Bouldering Info Guides

You know, there’s actually much more to the “laces vs Velcro” debate than personal preference.

There’s a whole bunch of benefits for each of them, and yes, I’ll go into all of that later in this post, but first I’m going to be talking about something much more interesting.

I’m going to be talking about an incredible strategy that is only possible with Velcro, so you can decide for yourself whether being able to do that is worth losing out on the customizable fit that laces enable you to have.

“What is this strategy you’re talking about?” you ask, “Surely the only benefit of Velcro is that it’s just quicker than tying laces?”

Yes, that’s absolutely true, but it’s what you do with that benefit that matters. That benefit is the starting point of the strategy I’m going to explain right now.

How to Use Velcro Climbing Shoes to Instantly Up Your Climbing Game

So, the benefit of Velcro is that you can put them on and take them off quicker. Now, how can you exploit this feature for maximum benefit?

It’s simple. You know how downsizing your climbing shoes can drastically improve your footwork?

Velcro shoes allow you to downsize hard without subjecting your feet to extended torture. You can slip them off between climbs to give your feet a rest.

What this means is that you’ll be able to reap the benefits of downsized climbing shoes sooner than you would if you were gradually working your way down the sizes.

And not only that, but you’ll get used to the downsized shoes more quickly, because you won’t end up with foot injuries that take time to heal. You’ll be conditioning your feet to adapt to the tighter shoes at a pace which you’re comfortable with.

Of course, this means that if you’re already used to downsized shoes, you’ll be better off with going with laced shoes to take advantage of the customizable fit that they provide. See what I mean when I said it was about more than personal preference?

Now let’s take a look at which kind of shoe is best for each kind of climber.

Should I Go for Laces or Velcro?

So, if you’re a intermediate climber I would recommend going with either slightly downsized climbing shoes, or some of those curved “aggressive” style ones, and getting them with Velcro. The customizable fit that laces offer isn’t really going to make any difference to a beginner, and that’s why rental shoes are almost always Velcro.

Beginners, however, should opt for flatter, stiffer climbing shoes. Laced shoes are, on the whole, stiffer than their Velcro brethren, which makes them a good choice if you’re looking for a good starting pair.

I’ve recommended the Evolv Royale Climbing Shoes for beginners before, and for both men and women, despite the sizing of those shoes being men’s sizing. These shoes are laced top to bottom, and have that beginner-friendly thicker sole, so comfort shouldn’t be an issue.

So, in the end, the choice between laces and Velcro comes down to whether you’re at a level of experience where the strategy I talked about earlier becomes something that you’re interested in. Beginners just want an easy jack of all trades shoe, and experts want to get a shoe which fits their climbing style perfectly, whether that’s achieved with the customizable fit of a laced shoe, or with the reduced stiffness of Velcro shoes.

Everyone else though, which is to say, the absolute vast majority of climbers, might want to consider Velcro, either for downsizing like a try-hard, or simply for the general ease of slipping them on and off.

One other thing that I’d mention though, is that laces will be superior for all-day routes where you have no opportunity to take off your shoes or swap them over. You’ll need all the comfort you can get for such an endurance-heavy task like that, so you’ll be better off with laces otherwise your feet will start to hurt from the constant pressure around the Velcro bands.

You see, laced climbing shoes are fastened over a much longer stretch of the shoe, with the criss-crossing of the laces across the eyelets distributing the pressure evenly along the top of your foot. Velcro straps, on the other hand, cause a slight sensation of tightness around the two straps which fasten your shoes.

Also, there’s one other downside to Velcro that you’ll probably not care at all about… unless it’s a deal-breaker for you.

And that’s that Velcro makes that all too familiar “Scrrrrrrch” sound whenever you fasten or unfasten the straps. If you’re popping your shoes off after a late climbing session, or if you’re off out early, then this might be a problem depending on if there’s anyone around who might hate you for waking them up.

Lastly, I wouldn’t worry about whether Velcro or lace shoes will wear out more quickly. That’s going to be down to the build quality of the overall shoe, because it’s really not going to be the fastening part of the shoe which fails first.

