Why climb on wooden holds?

Wood makes a great material for climbing holds due to its low friction and smooth texture. This makes wood super friendly on your skin, allowing you to conserve skin for longer or keep training when your skin is bad. You’re also forced to grip harder, perfect for developing finger strength! This is why wood is the go to material for training boards.

Do different woods feel different to climb on?

Its subtle, but yes! Just like different rock types vary in their texture and friction, so do woods. Generally, finer grained or harder woods lead to less friction but feel very comfortable to climb on, while the softer woods tend to feel a bit more grippy.

What edge sizes and incut will work on my wall angle?

What holds feel easy or hard vary quite considerably with wall angle and your climbing grade. I’m currently trying to come up with some sort of rough guide to picking edge sizes, but for now if you’d like some specific advice please get in touch via our contact page.

Does the edge depth quoted include the edge radius?

The quoted edge depth is the total depth at its largest point, including the edge radius.

If wood is so good, why aren’t all gym holds made of wood?

Wooden holds generally wont stand up to the sort of abuse and traffic seen in commercial sets at gyms. Rubber tends to get stuck to the surface and standing on them can damage softer woods over time. This is why most training boards in commercial gyms have separate resin footholds. Thats not to say you can’t stand on you wooden holds, I do on my board! Just make sure you brush the holds frequently to keep them clean and if the holds ever lose texture or become covered in rubber, you can give them a light sanding to bring them back to their original texture.