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jpullen88
Nov 29, 2011, 5:37 AM
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Hey,
So I recently finished building myself a small woodie in my garage. It is basically a 12' wide by 8' tall face at a 40* angle, so somewhat steep. I have been using my outdoor ~3.5' by 4' crash pad but it is hard to move it and climb at the same time! I have been looking into getting some padding as I fell for first time hard on the concrete today. I could definitely break something even though at highest I am only 6-7' off the ground, this is where my hands would be.
First of all, let me say that I need a pad that is easily moved and put away. I still use the garage for my car when not climbing. PLEASE don't recommend mattresses or anything that is too heavy/bulky to easily put up. So I checked out crash pads but they are roughly 10-20 dollars per sq ft of pad!
Then I stumbled into those 2" tumbling mats. Has anybody seen, heard of, or used these themselves? I could get a 4' by 6' by 2" for ~$115 shipped. Do you think 2" would be sufficient to cushion my falls? This way I could get two mats for under $250 and have 2" cushion all around. Or maybe double up and get 4" for under $500. Its still way cheaper for the coverage than other things.
Does anybody know of anything that is similarly priced, or cheaper, that may work better?
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redlude97
Nov 29, 2011, 8:28 AM
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Buy another nice crash pad. It may cost "more" but it can be used outdoors as well. You can never have too many crashpads and it is better than a specialized piece of equipment for a home wall
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ajkclay
Nov 29, 2011, 12:38 PM
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Registered: May 9, 2002
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A spotter
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Dip
Nov 29, 2011, 1:51 PM
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jpullen88 wrote: Hey, So I recently finished building myself a small woodie in my garage. It is basically a 12' wide by 8' tall face at a 40* angle, so somewhat steep. I have been using my outdoor ~3.5' by 4' crash pad but it is hard to move it and climb at the same time! I have been looking into getting some padding as I fell for first time hard on the concrete today. I could definitely break something even though at highest I am only 6-7' off the ground, this is where my hands would be. First of all, let me say that I need a pad that is easily moved and put away. I still use the garage for my car when not climbing. PLEASE don't recommend mattresses or anything that is too heavy/bulky to easily put up. So I checked out crash pads but they are roughly 10-20 dollars per sq ft of pad! Then I stumbled into those 2" tumbling mats. Has anybody seen, heard of, or used these themselves? I could get a 4' by 6' by 2" for ~$115 shipped. Do you think 2" would be sufficient to cushion my falls? This way I could get two mats for under $250 and have 2" cushion all around. Or maybe double up and get 4" for under $500. Its still way cheaper for the coverage than other things. Does anybody know of anything that is similarly priced, or cheaper, that may work better?
I have a wrestling mat down as a base. You could still put your car on top of it i think, and although it's not quite as cushy as falling on a crashpad, it doesn't hurt as bad as concrete.
I should add that i have several crashpads on top of my wrestling mat, but have missed them and landed on the mat on more than one occaision.
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lena_chita
Moderator
Nov 29, 2011, 2:23 PM
Post #5 of 14
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Those tumbling mats will do very little over concrete.
I second getting a 4ftx6ft crash pad. And using a spotter whenever possible.
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jpullen88
Nov 29, 2011, 2:42 PM
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In reply to: Buy another nice crash pad. It may cost "more" but it can be used outdoors as well. You can never have too many crashpads and it is better than a specialized piece of equipment for a home wall
That is very true. I think I am really leaning in this direction as it would probably be best long run.
Does anybody make something a bit larger than the Mad Rock Triple? I'd really like something more like 48 or 60 by 72 rather than 44 by 72.
The other thing is, when we go climbing we can really only fit two pads on the car and we already have two pads. I live in FLA so we cant just take another car so we can have extra pads.
Thank you for this wonderful feedback. you must be the guy in the gym that says "Want some good beta to get you sending? try climbing"
In reply to: I have a wrestling mat down as a base. You could still put your car on top of it i think, and although it's not quite as cushy as falling on a crashpad, it doesn't hurt as bad as concrete. I should add that i have several crashpads on top of my wrestling mat, but have missed them and landed on the mat on more than one occaision.
yeah I had somewhat guessed that the pad would help but not like a crash pad. Is your mat 2"? Also, I wonder if it would help having two on top of each other to make 4". It would still be way cheaper coverage. Remember, the height of my wall is like 6.5 to 7 feet so I am not really that high. I usually fall from lower as the top is quite juggy and easy to hang on.
