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Tradgirl Climbing FAQ - Home Climbing WallsTradgirlClimbing FAQ Climbing AreasClimbing FAQ For Beginners Buying Gear Gear Reviews Gear Maintenence Locations/Partners Safety Toproping Leading Health and Training Home Gyms Mountaineering Ice Climbing Aid Climbing Advanced Topics Rec.Climbing MiscellaneousArticlesBest of Rec.ClimbingAbout TradgirlHome Climbing Walls (Page 1 2)IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: Trusting your life to something you read on theinternet is just plain stupid. Get corroboration from a more reliablesource, use your common sense, don't get yourself killed, and don't comecrying to us if you do.How do I build a home climbing wall / bouldering cave?How do I build a crack machine?What should I paint my home climbing wall with to provide friction?How can I make my own holds? / How can I get holds cheap?Where can I buy holds online?Where can I buy cheap t-nuts?How do I clean my holds?What should I use to cushion my fall? / How can I self-belay on my home climbing wall?What training program should I use with my home climbing wall?How do I build and use a finger board, hang board, campus board or HIT strips?How do I make a glue-up? / How do I glue holds to concrete?How can I turn a tree into a climbing wall?How do I build a home climbing wall / bouldering cave? [back to top] [FAQ contents]Plans:Plans for a single panel climbing wall at Climerware and more details on sameHow ToBuild A Climbing Wall from Metolius ClimbingBuilding a climbing wall from the Climbing Wall ResourceBuilding Climbing Walls from the Indoor Climber's ResourceClimbing Walls from ClimbUKHow to Build a Home Climbing Wall from EdgewallsHow to Build a Home Bouldering Wall from indoorclimbing.comBuilding A Home Climbing Wall from ChockstoneHomewall from Pawn ClimbingClimbing Wall from InoxBooks:Home Climbing Gyms: How to Build and Use by Randy Leavitt, Anthony ScogginsBuilding Your Own Indoor Climbing Wall by Ramsay ThomasSee also:Anyone built their own wall? and its continuation How many t-nuts per 4x8 Q re. stability of adjustable v. fixed home walls - how to make an adjustable wall stable (9/02)Structural questions on building a woodie - building a wall that can be left outside (7/02)Home Training Facilities,Part 1 designing a home board by Neil Gresham on Planet-Climbing.Commercial:RockCraft Designs -- playground climbing wallsHow do I build a crack machine? [back to top] [FAQ contents]Plans for "Tilt-a-Crack" at Climerware and more details on sameFrom: Rock & Ice OnlineDesigns vary but they generally start with stacking two long 2" x 10" boards. Drill 3/8" holes all the way through both boards every few feet and to one side of center. Stagger the holes (one near edge, next near center) if you want to flare the crack. If you want to vary the taper of the crack, make the holes of the moving board slightly larger diameter. Put a washer on a 12" bolt and insert into one board, then secure this bolt with another washer and a nut. Repeat with all holes. Now add a wing nut (facing down) and a washer to each bolt and lay the other board on top so the bolts go through its holes. Use more washers and wingnuts to hold in place. You now have a variable-width crack machine, which I'll leave up to you to figure out how to mount. Do not texturize the wood or you will shread your hands and turn into a slab fanatic.From: Micah LauerThe alternative to a texture/friction coating is to leave yourmanufactured crack unfinished. This promotes a more refined, precise crack climbing technique than climbing a crack where texture/friction can compensate for less than perfect technique. With an unfinished crack, your jams have to be excellent to avoid removal of skin! Try taping first in needed, and then as you get your technique down, climb without tape to work on perfecting your jams. I almost prefer manufactured cracks without friction for training, because when you get outside into a nice splitter sandstone or granite crack, the friction makes it seem easier. If you're going to build more than one, maybe consider texturing one and leaving the other unfinished.From: Alexander CooperI just recently built a set of varying width cracks. I did the simplest thing I could think of and placed sets of parallel 2x12 boards with spacersbetween them in a vertical orientation. I deliberately did not try to addtexture because I was guessing that this would just lead to a lot of lostskin when hands and feet slip. Besides, as Micah said, if the cracks at home are slippery then this will force good technique and will make real cracks easier. Two comments