwork get some air time! The holds are ideal for mad balance moves and are great for face climbs and that is where I ended up setting my route, it started below a fairly large bulge, went up and over the top and then straight up a vertical wall to it's conculsion, if your footwork was bad then you were going to have a hell of a time getting to the top, even though the route was only graded 5.9+

You would think that the Diff Tex foot chips are dual tex but they're not they have a textured area and an non textured area (Editors note: isn't that dual tex?), which is different from a Dual Tex hold, confused? So where we... here's what the Nicros site says this about them:
"1 Tick footchips offer a little more texture and varies the location of the texture when compared to the No Tick footchips. We offer three different sets of the same shapes that sport both a "textured" area as well as an "untextured" area with the texture located in different areas of the hold. These holds force you to really look at your foot placements. Isn't that what improved footwork is all about? Technical Course Setters rave about these footchips!"
Ah see, these are different from normal footchips! Nicros are being sneaky!! So these aren't your normal Dual Tex foot chips these are really really deciving... more than you think, they should pretty well be in most setters bags we think, especially as there four different variations of the same shapes!! Yup FOUR, one set textured, one set with practically no texture, and then two sets with small areas (like we have) but in different places, so you can leave up the same handholds and just switch the feet!! Would we be so mean to do that?? HELL YEAH, i'd bring a chair and a cup of coffee and watch people just get spat off of the wall :)

The Burly Bits on the other hand are dual tex! They're all made with the textured part on either side, and can be used as pinches, while the center part is smooth. It doesn't make much difference when you're using them as hand holds but there will be no smears when it comes to your feet. After bringing them back from the gym you could see the rubber on the textured part of the hold only. The crimps are bigger than you would expect due to some of the large incuts but they can still bite the fingers a little, not in a "ow ow ow" way, but in a positive way that lets you know you're on the hold properly! The sloping shapes from the set would be best on a slab. Once again balance is needed to navigate these holds.

And onto our wall :) We had them on the wall before they went to the gym, and we were having a hard time with them on the 30 degree overhang, they're do-able, but you really need to hold on! They make for some great powerful climbing, and again when you pair them with the footchips, you're going to be screaming to hold on and to get your feet on the good part of the hold. It's well documented that Noodles doesn't like crimps, he likes his fingers and would rather leave the superburly (HA!) climbing for outside or when he's competeing, but that being said even he thought that they were some pretty interesting shapes, with a good mix of shapes.

SUGGESTED USES

When we brought the holds to the gym they where set on a vertical wall. Most people could get through the climb and there where no complaints about the size but when you put them on any kind of overhang, look out!!! The crimps are bearable and the little "slopers" are only good for your feet. Some people did come back with the comment that the hold shapes felt a little too similar from hold to hold, it's a interesting point and one that we looked at once we brought the holds home, there is a degree of similarity between some of the holds but as they're all crimps with a small variation in size we can see why people think this! (It's also because we did have some duplicate holds up there aswell :P) Overall it was fun watching people try to grab the footchips rather than some of the holds to get up the route... wrong move!!

If you need to set some technical balancy moves on a slab or vertical wall these are something you should look at, if you want crimps for anything past 30 degrees overhung we suggest you give them a miss.... hopefully Kim-Burly will shape some more of the same style holds that are better suited to steeply overhung walls :)

The footchips can be used anywhere, they're going to tax peoples footwork to the absolute limit, from vertical to steeply overhung terrain we're having a hoot and will probably pick up the other sets pretty soon... they're that good!!

OVERALL BUILD
The gym has a bunch of Nicros holds (you can tell because they have the logo on them) and they seem to have withstood the test of time. When you get them in your hands they feel solid and the backs are flush with the wall. Ours came in white and orange swirls and we've received holds from Nicros in a variety of colors, these stand out pretty well, but the color does get a little lost once there is a bunch of chalk on them! All the holds have tapered holes so make sure you have bolts for all the holds, which means no one can cheat and grab the bolt!! The texture of the holds is meant to simulate granite and are a little rough at first but they mellow out in time, these holds do take rubber like there's no tomorrow, the holds are looking rather black from one month in the gym! We tried overtightening the holds with a large bar to see if we could snap one of the duplicates we had, but had no luck, so the holds are pretty damn strong!!!

For the feet, its pretty well the same as above... they're very well made and do what they're supposed to do, we're torn to say that these are some of the most technical or devious foot chips that we've ever come across!

WHAT THEY'RE MADE FROM
Resin... strong resin :)

PACKAGING / SHIPPING
These holds came in with a few chips here and there, but this is because UPS (or was it Fed Ex?) played touch football with the package again. We've noticed that this has happened alot with some shippers. The hold were well packaged, they were all wrapped really well, it was just the rough treatment from shipping that caused any damage. As per usual Nicros had replacements to us super quickly!

