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ClimbSoHigh
Jun 14, 2010, 7:45 PM
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Registered: Feb 28, 2008
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So let me start by saying I am terrible at searching the RC forums. I tried already and was only able to find really outdated posts that may not be relevant anymore. If I am re-posting an existing thread, I would appreciate soemone stearing me in the right direction so I can just join in a discussion in progress.
Anyways I have started to build my own climbing wall and I am more or less winging the whole thing. I have done some research and read up a good deal on designing, engineering, and building a wall but have no experience with any of it. I also wanted a place to show off my woodie. Anyways here are some pictures of the sections I have framed out so far.
So as I am finishing up stage 1 of my wall, I have gathered many questions, most importantly holds. Those fuckers are EXPENSIVE. I did a small order from morganic, atomik, and metolius to compare quality and customer service. Morganic had the best prices but it was a disapointment when they shipped one of the sets incorrectly. They sent a $23 set of 5 instead of a $40 set of 10...although I paid the $40 and my reciept indicates the same. and one of the holds did not have the hole drilled all the way through. I'll update this SNAFU when I hear back to comment on their service.
Anyways I am looking for any advice on holds, crack machines (found good stuff on tradgirl.com), how to measure secondary pannels (like the odd shaped corner in the top two pictures), where to get good holds cheap, mistakes others have made, sucesses others have made, texture or not, crash pad ideas (my current idea is to put about 3 layers of carpet padding down with a carpet over it, and use my 2 outdoor bouldering pads on top of that), or just discuss the process wtih others who have built a wall or are in the process.
If things go well and my budget holds up, I will have many mroe posts/questions/pictures.
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Couloirman
Jun 14, 2010, 8:19 PM
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Registered: Jan 13, 2008
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If youre ever in the boston area I have a few free holds you can have- like 6 synrock holds, and a set of decontension slopey pinches from soill
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bill413
Jun 15, 2010, 1:23 PM
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Registered: Oct 19, 2004
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A friend of mine used carpet padding & carpet over the whole floor (he got remnants, don't remember if from an install job or the store). Laid down a single layer of mattress wherever we were working - it worked well for us.
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ClimbSoHigh
Jun 15, 2010, 9:45 PM
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Registered: Feb 28, 2008
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In reply to: A friend of mine used carpet padding & carpet over the whole floor...it worked well for us.
My fiance is re-doing a bedroom and is tearing out the carpet for hard wood so my plan was to use the padding and carpet to cover the whole floor. I was also thinking of posting to Craig's list looking for people that are also redoing a carpeted room and would be throwing out the old padding. Bill, It's good to hear it works well cuz I never saw someone do it before. How many layers of padding were under the carpet and would you think 2 or 3 layers to be excessive??
In reply to: If you're ever in the boston area I have a few free holds you can have- like 6 synrock holds, and a set of decontension sloppy pinches from so-ill
Couloirman, that would be sick. I have some buddies up in Bean town and I try to get to a few Sox games during the summer so I might actually be in the area some time. Those Synrocks, how are they? I found an old post about cheap holds that a rep was praising them and put his money where his mouth was and shipped free holds to like a dozen people as samples. The posters said they were decent holds and slopers were good. (heavy laminated wood or something?) Anyways it was like 6 years old but I hear they are a small co out of New York. If I visit Boston anytime soon I'll send you a PM to see if your around, and possibly check out the climbing in the area if your down.
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bill413
Jun 15, 2010, 10:09 PM
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No, I wouldn't think 2-3 layers excessive. I don't remember how many my friend had. But, if you think about landing on a normally carpeted floor, you can see why more would be better.
One thing - when the installers tear up the old carpet/underlayer, they will not remove the nails/staples/carpet tacks. You want to try & remove most of them. (A good project to have some friends helping.)
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bustloose
Jun 16, 2010, 5:55 PM
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Registered: Oct 10, 2003
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the cheapest method of padding a home wall is old mattresses covered with carpet (cause they're dirty) and then a small crashpad to protect your pointy bits if you're worried about awkward falls.
try Teknik for holds, they make sweet shapes, and i know their service is really good.
the only warning i would pass along is to steer away from vertical walls, and horizontal roofs. keep the kicker small too.
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jbk641
Jul 1, 2010, 1:03 PM
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Registered: Aug 11, 2009
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Looks like a good set up. Definately having the sloped wall of varying degrees is going to serve you better in the long run for training. You have a great advantage of having exposed rafters to tie directly in. On the padding issue, consider this ,,,do you have a "store" that carries scrap metal, old military surplus, tools, gadgets and shit like that? We have one called the "Yard". I was able to find closed cell foam and High density foam for building a 5 inch padding structure to the floor of my garage floor. It cost 200 for 120 sq/ft of padding..Also if you going to do any outside bouldering you will need a crash pad..Consider a Mad rock triple pad..It doubles as a gym pad untill you head out.
