Bomb proof Climbing Holds

At Three Ball Climbing we consider two major factors when designing climbing holds.

1. Material Used

2. Structure

Materials

Most climbing hold producers use one of 4 types of plastic:

1. Pure Rigid Polyurethane

2. Polyurethane with fillers added

3. Flexible Polyurethane

4. Polyester Resin (with and without fillers)

At Three Ball Climbing we regularly test climbing holds made with different materials by breaking them with a torque wrench. We make our holds with pure rigid polyurethane because it stands up to abuse the best. Pure polyurethane climbing holds are more durable than holds made with less expensive materials. If you push them to the limit, you'll be more likely to break the t-nut.

Route setters in climbing gyms normally tighten holds down to 11-15 ft-lbs of pressure. Your average t-nut will break somewhere between 22 and 29 ft-lbs. Our bolt-on foot-jibs can withstand between 20 & 29 ft-lbs before breaking.

Structure

I'm sure you've seen those big hollow slopers with no support behind the bolt hole. You bolt it down and it warps or breaks. At Three Ball we'll never do that. In addition to the design, we feel it is important for climbing holds to have a good solid structure.