Yes, it is true that laces are more easily implacable than Velcro straps, but laces are thinner, and so they’re more prone to snapping than Velcro. Not that it matters anyway, because it’ll be the sole or edges of the shoe which wear out first, and that kind of thing can’t be helped if you’re using them continually.

Besides, by the time they’ve worn out, you might want to downsize more, or opt for a more aggressive shoe. If you do, then get Velcro ones so that you can use the trick I talked about earlier in this post.

You’ll be glad you did.

When you first start climbing it seems simple enough, climb from point A to point B and be strong enough to do so.

However, the more you indulge yourself in the sport, the more you come to realize strength isn’t everything.

You come to understand that techniques play a vital role when climbing efficiently and effectively, and controlling your center of gravity is just another technique to be mastered.

So How Does It All Work?

So first you need to understand what I mean by “center of gravity”.

Just getting your head around it and keeping it in mind when climbing can do wonders!

Every object with mass (yes this includes you), has a point where the weight will concentrate, this is the center of gravity.

In humans, the center of gravity is in our abdomen/tummy area. Although, this can change and move slightly as we contort our body into different positions.

I want you to imagine gravity as a line from your center, pulling you downwards towards the ground. Now, if this line of gravity falls outside of what is called your base of support (BOS), it will cause you to lose balance and a reaction is needed in order to regain it.

In humans, our primary base of support is our legs. You can test this by leaning sideways when standing up on one foot. This position reduces our base of support to one leg, making this leg your BOS axis. As soon as your center of gravity passes your axis leg you start to tip and fall. This is a great example of you moving your center past your base of support.

If you can keep your center of gravity within your BOS when climbing, you can keep your climb stable and efficient. But failing to keep it within the BOS can result in a wasted movement to steady yourself… or worse, fall.

How To Reduce The Chance Of Losing Balance

There are two main ways to stop your center of gravity from leaving the BOS.

The first option is to have a larger base of support. An example of this is moving your legs into a wider stance.

This increases your base of support and as a result of that, you become more stable.

The second method we have is lowering your center of gravity.

This can be done by just bending your knees. An example of this working is when you are using a slack line; it gets easier if you bend your legs slightly and lower your center of gravity. This method also works on the wall however it is situational.

If you use both these methods, it will drastically increase your balance and make it less likely you will fall.

How Can I Translate This To Climbing?

Now that you have grasped the basic principle you can apply it to climbing.

Firstly, you need to understand that you want most of your weight on your legs at all times, as this helps reduce the amount of stress on your arms.

In order to take the weight on your legs, you need to ensure that your foot placements are solid.

Once you have your feet in solid positions, you are going to want to transfer your weight onto them.

This is great for two reasons – it takes the weight off your arms as mentioned previously, and also any weight on your legs applies downward pressure to your shoes, which will make it less likely that you will slip.

In order to stop yourself moving the weight off your legs, you need to be able to identify how it happens.

Your weight tends to shift from your legs when both of your feet are on one side of your center of gravity.

This is the main reason all good climbers keep their body close to the wall. The closer you are to the wall, the more weight your legs are taking.

So, have you ever seen anyone when climbing, throw a leg out into seemingly empty space? What they are actually doing is called flagging.

This is a great technique that makes use of your center of balance. You understand that if you move to the hold without the flag you will lose balance and fall.

The act of sticking your leg out relocates your center of balance allowing you to easily stretch towards that hold, without wasting precious energy on trying to keep yourself on the wall.

This is just one of many techniques that focus on moving your center of gravity around to make the next move in a climb easier.

Sometimes these techniques come naturally, others you have to force yourself to do a few times before they become a habit.

Now, here is the tricky part –

The more of an overhang the wall has, the harder and harder it gets to control your center of gravity to keep your weight on your legs.

There will be points where there is no other option than to allow your arms to take a majority of your weight.

But the idea is to get yourself into these situations as little as possible through the use of good foot placement and techniques.

There are many techniques that can help with overhang walls, but I will talk about them in another post.

Hopefully, now you understand the importance of being aware of your center of gravity and the benefits you can get from controlling it.

“What am I supposed to do with that?”

