UKC

hi everyone im new to these forums, i was wondering if anyone had any experience with the phud bouldering mats?

is there a general consensus on which mats are good?

cheers

In reply to franksnb:

Excellent thick pad which uses great foam for the price.

In reply to franksnb:
I've got a Phud and its a really good pad, some people complain it feels a bit hard but they would probably complain a lot more if they fell off a highball onto a nice soft pad and injured themselves.

In reply to franksnb:

Been using my Phud for a couple of months and no complaints. Saved my ass a few times with some spectacular topping out falls. He is one of my mates is Phud.

(he gets a bit annoyed when it rains too much tho and I have to shut him in his room)

In reply to franksnb:
The phud is good and well worth the money but it is not great foam its quite soft compared to other mats. I just bought a moon pad and a phud and the moon foam is much much better. I wouldnt fancy fallin along way onto a phud but it is excellnt as a second pad or for lowish bouldering. If you can only afford a phud them its ok but if you can stretch to a more expensive mat a moon mat is worth its weight in gold. http://www.moonclimbing.com/Products.aspx?ID=11

In reply to krank:

hmm im tempted by the sheer area of the saturn pad, but i could get two phuds for the money?!

In reply to franksnb:
i bought a phud as i was skint and was wanting a pad. You get what you'd expect.. nothing fancy, but it works. i've taken a few big falls onto it and i've walked away fine. the only problem is the cover isn't the most durable.. however, they are relatively cheap to replace (as is the foam).

ben

In reply to franksnb:
Thats the one to get mate. I do alot of bouldering on my own and i am much more confident when i know i have got a large area of good foam under me. And you are getting pretty much 2 phuds, the saturn is massive and quite alot thicker than a phud.

In reply to franksnb:

Just so we are talking about the same dimensions
Saturn measures 160 x 120 x 11 cm and the phud is 130 x 100 x 10cm so not quite twice as thick.


Nick

In reply to franksnb:
I have the Phud and a Woomf and they are both excellent pads, personally I think the foam is superb when comparing it to more expensive pads and the sheer landing site size I have with two of these is huge.At £120 for two of them its a no brainer for me..

In reply to Alpnick:
No one said it was twice as thick.
There is no way anyone can say the foam in the phud is even close to the saturn, have you jumped on a moon mat?
I like my phud but it is very soft in comparison to my staurn, thats why its so cheap.
You get what you pay for in bouldering mats.

How heavy are both woomf and phud - about the same as other ones that are the same size?

I'm trying to figure out the having to carry it to the crag vs wanting something big and thick to fall onto!

In reply to deepbluesea:
As long as your not a 5 year old kid i think you will manage to carry the pad about. Its made of FOAM not bricks. Big and thick is the only pad to buy, if you buy a rubbish one you will end up buying a good one a few months later.

In reply to krank: I'm pretty sure that if he buys a phud or a woomf he will not be rushing out to buy another one later. I go out regularly with mates who have a range of mats, and my phud is always the one that gets pushed under the crux.

In reply to franksnb: I bouldering last night and we had 1 phud and 1 beal pad. I have to say the beal was noticably better to fall from any height onto. The Beal pad is newer, but I have a beal pad that is older and its still firmer than the Phud. When my mate first got the Phud I was very impressed for the money, but it definitely isn't as firm as the Beals. I haven't used anyother pads for years so I can't compare, and they are definitely OK - but there are better (although more expensive of course).

In reply to fish08:
What pads do your mates have?. I agree the phud is good for the price but if your doin hard things high up the phud foam doesnt cut it. It is a good pad, i have one and have used it but there are much better ones with beeter build quality, everyone i have met who has one has lost a handle or strap.

In reply to krank: Moon pads, Metolious, etc. Haven't run into a Beal yet so can't really comment on those.

A part of me thinks they like to use my pad to save their own from heavy use but still, everyone likes the big landing area and no-one has ever got hurt when using it.

I'm not blinkered enough to believe that there are not better pads, but for maybe twice the price, the difference is so marginal that I could never justify the price personally. I wouldn't swap my phud if one of my mates offered a straight swap.

Oh, and you can't exactly blame the mat for them losing the strap.

In reply to everyone:

We are getting a little paranoid here at Alpkit we have slowly been improving the foam and but still get comments about the foam.

At the moment we use
Layer 1 20mm KFR45PE Cross-Linked Closed Cell Foam. 45kg/m3 (approx)
Layer 2 80mm 80mm KFR22PU (High Load Bearing) Open Cell Foam. 22kg/m3

This isnt cheap foam and there other pad suppliers based in the uk who use the same supplier.

If we upgrade the top foam to 20mm PE20 Closed Cell Foam (continuous) then this willl bring it in line with any other mat on the market yet we worry that a lot of beginners to bouldering will find it too firm.

So should we offer a PRO-FOAM option in order to satisfy those who want a harder mat, also those you who think the foam is to soft is this with V3 PHUD with metal buckles as the foam is be better than earlier versions. We have also sent out mats than have the skin left on the foam which is both firmer and more durable. Has any one noticed this?

The phud was always about the foam, this is where we have put all our money, but would people want to pay a few quid extra for the stiffer foam option.

The woomf uses the PE20 foam any views on this foam?

In reply to Alpnick: I wouldn't get too worried just yet Nick.

In saying that though, options are always good. I'm sure the choice of an extra firm foam would appeal to certain users. Wouldn't consider changing all your mats to such an option though.

Sometimes I fear you will always fall foul of the rather lazy "you get what you pay for" arguments. I may be wrong but some people just like the idea of falling onto a more expensive mat. In much the same way as they might enjoy falling into a vat of banknotes.

Not to say you shouldn't always seek to improve your product of course.. but you know that anyway

In reply to Alpnick:
Dont get me wrong i think that the phud and all alpkit products are fantastic and it is my faverite site for buying properly priced goods. I bouldered with an XXL metolius mat which no where near the quality of the mats you supply and it did me fine for a year. At less than half the price off my moon mat the phud (with metal clips but no back pack straps dont know what version it is) is only slightly lower in quality and is certainly not half the quality. I only recomend the moon one as its big and from 5/6 meters up i like that extra bit of firmness. If i didnt do highball boulders on my own i would be very happy with a phud. If you need a tester for a new firm mat let me know .

In reply to fish08:
i would love to fall into a vat of bank notes.

In reply to krank:

LOL! I know they're not heavy but i'm only little and when the winds blowing hard i tend to get pushed over...

Anyway, went ahead and have ordered the phud, bigger is definitely better for falling onto.

In reply to deepbluesea:
Bigger the better. Hope you have some good falls, hang on thats not very nice is it. I hope you never have to land on you mat, thats a bit more pleasant.