RATING
NOODLES SAYS
Kimberly maybe an evil genius, or just plain evil (She's not really)... these holds are going to give you a run for your money, the crimps are good enough for most people to haul on (We've heard of people using them on a 60 degree overhung wall) on most flat, slab or overhung terrain. I don't like crimps, but these are big enough for me to play on without having to worry too much about my fingers aching the next day, but this is dependent on who set with them and the feet. And speaking of which... wow, the feet are amazing, I thought that my footwork was alright, but I had a few moments at the gym (and at home) where my foot wasn't placed in the correct position and they slipped off. Put both of these sets together and you're going to be able to set some super technical crimpy routes that push your footwork to the limit.

If you're looking for tech feet, look no further... if you're looking for a set of granite style crimps then these are for you, but be advised the steeper you go the more air time you'll end up getting :D

The route that Chris set is interesting in parts, the start is super nice, and once you get past the box (mind you head (Dan)) we get into the steeper terrain, where, for want of a better word it gets interesting, when I say interesting I mean HARD... really hard! There is a specific hand sequence that you have to follow, which is fine, til the match at the end... if i'd had the camera rolling all the time from ourside all you'd have heard is Chris swearing, he was having a hell of a time. I did catch the photo on the left though, he was having fun as I did other things, but you would hear him fall on the last move... it's nice to see, but better to see him kill his own route in the end. Overall, I don't like crimps, and these are an exception, but they wall a very fine line for me... they're more like edges than super crimps (like the E-Grips) and so you can climb on them for longer, how long depends upon what you want to do to your fingers. Me? I did the route three times in an evening and I know my fingers will hurt tmrw, but that's fine!, I had a blast on the holds, just as we did the first time, just as I did on Chris' route at the gym and as I will in the near future. That's something from me... I've not banished them to being footholds, they're still there and will be used a lot... all I need is the other three sets of foot holds so I can play with people :)

CHRIS
I have mixed feelings about these holds. Its like a girlfriend you've just broken up with. You love her? You hate her? The set itself has some big holds but some of the smaller ones and the slopers are very deceiving. Some of the holds say "rest and chalk up here" while others say "move, move, move!". When I set the holds on the overhang I made sure to make short moves because I like my tendons the way they are but when it came to setting at the gym it was easier to let the moves flow into one another. I'm a solid 5.11 climber and I was worried that some of the moves on the smaller holds would turn people away but it was the other way around. The solid climbers where flying up it and a lot of people worked it and sent it in the end.

EVE
Ok, so I don't want to sound like a hater but... What happened there? First of all, these holds are ugly! It's like they tried to go all 80s about it (which I would luuuuuuuv) but then chickened out of it last minute and ended up with lightly colored wannabe tie-dyed swirls on a easily dirtied boring white background! The hand holds are shaped alright, crimps being crimps they're not comfortable per say but fairly easy to stick to. Gives a nice challenge, for me! The foot holds on the other hand are a bloody nightmare (great, the Brit rubbed off!) Either I'd slip right off or, when I'd find something more usable, I'd have to hang there, looking like I've got a twitch, trying to land EXACTLY at the millimeter where your toe fits nicely. Personally, I like a little more flexibility. It should be noted that the swirly Burlys were much more appreciated (by me mind you) on the boulder than on the wall. I think it's because having the right hand sequence is crucial to success with these holds (since your feet seem to hang there for show more then for support) and if you screw up on the wall, it quickly becomes a long power route. No good for my girly arms! Conclusion....you want a challenge? There's a challenge! I hope you don't use much leg flexibility and balance work when you climb though! (Editors note: Chris' route at the gym was all flexibilty and foot work, and it was wicked)

DAN
I love 'em! As far as small holds go, these are definitely among my favorites. There is a really good variety of angles in the set, both positive and negative, and also a good variety in the depth of the holds. It keeps climbing interesting, while keeping you from getting too comfortable up on the wall, which is a good thing. The texture is by far my favorite thing about them though. The best word I can think of to describe it is "chunky". Don't ask why, you won't understand until you've held the hold yourself. It's not like anything I've ever really seen in the gym before. Probably the closest plastic has ever felt to real rock to me. Kudos to the designers on this one! The foot holds are nice, but in my opinion nothing to get too excited about. Definitely a good addition to any climbing wall and definitely a challenge. Not too many flat edges here! I would say a really good set to practice keeping your feet on the wall while its trying to spit you off.

PROS

Great for setting
Big pinches, small pinches, crimps... mini slopes, this set has them all
Footchips are super technical, you will end up with great footwork!!

CONS

Could pop a tendon on an overhang, crimpings baaaad!
Some of the shapes do feel a little similar to one another

PRICE
Burly Bits are $27.97 (Normally $39.95 THEY'RE ON SALE!) for 10 holds
Diff Tex Footchips are $37.95 for 10 holds, there are four different sets for your setting pleasure!