Every new climber has had this same experience, being stopped in their tracks with this question burned into the back of their minds.

Some holds? Yeah, they make sense. Sometimes it’s obvious where you hand goes.

But others? Well, let’s just say they look like they’re specifically designed to your life as hard as possible.

Here’s the interesting thing though: they’re actually not.

That is, there is a way to tackle every type of hold, and knowing this is enough to make a significant difference to your climbing ability.

If you learn how to use each hold to its full potential, it’s going to completely change your climbing game forever.

Not only that, but learning how to deal with the different types of holds you’re facing is perhaps one of the fastest ways to make a significant improvement to your climbing.

It only takes, say, a few minutes of reading this post and then a good night’s sleep.

The next thing you know, you’ll be looking at a hold that used to seem impossible and let out a sigh of relief, because you know how useful it really is for your next move.

The Different Types of Holds

One thing to mention, before I get into the differences between the each type of hold, is that I’ll often be talking about something called “positivity.” That is, I’ll be describing holds in terms of how “positive” they are.

This is nothing to do with their personal and emotional well-being. It’s simply a way of describing how much of strong edge there is for you to grab onto.

A flat surface has zero positivity, as you’d expect.

So, let’s get right to it then.

Jugs

Jugs are every climber’s best friend.

You probably already know which ones they are, just from me saying that.

Jugs are those big, open holds which are so easy to get your hands around that they’re practically ergonomic.

As you’d imagine, you’re not going to find many of these on anything but the most beginner-friendly of routes.

You’ll often find that jugs provide the perfect resting spots during some of the longer or harder climbs, if they have any at all, so keep this in mind if you spot one on an advanced route.

Incuts / Mini jugs

I’ve always thought a better name for these would be “finger jugs,” because that’s exactly what they are. They’re jugs, but only your fingers can fit in them.

They’re pretty straightforward, like regular jugs are. Just wrap your fingers around the positive edge as much as you can.

That’s all there is to it.

Crimps

Crimps are evil.

They’re going to get your arms severely pumped. It’s just insane how much strain these holds put onto your forearms.

If you’re a new climber or you’re not used to them, you’re going to quickly lose your finger tendon strength if you’re trying routes with some of these thrown in.

Not only that, but for the next few days you’re going to be struggling to grip anything. You’ll be holding your morning coffee with both hands, out of the complete inability to hold it in one without it shaking everywhere.

My advice? Use an open-handed grip on the narrow positive edge of the crimp hold to tire yourself out less quickly.

Granted, you get less power this way, but power is useless if your arms are useless. “With great power comes great responsibility”; that sort of thing.

You want your fingertips on the positive edge of the crimp, with the rest of your hand flat against whatever it can.

Of course, if you’re no wimp when it comes to crimps, then you can try the powerful “full crimp” technique to simultaneously impress your friends and destroy your arms.

What you want to do is keep your hand straight but tuck your fingers in on themselves. They’ll be straight out at the first knuckle, but bent at the second and third knuckles.

If you’re doing it right, it’ll feel like your hands are poised for some kind of Kung Fu palm strike. It’ll feel like you’re trying to touch your second knuckles with your fingertips.

Again, use this only in a clutch situation unless you can handle it.

I’d highly recommend training your finger tendon strength if you want to master the crimp. Just be sure to work on it gradually.

It’s so easy to overdo it. You have been warned.

Edges / Ledges

Edges are extremely common in outdoor rock climbing.

They’re basically crimps but with more room on the flat, positive edge.

Of course, you can still use a full crimp grip if you’re a masochist, and you will get some extra power that way, but you’re far better off just getting as much of your fingers as possible onto the positive edge of the hold.

Also, be sure to keep your arms loose and straight when climbing edges. It’ll keep fatigue to a minimum.

Slopers

Slopers are tricky. They’re large, but have zero positive edge.

That’s right, zero.

You’re going to be relying entirely on friction to pull yourself up, so make sure you keep your hand as flat as possible around the hold to maximize the surface area of your skin in contact with it.

With slopers, body position is key. It’s vital that you make your center of gravity as close to the wall as possible.

