Matching tools on a Vertical Life Pocket.
Swirling in a sea of choices, it can be difficult to choose the best set of drytooling holds for your specific needs. Questions abound: Edges? Pockets? Real stone? Plastic? Metal? Why use one over the other? What are the differences and how can those differences benefit me?
Below we’ve sorted through the confusion to help you find the best set of drytooling holds for your gym or home wall.
We’ll offer some tips for how to set routes without destroying your home wall or gym. And we’ll answer the question, can’t I just use some old climbing holds?
DRYTOOLING HOLD MATERIALS
Metal - Metal holds (steel, sometimes aluminum) are the go-to for many drytooling hold makers because it’s just easier to make many different types of holds from metal (machining, casting, welding). Steel is the top choice for hardness, but can be expensive. Aluminum is a bit softer, but is much easier to work with and less expensive. Smaller holds are ideally made from steel since the pressure of the pick is greater over a smaller area. Larger holds are usually made from aluminum as the larger surfaces can handle the pick pressure. With metal it’s even possible to create cracks to practice pick torquing, a move that's difficult to train for without the right hold.
Stone - Stone is the gold standard for drytooling holds and the reason is clear: we’re training for outdoors, why not train on the real thing? Stone holds give climbers real pick feedback on real stone. Smart Stones manufactures the best stone holds available today in a variety of angles, and two different pockets.
Resin - Different in chemical makeup than normal polyurethane climbing holds, these are holds made of hard resin designed specifically for drytooling. The holds are usually made of resin mixed with crushed stone and are harder than normal materials used for holds. The biggest advantage is that they can be shaped into any shape or any type of stone, allowing for a wide range of pick feedback from different textures. The problem is that even though they are harder, resin holds do not last a long time and will be gouged out and damaged by picks after only a few uses, which is to be expected. Stein pulling on them is not recommended. They are meant to be replaced after a time and are (usually) priced accordingly.
DRYTOOLING HOLD SHAPES
Pockets - Pockets are the jug of the drytooling world. They are deep and solidly reliable placements. Pockets are good for basic training and getting many laps in. They are not good training for delicate placements. But like jugs, pockets can be set as side pulls or stein pulls, allowing for solid training of difficult moves. Pockets are also perfect for roofs and extremely overhanging terrain.
Edges - Chances are you’ll encounter more Edge placements in the outdoors more than any other placement. Edge holds train you to be ready for those placements with laser precision. Picks engage only the edge of the hold, making for delicate placements requiring precise body positioning to ensure the picks don't pop off the holds.
Flats - Flats are holds with flat surfaces, used to train for placements where there is nothing constricting the picks in place like a pocket . Flats are challenging holds that demand focus and consistent pick pressure to ensure picks stay in place. They also make you a great drytooler.
Technical Shapes - There are no boundaries to the shapes that can be created. What we’re calling ‘technical shapes’ are really any shapes that require more thought that just plunking the pick into a hole. Technical shapes can be narrow rails of metal with divots drilled into them for the picks to settle into, like the FI Dimples. They can be flat incut edges with stops on either end to keep the pick for sliding out, like the FI Ledge. They can be very tiny shallow depressions machined into a shape meant to engage the pick only if placed just right. There are cracks for torquing, large balls to attempt to hook, slippery holds, and super tiny micro edge placements. If you’re a serious drytooler, you’ll likely have many technical shapes on your wall.
THE ’BEST’ SET OF DRYTOOLING HOLDS
At Furnace Industries, we are often asked what are the ‘best’ set of combination of drytooling holds. That’s like asking what are the best running shoes. The answer depends on your specific needs. Here is the breakdown of drytooling hold combinations we give to gyms and customers looking to add drytooling to their wall:
Beginner: Start with a set of 5 Vertical Life Pockets and 5 Vertical Life Edges. These holds will help you rapidly get your head into drytooling and the open your mind to the potential for more climbing creativity. The pockets will be super solid placements, and the edges will be less bomber, but still secure placements that are an easy primer for more technical moves. Bonus: Vertical Life Drytooling Holds are the most economical holds available on the market today.
Advanced: In addition to VL Pockets and Edges, get yourself a set of Furnace Industries Drytooling Holds. FI Drytooling Holds are top-of-the-line holds machined from stout 6061 aircraft grade aluminum bar stock. There are no welds and therefore no weak points. They offer a massive potential for creative and challenging movement leading to equally massive gains in your training.
If metal’s not your thing, a set of resin drytooling holds will offer many options to train difficult moves and endless variety depending on how you set them on your wall.
Expert: Expert drytoolers will benefit from the above hold sets with the addition of a set of Smart Stones Drytooling Holds. The Smart Stones we offer at FI are handmade from high grade granite and were designed specifically for Furnace Industries. We worked closely with Smart Stones to bring you this exclusive set of holds. The real stone will prepare expert drytoolers for the real deal. And with some creative route setting, the sky is the limit.
CAN’T I JUST USE OLD CLIMBING HOLDS?
The answer lies in your tolerance for risk.
Climbing holds are not meant to be used as drytooling holds. They are not strong enough to withstand the immense forces placed on a single point on the holds. They were designed for hands and feet, not cold, hard, steel picks. Small edges can shatter with no warning. Jugs can snap when stein pulled. Polyurethane can become brittle with age, making for unpredictable and frankly unsafe drytooling placements. And another problem many drytoolers don’t talk about; the shattered resin splinters from picks on plastic holds can get in eyes and irritate skin (ever scratched your cornea? It’s the opposite of fun).
There are indeed holds that you can use as drytooling holds like large slopers with holds drilled into them, but these are few and rare. Picks will destroy the hold eventually, and every placement weakens the hold just a little bit more. It’s only a matter of time before the hold breaks. Do you want to be fig fouring on it when is does?
ROUTE SETTING TIPS
-Routes. To set easy routes, keep the holds closer for easier placements. Set routes on less-than-vertical to vertical terrain. If you're new to the strange and exciting world of drytooling, keep the footholds large and obvious so you can focus on the tool / hold interaction.
To ratchet up the challenge, set on steeper train. No terrain is too steep, but realize the difficulty will increase exponentially with every degree of steepness. Also remember that your reach with tools is at least 21” longer on each arm. Set the holds further apart to account for the increase in ape index.
Resin hold on a Backer Plate
-Backer Plates. So, you spent all that money building your home wall, or you’re setting drytool routes at a million dollar facility, how can you prevent the picks from damaging the wall? Backer plates prevent the picks from contacting the climbing wall surface. These can be as simple as plywood squares cut larger than the hold, or as slick as purpose-built aluminum mounting plates. Not all drytooling holds will need a backer plate, but when they do, it’s the obvious solution.
-Helmets. It may seem silly in your home wall, but wear a helmet. Why? Because you don’t want to be that person who shows up at work with a massive ding on your noggin’ from an ice tool popping off a hold. The constant explanations aren’t worth the silent judgement you’ll face afterwards.
-bc