Review > E-Grips > Stealth Edges

E-Grips have a great number of grips on the market, we were able to pick and choose what we wanted to see, we chose two sets, the first set we've already reviewed; you can see our review of the 2-Tex Pure Crimps by clicking on the link...

The other set we grabbed are the Stealth Edges, pictured below:

All though the resemble a jet fighter or a space ship, the Stealth Edges aren't as low profile as you'd think; they stick out way more than you'd expect, the only thing that is kind of stealth about the holds is the texture which is more stealth than most companys products; in fact when you first grip the holds you're going to wonder if it's going to be OK to hold onto!

We've had these holds on some pretty steep walls and they're great to grab, it's really surprising what kind of angle you can use them on, OK some of the edges are flat and others in-cut so they do end up being harder to hold as the angle gets steeper , but not as hard as you'd think given the area you have to play with. These holds are easily matched and have a texture, as Noodles would put it, "like petting a panther", you could session on these all day and have the softest climbing hands out there:)

All joking aside if you got these into a competition the climbers would just love them; unfortunately the set is limited by the number of holds....5. On a bigger wall, like they have at the gym, they could set some good dynos, and short boulder problems (if you added some feet) but on our home wall we lacked the height and the crash pads to be attempting those kinds of maneuvers. (Noodles: Phooey, we still went and dyno'd about anyways)
We set a number of traverses with long committing moves starting on the overhanging wall and into the vertical.As you can see even when I'm fully stretched and on the tips of my fingers the hold is still solid because they're HUGE! (They came at a good time considering all the crimp reviews lately).

Combined with other sets; the Stealth Edges can be used for system training as they don't tear your fingers to shreds, you'd probably want a couple of sets for this, but as E-Grips have a range of Sytem Training Holds it's probably cheaper and easier to get something that was built and is therefore dedicated to system training!

These holds have a big radius so they don't dig into your fingers when you campus, that coupled with the texture means lots of climbing time and little or no skin pain. The holds are pretty damn versatile, it really depends upon how strong you are and how crazy you are when you set, but bear in mind that for us these holds are large flat or slightly in-cut edges, so people with small hands will find that the in-cut holds err more towards a slight jug. We've used the holds in a number of different areas from matched side pulls to under clings, but where these holds start to really get going is when you set something that makes the climber use the slick part of the hold for their feet... Noodles got spat onto the mats a number of times trying to rock on up and over a hold on one route we set, getting your feet to stick on these is super tricky!
What's apparent about these holds (and the other holds we have from E-Grips) is that they're super well made, the sanding on the backs is impeccably flat, these things are smooth as hell! I was interested to see just how flat they were so I grabbed Noodle's level from the cupboard, they are FLAT!, all of them, they're just well made.. there's no burr's where you'd expect to see them where the textures join there's just a nice smooth arched line which must have been a plain in the ass to get right! I'd love to know how many times they carved these to get them right :), mind you considering I used to work in a metal work shop the line is so precise it could have been done be a computer, that, or someone has a very very steady hand with a Dremel!!

SUGGESTED USES





We suggest the above angles for the holds, most people will be OK using the holds on the 15, 30 and of course the 90 (vertical wall), but if you're strong you're going to be able to have a blast on anything up to 45 degrees, we have a couple of the holds on our 60 degree roof section for a while and although they're hard to hold with the right feet they're more than do-able.

The shapes are a mix of flat and in-cut edges, when we say in-cut they are flat but cut at an angle that makes them semi-jug like, not super juggy, but big enough!

OVERALL BUILD
You're going to get what you expect from this set, bomber urethane, clean lines and backs as flat as anything out there. The bolts are well suituated so you don't need to worry about the holds bending or snapping. Texture wise its clean and consistant with the lines between the 2-tex and the texture being well defined thus no sore skin... quality workmanship sums these holds up!