If you’re angled too far away from the wall, you’ll be trying to pull against the hold at a greater than 180 degrees with the lower half of your hand. What this means is that your grip on the sloper will be halved too – and that’s something you really don’t want on a hold that’s all about grip.

Of course, it goes without saying, if you spot some slopers on a route you’re about to climb, make sure you’re well chalked up, with the chalk covering the entire surface of your hand, including your palms.

Pinches

The good news? They have two positive edges.

The bad news? They’re both vertical.

Yep. That means you’re going to be relying on friction again (yay).

Despite the positive edges of a pinch being useless by themselves, the hold is really not that bad when you use them both together in a – you guessed it – pinching motion.

You’d be surprised how much of a difference it makes being able to use your thumb to grip onto a hold. Your thumb adds so much power that you’re not going to have any problems with getting enough friction to pull yourself up.

Because of this, you should use your thumb to pinch-grip onto a hold whenever possible. It’s only pinches that absolutely require you to do this, but you should generally abuse the gripping power of your thumb whenever you can.

Volumes

Volumes are very common in indoor climbing gyms, but some gyms like to use them more than others.

The great thing about volumes is that you can use them no matter which route you’re on.

I must point out though, that some gyms have different rules for volumes in that they only allow you to use them if they have a hold of the color of your route on them. You can always ask the staff if you have any doubts, or just use them anyway if you’re bad.

You can use volumes in a variety of ways, pushing off or mantling them as you see fit. There’s no absolute right or wrong answer because volumes differ greatly from one to the next.

Just be sure to make as much use of them as you can. You’re almost always better off using them than not.

Volumes are your friends, and you should never forget that.

Pockets

Pockets are interesting. If you didn’t know the trick to using them, you’d be tempted to try using the top of them as a kind of less-positive edge, or a gripless sloper.

There’s a reason the outside of pockets are not covered in the grippy texture that holds usually have, and that’s that you’re not meant to use the outside edge of them. You’re meant to use the hole in the middle.

The problem with pockets is that you usually can’t fit all of your fingers in them. If you can, then you know what to do, but if you can’t, then there’s a trick to it.

The trick is simply to prioritize which fingers you use. Of course, use as many fingers as you can fit in the pocket, but if you have to choose then be aware that the choice matters.

You want to prioritize your middle finger above all else, because it’s far stronger than your other fingers.

If you can only use two fingers, then use your ring and middle fingers. Your ring finger will be better than your index finger.

Finally, if you can only use three, then use your ring, middle and index fingers.

And lastly, don’t forget to pinch the hold with your thumb for a cheeky bit of extra grip!

Underclings

Underclings are far more common in outdoor rock climbing than in the gym.

They’re quite unusual, in that the positive edge is almost parallel with the wall, and the only way to grab them is from underneath.

Because of this, they’re only really useful when the hold is around your midsection. If you grab one that’s too high up, it’ll feel like you’re tackling some weird backwards sloper.

If you grab it at the right height though, you can really pull yourself up with it. Underclings present possibly the greatest potential of any hold for you to show off your magnificent bicep muscles.

Horns

Everybody loves horns. They’re like jugs, but with a couple of important differences that you can take advantage of.

First of all, you’ll be using your hand to grab the side of the horn, which you’ll often find allows you to get some nice leverage off of it. As you grab the horn, you’ll be able to turn slightly sideways to extend your reach to the next hold after it.

Make use of this whenever you can.

The second thing to note about horns, is that you have some choice in which part of the horn you grab on.

The advantage of grabbing the narrower, further away part of the horn is that you’ll be able to get your hand around the sloped, positive side of it more easily.

However, there’s something you need to consider when doing this, and that is that you’ll be effectively climbing on a slight incline away from the wall.

Unlike how you’d expect, leaning backwards like this isn’t entirely a bad thing. You can use your angle to smear against the wall or push off narrow footholds more effectively, and it even gives your legs leverage for some dynamic movement.

The other way you can grab a horn is at the wider part near the base. You’re less likely to get your hand around it this way, so you’re going to have to keep your hand as flat as possible over the positive edge.