that I would make are: 1) make sure the crack walls are very stiff because jams develop quite a lot of outward force. If the crack widens it makes it much harder to get a good jam. If I were to do this again I think I would make I-beams or square posts out of wood and then make the cracks between pairs of these.The full length perpendicular (to the walls) boards should givesufficientstiffness, but the whole thing gets to be much wider.2) for narrow cracks you might want to consider some sort of face holds because climbing shoes don't grip too well on smooth wood and if you can'tjam the feet in the crack it gets quite hard. Maybe you just look at thisas a way to develop better hand technique :)From: Kelly RichBasically, you create a hand crack that you can do pull-upfrom. The crack is horizontal, like in a roof. But since it's perfect hands,you should be able to hang and do pulls. Using wood to simulatethe crack walls, you will at first have a hard time getting your jamsto stick. But soon you'll get the hang of it and after you do sets ofpulls for a few days, your hand jams will have more holding powerthan a #2.5 Friend.You'll need:1 6 foot 2X8 wood board (a 2X6 or 2X10 will work alright, too)4 8" bolts with nuts on the ends1 drillA sawSome spare slingA place to hang your barNow:1) Cut the 2X8 board in in half (you'll have two 3' long boards, not two 1X8 boards or two 2X4 boards, OK?).2) Cut 1.75" to 2" off the end of each board (same size is best). 1 7/8" is perfect hands for most. These are used as spacers between the long boards, at the ends.3) Drill 2 holes at the ends of each piece of wood and two holes through each of the spacers.4) Assemble the crack.5) Drill holes at the top for the slings and hang the thing.Landscape view. o's represent the holes for the bolts... ______________________________________________ | | | o o | | | | | | | | | | | | | | o o | |____________________________________________| Turn the thing on its side, this is how you'd see it looking up at it after you hang it: _b_________________________________________b__ |______________________________________________| | | hands | | _|_|______________________________________|_|_ |______________________________________________| b b OK, this looks pretty bad, but it's as good as I'm going to get it. In the bottom 'drawing', you have two 2x8 boards, you're looking at the 2" side. They are separated by 2", the spacers are poorly drawn at the ends. The b's are the bolts that hold the contraption together. The 'hands" shows where you put your hands to jam. I swear by these. One time, we made an outdoor gym and made a pull-up bar that had 4 different size pull-up cracks, thin hands, tight-hands, hands, and cupping. There is Nothing like this for improving your jamming techniques, other than actually going out and doing laps on Reeds. The first one I made, I made the mistake of using two sets of 1"x8" boards. I doubled the boards on each side to get them stiff enough to jam. But the boards flexed like crazy. What a great torture device! you had to jam extra hard just to stick, then when you did pulls, Whoa! From: Jesse SchombergI just finished one yesterday also;used wing nuts on the bolts, and the spacers are just floating, so I canpull them out and adjust the crack width, and make it flaring orconstricting on one end or whatever with other chunks of wood. I stuck astrip of 1X2 along the outside edge for a nice little pullup lip too. From: Chris KantarjievI made an adjustable one about two years ago - four carriage bolts atthe corners. There's a nut/washer holding the head side of the bolt tothe "back" piece of wood, and a nut/washer and wingnut/washer holdingthe "outside" piece of wood in place. If I were to do it again, I'dprobably use wingnuts on the inside as well as the outside.At first, I hung it via accessory cord from one of the garage joists.This was pretty much impossible to do anything with, since it allowed meto swing too much. Now that the garage rebuild is close to done, I'vebolted it to a big beam next to the finger board, so it's very stable.See also:Build Your Own Hand CrackWhat should I paint my home climbing wall with to provide friction? [back to top] [FAQ contents]From: underclingMetolius as usual has some great web info on building walls, including productswith which to do it. They also have a wall coating that you can buy from them.Basically, they have used a concrete construction industries type ofwater-based acrylic resin and mixed it with coarse sand. At Pacific Edge, sucha mixture has held up for 7 years fantastically under an awesome amount ofbeginners pawing away every day at it. Mere