UKC

Am looking into buying my first pad...and have narrowed it down to these choices..anyone with a preference? (any other suggestions welcomed )

I quite like the firmer pads I've tried and hate the soft ones (recently tried a moon one...so soft i could feel the stones underneath from just walking on it (maybe a very old one though))

In reply to phja: DMM Highball. It's a beast.


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In reply to phja:
not alpkit

In reply to phja:

DMM is a better mat but £ for performance the Alpkit wins....

I'm not flush with money and boulder occassionly so I go for the Alpkit, if I had more money and bouldered more often I'd probably go for the DMM

In reply to idiotproof (Buxton MC):
I agree, casual boulderer - cant go wrong with Alpkit. For higher stuff/more frequent bouldering pay the extra £

In reply to phja:

For a first mat, I'd say the best choice is without doubt the Phud. For a second one however, there are more options.

In reply to phja: I just bought my first mat, but was really lucky, I managed to get a new DMM Highball off e-bay for £60 Only used it once so far at the RAC boulders but I found it to be superb. It's quite firm and you can jump/fall from quite high and can't feel a thing. I also like the fact that it comes with a mat to wipe you shoes on.

In reply to phja: Got to be the phud. for the same price as the DMM you could buy a phud and 2 sets of replacement foam, and im pretty sure the foam in the DMM wont last 3 times as long as the alpkit foam.

In reply to phja:
Hi,I own a Dmm Highball and a Phud.
Highball all the way.
In defence of Alpkit, I bought one of the very early ones so they may have improved.
G

In reply to phja: I've got both, my first was the mighty phud. I found it reliable and trustworthy, like a wise Border Collie named Mungo who can read your mood, offer you sympathy at the end of a long day. Sadly when poor Mungo passed away I got a brand new puppy - a DMM highball, bit like a Golden Retriver named Archibold - Elegant, good looking, wise and boy can it do some tricks! I'm sure that has helped clarify things for you

In reply to bluerockman: like it!

in reply to Krank:


Hi Krank

I guess you dont like our mats, we are looking in to a few alterations to our designs so it would be really good to get the bottom of where we are falling short. I guess in this instance it's only worth talking about our current model as we have already tweaked the design over several years.

Splitting the design apart we have the Shell materials, the foam and the general standard of construction.

Shell - Nylon Upper Fabric: 1000D Kordura
Base Fabric: 1680PU Ballistic Nylon

OK I have to admit these are not 100% Dupont / Invista fabrics but these are really very good, certainly a match for most of the other fabrics used in other mats.

Foam - As far as i'm aware we are the only people who publish the quality and density of the foam we use.

Foam 1: 20mm KFR45PE Cross-Linked Closed Cell Foam. 45kg/m3 (approx)
Foam 2: 80mm KFR22PU (High Load Bearing) Open Cell Foam. 22kg/m3 (approx)

We think this works, but it would be good to know what else works and why.

Construction
Of the new design which we have had around 2 years, we haven't had any returned mats due to sub standard construction, and maybe one or two with cosmetic issues. With 1000s of mats being sold in that time, I'm very happy that construction quality is the equal of any mat on the market.

Just to reiterate I'm really keen to know exactly what we can improve, as this is the only we are going to improve.

Cheers

Nick

In reply to phja: Ive had two Phud's (one parted company from my roofrack and disappeared (down a motorway embankment)! Bought another one right away as Id had no problems with my already 4 yr old mat and I found the newer design is even better. I have used a few different mats(friends DMM, Moon, BD etc) and the Phud definitely outperforms its asking price......

In reply to Alpnick: Bought phud recently, not used it an anger yet but seems a solid and well made, certainly well priced. I have noticed that carrying handles seem a little short making akward to carry, minor gripe but could be easily fixed..Sure I heard this comment a while back?