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Post by MarkAnderson on Aug 10, 2015 10:32:08 GMT -7
Why do you think I live here man? It's not for the Broncos
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Post by Chris W on Aug 10, 2015 17:25:50 GMT -7
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Post by Chris W on Aug 10, 2015 17:27:22 GMT -7
OK, so the photos all sort of blended together, but you get the idea.
Rob, I do have a fan inside the bubble. It's mounted onto the wall and blows directly onto the hangboard. It's smaller but more powerful than the white one in the picture.
The room is about 50 inches wide, 7 feet long and 10 feet high. I built it to be modular because, if left up year round, it would get in the way of my campus board and 15 degree wall during my other training phases. I built frames out of 2x4's that I ripped on my table saw to give me 2x2's. I simply stretched heavy duty plastic sheeting between the frames and stapled them into place. I had to run over all the edges with duct tape and staple them in again, because the plastic wasn't strong enough to hold on its own accord, especially with me moving the pieces. The AC unit is a window unit that conveniently needed to be "replaced" this spring (don't tell my wife). I'm a bit puzzled by the fact that I can't cool the space more. A similar unit cools my entire bedroom quite easily and quickly to 66 degrees at night (wife is pregnant which means I get to cool the room much more than normal). It seems like I can get the bubble down around that temp, but my thermometer reads a bit higher. I need to get a good, accurate digital thermometer with a humidity gauge that I can place in there to record the temps. I'm interested to see what the temperature difference is at the level of the hangboard, at chest height, and on the floor.
Mark, My roof trusses are about 48-50" apart. There is a little variation. I just checked the board, #1 is at about 6.5 feet from the ground. The board is 15 degrees and uses moon spacing. I have small, medium and large rungs. The roof truss is 10 feet from the ground. The bottom of the board sits a bit out from the wall, and the roof truss is about level with rung "7. There are about 18" of space between the roof truss and the outside edge of rung #7. I can do basic ladders all the way up to rung #9 without any issues hitting my head, hands, or any other part of my body. I was a bit concerned about this when I decided to build the board there, but it seems to work out. I am NOWHERE near maxing out my board (my max ladder right now is 1,3,4.5) but if it becomes an issue in the future, I could build the board out such that the back of the campus board runs right in front of the nearest truss, giving me 48" of space.
Overall, I'm quite happy with the difference in cooling and humidity my little bubble has already provided. Once I get an accurate thermometer and humidity gauge, I'll post some information. I have now begun my descent into the rabbit hole
PS, Mark, if you're ever visiting the climbing metropolis of south central PA, I'd gladly give you a tour of the barn. Just do it in a base phase so we can drink beer and eat homemade brownies. We're only 6.5 hours from the New! It would make a great day trip...
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Post by daustin on Aug 10, 2015 22:17:24 GMT -7
Looks awesome, Chris!
Out of curiosity, how far are you from State College, PA? I find myself there a couple times a year visiting my GF's family and am always looking for climbing options...
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Post by Chris W on Aug 11, 2015 4:49:06 GMT -7
State College is about 2.5 hours from me, assuming traffic isn't too bad. If there is a Penn State football game going on, it can be rough.
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Post by MarkAnderson on Aug 11, 2015 9:32:54 GMT -7
Mark, My roof trusses are about 48-50" apart. There is a little variation. I just checked the board, #1 is at about 6.5 feet from the ground. The board is 15 degrees and uses moon spacing. I have small, medium and large rungs. The roof truss is 10 feet from the ground. The bottom of the board sits a bit out from the wall, and the roof truss is about level with rung "7. There are about 18" of space between the roof truss and the outside edge of rung #7. I can do basic ladders all the way up to rung #9 without any issues hitting my head, hands, or any other part of my body. I was a bit concerned about this when I decided to build the board there, but it seems to work out.
This is exactly the info I needed, thanks! My roof trusses are at 9', and they are 24" OC. So I've been pondering whether there would be enough room to campus between the trusses. I've also been pondering if I should go to a bunch of extra trouble to construct the board such that the plywood is flush with the truss (as opposed to butting the back of the 2x6 joists against the truss, thus making the front of the plywood ~6" from the truss). My #1 is closer to 6' off the ground, but my trusses are lower. Still, it sounds like there would be enough room. I should probably mock it up with my existing campus board and test it out.
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Post by MarkAnderson on Aug 11, 2015 9:45:06 GMT -7
Update: I did my third workout this am. It was slightly overcast last night and this morning. The overnight low was a disappointing 53 (it was 57 when I went to bed). It was 54 when I woke up at 6am and sealed the room. At that time the temp inside was 55. By the time I finished my workout the temp inside the room was 62(!) Interestingly it was only 60 outside at that time, so I would have been better off leaving the windows open and the fans on (normally the outside temps shoot up once the sun rises, but it was overcast). Anyway, I'm pretty dismayed by how much the temperature is increasing during the workout. Obviously I generate a lot of heat, but I also have a small portable stereo for blasting metal and a few fans (only one running at a time). It might be worth running the AC just to offset the heat I'm introducing to the system. Another option is to leave the door open (the door opens into the garage). On sunny days (which are typical), the garage stays cooler than outside for a while, maybe long enough to complete the workout.