paint and sand would failimmediately assuming you are planning on actually smearing/scumming on yourwall surface.From: Lowery LanceI have had a lot of luck using a mxiture of latex paint, elmer's wood glue and sand. Once it dries, it makes great friction. The more glue, the better! It's a little sloppy globbing it on with a brush, just make sure you spread it out thin so it all dries evenly.From: John Byrnes Don't paint it. There's no benefit, and several benefits to not painting.From: GKFI too was all eager to paint my wall after I built it. I found a nicenon-skid floor paint in a grayish rock color well kind of , when you squintin the dark. Fair enough until I thought "hey I'll add some sand for grip".Learn from my mistakes. If you want a pretty wall paint till your heartscontent. But don't add sand! all it does is wear your shoes down and takesskin off faster than a good road rash.From: Dave Kennedy As others have said, you really can get away without texturing walls.That said, the best texture I have seem was a home mix consisting ofequal parts of a latex adhesive, cement and a fine grit sand.Probably applied with a trowel. I was told it was kind of a pain to puton but the results are very similar to what you will find in some ofyour better commercial gyms. Not too rough and the wearability appearsexcelent.See also:Texture products from Stone AgeHow can I make my own holds? / How can I get holds cheap? [back to top] [FAQ contents]From: John Byrnes For training, where your goal is building strength and you don't careif they look, feel or perform like real rock, use a hardwood like oak.From: Outsd1999I like to start with wood blocks from simple 2 by 4s that are cut and drilled. I use a grinder, drill, saw, file, etc. to play with the shapes. Next theshaped block is placed on wax paper, covered with epoxy resin, and then coveredwith sand.I use a variety of holds: pure homemade resin, hardwood, resin and sand coverdwood, and store bought. I like the store bought the best.From: Dave Kennedy A local gym opened several years back on a shoe-string budget. Theymade many of their holds out of real rock, cutting the rocks with amasonry saw to ensure that the backs were flat, doing some minimalshaping and counter sinking the bolt heads. They did a pretty good jobbut guess what, the holds still sucked. You had little variety (mostlyedges and blobs), the rock polished worse than plastic, they spun, andthe textures were not skin friendly (but then again neither were theplastic holds back then). As soon as they acquired more plastic holds,the real rocks were rarely used.Nothing wrong with making holds. But its unlikely that these will beyour favorite training holds. Wood would be my material of choice.From: JohnWood, while not as flashy or cool as real holds, can be used. I've climbedin a gym where one of the bouldering sections has wooden holds. There'salot you can do with a few blocks, a chisel and sandpaper.Except for slopers (too slippy) and jibs (too weak) wood can be used for anyholds. Much cheaper if what you care about is training, not "check out mywall" bragging rights.From: MaddogWood rules. Wood. Good wood.I'd hate to just have a chisel and sandpaper, but I guess one could sit inlotus, chant and chisel. Bench sanders and table saws are the ticket.There are tricks that work for slopers. Take red oak and orient the end graintowards the grip side. Keep sandpaper around to clean the surface every now andthen. Grind small ribs (for her pleasure) onto the surface. For jibs, makelaminates and attach with wood screws. It works.From: Mike YukishI use wood holds for all of my slopers. How, you ask? After making the slopey hold,I smear it with Elmer's Wood Glue and then dump fine sand all over it. The sandprovides just enough friction to make the hold really work for you, but not to tearthe skin. They are much more skin-friendly than the Franklin holds, for example.Another trick is to drip a couple of blobs of glue on the back, and put sand onthem. Keeps the hold from spinning.From: John ByrnesI agree, wood is probably your best bet. Be sure to use HARDWOODand not soft pines, etc. Softwoods will break, and you'll end up on yourback unexpectedly, or get injured in other ways.We tried pine (2x4s, 2x2s) for many hand and foot holds. We tossedthem all in the fire and remade them from oak.Mike's right about them spinning. Another alternative is to puta small woodscrew into them (besides the normal bolt).From: Nathan SweetYet another alternative is to use stair treads on the back of the hold.These are available at Home Centers and look like a long sheet of sandpaperwith a self sticking