The advantage of this method is that you can maintain a center of gravity that’s close to the wall. If the next hold after a horn is a sloper, you’re going to want to take advantage of the base of the horn to keep yourself as close to the wall as possible.

Being close to the wall also makes it easier to achieve a lock off position so you can reach for the next hold. Also, positioning your center of gravity close to the wall gives you the ability to use your legs to take off some of the strain from your arms.

Horns are useful. Use them wisely.

“I don’t think that’s even possible,” you tell yourself, sighing at another one of those tiny crimps. I’m not going to lie to you, those minuscule holds have ruined my day more than once.

If you end up stuck in a climbing rut with that long plateau in front of you, then looking into training your grip strength can do wonders for your climbing.

Making sure you have adequate grip strength is absolutely vital for any good climber.

Your Wooden Best friends

So, if you’re a climber, you will have at least heard of a hangboard. If you haven’t, it’s basically a wooden board with various finger-sized holes in.

Now, sometimes, these boards are made of plastic but my experience tells me all the best ones are wooden.

Hangboards are an amazing way to help you push yourself onto the next grade, or get that tricky nemesis you have been working on for weeks… You know the one I’m talking about.

Put your fingers in and hang. It sounds so simple, but attempting to hangboard without proper guidance is just asking for trouble, injuries and downtime.

If you are going to consider training your strength using this tool, I would make sure that you can’t just improve your grip strength by climbing your current grades.

I have seen too many climbers abuse these boards before they are ready, sometimes resulting in wrist injuries that can take weeks to recover from.

So, How do I Get Started?

So, after reading that you’re probably wondering “how you get started?”

To minimize the chance of injury, you are going to want to get warmed up and stretch out your fingers before any attempts on the board.

When using the board, you need to keep your grip open-handed and not in a crimp position.

Good form on the board is having your shoulders back and your arms slightly bent. Imagine a diamond forming from your bent arms with the board being the top.

As a newbie, you then want to be in the sweet spot of taking your weight, but not pulling it upwards.

For complete beginners, I would recommend starting easy and pick the largest and deepest pockets. You are going to want to use all your fingers, with the goal of hanging for 10-15 seconds.

Don’t worry if you only get half of that; you can work up to it over a few weeks. However, when starting out I would leave 48-72 hours in between hangboard sessions – you don’t want to put too much pressure on your fingers.

How many sets you do on the board is going to depend on how strong you are. The first week I hangboarded, I could only manage two, fifteen-second sets or three, ten-second ones. But in my experience, when beginning to hang board it’s best to try for 2-4.

You can increase this after a month or two.

If you are a boulderer, I would recommend doing longer reps on the hangboard with fewer sets. This is because bouldering is much more power focused than climbing.

This way, you will be able to power through those crimpy moves.

Now, rope/lead climbers are going to want to do the complete opposite and aim for more sets and shorter reps. When you’re climbing, you spend so much more time on the wall, so it’s really important to factor this into your training.

When training with a hangboard there is a basic principle to keep in mind, called “progressive overload.” This basically means you always want to try and increase your reps and sets, instead of sticking to the same routine for months or years.

This is because muscles grow best when challenged, increasing your times or reps spent on the hang board gradually, will give you the best results!

Please make sure you don’t take this advice the wrong way. You want to gradually increase your reps and sets.

It’s far too easy to injure yourself on hangboards, so make sure you have kept with your current routine for a few weeks or a month or two before adding more to the mix. This is especially true for beginners.

Any Alternatives?

So, hangboards are pretty much the tried and proven method.

When researching, I couldn’t find any training methods that are just as effective.

However, you might not know this, but most of your grip comes from what is known as “isometric forearm strength.” This is one of the main reasons hangboarding is top dog for climbing training – it trains not only finger strength but also isometric forearm strength.

What this means is if you don’t have a hang board, or can’t get to a climbing center with one, you can look into different methods to train your forearms, as these bad boys are the driving forces behind your grip.

Have you ever watched tightrope walkers and wondered how hard it is? As it turns out its one of the many things that are as difficult as they look.

This balancing act shares a lot of similarities with slacklining but with a key difference.

Slacklining was tailor-made for climbing.

