UKC

suggestions on which pad to go for out of these two please, they're currently the same price, though the BD is reduced. The alpkit one has a larger area though so are you normally paying for the label with BD?

In reply to jamface: I've had a Phud and i've just ordered the impact(great price eh?)
Have to say, alpkit are good, but just dont seem to last as long as other 'named' pads. I found the staps went pretty quickly. I think you pay for what you get, even if you probably pay a little bit more for a name. But at £75 for the impact, you really can't go wrong.

In reply to Thom:

I have one since january 2009 and thought the exact opposite, they last much longer than similarly priced pads.

But I'm mainly thinking about the foam, since i mostly boulder in font, which tends to be really forgiving on the shell compared to alpine granite areas, for instance...

imho, if you are planning to mostly use the pad in locations having mostly flat landings, no protruding rocks, no thick vegetation or chaos-like settings, get alpkit wiwthout any hesitation...

In reply to jamface:

I personally wouldn't go for a BD pad, most of their gear is brilliant but I think they let themselves down with their crash pads. The phud is a pretty good mat, ideal for now and then use but I'd be tempted to invest in something like the moon warrior, dmm highball, pod super mat if you're anticipating more regular use. I've had a phud for about 2 years and it has just about become too soft to use on it's own. Haven't used an impact but they are considerably smaller, I wouldn't fancy looking down from 20ft and seeing just that at the bottom!

In reply to jamface:

I have a Phud and borrow a mates BD pad when we head out bouldering. The BD is the pad i'd choose, the foam lasts a hell of a lot longer and you can easily fit more inside it whilst walking in!! My foam in the Alpkit pad it pretty farked now, i've just ordered some more stuff after having it just over a year.... It is used a lot for highball stuff on grit in winter though when landing are poor and falls tend to be bigger than normal bouldering.

In reply to Ollie Wragg:

>"The BD is the pad i'd choose, the foam lasts a hell of a lot longer"

That is my experience also having had a Phud and now have BD. Though I'm not sure I'd buy a small BD...

In reply to lukehodson:


I would fully agree with that sentiment. Why BD bought Franklin and proceeded to ruin the design and build quality ethos Franklin had built up is beyond me.

In reply to jamface:
I would buy the BD as the foam will last longer.

Have you looked the the Pluto by Moon also a very good mat but it smaller then the BD at 100cm x 90cm.

So on second thought buy the BD.

In reply: We have been doing a lot of research about this as there seems to be a lot of anecdotal evidence about what is good and bad foam. To my knowledge we are the only pad supplier to quote the density of foam that we use, and plans for the future have meant us doing a fair amount of research on the subject, much of which we hope to publish.

There are pad manufactures that seem to stay firmer for longer but these seem to be more to do with densities and thicknesses of both the closed and open cell foam, rather than us using poor quality foam.

Foam is the expensive bit so you really have to think about the volume of foam you get, we call this the perfoamance rating. http://www.alpkit.com/bouldering , check out the table at the bottom.

At £75 the BD impact looks like a bargin.

Cheers

Nick