aluminum backing. Peal off the backing and stick it tothe (clean) hold. The rough side goes to the wall.From: daniel.d.eubankSome tips for drilling your natural rock holds:Start with a 1/8" masonry bit and work up to the 3/8" in your hammerdrill, then route out the 3/8" hole till your bolt slides through it. A1/2 " countersink onto a larger rock hold will allow the allen head toseat into the hold. On smaller ones use a washer and just let the headextend out.Sandstone is rather soft and tends to crumble as foot placements on awall. I have a few up higher for handholds only that work pretty well.Be careful when you torque your allen head bolts on sandstone holds;tighten enough to hold, but not so tight that the holds break. Use alarge washer to distribute the pressure from the bolt.For a while I was picking up one rock of suitable home gym size/shape atevery crag that I climbed at and was putting them up on my wall. I havesample rocks from such places as Yosemite, Owens River Gorge, and RedRocks. Not only are they functional holds, but they remind you of yourgreat climbing trips!From: Karl LewIf you absolutely must take something from the wilderness, pleasetake out trash that you find. Leave the rocks for the next person.Yeah, just one rock doesn't matter, but your decision, repeatedmillions of times, is actually devastating.From: Sam ShankCheck out my website for making holds out of concrete. It is possible tomake them using only sand and portland cement.http://www.geocities.com/samshankFrom: DavidI was looking at the bottom of a two liter coke bottle the other day andthought it would make a cool climbing hold - that's where I got theidea. There are five bulges at the bottom so it will stand up. Take arazor and cut the bottom 2 and a half inches off the bottle and voila -ready made mold for a cool climbing hold. This can be further enhancedby denting or distorting the plastic to make an incut on one side.I mixed 6 parts bondo polyester fiberglass resin, 4 parts general allpurpose sand, added hardener, mixed well and poured it into the mold. Ihot glued a peg to the bottom before pouring to make the hole for thebolt. An hour later I used a razor to cut away the plastic bottle andpresto - new climbing hold !!!Once I knew it worked I raided the recycle bin and started cutting upall kinds of empty plastic bottles. Mouthwash bottles, Gatoradebottles, cleaning fluid bottles, etc. In short order I cranked out myfirst batch of resin holds.Another idea I had which also worked great but actually costs a fewbucks was to use aluminum tins used for baking. Picked up one in theshape of a stocking and another in the shape of a clover. Two dollarseach but reusable over and over. Yields holds a little over an inchthick with great contours allowing them to be used at a variety ofpositions.From: Sean CanavanThe recipe I found said to use 2 parts bondo to 1 part playsand. I've foundthat this makes the holds a bit rough so I probably use 3 parts bondo to 1part sand (I have garden sand, not playsand, so this may be the reason). Youcan make about 20 - 25 medium size holds with a 1 gallon can of bondo. Oh,and it's autobody bondo. The cheapest place I've found it is at Kmart for$13/gal. For more info, here is the url for the site where I learned how todo this:http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Trails/9640/index.htmlI will add one note. I tried adding food coloring to the bondo to makedifferent colors, but all it seemed to do was compromise the strength of theholds. Apparently you can get bondo dye, but I haven't been able to locateany yet. Luckily, broken holds can be repaired by adding more bondo to them,which seems to adhere to the older stuff with no problems.From: TabMake your own if you're really trying to go cheap. Go toBare Metal Foil Companyand buy some Klean Klay, some mold release spray and some Poly Latex60. Then go to Home Depot and get some Portland cement and sand.Then go to your local concrete contractor and buy somesuperplasticizer and silica fume.Use the clay to mold your hold (this is really fun). Mold it on apiece of plywood so you have a flat side (which will mount againstyour wall). Be sure the make your bolt hole perpendicular to the back(flat side) of your hold. Once you like the shape of the hold takesome steel wool or a rough towel and lightly press someroughness/texture into your hold. Once the hold looks good, mix upyour Poly Latex 60 and brush it on (it's like mayonnaise). Make sureyou get it down into your bolt hole, watch for air bubbles down there. Do about 3 coats of this (should take you a weekend or so). Afterthe rubber is completely cured peel it