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Post by avaserfi on Apr 21, 2015 17:39:06 GMT -7
I just finished building a compact campus board at home. The design was based on the portable campus board here, but mine attaches to a stud mounted pullup bar and uses cam straps connected to eyebolts (on the board itself and wall) to create rigidity and adjust the angle. The closest gym worth going to is about 30-40 minutes away (even more in traffic) and my work schedule is getting more and more hectic. This means more training is happening at home. Using this same design on a larger scale I am considering putting up a small bouldering wall that mounts to the same pullup bar. The wall would have an adjustable angle and would be a single 8ft sheet of ply long. Width would be somewhere between 3.5ft-4ft depending on what I can work out with the pullup bar. I would probably split the board into two pieces long ways allowing me to more easily handle the sheets of ply myself. Currently, my training equipment for climbing includes an RPTC (weights, pullies etc) and the new campus board. Small rungs with moon spacing and half rungs where I need them from 1-6.5 (although up to 7.5 is an option). I just don't know if such a small wall would be worth it both in a training sense and for fun (more emphasis on training, as I do enjoy it)? For the foreseeable future I will probably lose out on my performance phases, at best sending in the gym. Despite this, I would like to continue training for the rare occasions I can make it outside and send hard rather than taking a break from climbing. As a side note, if this does seem like a worth while idea are there any updates to the recommended hold list beyond what is here? |
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Post by MarkAnderson on Apr 21, 2015 18:54:05 GMT -7
I don't have much comment on your primary question. I know an 8'x 8' wall is big enough to be worthwhile, but I've never tried a 4'-wide wall. My guess is that it would be effective from a physical training perspective if you can force yourself to use it (which could take some effort, since it will surely be less fun than a gym or larger wall). Your sequence options will be limited on a wall that small, so it will be far from ideal from a Skill Development perspective, but it will certainly be better than doing no bouldering at all. As a side note, if this does seem like a worth while idea are there any updates to the recommended hold list beyond what is here? Check out this post: rockclimberstrainingmanual.com/2014/08/19/frankenjura-dreaming/ |
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Post by Chris W on Apr 21, 2015 20:46:29 GMT -7
My very first wall was an 8' x 4' wall which I tried to use like a systems wall. That little wall fed a madness that has led to an entire outbuilding dedicated to my training. I never could find a good way to use it to train, but that was before I had the RPTM. I'm sorry to say that I found it small and unsatisfying.
If you start down this dark path, be prepared for where it may lead  |
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Post by avaserfi on Apr 23, 2015 6:48:34 GMT -7
So I talked with the significant other. An 8x8 wall is a acceptable, under one condition. We are on the second floor of our apartment complex and I need to find a way to dampen falls to prevent the floor from shaking and annoying our neighbors.
Has anyone come across a padding that will sufficiently dampen a fall without shaking the floor significantly or built something that did so? My initial thoughts were a suspension system of two pieces of ply mounted together with heavy duty springs in between to absorb the shock of a fall.
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Post by joev9 on Apr 23, 2015 12:57:48 GMT -7
I think you could just go double thick mattresses. You won't be falling from that high up (with 2+ feet of mattress and an eight foot wall, your torso will really only be falling 3 or 4 feet) and, unless your building is poorly constructed, I doubt there would be that much vibration.
Alternatively, you could get really, really strong and just never fall....
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Post by Chris W on Apr 23, 2015 20:13:26 GMT -7
It may not make much of a difference whether you fall on a mattress or a regular crash pad. Throw each on the floor and see which one works the best.
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Post by avaserfi on May 19, 2015 6:23:11 GMT -7
Well, thanks to the encouragement of this forum (and a very understanding wife) it finally happened. 8x8 wall ended up closer to 40 degrees. A touch steeper than planned, but long term I'll probably hook it up to a pully system and make it adjustable. This was the quick freestanding fix. Now to start collecting holds and learning how to set... Attachments:
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Post by MarkAnderson on May 19, 2015 9:11:53 GMT -7
Awesome man, I think you'll find it worthwhile. One bit of advice I share all the time: Invest in quality hand* holds. 10 really good holds will get much more use than 15 crappy holds...
(*footholds don't seem to matter as much in my experience)
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Post by joev9 on May 19, 2015 10:04:40 GMT -7
Agree with Mark, get hand holds that will fit your wall and are relevant to the type of climbing you will do. Choose carefully and don't just buy the popular holds. For example, I like volumes (to a point) at the climbing gym, but wouldn't get any for my home wall because they would take up way too much space. I like to get holds that have several options (but aren't too big) so I can rotate them and get a different hold.
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Post by avaserfi on May 19, 2015 10:08:30 GMT -7
I got a small starter set of seconds from Atomik that mimic real rock: crimps, small feet, some pinches, edges, small jugs and pockets. A nice sale also had me splurge on a couple sets of holds from DRCC, the deep cut crimps and force med edges.
My future plans include cribbing off your recommended list.
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Post by tedwelser on May 19, 2015 15:49:41 GMT -7
There are some hold shapes that you can easily make yourself, and save money for top quality holds that exactly meet your training goals. My wall is about 8 years old, and now I have about 1400 holds, a third of which I made myself.
For instance, you can make low profile crimps out of an 8 foot section of rectangular moulding and an orbital sander. By altering the angle that you sand into the functional edge you can produce 24-32 nice comfortable crimps that you can screw into the spaces between the tnuts.
If you fill your wall with holds then you can fully utilize every square foot of the wall. If you initially fill all the "boring" hold spots with homemade holds you can fill the "prime" spots with prime holds. Later, once you have +300 prime quality holds you can retire the homemades that you no longer want. Until then, the more the better.
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