RATING
NOODLES SAYS
Wow, the name doesn't really explain these holds, they have a bigger profile than you'd expect, and a texture that is weird to start but once you've climbed on them for a little while you're going to be surprised. Like Chris says they're bigger than you expect, for a home wall they take up a lot of space, which is a good and bad thing depending upon your priorities... The 2-tex nature of the holds means that if you're using them with your feet following you have to be a little bit sneaky with how you place them to get full use of the slippy side of the holds, more holds are needed so you can set long routes at the gym. but chucking these onto a wall mid way through a route will stop most people and will make them think! Mix these up with the Pure Crimps and you're going to have a route that's going to be absolutely killer... infact that's just what I might do! Climbers at Allez Up beware, I have a wrench and a whole bunch of 2-Tex holds that are coming your way in the next week :P

CHRIS SAYS
Not what I expected. Don't get me wrong, I really like using these holds. Since the texture is soooo skin friendly and the edges are nice and round, they're a whole lot a fun to dyno on. With the limitationa higher roof we might have been able to experience the real potential of these holds. Maybe they'll be the next set to go to Allez Up, our local gym :) On the whole there's not much you can say that's wrong about these holds, they're skin friendly and built super well, i'd like to see more of this type of hold, there's only 5 and more would be very welcome. The texture takes a little getting used to because you feel like you're going to fly off of it when you first start using the holds, but once you realise that its actually very grippy then you'll have a blast

PROS

• Super skin friendly
• Great construction, no burrs to catch your skin
  
• Matchable, their large size allows you to match pretty well on them
  
• Depending on how strong you are these are well suited to overhanging walls to about 45 degrees (then they'd be super hard to hang)

CONS

• Not enough holds in the set, there could be more and if they expand the range they could make the radii a little smaller so the range could go from small to large
  
• Could be stealthier, these holds do take up more room than expected on your wall
  
• Do get a little clogged with shoe rubber and chalk after a while, so cleaning is needed every so often!

PRICE
The Stealth Edges are $57.50

Review > E-Grips > 2-Tex Pure Crimps

We've had these for a few months, moving and rebuilding the wall has stopped us from getting a review out on them. Sorry about that, but now we're back in full swing and we can pass our judgement on the 2-Tex Pure Crimps from E-Grips!
Now, the word pure means this:

• clean, spotless, or unsullied: pure hands.
• (of literary style) straightforward; unaffected
• without any discordant quality; clear and true: pure tones in music

if you read a dictionary that is, and when I first got onto them this video was the result:



On an overhanging wall I had lots of trouble pulling an easy sequence, it took me a good number of tries, as you can see but eventually it went, the use of the word pure in the name of these holds is correct, they are pure crimps! Ranging from thin to REALLY thin! Really really thin! I've never been much of a fan of crimps for home walls, you're asking for an injury unless you're either very strong or stupid. I know that crimp strength is something that we all need, but over training on the small stuff over a long period of time will at somepoint leave you sitting icing your hand. These holds were made for competitions pure (ho ho) and simple, and when you get them onto some easier terrain then they become very interesting to climb on, add tracking with the feet and you're asking for a fun ol time as your feet will flail all over the place!

As you can see i'm having to be very careful with my feet even when you're using the part of the holds that has texture upon it as they're so thin! We've had these on the 30 degree wall, the steps as underclings and on the flat wall, they perform pertty well with anything over about 15 degrees making you think about how your next move is going to be executed. They're a complete no-no for roof's unless you're Spiderman or have super human strength.

Pairing these holds with another set of E-Grips the 2-Tex Stealth Edges (review coming soon) will allow you to take your routes onto steeper terrain, but still not into a roof section. The mix of the two sets allows you to set horrible crimpy sections and then allow a semi-rest inbetween the onslaughts :P

Where these holds are going to come into their own on a home wall is for traverses and very short boulder problems, their main forte in my eyes is in the competition setting where you can force a mover very easily with these holds as there is normally only one way of grabbing them and its super thin. The texture on the is enough to hold onto, but does get a little clogged up after repeated attempts, so make sure you have a brush handy!