off your clay hold. Get abucket full of sand and place your rubber mold into it so that thesand surrounds the mold (this will ensure that the rubber is supportedwhen you pour the concrete into it). Mix up the concrete using thecorrect ratio of cement, sand, superplasticizer, and silica fume (lookaround on the internet or ask the guys at the concrete supplier).Spray the mold release into the rubber mold. Pour the concrete intothe mold and let it harden in a cool damp place (the slower it hardensthe stronger it is). When it's hardened peel the rubber mold off andyou've got a hold! The rubber mold is reusable for 50 or so times.The key is to make a bunch of different molds so you end up with halfa dozen or so holds for every batch of concrete you mix.Total cost: About $150, but if you end up with 400 holds you've morethan made up for the investment.From: SURF NIKOHaving been the homemade route and back again, I can safely say that if you arethinking that you will save yourself a lot of money it will be in the LONG run. The experimentation phase is what costs so much. Once you've got it down youcan whip them out quickly and cheaply, however, prior to that, theexperimentation will cost ya at least $100.00 or more. Of course, it could beless if you are more adept at this stuff than I. Good Luck.From: The Climbing Wall ResourceMaking wood holdsMaking bondo holdsMaking plastic holdsFrom: Gary ClarkYou might try ebay. There are always lots of holds postedthere. Some new, some used, but you can name your own price.From: RunxoverrunyAsk Santa.Seriously, my advice for family and friends is not ties for presents. InsteadI have provided cataloques with climbing holds. This is easy for people toorder, they have a wide price range, and you get plenty of random holds.From: Kris BensonJust got a quick addition for the climbing faq for home gyms:Q: What size wrenches do I need for bolt-on holds?A: 7/32" and 5/16".See also:Making Climbing Holds from the Indoor Climber's ResourceJim Cormier's hand-shaped hold making method on Google GroupsMaking Polyester Resin "Plastic" Climbing Holds from Stephen WilliamsonWhere can I buy holds online? [back to top] [FAQ contents]Hold manufacturers online:Cheapholds.comCruxEntre PrisesFranklin ClimbingJuggernautMetoliusNicros (no online ordering at this time)PetroGripsStone AgeSee also:Where can I buy cheap gear online? on Tradgirl. Some of the vendors listed also sell climbing holds.Where can I buy cheap t-nuts?[back to top] [FAQ contents]From: D B FRAZI think the cheapest I've heard of is 7 cents per nut in bulk. Anywhere from9 to 13 cents would be a great price. At least I think so.From: Bobby Depending on where you live try looking up Bolts and Nuts in the yellowpages. In So Cal there are several bolt specific company which are agreat source for t-nuts. I found t-nuts at ABABA Bolt for $ 0.10 ea. inthe San Diego area. This was for a 100 / package.From: Chris and Nancy Trautz Be sure to take a good look at the t-nut you're buying. Lousy ones willspin out on you after just a few hand hold changes. Home Depot will sellyou that type, at least in my neighborhood. You want nice long tines (thepart that grips the back side of the plywood.) I got good quality,six-tined nuts from Stafast Corp., a thousand for $36.00From: Michael Creeluse 5/16" t-nuts - they are "more compatible" with holds that takespecial boltsFrom: SeanYou can get 5/16th tee nuts from McFeely's for about 6 cents by the thousand.From: Dave ConditFor T-nuts, i recommend the four or six prongvarieties. Don't wast money by buying them from a climbing shop or hardwarestore. Look in the yellow pages for a bolt or fasterner supplier and buy inbulk.See also:Industrial HardwareMcMaster-Carr Supply CompanyMSC Industrial Supply Co.StafastHow do I clean my holds? [back to top] [FAQ contents]From: trashcanYou could try blasting them at the quarter carwash - or if you have access to a pressurewasher. I've also seen good results fromindustrial type sanitizer/dishwashers, too.From: Scott GrimesI've got a small home wall with a bunch of old Franklin/Metolius holds. (4-5years old). I used to put the hold in the dishwasher with regulardishwashing detergent but they didn't clean up as good as I wanted them.Found that hydrochloric acid diluted with warm water works best. (bought ata swimming pool supply store) I fill a 5 gallon bucket with warm water andadd about a cup or two of acid mix and add the hold, shaken not stirred.Let soak for a couple of minutes then stick a hose in the bucket and let thehose run to neutralize the acid and rinse the holds. You've got to rinsethe holds becasue they have a tendency to come