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Rouge
Boulder climber
Sacramento
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 25, 2011 - 07:31pm PT
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Recently a friend of mine has become very adamant about the viable use of real rocks as climbing holds on indoor walls. Find appropriate shaped rocks, saw flat side, drill bolt hole and PRESTO! Real rock climbing holds. But of course it's not just that easy. Rock type and hardness, no consistent product, no duplicates, quality control, shipping weights, need diamond coated tools, where to get the rocks AND do people really want real rock holds or are they fine with pulling on plastic. Or would the option be nice to have. I personally don't see it working financially for a company and I don't believe people really want real rock holds. I've worked at a climbing gym over 4 years now and just recently starting assisting in manufacturing climbing holds. Let the debate begin!
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Vulcan
Sport climber
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Aug 25, 2011 - 07:34pm PT
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it's been done. petrogrips tried it. failed.
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p-owed
Trad climber
Ramona ca
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Aug 25, 2011 - 07:35pm PT
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I have made some to for my wall!
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tolman_paul
Trad climber
Anchorage, AK
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Aug 25, 2011 - 07:37pm PT
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Trying to make climbing gyms more authentic? That's just too funny!
From a business plan, I think you'll find the cost of tools, labor and consumables will show that it isn't viable as a way to turn a profit. Then you've got the added weight driving shipping costs through the roof. Unless you can compete on a cost basis with synthetic holds, it's done for. I don't see people paying a premium for real rock holds.
Having drilled rocks to make holds, my conclusion was I'd rather buy them, and that was back when I didn't put much value on my time.
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scuffy b
climber
dissected alluvial deposits, late Pleistocene
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Aug 25, 2011 - 07:40pm PT
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People can get very adamant about nearly anything.
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Rouge
Boulder climber
Sacramento
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 25, 2011 - 07:41pm PT
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there I fixed it. *adamant
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Kurt Ettinger
Trad climber
Martinez, CA
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Aug 25, 2011 - 07:50pm PT
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I would be suprised if most gym climbers cared whether they were pulling on real rock or not. For me the gym is just for practice/conditioning so makes no difference to me.
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Griddable
climber
Originally?
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Aug 25, 2011 - 08:17pm PT
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My gym here has a slab wall which uses tiles of real granite to simulate the common outdoor experience, and it works pretty well. I finally had a partner and gave it a shot, and it felt nearly as exposed as the outdoor slab in the surrounding area (full disclosure, I mostly boulder and am weak-sauce on the ropes). It was quite fun though, to have a climb that was challenging for a reason other than "my arms are tired!"
As for real rock holds on an artificial wall, I'm not sure it would make much difference to the overall gym experience; it is what it is. As others have pointed out, it's just not cost-effective.
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Captain...or Skully
climber
or some such
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Aug 25, 2011 - 08:22pm PT
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We had stacks of real rock holds in our old gym. I liked 'em.
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ncrockclimber
climber
The Desert Oven
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Aug 25, 2011 - 08:27pm PT
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One of the guide services at Seneca (Tom Cecil's SRMG?) has a small wall with a "real" rock crack and features that they use for teaching classes on placing gear. I am not sure how much climbing is done on it, but it looked cool when I saw it.
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Gunkie
Trad climber
East Coast US
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Aug 25, 2011 - 09:53pm PT
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I bought a refurbished hammer drill just to turn river rocks into climbing holds for our basement wall. Nice change of pace. If you get the right piece of rock, it can make a great hold. I don't go to the trouble of grinding the back, so we get our share of spinners.
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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Aug 25, 2011 - 09:58pm PT
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Dale did it on his wall in Round Valley using highway dot glue instead of t-nutting. Seemed pretty solid. He used smooth, flat sided river rock in lieu of cutting and drilling. Easy on the finger tips.
People don't really want real rock holds? What is up with that?
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Lambone
Ice climber
Ashland, Or
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Aug 25, 2011 - 10:27pm PT
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one problem, from a setters standpoint, is that they are damn heavy to lug up the wall in a bucket.
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Aug 25, 2011 - 10:32pm PT
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yeah, a lot of labor and extra heavy which means that on a really steep wall, it's not realistic.
if yr worried about texture, synrock's holds feel an awful lot like good sandstone and are really tendon friendly.
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jvSF
Trad climber
San Francisco
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Aug 25, 2011 - 11:32pm PT
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the Lindseth Climbing Wall at Cornell University has real rock embedded into a cinder block wall. i always thought it was pretty cool, except that the holds were always the same.
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doughnutnational
Gym climber
its nice here in the spring
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Aug 25, 2011 - 11:50pm PT
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To prevent spinners I have used Bondo on plywood and then drilled them. I have a hundred and some home made real rock holds on may garage and I probably spent more hours drilling them than climbing on them.
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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Aug 25, 2011 - 11:58pm PT
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tits on a bull.
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blacksun
Trad climber
South Lake Tahoe, California
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Aug 26, 2011 - 02:45am PT
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I've used found rocks on home walls before. I wouldn't try and make a business out of it, but it sure is fun hunting around for unique, and free, holds for your wall. I had good luck with real hard granite, basalt and the rocks found on railroad tracks. Whatever that is. Many will break. Some will not. You'll burn through lots of drill bits. They need to have flat backs or they will flex and break easier. You must drill perfectly perpendicular to the flat side. I imagine you could create a rubber coated backing for them if you wanted to.
It's fun, but in the end real gym holds are just a better use of time and money.
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Anthonyw808
Boulder climber
Los Angeles
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Hey, is this thread dead?
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Evel
Trad climber
Nedsterdam CO
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In defense of my old pal, I gotta say that Petrogrips is not a failure. They're not for everybody or every wall.
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