RATING
NOODLES SAYS
I've had some good sessions on these, and most of the time i've walked away pretty ok from it. On overhanging walls you're going to be holding on for dear life and your fingers will complain if you overdo it on them. When they're on a vertical wall they're not so bad and you can set some really nice moves where you've got to cross, matching is hard, it can be done but it'll take you a few go's to figure out where exactly to put your one (sometimes two) finger tips so you can balance and get your match. These should be a staple of any competition setters bucket that's for sure because they will sort the wheat from the chaff!! And when you look at the price running at $46 for 10 holds you're not going to go far wrong. I hope they actually extend the range of these holds some more, making them bigger but still keeping the same texture / slick combination!

CHRIS SAYS
Tiny, tiny, tiny! I'm going to mirror a little of what Noodles says. Training on small stuff will give you an injury if you over do it! So becareful people :) I like crimps, so i'm the polar opposite of Nuds. These for me are what dual tex holds should be like, we've got a whole bunch from lots of companies and these are some of the best out there! My current list of dual tex crimps favorites are from Holdz, E-Grips and then some of the Globes that we've had for years, it's not a list that's easy to get onto as there are alot of companys that are dabbling with dual-tex and as the bar has been set so high buy the above guys it's a tough field to stand out in! These holds are hard, real hard but i've seen strength gains in using them, I do prefer then on the 30 over wall when they're set in a short boulder problem rather than the vertical like Nuds likes them but we're different people so we want different things :)
Next time the Tour-de-Bloc rolls into town these are going to be on the wall in one variety or another, competiton settings is where these holds will shine.

PROS

• Comp crimps as they should be, dual tex and thin as hell
• Will make you strong
• Will make you use your feet if you set a problem that tracks
• Some of the slickest Dual Tex out there
  

CONS

• Not for super overhung walls, they're too thin
• Could cause an injury if you go mental with them
• Do chalk up and need to be brushed more than most holds
  

PRICE

• $46 for a set of ten
  

Review > Holdz > Dual Texture Pockets

What's got some mad swirly colors, a slick outside casing and a textured inner?
If you're thinking of something that Willy Wonker has made in his sweet factory you'd be close, but wrong! We're talking about the Dual Texture Pockets that Holdz sent us over the holiday period. Now there are holds that have a swirl color system, and then there are these:
Not only do that stand out on the wall but the climb amazingly, lets talk more about the colours and then we'll talk about the shapes... Not only are the shapes nice but Holdz holds come in lots of very bright very vibrant colors, how many colours?? THIS MANY COLOURS!!
and it doesn't stop there.. oh no, they'll make two or three colour swirls for you and offer spotty holds as well (You'll see these more in a later review), our holds are the three colour variety, white, pink and blue, they look like bubble gum! They stand out on the wall and just want to be pulled on... here's what they look like on the floor..Now when you get these holds you're going to notice someting stamped on the back, this is the quality control stamp,it means that it's free from defects. The holds are also strength tested, and checked to make sure that the backs are flat and the bolt is perpendicular to the back of the hold so they will lay flat to the wall... all to international standards So you're going to get quality through the post. Quality that's been 12 years in the making... Steve the owner has been shaping for over 12 years, he shaped the Jerry Moffat ranges for DR climbing walls and has shaped for King Kong, Bendcrete and French Rock, so he knows the hold game pretty damn well! :P

Right lets get onto the holds...
The first thing that you'll notice is that these holds are dual texture, not half arsed dual texture but the real deal. Depending upon the hold you're going to notice that the contact area is very well defined and that the rest of the hold is slick as hell, you're going to find that if you want to force a move that these holds are going to be amazing, there is no way that your foot is going to stick on the outside, you're going to have to be very exact with what you do or you'll find yourself on the floor! Kinda just like the outside, a good hand hold but a crap foot hold!

