Materials for making holds for climbing

Introduction to holds for climbing

Climbing holds are basically some sort of grids that are shaped in a particular way and are attached to a wall for climbing so that the person climbing that wall becomes able for stepping on it. On most of the walls, the holds are supposed to be arranged in a particular path which is known as route (mostly by the trained setters of routes). There are a lot of different sizes as well as shapes of the holds for climbing so that different challenge levels can be provided to the person who is climbing the wall. The holds can either be fixed by bolting or by being screwed.

Materials used in early times

A lot of different materials are known to be used for making climbing holds some of which are as follows:

• Different kinds of woods
• Different kinds of resins
• Different kinds of rocks
• Other materials

The details about the materials are given below.

Woods and rocks

In the early times, the climbing holds were supposed to be made up of rocks of real sort that were casted in the very hard blocks (concreted). Later on some other ideas were implemented and the rocks were used in which holes were drilled so that there could be a way for attaching them to the climbing wall. The holds made up of rocks are obviously heavy in weight and are not easy to be manufactured as well.

Another material used for making climbing holds in the early days was wood. The main reasons for wood to be used for this purpose were its less price and ease for it to be carved in different shapes. It is used even today in houses for making different types of hand holds. An advantage for using wood holds is that they can be grabbed smoothly; however, there are noticed some problems in splintering with the passage of time; moreover they are difficult for being washed.

Resins

In the earlier times, most of the climbing holds manufacturing companies kept on using the mixtures of resins for their production. With the help of resins that are supposed mixed with other resins are able to make a hold that is considered to be very durable; however, it can become brittle with the passage of time. The edges of the holds made up of resins are not supposed to be flexible so they can crack with more ease; it can happen in the case when they are tightened on such a wall which is not flat entirely.

There can be used a lot of other materials as well, for making the climbing holds. The holds must be durable and a bit flexible visit more