Holdfast climbing holds - reviews

UK bouldering - holds review

"You're always unsure of what to expect from a relatively unknown outfit, but we weren't disappointed. In fact we found a very large range of top quality holds at rock bottom prices - a bit of a revelation really. There are loads of different shapes, the texture throughout is good, finger friendly yet grippy. The colours we had were muted purples, greys and yellows. The prices above do not include bolts, but Mike can provide these for you at a reasonable price.

 

Range 1 and 2
These ranges are very similar in shape and style, and as far as you or I are concerned the main differentiating factor is that Range 2 are washered to take cap head bolts, whilst Range 1 takes countersunk bolts. As far as the climbing is concerned, there's no noticeable difference, so we'll deal with them together.

What you've got here is a good range of shapes and sizes with the sets. Pinches, crimps, flatties, but no pockets. The texture is pretty much spot-on, grippy but doesn't do all the work for you. There was a mixture of rounded and positive holds, which gives you a few more options when it comes to setting problems. Most of the shapes are quite simple, good and blocky, but we must say there were a few that were a little odd, kind of hard to hold bobbles and knobbles. These may be to some people's taste but we found them a bit awkward to use and to too hot for training. However these are very much in the minority. Most of the holds were excellent shapes and saw some intensive use.

The prices for these sets are pretty keen, and even with a few strange shapes thrown in its hard to find fault - they would be excellent holds if they were twice the price. Also since the holds are available individually you can avoid any you don't like. These are great sets for a wide range of problems and difficulty, excellent value.

 

Range 3
We had single large sloper to test from this range. Pretty unique for a sloper, it's broadly angular yet still very rounded with no real sweet spot. While being a fairly straightforward to find the best way to hold it, you have to work hard on it as the texture it quite fine, which is excellent for training. On a steep angle it's a killer for hard problems. A full set of these would get you up to scratch on your sloper skills.
Yet again the price is great for a hold of this quality. Brilliant.

 

Screw-ons
The selection of screw-ons we tested share the same style as the Range 1&2 holds, though the texture is a little rougher it seems. Again the shapes are very simple and easy to read, mainly flat edges or crimps, and for the most part really enjoyable to climb on. There are one or two holds that had some quite sharp edges on which to be honest we tried to avoid. The rest are excellent though, giving problems the big-ish moves between positive (and not so positive) holds. These are a good choice for medium to hard grades for building fingery strength. Nothing really here for slopers though.

These really are great holds for general fingery stuff, even taking into account a couple of very sharp ones. You get a lot for your money, which is excellent if you're on a budget, particularly since these holds are basically just as good as the more expensive brands.

 

New Range
Later on in the review Mike sent us some of his new range to test. There are bolt-ons and screw-ons, and some really nice shapes. On this range he has refined the texture slightly, and in generally these are a little bit more rounded and slopey then the above ranges.

The bolt-ons take a countersunk bolt, and whilst retaining the chunky feel of the others, the lines are that bit more curving. There are a couple of weird knobbly ones again, but probably to a lesser extent than Range 1&2 and they certainly aren't a real problem. The screw-ons share the rounded theme and great texture. The level of comfort is high, and really feel like top quality holds suitable for all types of problem.

 

These really are a pleasure to use, the texture makes you squeeze and the shapes are easy on the hands. They are easily as good as the earlier ranges, and if you like more rounded and sloppy shapes then they are a cracking choice.