It’s a bit remarkable that a hold company that has been around for 17 years is still unknown by most setters outside of the company’s home state.

It’s also remarkable that a hold company has made it through 17 years of fads, trends and the fickle whims of hold buyers to come out on the other side stronger than ever.

Climb-It holds have been in every gym I’ve ever visited; a few here a few there. And most setters that have been around for a while have undoubtedly bolted a couple of Climb-It shapes to their walls with out even knowing it. That is unless you live in southern California (aka, SoCal). There, Climb-It rules.

Until this year Climb-It has kept a pretty quiet profile. They’ve been growing their solid line of holds in the safety and relative obscurity of that small pond. But now the company seems to have gained confidence in the grips it makes, and in the coming year you can expect to hear this sleeping giant roar to life.

They’ve come along way from their awkward, child-like, Euro inspired O.G. shapes (O.G. means Original Gangster in SoCal speak). But I still wasn’t sure what to expect when Garrett dropped a box-full of shaped urethane in my lap and asked me what I thought.

Well, here it is.

The Volume

Stats:
1 Bolt
32” long x 18” wide x 7” deep
24 lb
7 piggyback t-nuts

Professional shaper Louie Anderson (who shaped every hold in Climb-It’s line), shaped this monster to be used primarily on steeper walls. Which is annoying when you consider this $200 hold can only be used effectively on a certain section of wall. And indeed if you put this piggy on a vert wall it turns into an unimaginative ledge only good for V0 and mantles. But throw it on the steeps like you’re supposed to, piggyback a few holds onto it, and you have options that cover all the grades.

This volume is more of a piggyback than it is a volume (and why couldn’t they give it a cool name?), but it does what a volume should do; it breaks up the wall and adds some fresh angle to worn out walls.

The hold is also good as a stand alone hold with many grip options, but depending on the steepness, they’ll tend towards the higher end of the V-scale.

One major problem with most piggybacks is the limited flat space provided for the additional holds. This piggy has an average 8 inches (or so) of flat space but since CI offers enough small holds you shouldn’t have a problem finding something to stick to it.

The hold requires only one bolt to attach it to the wall but you may need a set screw or a blocker to keep it from spinning. Since it’s 24 pounds of hollow-backed plastic it’s rigid enough to keep its shape and wont pull away from the wall when leveraged.

Because I put the volume up by myself, I was constantly worried about cross threading the wall t-nut. 30 seconds later my worries were over and it went up fine. But an extra pair of hands might be necessary for a scrawnier setter. I also would not want to haul this SOB up an extension ladder or drag it up a rope.

$200 will get you the volume; I have no idea if that’s a good deal or not as it’s the only all-urethane volume on the market. But compared to other volumes of its size it’ll cost you more than some, less than others. But all the others — most of which are made of fiber glass — are way lighter!

The weight is my biggest beef with this mother but the simple one-bolt attachment makes it ideal for gyms that can’t or won’t put screws into their walls for a traditional volume.

True Huecos

When Huecos are done right by shapers they are the most popular hold any company can make. Climb-It has done it right. The series is not encumbered with pinches or crimps or any other hold that may or may not be seen in Hueco Tanks. Only huecos! (OK 3 out 15 are scoopish.)

We tested three of the huecos and used them all on one problem because it just seems the thing to do. These matchable holes lend themselves easily to unique and creative sequence combos. But one sad fact of the holds is that every single one of them has an off center bolt hole which makes spinning on a smooth, featureless wall a near absolute.

Crimps

If I had a home woody I would fill it with every crimp that Climb-It makes. And I would train everyday and soon I would be crushing sandstone, patina and limestone. The crimps that Louie made for the weathered sandstone, patina and limestone series are an all -round great buy. If you order a set, you’ll get ten holds for $45 bucks. With that many holds in one set you can set themed problems to your obsessive-compulsive hearts content.

One “real rock” specialty that no other hold company makes is a Black Mountain California series of crimps. These may look like a foothold series that Louie shaped for another hold company years ago, but believe me they are completely different (and better). These small wonders are all incut and can be very sharp. Best if used on the steeps.

To account for the variance in definition and perception of what a “crimp” is, all of the sets have a range of incut depths. To some a jug is a crimp and a crimp is a jug, now you can have both.

Since Climb-It doesn’t offer any worthy pockets for you to force moves with, the crimps come in handy as they are all one-handed (three-fingered even) and can be used as a forcing hold.

If you have pansy fingers though, get ready for a thrashing because most of these little guys have sharp teeth that eat flesh. But don’t let that bother you. Start training!

Weathered Sandstone

If you were to see this kind of sandstone outside you would not climb on it. “Choss” you would yell to your pad carrying homies and keep on walkin’. Which is why it’s an interesting choice of rock to mimic in plastic form.

But nothing daunts old Louie; he presses on to create an entire series of blocky pinches and matching sloppers, even foot holds all based on choss. That’s not to say the series is choss, it just looks like it.

Most of the holds are blocky, which goes against my personal aesthetic but can be used effectively on steeper walls (are you seeing a trend yet?) and easy moves on vert. The pinches felt good to my smaller hands but anyone with jolly green giant hands may feel like they are pinching a thin paperback. (FYI: You won’t find too many jugs in this set).

It’s nice to finally see a refreshingly new interpretation of sandstone. However if your wall is mostly vert your best bet is to stick with the crimps and a few of the slopers.

Coastal Sandstone

The problem with creating an entire 26-hold line all based on the same theme is that if you don’t like one hold you will undoubtedly not like the other 25 holds. But you never know, there may be a gem hiding, just waiting for you to find it and fall in love.

Well, I didn’t really fall in love with the entire Coastal series, but I do have a crush on the Coastal 3XL (Confession: I did not receive the 3XL to test and have no idea what it actually feels like or what it is like to set with. Whatever, I still want it).

The Coastal’s are a bit oversized and a setter should use these holds sparsely on kiddy routes unless one wants them to match everything. Most look like jugs but are just shallow enough that they climb more like crimps and make pretty good pinches. Not my favorite but at the end of the day there was not a single Coastal left in the box.

Being Around For 17 Years Will Do That

Top setters around the country have asked the question lately: “If you had only one hold company to set with, which one would it be?” There are so many grip makers to choose from these days, but after testing Climb-It’s grips the decision is not a difficult one for me.

Climb-It’s entire line is one of the most well thought out in the industry. And I wouldn’t think twice about setting an entire comp using holds from their catalog.

Nevertheless, one set that is missing is a quality pocket series. The closest they have are the “slots” set which only has two deuce holds out of 15. But Climb-It offers such a solid line of holds that a setter could easily forget about pockets. (Who climbs on pockets now-a-days anyway?)

But if you’re looking for abstract and crazy shapes to spice up your wall you won’t find them at Climb-It. You’ll have to do that with your awesome setting. The CI crew sticks to “real rock” shapes that mimic the local Californian stone; from the original and un-copied Black Mt. and Patina shapes to the more conformist Limestone and Granite look.

It’s obvious that theses guys have been selling holds for a long time. Each set is designed with the buyer in mind, which makes handing over your budget a less painful task then some other companies.

It’s also obvious these guys like bouldering and they like it steep. But even if you don’t have a single panel of overhanging terrain, you’ll still find plenty of grips to cover all your customers’ needs.

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