Review > DRCC > BFD's

2009-01-13T09:21:00.001-08:00

The Detroit Rock Climbing Company, or the DRCC are new... how new? Well we're the first people to get their holds in Canada, these guys despite the fact that they've been in the climbing world in different capacities for years have only had holds on the market for a very very short period of time. I've been talking to Vince for a long while, since I found their site, I've been a real pain asking when they were launching, asking for sneak peaks of holds and generally making a nusience of myself :) Well once they launched and got some holds out the door a package arrived... a package that i've been looking forward to seeing... Welcome the DRCC's BFD's

From left to right we have: BFD Crimps, BFD: Edges & the BFD Sloper, together these holds are the Divoted Series... and we've been having some fun, well I was having fun listening to Chris hit the deck on the last move for a few hours... man that last move on the route I set stopped all of us for a while there, until you figure out where you feet want to be, where your hands need to be and you just crank up and catch the last hold... watch the video and enjoy our pain for a few minutes!

Ok so I set an interesting route, I was trying to make it harder than it had to be... I made sure there were some nice balancy moves, some power moves and a stinker of a final move :) Overall I don't think that we've had a route that's stopped us for most of a session in a while, it was part holds and part setting that caused this :D But that aside, these are nice holds.. the texture is super good for your skin, the shapes are friendly and the rubber backing means that they sit super flush to the wall!

There's not a great deal (if anything) that you can say about the shapes from the DRCC that is bad, or could be contrived as being bad... we looked and looked, had a few beers and thought about it and came up with nothing...... THAT is surprising for us, just as surprising as the shapes themselves. There are enough holds in the range to make even hardcore hold freaks happy, and when you look at this you're going to get excited.

SUGGESTED USES: BFD SLOPER

A dog is a mans best friend, slopers are a climbers best friend.. we keep saying it, infact we say it so much we probably sound like a broken record! So one more time, for the cheap seats... slopers will make you strong and won't wreck your fingers!
The BFD slope is a beast, super hard to hold onto on a vertical wall and then flip it and it puts your route / move up about a grade... yup, V2 to V3 with the turn of a wrench and a spin of a hold! On anything past 30 degrees over we're having trouble holding on, but trial and error (plus the new 45 wall we're building) will see us conquer this hold on steep terrain! This hold is all about where you place your fingers, and how good your core tension is.. you'll get a workout, it's not what we'd call a "beginners" sloper (I'd err more towards the BFD Edges), but if you love the slopers then you'll love this one aswell... it's just haarder than most!

SUGGESTED USES: BFD EDGES

Edges is an interesting term for these holds!! They are edges, but really big edges with big smooth radii, I'd call them slopers.... These guys will take you all the way to 45 degrees, and if you're super super strong past it into the really steep terrain! The holds are primarily flat, but we think they're reall nice friendly beginner style slopers (you can match most of them), don't get us wrong they're amazing edges aswell. They're going to be easy going on a vertical wall, and then the going (as you can see from the video) get's really interesting on a 30 degree overhang, see everyone hitting the floor on the last few moves of the route, that's these edges for you... super fun climbing, super interesting move and yet our fingers don't complain! Now if you want to make life really hard, turn the holds upside down (from the obvious grabbing area) and see what happens.... brutally hard to hold :)

SUGGESTED USES: BFD CRIMPS

If these are crimps then this is the way holds for indoor walls should be made from now on in... I don't think I saw one person crimp on these holds, not one... they're more openhanded then you'd expect rather than bear down super hard and tweak your fingers! There isn't a sharp edge on these holds anywhere... not one... some sides are flat, some sides are slopey, but always with a nice rounded edge so you can position your hand whereever you want! We think that these are more sloping edges than anything else, they're so well designed and shaped that if you really want to you could crimp on them, but as they're so comfortable you'll just open hand them. These guys double as some pretty fun pinches, we've had them all over the place and they double / triple as slopers / pinches and edges depending upon which way you turn them.... it's a three for one! You'll be able to haul to 30 degrees over without too much trouble, but once you hit the 45 over you're going to want to have the hold rotated to the most positive side :D

OVERALL BUILD
The colors you can get on these holds vary as much as you want... pick and choose, one set (that will be reviewed soon) is a maroon color that i've never seen on a hold, the BFD Sloper is a tri color hold that looks kind of like a tub of ice cream. All the holds are rubber backed, but the holds without the backing are all flat sanded and smooooooth, bolt placements are nice and centre on the hold and anything that might spin has a screw hole placed in a good area. There's nothing bad to say about these guys, they're well designed, skin and tendon friendly shapes that will treat you and your hands well for a long time.