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ccr
Nov 29, 2011, 5:40 PM
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Registered: Nov 15, 2007
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Buying another nice crash pad is probably the most sensible answer, but in case money is tight here is what worked for me. I ordered two bags of Scrap Foam from
http://www.thefoamfactory.com/accessories/scraps.html
and made a big (10’x8’) effective crash pad with a hot glue gun, two tarps, an some duct tape. The foam factory had free shipping at that time so the total cost was under $90.
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jakedatc
Nov 29, 2011, 6:18 PM
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Registered: Mar 12, 2003
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http://www.asanaclimbing.com/dragPad.htm
that is what we have at my gym.
a BD mondo or the MR triple would probably be fine also combined with your normal outdoor pad. a bit of forethought to your pad placement should do the rest. treat it like an outdoor climb not a foam pit and you should be fine.
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wrbill
Nov 29, 2011, 7:17 PM
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What i did was Iwent to a upholstery shop and asked if they had any old foam. What I got was old couch cushions that were about 5" to 8" thick. I got enough to cover a floor area of 12' X 6'. I then cover that with some old carpet. that is close to what you get in the gyms.
Just an idea for you and what I did, worked great for me.
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jpullen88
Nov 29, 2011, 10:21 PM
Post #10 of 14
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In reply to: Buying another nice crash pad is probably the most sensible answer, but in case money is tight here is what worked for me. I ordered two bags of Scrap Foam from http://www.thefoamfactory.com/accessories/scraps.html and made a big (10’x8’) effective crash pad with a hot glue gun, two tarps, an some duct tape. The foam factory had free shipping at that time so the total cost was under $90.
This sounds like it might be the cheapest solution. Did you look into using a bed cover and then stuffing it full of the scrap foam? Or what about stuffing a canvas blow up raft or an air mattress with the foam? Think that would work?
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ccr
Nov 29, 2011, 10:47 PM
Post #11 of 14
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Registered: Nov 15, 2007
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After I made the crash pad, my wife pointed out that we had an air mattress with a leak which I should have cut open and stuffed with the foam. I think that would have worked well, maybe next time.
The scrap foam contains a mix of shapes, sizes and firmness. I laid down a tarp, glued together some of the more rectangular pieces to make the outer walls of the pad about 6” high. I glued together a couple of interior baffle walls to keep the foam from collecting in a particular area. The rest of the foam got stuffed in the interior. Threw another tarp over the top and used a roll and a half of duct tape to seal the whole thing together. I lean the pad up against the wall when I’m not using it and have not noticed any significant issues with the foam moving to the bottom.
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jpullen88
Nov 29, 2011, 11:49 PM
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Registered: Nov 29, 2011
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In reply to: After I made the crash pad, my wife pointed out that we had an air mattress with a leak which I should have cut open and stuffed with the foam. I think that would have worked well, maybe next time. The scrap foam contains a mix of shapes, sizes and firmness. I laid down a tarp, glued together some of the more rectangular pieces to make the outer walls of the pad about 6” high. I glued together a couple of interior baffle walls to keep the foam from collecting in a particular area. The rest of the foam got stuffed in the interior. Threw another tarp over the top and used a roll and a half of duct tape to seal the whole thing together. I lean the pad up against the wall when I’m not using it and have not noticed any significant issues with the foam moving to the bottom.
that sounds great. Is the scrap foam, 36x36x60, the same you received? If so, that was all you needed to make a 10'x8'x6" pad? That is crazy cheap. How high are your falls onto it? Comfy enough to get by?
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ccr
Nov 30, 2011, 2:39 PM
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The 36x36x60 bags contain a lot of foam. The pad a made is actually more like 9'x7'x6" and 2 bags was plenty of foam. The top of my wall is about 12', I've taken hundreds of falls from the top onto this pad with no worries. The foam is definitely less firm than in a normal crash pad but I've never felt like the landing has been too hard. There is probably an increased risk of a turned ankle since I sink deeper into the pad but I think this is a manageable risk.
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