Bolt-Holes Be Dammed
November 5th, 2007Filed in How-to
As setters we love holds. We love what we can do with them and how they make us look creative when we’re really not. We browse through grip makers’ websites for hours. Staring, perhaps drooling, pawing at the screen wishing we could feel the uniqueness of their texture. Our affinity for grips knows no bounds.
But every one of these wonderful grips have a feature, that while absolutely necessary, can be a killer of sequences and a destroyer of reputations: The bolt-hole.
Sure we need some way to attach the thing to the wall. And until someone invents magnetic wall panels they’ll probably be around for quite awhile. But hold designers are still creating shapes with holes so deep that a savvy climber can plug it with one of their dainty little digits.
Most of the time this isn’t a problem. Using the bolthole as a mono is usually way harder than the intended grip position.
However, this cursed cavity has become problematic on the large double-handed slopers that have become popular these days. A setter putting one of these holds with an unplugged bolt-hole onto a comp route made for kids is looking to play Russian roulette with their sequence.
The other time those pesky bolt-holes get in the way is when a climber can use them as a thumb catch. From the first day in the gym, indoor climbers learn the advantage they can get from pinching the bolt-hole.
Rules? There Are No Rules
Even though it’s very unsafe for a climber to shove their finger in the death trap that is the bolt-hole, there are no rules against doing so. Neither USAC nor the IFSC has rules on their books against using a hold’s bolt-hole.
1. Take a two-foot (or so) long piece of standard issue setting tape.
2. Loosely bundle the piece of tape into a cylinder-shaped ball that is longer than it is wide.
3. Stuff it. Shove that ball of tape into the offending bolthole. Be careful not to pack it in unless you never plan on moving the hold again.You may have to put more tape in the hole to fill it up. But using one
single long piece will make it much easier when its time to get it out. Try to make the tape flush to the holds as best you can.
Pulling It Out
If you’ve used one piece of tape this should be an easy process. Simply grab it and pull. If the tape has made its way deeper into the hold you will probably need to use a tool to get it out. Insert a small (7/32) wrench and scrape the tape to loosen. A pair of needle nose pliers could also come in handy.
There you have it. A great way to not look like a rookie.
November 5th, 2007 at 4:12 am
The problem is obvious…
The easiest solution would be up to the manufacturers: over here in Euroland, Bleaustone (http://bleaustone.com/) already started doing so, by making the bolthole surface-flush when the hold (CSK bolt) is attached!
Think about it!
November 5th, 2007 at 6:11 am
Damned be the bolt-hole… Argghhh.
Thanks for the tip off, I’ll have to give that a go next time. Just recently one of our guys at the wall did exactly that, skipped the sequence by simply using the bolt hole, and pulling up.
I agree with Zeitfrei, that’s an awesome solution hold manufacturers should look into.
November 5th, 2007 at 8:04 am
All of the shapes I produce have bolt holes set flush to the surface of the hold. This has been the standard practice for years with Climb It, Voodoo and Stone Age. More recently Project, Halo Holds and So Ill have begun doing this as well. The down side is that you will often times need some really long bolts on the bigger shapes.
Other than tape packing, you can also place an oversized washer over the bolt hole and use a longer bolt, or (in the case of huge holds) just tape directly across the bolt hole opening.
I’ve also seen people take very thin and small surface area holds and piggyback them onto the larger hold with a long bolt to cover the bolt hole, but this can be problematic sometimes.
While using the bolt hole as a mono is the primary topic here, using the bolt hole as a positive thumb catch can also be a problem. On my shapes I try to position the bolt hole (whenever possible) in a location that does not make sense as a thumb catch position, but that’s not always possible.
Long bolts are a pain and a financial strain on the gyms purchasing them, but I really think that flush bolt holes and the use of longer bolts is the perfect solution to this problem. Hopefully more hold companies will make this their standard practice.
Nice article Mike!
November 5th, 2007 at 10:05 am
My old gym had cut up teva rubber on the floor and using a small or folded piece of that to plug the hole was effective and easy to remove.
As nice as it is to have bolts flush to the hold surface, it’s a huge pain at my current gym because we already need inordinantly long bolts due to the wall design and there are some holds that we simply cannot use on 90% of the wall surface because we don’t have long enough bolts (and we have some bolts that are at least 15″ long, maybe longer).
So, I think the article presents a good solution with the plug method. Again, I find teva rubber to be the best plug, but since most of us are lucky enough to not have to deal with that black lung producing floor mess, tape is probably the way to go. Better in the hole than taped across it though to minimize loss of friction on the hold.
November 5th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
I have a piece of rubber with a very small hold drilled into the center of it that I use for holds like this. The hole in the center of the rubber plug is really great because it make it really easy to remove it once you are done.
Someone should really start manufacturing these things and selling them along with the holds and bolts.
November 5th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
As a hold shaper, I agree with Louie in every respect.