Setting with the holds will make you think, we're lucky as we set a huge route with the 5 sets of holds that we got, so we mixed and matched between the Mini Jugz, the Dual Texture Crimpz, the Dual Texture Pocketz, the Screw Onz and the Crimpz. (The other holds will be reviewed in the future) But as we were reviewing the pockets we paid attention to where they were and what moves we wanted to make happen. It's pretty easy, the holds can only be grabbed in one way and most of them are at least a pad deep, there's no sharp edges on them so they're finger friendly and the texture is just right. In fact the texture is just enough so that you know you're in contact with the hold, but still have to work holding to be able to move off of them, and this for us is where they're the best. They are forgiving, but not that forgiving, if you do something silly you'll pay for it, but not in a painful injury kind of way, you'll just be sitting on the floor wondering if you can stick the move.

We've had these holds all over the wall, and no matter what you do with them they're always thought provoking, if you need to spice up you wall at home or at the gym these are going to be just the job...

RATING
NOODLES SAYS
I've had Holdz holds on my walls for a long time, it's taken a while to get them over to the Great White North that is Canada... I've had the Mini Jugz (a later review) for years and have loved them and I've had their Sloperz as well and I have to admit that I am a little bias on those holds. I've never climbed on the Dual Texture Pocketz and I was impressed, I shy away from pockets dues to a slight finger injury that I picked up a while ago, and I have found that some of the dual tex stuff I've had in the past has been a bit lacking, you could haul on the non-textured part which kind of defeated the object or you could easily use them for feet again they missed the point. Not so in this case, they're small but not too small, they have a nice texture that gives you confidence and they look awesome! I'd like to see some of these in more gyms in the US and Canada because I think the climbers will thank you.... love em, buy them... make sure you order the most off of the wall colours you can think of because they will stand out on the wall... hell buy a black light and have a neon wall :P

CHRIS SAYS
A black light, disco ball and club mix we could call it cosmo climbing:)

The only other dual text that I've climbed on (before the petro grips review that is) are the Mini disks from Globe. Unlike the Globe, Holdz has decided to give us climbers a variety of dual text holds to chose from. Fortunately for us Holdz has sent us multiple sets of holds to test. There are the swirly pockets and swirly mini jugs and screw on crimps plus these poka dotted........I'm getting carried away.......... Back to the dual text pockets. Precision, precision, precision. That's what you'll need to stick and move on these holds. Most of the holds in our set could only incorporate two fingers (two and a half at most). If you're weak with your open hand crimp these are good holds to train on. I noticed when I first picked up a hold was how dense it was. These things are heavy and you can tell by the quality that Holdz has the experience of a well seasoned craftsman. The investment that Holdz has put into its QC department has paid of with a product that is well made and feels good on the skin.

PROS

• Great for setting sequenced problems on or for teaching certain types of moves
• Good for where you need an intermediate hand hold, but a rubbish foot hold, good for routes that aren't reachy
• Mad colors - 3 colour swirls, 4 flourecent colours, 16 regular colours, spotty colours as well! (Spotty is good for colour blind people!!!)
• Each hold is traceable in case of problems
• Each hold is checked and certified
• Proper dual texture, you're not matching on these!
• Tendon friendly pockets

CONS

• Might be expensive if you're not in the UK (But well worth the expense)(Just hope they find a US distributor - fast!)M
• Not exactly for beginner climbers unless they're on vertical or very slightly overhanging terrain
  

PRICE

• Holdz is a UK company so prices are in GBP > Great British Pound
  
• Set 1 is 6 holds at 17.99 = 3 GBP per hold
• Set 2 is 6 holds at 19.99 = 3.30 GBP per hold
• Set 3 is 6 holds at 21.99 = 3.70 GBP per hold
• Set 4 is 6 holds at 29.99 = 5 GBP per hold
• The full range is 24 holds at 84.99 = 3.50 GBP per hold