out a little slimy. The acidhowever, does corrode the washers that are inset on some of the holds but,it hasn't been a real problem.From: Stone Age's websiteHolds can be cleaned easily in a regular dishwashing machine and will come out looking like new. Warm soapy water, simple green, or any other citrus based cleaner can be used with a nylon scrub brush to clean holds also. Remember to rinse holds in fresh clean water and dry before use. What should I use to cushion my fall? / How can I self-belay on my home climbing wall? [back to top] [FAQ contents]From: Karl LewOld mattresses work well.From: Larry LindemanI bought a bunch of fairly dense closed cell foam from a wholesaler. Ithrew a carpet remnant on top of that. The result is as good (in myopinion) as any gymnastic crash pad. This padding covers a 10ft by 14ftarea and cost under $200.If you live near a fairly large metropolitan area, you should be able tofind a wholesaler willing to sell to you. I just looked in the yellowpages under Foam.From: Sam ShankOuch! That's one nice pad, but you can go a LOT cheaper...Just look up upholstery places in your yellow pages. Tell them you wanttheir foam trash and remnants. They'll more than likely be happy to letyou haul it out of their place for free. One place even offered to pay meto take it out!!It's mostly foam from couch and chair coushins that are getting re-done attheir shop. It's fine. I had my mommie sew me 2 king size sheets togetherand I stuffed it full 'o the pads. Very nice. And CHEAP. And you can letyour wife choose the pattern on the sheets.From: Micah LauerCheck your local second-hand furniture/mattress shops andGoodwill/Salvation Army stores for good deals on "crash pad" mattresses. If you're really into no-cost scumming for padding, look near dumpsters at apartment complexes - people are always tossing out old mattresses. The mattresses you may find scumming, however, might be scarier than taking a back fall onto your stairs!From: miso My advice would be to make the wall shorter (10 - 15 feet high) andwider, put gravel or something else "soft" at the base, and skip therope. Bouldering is way hip these days, dude.Seriously, the rope sounds like more trouble than it's worth.From: ChristianSpend the money on fatter padding.See also:How do I top-rope self-belay? on TradgirlWhich bouldering pad should I buy? on TradgirlWhat training program should I use with my home climbing wall? [back to top] [FAQ contents]Metolius Climbing's 10 minute sequenceMetolius Climbing's Power and EnduranceWoodie wisdom: Avoid training errors in your home gym from Climbing MagazineHome Climbing Gyms: How to Build and Use by Randy Leavitt, Anthony ScogginsWhat training program should I use to get stronger? on TradgirlHow do I build and use a finger board, hang board, campus board or HIT strips? on TradgirlHow do I build and use a finger board, hang board, campus board or HIT strips? [back to top] [FAQ contents]From: Mark BockmannShort answer: don't use a hangboard.Longer answer: use a hangboard if all of the following apply: you arean advanced climber, know how to avoid injury, have no access to aclimbing gym or real rock, need some way to "train", and mind-numbingly boring exercises don't bother you.In particular, I would strongly advise a beginner such as yourself toavoid using hangboards at all costs. Even if you use it properly,you're just going to develop finger strength that you'll misuse. Youmay not believe me, but being too strong just KILLS your technique ifyou're a newbie climber. If you really want to advance your skills,right now you should focus 100% on technique. Don't even THINK abouttrying to get stronger. The strength will come like magic as you climbmore. Once you're climbing mid 5.11 or so, if you feel like yourstrength is really holding you back, then look into some strength-specific ways to train. But I doubt hangboards will be the answer foryou even then.From: David PaulThe fingerboard should come with a suggested workout if you buy it new. ityou got it used write to the mfg. for a sheet.The problem is they increase stress beyond normal climbing levels,especially fee-hanging for long periods on the board's punier holds. You canhurt the tendon connections at the shoulder.If you push to muscle failure then wait 48 hrs until you do it again.Use them like you would on rock, doing fingerholds for brief intervalsFrom: Randy DinnisonHere is a whole bunch of campus info I received from posting the samequestion last year:---------------------------rungs 200mm apart, angle approx30 - 35 degrees seems to work well. Woodenrungs, three sets if possible, one slopey, one incut from 32mm by 50mm PSEthen depending on how strong you are, one set from 25 by 50mm PSE. you willneed at least nine sets of rungs, numbered one to nine. Train with longrest periods between, every third day is good. If you make the boardmore vertical it makes it harder. Make sure you take the edges off therungs well, otherwise you will tear skin ex quickly.