UKC

Moonboard users, I’m after any recommendations on how much space either side of a moonboard is needed to not get in the way. 

I am building one in a garage and and have 1.6m width of wall extra to play with, and can’t decide whether to centre the moon board and have 80cm of wall either side (which isn’t much for anything else on its own if say I had wooden holds on) or have none and 1.6m of other holds in one section and have the moonboard up to the edge . 

I have used one a bit but it’s got big space either side and can’t really think how far I have fallen to the side etc, or say flagging past the edges which could be stopped if up in a corner .

any thoughts appreciated, Ed

Does the first pic on this link answer your questions?

https://www.moonboard.com/Content/Information/How-to-build-a-MoonBoard.pdf

Sorry, should have mentioned I have gone through that, more just if anybody has any practical tips such as if having it in a corner makes it a bit rubbish for loads of the problems or any unforeseen knowledge with practicalities of using one .

I've used one a bit and find it great, but I can't remember how close to the edges the holds come, I never had any problems with not enough space to start. I've not been there for a few weeks though so my memory is a bit hazy.
This is the only pic I could find of the one I use, and it doesn't have any holds on it. Sorry, all very chocolate teapot

https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/30051572_266681087205766_218...

It's been a while since I've been on a moonboard, but from memory there's some pretty decent holds top left and top right, which means you get problems where you have to go for them pretty dynamically and can swing out quite a bit.

If it were me Id mount the moonboard centrally then extend it 80cm either side and put your own holds on the extensions. All the moonboard problems will still be doable and because you can arrange your own holds however you want you can do it so you avoid issues with bumping in to the walls.

Thinking about my local moonboard, I Googled:    alien bloc moonboard    in Google Images, as they have built their's in a corner and it's fine. Dunno if that's any help?

I’ve used a few Moonboards but never had to build one, nor used one in a corner but I have built a home board and I think a bit of space either side allows more flexibility, and bigger moves especially for the finish holds.

how important is it that you can climb all the moon problems?  There must be thousands, so it’s unlikely to be a big deal if there’s a few you can’t do as they take you too much into the corner, that would be one option.

If I were you however, I’d fill the space as best you can, with the Moonboard in the centre but the board extending 80cm either side (I assume you can still get to the back somehow?).  Then fill the sides, and the gaps between the Moon holds, with screw on’s to make up your own problems.

A variety of screw on holds can be made pretty easily (and it’s very satisfying) with hardwood off cuts from a joinery works and a drill/grinder.

I built a bouldering shed around the dimensions of a moonboard so it has walls either side of the board and they can get in the way quite a lot. So much so that I am planning to pull the whole thing down and build it 1.2m wider (600 each side) to allow proper, unimpeded use of the moonboard.

You'll definitely want to centre it and have space either side. A lot of the problems involve either a flag or a swing off to the side. I've used them both where there is an extension of the wall at the same angle either side and where there is no wall and just a gap. Doesn't make too much of a difference either way.

Although personally if I was building a home board it wouldn't be a Moonboard. 

As well as the problems with swings, having the board n a corner will make a lot of the start moves incredibly cramped. Climb Newcastle have this problem because of their raised matting. Some problems become almost impossible.

That said, there's plenty of alternative problems.

do you think 60cm each side will be sufficient?  cheers

what would you have instead. i thought of just a woody but like the database with thousands of problems to choose from.

Build a woody using beastmaker or hard wood hold and then install the Led system from digitaltrainingboards.com. Use small screw on feet instead of tracking, you will soon have 100+training problems to have a go at.......

Maybe, maybe not, but it's a convenient size to extend an outbuilding by (standard sheet material size) and I can't really justify making it too much larger! It will certainly be considerably better than it is currently.

definitely have space either side. There are so many problems that end with a big swing or with moves that force you to flag off the edge of the board so better to have wall space either side to climb comfortably.

I'd go with a homemade woody with decent beastmaker and hardwood holds. The Moonboard concept is great and I enjoy using it. However, for what it's worth, I'm not overly enamoured with the new setup and for regular use it's not exactly skin friendly. The plastic holds are pretty rough (although you could file them down) and the wooden holds seem a bit cheap/poor quality in comparison to others.

Have you climbed on the moonboard much Ed? I don’t really like the holds. The resin ones are hard on the skin so limit length of sessions and there’s a lot of weird shapes that are just awkward to climb on so tend to get ignored. The new wooden ones are more rounded pinches than crimps so don’t feel that applicable. If I were you I’d invest a bit of time climbing on a few different woodies and see which you prefer and go with that. The database of problems to maintain variety is useful but the holds would put me off too much to have that as my home board. But I’m sure others would disagree. Hope you find a good solution.

We built one and you need space. The board is quite dynamic, lots of moves involve holding a swing. I would defo centre it. It would be better if it’s not up against a wall either. Ours is, and there are a few problems where you want your foot floating free not pushing off the wall. We build the whole thing defo was not going to buy it all pre assembled.  We did not get the rough hold comments, did not think they were too bad. The grading is hard as feet track hands. Fair bit of space required behind. I’d have to measure how much space we have either side.

yeh skin wear was my main concern with it. I would actually get the white black and yellow holds as i don't like the wooden ones or the reds. I think the little yellow crimps seem quite good on skin, but I've only managed to climb on them before a little bit as Ive always had finger injuries preventing me from crimping on a board that angle. Think If i get this set up i will put my own woody holds dotted about to. 

Just worried with a pure woody that I will lose imagination to come up with loads of good problems at the standard. Quite like the database if you say need a load of 7b's or something you can just get them straight up. I will have a bit of space ( thinking maybe 1m) on the end with just woody holds for stuff like this. so can still make my own stuff.

Thanks everyone. Some really helpful responses. Current thinking is I will put 60 cm one side and then have a metre of board the other end. 

Cheers

We have our moonboard in our house, in what was a sitting room now a climbing gym. When constructing the board I had a dilemma because the best way to fit it into the room put it quite close to the wood stove which is about 2ft to the left of a line parallel to the left edge of the board and about 5ft back from the base of the board. Basically below and out left of the central left part of the board.

Not ideal, you obviously wouldn't want to fall and swing leftward and drop onto the stove. But after 6 years of regular use we're pretty confident about it and it seems a none issue. Working the sides doesn't seem to present any significant risk of dropping out at an angle.

The only modifications I made as some precaution was to add a few footholds off on the wall to the left that could be pushed off of, and several Metoliuos outside corner holds along the edge of the board that can be used to steady a sequence going sideways. 

To be honest for me this sounds like an ideal place to put some more positive holds for downclimbing on meaning you can also use it for laps/circuits where all the hard climbing goes upwards - proper good! 

Also a line of big rungs for campusing or pinches if you're a beast. Generally extra bigger holds to expand the useability.