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sidepull
Jul 2, 2010, 3:50 PM
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Your best dollar for dollar value holds will be with synrock. Simply can't be beat. Some people don't like them, I am not one of those people. The shapes tend to be tendon friendly, the texture is unbeatable, and you can get some of the most challenging holds as well. I love them. That said, synrock has been criticized on sites like climbingholdreview.com for a lack of aesthetics. In my mind, if you want to pay $8 per hold just so that it looks like a lightbulb or an infectious sore be my guest. I'd rather get a $2 simple sloper that feels like perfect sandstone.
I also really like Atomik climbing holds. Kenny does things the right way and is a great climber himself. Great service, great product, better prices than brands like metolius and nicros.
When I'm climbing in a gym, I love Element, Teknik, and Etch, but, for me, they've been prohibitively expensive. I think if I had a bigger wall, like yours, I would probably be willing to spring for some of these holds though.
Good luck!
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lucaskrajnik
Jul 26, 2010, 8:28 PM
Post #9 of 14
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Registered: Aug 13, 2007
Posts: 89
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Does anyone have input on the coating of home gyms, I notice alot of people just keep bare wood, But what is a strong material that has nice grit to it, to apply
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psecody
Jul 26, 2010, 10:34 PM
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Registered: Aug 14, 2007
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my friend used textured spray paint (I think it's krylon or rustolleum) on his wall and it works and looks great. I thought it would probably wear down fast but it's over a year old and still looks great. Coincidentally he also started a climbing holds business out of his garage. He doesn't really have too many holds up on his website because he hasn't had a proper place to photograph the holds. So far he's mainly been local to Texas just operating off word of mouth. If you have a special design thats not on the site you could probably email him about it and get it made. His intention in starting the business was to make holds that were cheaper because we were tired of the overly expensive holds... that and he was fed up once SoIll sent him the hold of the month or whatever that was a stupid baby doll head, thats rediculous. Hope that helps.
http://www.blackswanholds.com/index.php
(This post was edited by psecody on Aug 8, 2010, 3:20 AM)
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davidnn5
Jul 30, 2010, 8:37 AM
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Registered: Dec 8, 2009
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That looks a bit... easy angled. Have you got some 45° to horizontal (roof) climbs? The thing about woodies is it's difficult to change the angle...
I'm giving myself 5 stars for having a ° in my post.
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psecody
Jul 30, 2010, 11:04 AM
Post #12 of 14
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Registered: Aug 14, 2007
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the only problem we've had with my friends wall is the angles. I think the first angle is 15° then it rolls back to 45° then goes to the ceiling. What we kind of find frustrating is that it's almost impossible to put slopers on even the 15° part of the wall and them still be very usable. Basically it's made it to where either we make a hard route but what makes it hard is the holds not the moves or we make a route full of jugs which I'm not a fan of. When I finally start my wall I'm going to try to design a mechanism that I can adjust the angles with so I don't have this problem.
Your wall is looking really nice by the way ClimbSoHigh keep us updated on it.
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spikeddem
Jul 30, 2010, 1:00 PM
Post #13 of 14
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Registered: Aug 27, 2007
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psecody wrote: the only problem we've had with my friends wall is the angles. I think the first angle is 15° then it rolls back to 45° then goes to the ceiling. What we kind of find frustrating is that it's almost impossible to put slopers on even the 15° part of the wall and them still be very usable. Basically it's made it to where either we make a hard route but what makes it hard is the holds not the moves or we make a route full of jugs which I'm not a fan of. When I finally start my wall I'm going to try to design a mechanism that I can adjust the angles with so I don't have this problem. Your wall is looking really nice by the way ClimbSoHigh keep us updated on it.
Sounds like a setting issue and/or climbing skill issue more than an inherent problem with slopers...
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climb4free
Jul 30, 2010, 8:59 PM
Post #14 of 14
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Registered: Apr 11, 2007
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spikeddem wrote: psecody wrote: the only problem we've had with my friends wall is the angles. I think the first angle is 15° then it rolls back to 45° then goes to the ceiling. What we kind of find frustrating is that it's almost impossible to put slopers on even the 15° part of the wall and them still be very usable. Basically it's made it to where either we make a hard route but what makes it hard is the holds not the moves or we make a route full of jugs which I'm not a fan of. When I finally start my wall I'm going to try to design a mechanism that I can adjust the angles with so I don't have this problem. Your wall is looking really nice by the way ClimbSoHigh keep us updated on it. Sounds like a setting issue and/or climbing skill issue more than an inherent problem with slopers...
Truth
With slopers especially, body position is critical. Hence the whole debate betwerrn strength and technique. With just minor changes in body position a crappy hold can feel better and better.
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