---------------------------The definative angle is 12 degreesRung spacing 22.5 cmRung length about 300 - 350 mmThree sets of 8 rungs would be ideal.The smallest set should be no smaller than about 16 mm wide planned to sothey are slightly 'incut' (angled in) with well rounded edges.The largest set should be about 50 mm wide with rounded edges and flat(no inclination). Which are good for warming up on and gaining lock offpower.These rungs are the most fun, since you can do the most things with them.With the middle set you can do what you like. Some have them about 30 mmwide, slightly inclined with rounded edges.1st rung should be about chest height so that you can hang down fullyextended and your knees won't touch the mattress.Don't make the mistake of making the rungs too small. I've seen a fewboardswhich have really small rungs and they are unusable. (Take a look at thecampusboard in the Office in the Foundry if you want an example of a board thatis too lowand has rungs which are too small.)Beside if you have never campused you will not be able to do much with16mm wide rungs.---------------------------Angle = probably 15 degrees is all. But, you want the angle steep enoughso that you can't dead hang from one arm.Rung spacing = 200 - 250mm.Rung width = 400 - 450mmBeginning rung depth = 40 - 50mm, with very round edges (20mm radius). This means you can both open hand and cling grip the board.8 rungs if you can manage it.Ideally the bottom rung should be mounted at chest high or higher. Makesure you have plenty of space to swing your feet.Basically, you campus when you are feeling fresh (after a long warmup).Because the campus board is for building power, you want to try exercisesnear your limit. Usually, when you are doing this, you'll burn out afterseveral goes, your performance will drop off, and you can start warmingdown.It's really quite easy to figure out how to train, because you'll just betrying to attain goals. For example, start by trying to go up one rung atatime without matching. If you can do that, then go down again withoutstopping after getting to the top.Once you can do that basic exercise in a controlled manner, trying goingtworungs at a time (1-3-5-7). If you can do that, try 1-4-5-8. Then do thisexercise on the other arm. Try all sorts of variations like 1-4-6-8,1-5-6-8, or 1-5-7. These exercises are hard cranks, and will definitelyimprove your grip, lock, and pull. Concentrate on intense effort andspeed.So, now you're bored with singles. Time for doubles, and this is where thepower fun really begins. Start by trying to go from 1-2 moving both handsat the same time. A lot of people find this really hard to get the hangof,but really it is just matter of speed and aggression. If you can do one -try continuing all the way to the top.One you can do 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 doubles, try 1-3-5-7. Drop back down8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. Then combine it (this is really good fun)1-3-2-4-3-5-4-6-5-7-6-8. Master this and then try 1-4-2-6-3-7-4-8.Try 3-4-3-4-3-4-3-4-3-4-3-4-3-4-3-4 as fast as you can etc. etc. etc.Once a week should be heaps, but listen to your body. Sore tendons orelbows (very common) - don't even consider it.By the way, Metolius had an excellent flyer about campus board use andconstruction. I highly recommend that you try to get hold of it, sincethere isn't many questions it doesn't answer.--------------------------->1. How steep should the board be inclined Go for 12 degrees overhanging (use a protractor if necesarry)>2. How wide and how far apart the rungs should be About 8" top of rung to top of rung works well. It allows you toreasonably skip rungs for routines on good holds and to make at least acouple of moves on bad holds.>3. How best to avoid injury using the board The best way to avoid skin injury is to avoid the temptation to carvewood rungs that are incut. It may seem at first that you are too weak touse some rungs if they are left straight. But this is why the board shouldnot hang more than 12 degrees (15 MAX) past vert. It makes it possible tostick those slopey wood holds (after some practice). Incutting holds willtear your skin right off. To avoid tendon or pulley damage, warm up well. Stop while you stillfeel strong (you will be feeling it later in the day) and do it no morethan2x per week.From: Kelly RichAs a side, with my PowerFinger board there came a smallguide to using it. They outlined a couple of 10-minutework outs, which one you used depended on your strength. Each minute you did an exercise, followedby a hang. For example, the first minute was a sortof warm up:4 pulls on Jugs15 sec. hang on slopers(Rest until min. Two starts)Minute two:5 pulls on crescent edge20 sec. hang on razor edges.