WHAT THEY'RE MADE FROM
Urethane, and even the big sloper we have is super light... but strong :)

PACKAGING / SHIPPING
US Ground shipped, no import when we got the package and there wasn't a single mark on any of the holds!! Each hold was wrapped in loads of paper with the bolt placed in the hole! Even with the bolts there a mark on anything. The box was super wall packed, and UPS / Canada Post actually handled the box pretty well for once!

RATING
NOODLES SAYS
BFD, what does that stand for? Big F**king Deal? Well if it does then DRCC's entry to the hold market is exactly that, a BFD! BDF actually stands for Big Fun Divoted, which means I was close but no cigar! Right onto serious matters, for a company that has just hit the market, the DRCC have hit the ground at a sprint it seems, there have been companys kicking around for longer that make worse holds, people should sit up, buy some holds and take some notes... the holds are very well thought out shape wise, and even better when you look at the quality of the molding. One big reason I like the holds is because Chris was sent flying for hours on end, yes i'm evil, but it's good to see him have to work for a send... me on the other hand had the route wired pretty well from the start, but I did actually set is, so it er's towards my strengths a little. Looking at the sloper you think it's going to be great on a slight overhang, and it's not... it's hard on vertical, and just a screamer on anything that has an angle to it... therefore great, and something that we're having to work real hard to pull on!! Putting the Divoted Series together in a route is going to have people screaming and the setters smiling (inwardly of course!), impressed is a term we don't throw around too much, but it's a word that is being kicked around the wall.

CHRIS
They should call these holds "Spit", as in they Spit me off of the wall, or look at the pit fly when I curse and hit the ground. I spent a good part of our session just trying to execute the last move on the route and was only able to stick it once. DRCC: 100, Screamer Chris: 1. I haven't had that much fun on a hold in a long time. So DRCC has put a lot of effort into designing these holds and it shows in the quality of their product. Their attention to detail includes an optional rubber back on the hold thats molded into the shape to prevent it from spinning. They also put a screw hold on everyone of their holds, although in the most part you won't be needing the extra support. The set are well balanced and will be good for all range of climbers. All in all, other than giving me a lesson in humility, I really enjoyed climbing on these holds.

EVE
"Put yo' hands up fo' Detroit....I luv this city!" No but seriously, good job! These hold are loads of fun. Challenging yea, but not impossible! First of all they are absolutely beautiful, inside and out, with cute colors and fun features. Actually, the features are a bit deceptive. Some look like obvious 'finger grooves' but once on the wall, are absolutely useless! Fun! Secondly, they feel nice. Not too rough, and honestly nothing very realistic but hey, if you want rocks, go outside! Lol! So yeah, Detroit's new line is a pleasure to climb with, but I don't think it's for beginners....well not if you want them to like rock climbing! Like I've said they are slightly deceptive, so I think a minimum of technique is required to get anywhere with them.

PROS

Optional rubber back and all the holds have screws
Wicked color options
Tendon friendly holds, nice round shapes
Prices are competitive

CONS

The BFD sloper is not beginer hold, its a real pain to stick
We think that the rubber back should be standard (there is a charge for this feature)

PRICE
BFD Crimps are: $39.95 for 5 holds
BFD Slope is: $34.99, for the single hold
BFD Edges are: $59.95 for 5 slopes
All three are the Divoted series and run $119.95 for 11 holds

Review > Project Holds > Shellshocked

2009-01-13T09:20:00.000-08:00

Here's the second part of our review on Project holds. Earlier last month we reviewed the Jugs ans they have since been set at our local gym Allez Up. We have a saying that goes "no brand loyalty" and in spite of sounding biased... these holds are SWEET:P And once again, like the Jugs, these holds are like no other that we have on our wall. So we received the full line of Shell Shocks minus the Shell Shocks Large 1. Now we got one more hold from this set, The Wedge is a 6xl and its HUGE!
How huge?? Here's someone holding the monster!It's huge but surprisingly light. They put this beast on a diet by molding it with a hollow back so it only takes one bolt. We had a long session on it with Jackie and Eve and the hold never spun out on us. So Project put it best when they describes the holds as "a new spin on the classic brain texture". Everyone who has gone to the gym knows that holds with this texture can be deceiving but the Shellshocks on the most part have a really good edge on them and they are all quite big. Some of the bigger holds from the set have decent pocket and could be set in the roof. The holds came in green, just like the images on the website, and they stand out on the wall. The texture of the mix is rough on the skin but the bottom line is you stick the hold and the mix gives you plenty of friction.

We've had these holds since last month and we couldn't resist the temptation of putting them up. As I mentioned earlier we had a bunch of sessions on the Wedge and some other holds with Jackie and Eve. Now that we've had some fun with the holds we set a route up with them for the review and to make things interesting, Noodles flipped some of the holds around after every attempt..