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Post by rob on Aug 11, 2015 13:59:26 GMT -7
Mark, your passion for low hangboard temps and for effort in achieving them is inspiring!
I've finally just been bothered to convert some of these temperatures you guys keep mentioning to degrees celsius so I have some understanding of the temps you're aiming for and... I'm shocked! 55-60 is pretty cold! I'm probably training in around 65-70 degree temps all year... Now I'm hoping that I'm going to be amazing at hangboarding when I cut the temperature. Luckily here in the UK I can probably just open the window in my gym and drop the temp 5-15 degrees easily most days.
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Post by MarkAnderson on Aug 11, 2015 14:03:12 GMT -7
Luckily here in the UK I can probably just open the window in my gym and drop the temp 5-15 degrees easily most days. I was starting to wonder where you were finding such high temps year round in the UK
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Post by MarkAnderson on Aug 11, 2015 14:04:49 GMT -7
Mark, your passion for low hangboard temps and for effort in achieving them is inspiring! Also, the word you're looking for is "madness", not "passion"
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Post by Lundy on Aug 11, 2015 20:26:48 GMT -7
Wow... I concur with Rob. This is nuts! I usually try to just suck it up and deal with temps getting up to 75 degrees in my garage wall/hangboard/campus setup, though this is the temp at 5 in the morning. Any later would be insane (DC summer is really hideous). One interesting thing I've found, though, is that I actually stick the wooden campus rungs better in a bit warmer temps with some humidity. Middle of winter it's like 40 degrees in my garage and hitting rungs on the campus board feels like banging my tips on concrete, though it's marvelous for the hangboard.
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Post by Chris W on Aug 11, 2015 20:37:16 GMT -7
One interesting thing I've found, though, is that I actually stick the wooden campus rungs better in a bit warmer temps with some humidity. Lundy, I feel like I stick to the campus board a bit better with a little humidity as well. I'm able to solve this issue by using less chalk. Also, when it's really cold, I use a little space heater to thaw my hands before I campus/boulder/hangboard if needed. My barn will get pretty cold in the winter
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Post by Chris W on Aug 11, 2015 20:56:51 GMT -7
I should probably mock it up with my existing campus board and test it out. Mark, I definitely like the idea of using some kind of mock setup on your current board to test it first. It would be a real bummer to go through the trouble to build a board and find that it doesn't work well for you. Also, I used 2x4's for my campus board. I have one on each side and one running down the center. Overall width of the board is 48 inches. I know 2x6's would be better, but I'm heavier than you are (155-165) and my board is as solid as a rock. It doesn't creak, crack, groan or moan one bit. This could save you some precious space if needed.
Regarding hangboard temps, I'm wondering if ideal temps are highly relative/subjective. It seems like Jesse is used to cooking himself in his Texas sweatbox and you're spoiled by Colorado weather. I also think there is something to be said for skin changes depending upon the time of year. I have no doubt that it happens in some ways. In the winter, for example, the backs of my hands will dry to the point they crack and bleed. I have to periodically use a moisturizer on the back of my hands to keep my skin intact. No such problem in the warmer months.
I'm wondering if you could achieve an overall lower and more consistent temperature and humidity level in your room if you installed a window unit. If you have one around the house, you could always pop it in and test it on a rest day. I turned my unit on 30 minutes (the time I take to wake up and get breakfast) before my workout and it seemed to cool things well by the time I started.
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Post by avaserfi on Aug 12, 2015 5:59:05 GMT -7
I think you might be right Chris, although I wouldn't say ideal. Those of us in the hotter states might be more tolerant of higher temperatures and humidity. Here in TX during the summer I'm happy if I can train below 75F and 55-60% humidity. Hell, the last two times I climbed outside it was over 100F by the time we were done. We avoided friction dependent climbs and didn't climb at our cool temp limit, but had a great time and got on some moderate problems.
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Post by jessebruni on Aug 12, 2015 8:51:57 GMT -7
If you really want to step it up a notch you've got to hit up the deep water soloing at the lake. Nothing like climbing out of a lake with soaked shoes, no chalk, on dirty, wet holds, in 100 degree weather to teach you how to bear down on holds. Who needs friction anyway? It's training, it's supposed to be hard right?
Seriously though if you're anywhere near Austin, deep water soloing out at Pace Bend on Lake Travis is where it's at. Highly recommended.
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