(Rest until min. Three starts)On and on, for 10 minutes. I worked outmy own sequence, and modified it as I got stronger.They suggested it as the finishing touch toa work out. I found it to be a finishing touchno matter when I did it. 10 minutes at a time,and boy, the Pump!From: Ken ClineI've used both Horst's HIT and Pusher's System holds, and in myexperience these are far, far better than random wooden and/or plasticholds for the sort of repetitive strength training you are talkingabout. For one thing you focus on open grip contact strength andavoid crimping altogether. I've suffered bad tendonitis in the past,but can train to failure on the HIT/System wall without serious tweaksor sore fingers. No holds will prevent injury if you are sufficientlydetermined to hurt yourself and ignore warning signs, but these arewell designed and much more likely to help than hurt.Of course, the HIT strips/pinches offer a limited set of grip types(big pockets and pinches). Sooner or later you'll want to train othergrips, too.From: Larry, 7/11/2002You want really cheap and does the job? Get a small piece of 4 x 4 lumber(18" )and drill some holes in the front (router would do better but I don'thave one so 1" bit in a drill had to do) , bevel the top a little( I used askil saw with angle set to 45) and 4 large screws or lag bolts to attachedit to the wall studs and you have a board that will torch your forearms aswell as a commercially made board. From: Al Downie, 7/9/2002Or even buy a bit of 3/4" plywood and get a few pairs of bolt-on holds. Thatway you get to choose the features you like to train on, and you can rotatethem/swap them whenever you get bored?From: Bob Wightman, 7/11/2002Note that in modern houses most lintels are of one of two designs: There is the Catnic metal box section style which is then covered by plasterboard before final finishing. The other style is reinforced concrete, these are usually 100x70mm or so and contain several tensile steel rods so drilling into these can be awkward.If you live in an old house then the lintel is likely to be of stone so drilling into this should not be a problem, other than the racket while you are doing it!If you live in a modern house and the internal wall is studding covered by plasterboard (sounds VERY hollow when you tap it) then the "lintel" above the door is nothing of the sort. It is more likely to be a noggin of 100x50mm timber with the shorter dimension being aligned top to bottom like:----------------| || |----------------Even worse, the lintel is normally fixed by nailing from either side rather than being properly jointed so it is not designed to take any substantial weight. Hanging from this kind of lintel may distort the door frame :-(Usually in modern houses the most substantial thing to be able to hang from is the underside of a staircase if it is exposed. In this case drilling through one of the risers and bolting the finger-board on is easy, though you should use large washers to help spread the load.Obviously people do fix fingerboards above doors but the above should help you understand what is required.From: Al Downie, 7/11/2002My first flat was the cheapest Barratt thing I could buy, and I had afingerboard above one of the doors. I was a bit concerned about the flimsywalls, so I put a small plywood board on either side of the wall, andsecured the fingerboard with long threaded rods which went all the waythrough to the other side. It wasn't pretty, but it was very strong. Isuppose the one advantage of the plasterboard walls was that it was veryeasy to build, and also very easy to invisibly mend when you remove thefingerboard.See also:Fingerboards and Foot-off boards by Neil GreshamHow to Campus from Metolius ClimbingWhich fingerboard or hangboard should I buy? on TradgirlHome Climbing Walls: Page 1 2Most of the information in this FAQ was originally posted on rec.climbing. If you would prefer to have something attributed to you removed from this FAQ, please contact us. Proceeds from Tradgirl.com benefit The American Safe Climbing Association [Home] [ContactWebmaster] [Copyright Information] [Donate] |
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