So What Is Slacklining?

So slacklining at its simplest is walking on a belt suspended between two points, usually trees.

But its so much more than that!

As the name implies the belt has some slack to it, the more slack the belt has the more times your probably going to end up eating dirt.

Slacklining was first made popular by a small group of climbers, inspired by circus acts they felt a burning desire to replicate the incredible feats of balance, and hopefully translate it into climbing.

From there slacklining has developed into its own sport with various athletes trying to find the limits.

Now slacklining might sound like super easy, But for most people, I included, find it super difficult.

This hasn’t stopped various styles from popping up, people are always innovating and looking for new ways to have fun.

The daredevils of the sport created highlining, which is slacklining but at an extreme height. Now most practice this with safety equipment, but some brave souls manage to pluck up the courage to go without, as tests to balance, willpower and just plain intrepidity.

Other styles that have popped up are yogalining and waterlining, but they are pretty much self-explanatory.

How Does This Help Me?

Walking across a belt knee-high doesn’t sound very hard right? Wrong. It’s actually incredibly difficult, in fact, your first 50 attempts tend to be taking a step, losing balance and falling.

However, stick with it and you will soon be strutting along wondering how you ever found it hard in the first place.

By now you have probably thought, “so how does this help with my climbing?”

Some moves in climbing have you on tiny holds with nothing but your own balance for company. and slacklining is an amazing way to improve your balance.

With the swaying belt beneath you, it is important to keep making tiny adjustments just to stay still, bit by bit you will get the hang of it and find your center.

All these movements and jerk may seem like nothing, but you are steadily building up a move set to help you traverse the impossible.

You might find yourself sucking in your gut while slacklining, but what you are actually doing is improving your core strength, this can have a huge impact on your climbing.

Not only does your core help you stick close to the wall, but it helps with dynamic and high tension moves. But these are just some of the reasons slacklining pairs up great with climbing.

I personally found slacklining super useful when coming back from a foot injury, it helped strengthen my ankle and kept my brain motivated with delicious progress.

I know some climbers that use it as a way to break up a session. It’s a perfect way to make use of the downtime while waiting for that fire in your arms to burn itself out.

How To Get Started?

Firstly you want to grab yourself a slackline, these can be picked up online or in some outdoor sports stores. There is a lot of choices out there, so for a complete beginner, I recommend a 2″ / 5cm line to start. That’s 0.1 cubits for all you ancient Egyptians.

Next is set up, find yourself two stable anchor points for your line. Trees are usually the best bet, but you can get creative in a pinch.

Despite the name, you’re going to want to keep the line pretty tight for your first few attempts, this will help you keep your footing and get used to the line.

Speaking of footing you have to make an important decision, shoes or barefoot.

Some swear by shoes, others promise barefooted is the way forward, but in the end, it’s completely up to you.

Right, So once you have your shoes off you’re going to want to get up on the line and give it a go!

The basic technique is to keep your hands raised and make small movements to keep your balance as you step across the line.

Don’t worry if you fall before even making a step, just get back up and go again.

A successful lap of the line comes after many attempts and failures, but at some point, something will click and the hard work will pay off!

Tips To Improve

The best way to improve at slacklining is just putting in the time. It’s incredibly frustrating at first, but if you stick with it you will be rewarded for the hard work.

There is no cheat sheet I can give you, but there are a few helpful hints.

Firstly you need to stop thinking about it too much, trust your body to react and save itself from falling. It might seem like a bunch of mumbo jumbo but it really does help!

Next, you want to keep your eye’s on the prize, Looking straight ahead instead of at your feet helps tie in with my previous tip. you just need to trust your body, if you are looking down while walking you tend to lean forwards., I don’t think I need to mention why this is bad for balance.

Alright, this last one might leave you feeling more than a little silly.

As you are making your way across the line you are going to want to lower your knees and throw those hands up, picture yourself as a gibbon or some other bendy legged animal if it helps. This lowers your center of gravity which makes it a lot harder to lose your balance and fall off.

Now, despite months of research bananas had no effect on my slacklining skills, don’t listen to anyone recommending it, complete hogwash.