It wasn't all falling though, we did get around the route a number of times with the holds having a different rotation each time... the Wedge, again can be deceptive!

The session ended with a small problem with the Wedge, a cross threaded bolt and a new hole in the wall... Noodles wasn't amused (see his comments for the full story)

SUGGESTED USES

These holds are big enough to be used on any angle. With the exception of some of the smaller holds and the Wedge they can even be put into the roof but it'll require a hell of a lot of core strength to maneuver around the pinches and Wedge if they're set on steep terrain. We're not even crazy enough to attempt anything like this.

Keep in mind that these holds are categorized as medium to large and on flat or slightly overhanging terrain the holds are easy to match. As per usual the exception is the Wedge. It takes a couple of dry runs to find the sweet spot on the hold but once you know where to hit it, along with some controlled movement, the Wedge tons of fun.

OVERALL BUILD
Across the range of holds there is one problem and that's the color across the line isn't very consistent, it's almost as if they were mixed at different times... the texture and quality of the urethane is fine, there's nothing wrong with them, but the color is off on some of the holds, there just simply isn't enough pigment in the mix. If we look at them against a set of holds that are green then we'll put them against the Climb It Sediments which are green and stand out more than the Shell's. If Project can sort out the color problem then with the shapes they have they'll be onto a complete winner. Now that aside all of the holds are flat backed, and the texture is really really nice, it's a good spin on a tried and tested formula... the fabled Font texture, this is a new slant on that and it's worked out really well!

If we look at bolt placement then you're going to find them well placed with supplementary screw placements for the larger holds, the one place that this falls down is the Wedge that is large enough to generate so much force that we managed to destroy two T nuts, and (now) the bolt that holds this monster up (see Noodles comments for some more in depth thoughts). You're going to need two people to get this guy onto the wall unless you're setting on a slab as it's pretty heavy. Also when speaking of the Wedge there are a couple of areas of texture that are inconsistent within the crack, it's nothing really major (and we believe it's not on purpose) there's one area that's a little rougher than the rest

WHAT THEY'RE MADE FROM
Thank god Project doesn't use resin. We would have needed the whole army of people to get the Wedge up! The urethane is good and strong as hell, but the edges of the holds can and will chip if the holds are thrown around too much, as Noodles found out the other night (he chipped the Wedge when trying to get the T nut off of the bolt)

PACKAGING / SHIPPING
One hold was damaged in shipping but Project gladly replaced it for us, mind you this was a 72lb box of holds.

RATING
NOODLES SAYS
Although it seems like our session when we were rotating the holds was a lot of failure, it doesn't come close to when we tried to take the Wedge off of the wall! It seems that the weight of the hold, combined with us hauling on it locked the threads of the bolt and t nut, now you'll know how much of a pain this is if you've ever had to sort out one of these problems... thankfully we have access to the back of the wall, but it didn't really help us :( We tried everything, and in the end we drilled around the back of the t nut to get the Wedge off of the wall, it looks like this is the second patch job I'm going to have to do on the wall in two weeks... oh did I not mention, this is the second time the Wedge has done this on us. Even with Louie's advice, we ended up just getting out the drill, so you can imagine how the session ended for me last night, I was pretty unamused to say the least. Thankfully Project are a forward thinking bunch and they'll have the problem resolved pretty damn quickly!

The pain of patching walls aside, what do I think about the Shellshocks?

The range is a mixed bag of shapes of different sizes and shapes, the Font style texture ties them all together making them a very rounded set of holds. If you want smalls you've got smalls, if you want monster holds they're there waiting for you. Other than the jug shapes, anyone climbing on these holds are going to have to think very carefully about where they place their hands and their body position, the videos show this all too well. Overall I'll tip my hat and say well done, I love Font (I climbed there a bunch) and these are a new spin on something that's been done time and time again... I just wish they were the same color as the website images, least then I'd have an excuse for wearing my Army helmet when I climb :D

CHRIS
A Louis, you are an artist. The last set that we received from Project (the jugs, review is here) was also shaped by Louis and we love both sets of holds. I mean if you want something on your wall that screams "look at me!" and is great to climb on you have a winning combination.

After we had a great session playing around on the Shellshocks I decided to rotate it one more time and to my surprise I had a hard time getting the bolt loose and after fighting with the wrench the bolt started to spin, but it wasn't the bolt that was loose, it was the t-nut spinning into the back of the wall. So we performed some climbing wall surgery and got the Wedge off the wall. When we inspected the hold we came to some conclusion on how things went wrong. First of all the bolt that Project sent us was too long, secondly the t-nut started to bury itself further into the wall each time we re bolted the hold. Louis also brought up a good point in that the bolt hole isn't reinforced so when you over tighten the bolt the hold flexes because the bolt hole doesn't extend all the way to the wall. So after all the fun we had with the holds we had on a bad experience at the end but as an optimist I need to say that at least have an unbiased review.

