acorneau,
Thanks for the feedback. Glad you were pleased with the selection. Regarding your wish list - the hardware is really just a convenience item we typically ship to most of our home wall customers. The cost of bolts relative to holds is so low that excluding the bolts on a shipment that small wouldn't really let us substitute more holds in their place. Regarding being able to identify which sets the holds are from... I can tell you that for our small (6 pack) sample set. However, the larger one we typically assemble from random holds, so it varies. If you have a snapshot, I could let you know very quickly...
Regarding shaping / manufacturing and the use of flat head bolts: There are really only a few sets we sell that even use these - and I'm assuming you're probably referring to one of our Isotope holds (with small smooth bumps on the face). In some cases, the holds might not be wide / thick enough to fully embed our high-strength washers in without them protruding through the side of the hold. Most of the time, though, the main reason we use flat head bolts has to do with hold thickness. Holds with embedded washers need (IMHO) at least 3/4" + of urethane between the washer and the back of the hold. Any less and the holds are prone to breaking - especially if the hold is fairly wide. We learned that lesson the hard way with some of our earlier prototypes.
Let me know if I can provide any additional info.
Happy Setting / Happy Climbing
The Element Climbing Team
Toll Free: 877.735.3636
elementclimbing.com