If you have been to a climbing gym before, you will have most likely seen at least a few people manically scrubbing holds.

When you’re new to climbing it probably seems a bit excessive and over the top. Are these people crazy? How much benefit are they going to get from a glorified toothbrush?

The answer is: more than you’d think.

So Why Do We Brush?

When you first start out climbing, you will notice that most holds are very beginner friendly. They are easy to grab and have huge holes in them for the full length of your fingers.

These holds are referred to as jugs. And all climbers love them.

As you progress up the grades the difficulty rises and in turn, the frequency of these wonderful holds plummets.

It becomes much more common to see slopers and pinchers, along with various other types of holds.

As you can see, the hold on the left doesn’t have many edges for your fingers to pull on. Sometimes the only thing keeping tension in your climb is a palm on one of these big ol’ slopers.

When climbing on these holds you’re pretty much grasping at straws, and at that point, you’ll take any help you can get.

Yep… you guessed it: Brushing.

When brushing holds, your main objective is to clear it of any muck, grime or grease. This
ensures as much of your skin is touching the hold as possible.

The result is more friction generation. And more friction means more sticking power.

Now, this may sound strange, but I don’t think cleaning the holds is all brushing does to help.

In some cases, it doesn’t make a damned bit of difference.

But what it can do is make you believe that you are going to stick the move. That confidence can make all the difference between finishing the problem, or going home empty-handed.

To Brush Or Not To Brush?

So how do you decide when to brush? That is the question.

When you’re indoors, any time you feel like you’re slipping or sliding on a hold, it might be a sign to give it a scrub.

If you’re outdoors, however, some people recommend scrubbing before, during and after.

If you’re the first person to attempt a route in a while, a lot of the moves might be covered in lichen, moss or dirt. This means it’s usually a good idea to give it a workover before you even attempt a climb.

I’m sure most of you are similar to me and are long-standing members of chalkoholics anonymous. If you are yet to earn your 5 minutes chalk free badge, you might want to brush off any tight holds during your climb for that extra bit of grip.

When leaving a climb it’s polite and good etiquette to give any over-chalked holds a brush down, But I’ll talk more about that later.

So What Is The Best Method To Brush?

So now you understand why we brush, its time to learn how you should brush.

This section is pretty subjective as everyone is different when it comes to brushing.

There is no right or wrong.

Just like with brushing your teeth, everyone develops different methods, rituals, and speeds.

You have the:

• Classic Back And Forth
• Clockwise
• Counter Clockwise
• The Razzle Dazzle
• The Rock Sock
• Pulp Friction

Once you have completed your scrubbing ceremony, its usually a good idea to give it a good blow to remove any excess loose chalk. Make sure to close those peepers though, chalk dust and eyes are not compatible.

Etiquette

Like most social settings, there are rules you need to abide by in order not look like a total asshat.

This first one is pretty obvious. If someone brushes a hold they get first dibs.

So, this next one isn’t really talked about much.

Is it okay to borrow someone else’s brush?

We have all been there; you wake up feeling like something out of a George Romero flick, Grab your gear and dash off to work.

Only later, when the blood in your veins is 50% coffee, does it hit you that your brush in your other bag.

Luckily most climbers are friendly. It’s one reason why it’s such a social sport. Once asked, most are more than happy to help, whether it’s letting you borrow a brush or giving you advice on a problem.

In fact, a lot of climbers are happy for an excuse to razzle-dazzle.

If you’re more of an outdoor operator make sure you clean any “tick” marks or excess chalk you leave on the holds. No one wants to be that guy.

So most climbing centers will have wizard staff looking sticks with brushes on. These are to help brush holds that are just out of reach.

It’s just common courtesy to make sure these are back in their designated hangout once you’re done.

What are they made of?

For all you curious climbing monkeys, the main ingredient in the recipe for a modern chalk brush is boar hair.

Climbers have had many different iterations of brushes over the years, from your little brother’s toothbrush to hair straight from the horse’s back, All this before settling on the current choice: boar hair. What you expected? Me neither.

So, when choosing a brush, only one thing remains: Plastic or wood?

I, for one, am part of the wooden master race. What about you?