PROS

A new spin on the Font texture
Something for everyone in the full line
Well priced
Project sizes are larger than you expect, so look at the holds carefully as you may be getting more than you thought!

CONS

The Wedge is huge, and because of the bolt placement / design you could cross thread a t nut / bolt with the torque you put on the hold...
The colours are not consistent from batch to batch
Noodles doesn't mind the texture, but I found that my hands lost more skin than usual.
They could add a small line to the range

PRICE
Shellshocked don't come in anything less than a medium!!
Medium 01: $39 for 5 holds (tested)
Large 01 / 02: $49 for 5 holds per set (tested)
X Large o1 / 02: $69 for 5 holds per set (tested)
2xl : $139 for 5 holds (tested)
Apollo: 4xl $79 for one hold
Rhino: 5x1 $99 for one hold
Wedge: 6xl $139 for one hold (kicked our ass when it's rotated!!, but tested)
UFO: 7xl $199 for one hold

Review > Asana > Sharks (Teeth)

2008-07-24T10:22:00.001-07:00

Looks can be deceiving, they are quite big for crimps.
The set included crimps, pinches and slopes
Great for feet
Well priced at $35 for ten holds

CONS

The back of the holds aren't flat
Not for beginners
You're not going to put these on much more than vertical or 15 degree overhangs

PRICE
$35.00 gets you ten holds, which is a great price for holds, even if you use them only for feet!

Review > E-Grips > 2-Tex Pure Crimps

2008-05-19T08:22:00.001-07:00

We've had these for a few months, moving and rebuilding the wall has stopped us from getting a review out on them. Sorry about that, but now we're back in full swing and we can pass our judgement on the 2-Tex Pure Crimps from E-Grips!
Now, the word pure means this:

clean, spotless, or unsullied: pure hands.
(of literary style) straightforward; unaffected
without any discordant quality; clear and true: pure tones in music

if you read a dictionary that is, and when I first got onto them this video was the result:

On an overhanging wall I had lots of trouble pulling an easy sequence, it took me a good number of tries, as you can see but eventually it went, the use of the word pure in the name of these holds is correct, they are pure crimps! Ranging from thin to REALLY thin! Really really thin! I've never been much of a fan of crimps for home walls, you're asking for an injury unless you're either very strong or stupid. I know that crimp strength is something that we all need, but over training on the small stuff over a long period of time will at somepoint leave you sitting icing your hand. These holds were made for competitions pure (ho ho) and simple, and when you get them onto some easier terrain then they become very interesting to climb on, add tracking with the feet and you're asking for a fun ol time as your feet will flail all over the place!

As you can see i'm having to be very careful with my feet even when you're using the part of the holds that has texture upon it as they're so thin! We've had these on the 30 degree wall, the steps as underclings and on the flat wall, they perform pertty well with anything over about 15 degrees making you think about how your next move is going to be executed. They're a complete no-no for roof's unless you're Spiderman or have super human strength.

Pairing these holds with another set of E-Grips the 2-Tex Stealth Edges (review coming soon) will allow you to take your routes onto steeper terrain, but still not into a roof section. The mix of the two sets allows you to set horrible crimpy sections and then allow a semi-rest inbetween the onslaughts :P

Where these holds are going to come into their own on a home wall is for traverses and very short boulder problems, their main forte in my eyes is in the competition setting where you can force a mover very easily with these holds as there is normally only one way of grabbing them and its super thin. The texture on the is enough to hold onto, but does get a little clogged up after repeated attempts, so make sure you have a brush handy!

RATING
NOODLES SAYS
I've had some good sessions on these, and most of the time i've walked away pretty ok from it. On overhanging walls you're going to be holding on for dear life and your fingers will complain if you overdo it on them. When they're on a vertical wall they're not so bad and you can set some really nice moves where you've got to cross, matching is hard, it can be done but it'll take you a few go's to figure out where exactly to put your one (sometimes two) finger tips so you can balance and get your match. These should be a staple of any competition setters bucket that's for sure because they will sort the wheat from the chaff!! And when you look at the price running at $46 for 10 holds you're not going to go far wrong. I hope they actually extend the range of these holds some more, making them bigger but still keeping the same texture / slick combination!

CHRIS SAYS
Tiny, tiny, tiny! I'm going to mirror a little of what Noodles says. Training on small stuff will give you an injury if you over do it! So becareful people :) I like crimps, so i'm the polar opposite of Nuds. These for me are what dual tex holds should be like, we've got a whole bunch from lots of companies and these are some of the best out there! My current list of dual tex crimps favorites are from Holdz, E-Grips and then some of the Globes that we've had for years, it's not a list that's easy to get onto as there are alot of companys that are dabbling with dual-tex and as the bar has been set so high buy the above guys it's a tough field to stand out in! These holds are hard, real hard but i've seen strength gains in using them, I do prefer then on the 30 over wall when they're set in a short boulder problem rather than the vertical like Nuds likes them but we're different people so we want different things :)
Next time the Tour-de-Bloc rolls into town these are going to be on the wall in one variety or another, competiton settings is where these holds will shine.