All the holds I have made for E-Grips also have flush bolt holes that are either of no use as a thumb catch or intentionally carved into a comfortable grip. I definitely agree with making it standard practice, but new shapers and companies will almost always invariably make this mistake with some of their holds.
In any case, there are times I have intentionally left the bolt hole open (on select holds only) so that it is an option for the climber to choose, just be careful that the hole is tapered so that it is not sharp and that it is large enough diameter that it doesn’t allow the knuckles to get locked in the hole. Warning: Leaving this optional mono is not always so popular in the US where many plastic climbers have pocket-phobia.
November 5th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
I have two words. Thumb-Tack.
For the hold that bites back : )
November 5th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
Oh, and then there is my personal favorite, bondo! I gotta admit I have a really sick thing for bondo. Big chip on the edge of the Boss that creates a crimper? Uneven wall surface that creates a crimp between the hold and the wall? Over-sunk bolt holes? Bondo to the rescue!
I realize that bondo takes a bit of time and effort to use well, and is not so great for most daily applications. However, if you are willing to invest the time it is brilliant.
For bolt holes: Insert the correct length bolt into the hold, put a long wrench into that bolt, add a bit of bondo flush into the hole, and gently spin the wrench as the bondo sets (this happens pretty fast) to get enough space for you to insert a wrench into the hold, but not yer fingers! Sand extra bondo bits away to create a smooth surface that most folks won’t even try to thumb-catch on.
For cracked/chipped holds: Place a piece of duct tape between the hold and the wall. (This prevents the bondo from sticking to the wall, a definite pain to fix.) Fill crack/chip, shape bondo, sand to desired texture, and then cut extra duct tape away from hold.
Just to be a complete geek, bondo is also the Shinto when it comes to tricking folks at comps: well known bomber hold ain’t so bomber no more! Though you better be sure the gym is ok with you messing with their holds like that.
November 7th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
An interesting topic. For what its worth, the idea of making holds so the bolt head fits flush to the surface of the hold is a great solution, but impractical because each different size hold needs a different length bolt. This means that wall operators need to have lots of extra bolts, and big shapes need huge bolts which are hard to source easily. The idea of supplying holds with bungs to fill the bolt hole (like EntrePrises now do for some holds) works well, but the bungs are hard to get out when you take holds off the wall. Wads of tape work, but again can be tricky to remove.
The solution I use works well. Get a sheet of thick cardboard (the stuff that the box your holds were delivered in works well!) and roll it into a stick shape. Roll it nice and tight to roughly a diameter a little smaller than the holes you are filling. Push the stick into the bolt hole until it stops, then use a sharp knife to cut the end of the ’stick’ off flush with the outside of your hold, and, viola - job done and hole filled. The tube left in the hold with unwind naturally leaving a small hole in the centre, just big enough so you can still push an allen key into the bolt head if you need to tighten the bolt or tweak the hold. To remove the bung, put your wrench into this little hole and lever it out. This system is really quick, and means that each hold has a bespoke bung. Its also a nice way of recycling your holds packaging materials! A word of warning - I use this system for filling bolt holes when setting boulder problems. Wielding a knife when working setting routes on a rope might be a bad place for working with a knife!
November 7th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Granted super deep bolt-holes on mega-slopers should be erradicated from the hold market. They are dangerous and, of course, a cope-out for the move. However, why not work the thumb catches into the routes, if a thumb catch on the bolt hole makes the crux to easy, switch the hold. Perhaps switch that sidepull to a gaston.
November 8th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
At my gym we have a pretty easy solution. Just take some of the circular foam weather stripping for doors and what not that can be found at nearly every hardware store. And shove that in until it stops then cut it off with an exacto knife. It comes in the perfect width so it fits like a dream in the bolt hole and if you really want it to stay just put a peice of tape over it. Just enough to barely cover the hole though. As of yet i have not found any hold that needs to be plugged but putting tape over the hole would ruin the hold.
November 10th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
I was at a comp once where the person in front of me stuck their finger in one of the bolt holes in the wall to make move. Then their feet popped of and their finger made a nice loud popping noise - this caused everyone to look over and see the poor guy with a broken finger hanging on the rope. That noise is permanently stuck in my head.
November 14th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
[…] Routesetter.com teaches how to stop climbers from using the bolt hole as a mono in the gym. At first I thought this was humorous, then I remembered how many times I’ve seen climbers try using them as pockets (especially those with tiny fingers). 1. Take a two-foot (or so) long piece of standard issue setting tape. 2. Loosely bundle the piece of tape into a cylinder-shaped ball that is longer than it is wide. 3. Stuff it. Shove that ball of tape into the offending bolthole. Be careful not to pack it in unless you never plan on moving the hold again.You may have to put more tape in the hole to fill it up. But using one single long piece will make it much easier when its time to get it out. Try to make the tape flush to the holds as best you can. […]