PROS

Comp crimps as they should be, dual tex and thin as hell
Will make you strong
Will make you use your feet if you set a problem that tracks
Some of the slickest Dual Tex out there

CONS

Not for super overhung walls, they're too thin
Could cause an injury if you go mental with them
Do chalk up and need to be brushed more than most holds

PRICE

$46 for a set of ten

Review > Sequence > Virus, Power Blox and Sugar Plates

2008-02-06T16:48:00.001-08:00

The triple threat today, reviewing the Virus is kind of apt as my girlfriend is sick. So as illness seems to be todays theme let's get started...

This is the Virus 1 set, there are actually two sets but Virus 2 is undergoing a face lift, I have them both and they've been a staple on the wall since the day they were shipped.

On the whole the holds have a texture that is quite fine, but doesn't get slick and the sets are sold as pinches and I find that its rare that we actually set with them as pinches because they make such nice open hand slopes. We've set routes with these on their own, but normally we end up mixing and matching between sets..

Like this, what we end up doing is having a mix between the Virus 1 & 2, the Power Blox and in the above image the Sugar Plates. This makes for a route that have either mean slopes, mean pinches or really mean crimps / side pulls. At the moment we have some of the Virus' on the roof (!), yup the roof and we're doing a silly pinch / layback hand traverse, its marginal but do-able. There's no way these holds are meant for the roof, unless your last name is Sharma, first name being Chris.

Which ever way you turn these holds gives you a new problem on how to hold it, slopes, pinches, ledges they've got it all...

RATING
NOODLES SAYS:
These holds are pretty big, but built strong and are hollow backed. If you over torque them you could easily crack em, so be careful when tightening. I've set many a warm up route with the Virus' and have spent hours pulling on them, the texture is amazing and for open handed problems they'll make you strong. They do need some brushing from time to time as they can get slick from all the chalk, but we do use alot of chalk, and checking with my local gym where they get alot of use it doesn't seem to be a problem.

I'm waiting to see what Mike pulls our of the bag next.
CHRIS' FINAL WORD
These are pinches? We always use them as slopes... whoops! I'm off to set some pinch problems :) Some of the holds are hard to hold, but that just means you have to try harder!!! Try to set some problems where you have to lower onto the holds and see how that feels...

Onto the Power Blox..
Who sung the song "Anyway You Want It"?
That's a song about the Power Blox, turn them any which way you want and you'll have a different pinch, of if you're going at the holds dead on a sloping edge.

The great thing about these holds is you can set a route and then change how hard it is with just a few wrench turns, just spin the hold about and its the same route... just a different pulling experience. The texture is slightly rougher than the Virus, but as some of the sides are so slopey thats a good thing, the set gives you five holds but I think that Sequence should make some more variations.

RATING
NOODLES SAYS:
The texture is rougher, but you can pull on it as long as you can hold on. On a vertical wall these holds would make some fun routes that would test a beginners skill at holding sloping pinches, on an overhang (which is where we normally have them) it makes for a far more interesting time, and when I say interesting I mean HARD! But you can dial in the difficulty really easily, so you can set how you feelCHRIS' FINAL WORD
These are pinches? That's twice today, we need to go and get the wrenches out again! I generally set with these as slopes with long moves between them, or as a traverse section as they're interesting to hold whichever way you come at them. I wish there were more of these, some a little larger some a little smaller. If you're looking for some devious sloping feet then I sometimes chuck these up, they make big feet but the slope of the hold makes all the difference.

Time for some Sugar...
Lets get something straight from the start, there is nothing sweet about these holds. They are HARD, HARD, HARD! If you're looking to train your balance on a vertical wall then these holds are super technical, on an overhang they are finger rippers.. it may sound like we're being harsh here but they are some really small holds.

But... there are some that are.. I_can_hold_this_if_i'm_gentle.

See! On an overhang :)
Where we find these holds to be great is when you mix them up with other Sequence holds and use of the Plates as feet, really technical horrible, horrible_my_foots_going_to_rip feet. As soon as you see a route with these holds and then you look at where you feet are going to go you start thinking carefully about how you're going to get through the moves.

RATING
NOODLES SAYS:
Ok, the above review sounds a little harsh, but there is good reason. If you're training then you don't want to injure yourself, climbing on anything other than vertical with these holds is a burly experience for sure. Soon as these holds are on anything past about 15 degrees its just a matter of time before you rip off and possibly pop a finger. I love these holds (and I did use a wrong bolt one time and took one to the face (not done that since)) they're great, just be careful when you set and climb on themCHRIS' FINAL WORD
Wise words from the Noodles there... let's ignore him for a second. I love these holds, I love pulling on small holds and these are some small holds. They ARE hard to pull on, and I like that. Noodles likes the big sloping holds so its nice on his hands. I don't mind pulling on the smaller stuff, so its give and take on this review. I'm going to go and smack Nud's in the head, and we'll figure out a score from there.

Review > Synrock > Side Pods

2008-02-06T16:09:00.001-08:00

Ahh, it seems that Routesetter have beaten us to the punch on this one (last time I post what we're reviewing :P) but to offset our review you can read there's here:

http://www.routesetter.com

Onwards, and at times upwards...These are the holds in question, how can something like this cause so much controversy? Well I bolted the holds up and made sure Chris came in the back door (so he'd not see the wall, he has a keen nose for new holds) and then handed him the biggest hold of the lot... here's his face..Yup that about says it all! That's pretty much my face when I unpacked them the other day, I stood, I scratched my head, and then I grabbed a wrench, bolted them on and had a climb.

These holds are ugly as sin to look at, really ugly. The finishing is so-so, the colors are awful and the see through ones should just be banned! Some of the holds have glue on them, some have pit marks on the polycrete so it means you can see the end of the nails that are inside, they're just plain and simply ugly. One thing we did find endearing about the look of the holds is the fact that the name of the holds and pat pend is obviously inscribed by hand, so every time you get one of these through the post you know that its hand made, be it a little sloppy, but hand made none the less!

Once you get over the fact that they look awful, you can get to climbing on them. Now, its a well documented fact that I hate really small single pad holds, if I want to give myself an injury i'll get a fingerboard, strap on some weight and i'll knacker my hands. But in the interest (and there was a ton) of the holds I taped up, chalked up and had a bash...
Brutal on vertical, use them on a slightly overhung wall (15 over) and its brutal yet delicate climbing. I can see where these holds are going to be a dream.. when you want to force moves because with the polycrete and the rock on top you have no choice but to hold the hold the way it was set and therefore intended by the setter. That's where, for me anyway, these holds come into their own!

But wait! There's more! Let's talk about texture, these holds have it in spades, buckets of it, AND you can sand them down if you want... lets face it they're rock, so they clean up well and whats more they grip like nothing else out there on the market. That's what really surprised us, the look like they're going to be horrible and then they're not that bad to climb on, whether or not they're the best thing to pull on for hours on end is a different matter, because I can see tweaked joints and people ripping off happening alot. Also one thing you'll notice is that the holds feel cooler than your normal run 'o' the mill bolt ons, this is the rock talking to your finger tips. I even chucked the heat on in the wall for a few hours and where other holds were getting a little slippery the pods just went "yeah, whatever... you can still pull on us cos we're coooool"

Opinions are divided, really divided on these holds. I can see the benefits of what they are and what they do, but I think that with some time and a little more TLC when they're being made these holds will become a staple of any wall, if you see them at a commercial gym is another case. Well you will see them at my local wall because they're getting bolted up and we're asking anyone that has something to say about them to post a comment on here so we can see what the people have to say...

RATING
NOODLES SAYS
These holds are a love hate thing. They have screw holes so you can use them as screw ons, they have bolt holds, so you can use them as bolt ons, therefore they can be placed pretty much anywhere, so that's cool. When you use just the bolt you're thinking that the hold could spin, but they don't, which was an eyeopener, and my wall is varnished. The texture is amazing, the colors are baaaaaaaaaad, the finishing is not up-to par but (and this is a big but) if you close your eyes half way and bear down you could almost think that you're outside.

For me holds need to look pleasing to the eye, that's what makes people want to reach up and grab and to pull. These holds, thou semi pleasing to pull on are not pleasing to the eye and therefore don't really make you want to pull on them. Jim over at Synrock has more holds to offer and I shall be buying more, but I will be getting the bigger holds, these for me are too small for my pulling enjoymentCHRIS' LAST WORD
Hmm tricky. I like these holds, but I do like pulling on small things... they do look horrid, but they pull like rock. They have a unique texture, but they are rock. They do force the climber to climb a route the way its set, but you can't really use them for anything else.

Tricky...

There are many holds with rock like texture out there that aren't made from rock, there are many dual texture holds out there on the market as well. These are the only holds that I'm aware of that are made from rock, and therefore in my eyes are worth a look at from anyone. If they looked a little nicer, and the finishing was a little bit cleaner then you'd see these holds everywhere.... EVERYWHERE. For now they're a little bit niche, and therefore aren't going to be seen that much... but if you have a nice slab of vertical in your house, or a wall that's not too overhung then you can set some amazing (probably) stopper routes with these