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Bouldering mats for Outdoors and Shed Conversion (yeah really)

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fraidycat 14 Aug 2012
Hey everybody, newbie me here again.
I'm looking for affordable Bouldering mats to fall onto, any suggestions or advice please?
Also, I have an idea to convert our Shed into my own playroom, buy some holds etc and get climbing! I've found some holds pretty cheap on Ebay but am wondering what sort of crash mats I'll need; we're talking a maximum 6foot drop from the shed ceiling to the floor but I don't think Dojo mats will suffice, again any advice gratefully received.
 Fluvial 14 Aug 2012
In reply to fraidycat:

Old mattrass with a piece of polystyrene on top should do it. In a shed anyway
fraidycat 14 Aug 2012
Looking online I see everyone talks about adding wooden boards to the concrete wall THEN adding theholds to that wood; why can't I just screw the holds into the concrete wall?
 lazzaw 14 Aug 2012
In reply to fraidycat: If you put wooden boards held away from the wall you can pre-drill lots of holes in it, bang T-nuts into the back then bolt the holds onto the nuts. That way you can easily move holds around in a few seconds. If you screw holds direct to the wall then moving around is much more of a pain.
 Beardyman 14 Aug 2012
In reply to fraidycat: With bolt on holds (into concrete or brickwork) you would need an expansion bolt for every hold location, this would work if you only want a limited number of holds and don't plan to move them around to keep things interesting.

A plywood board is way more versatile, you can move the holds around as you get better. You can also set the board at an angle, this will provide a much better challenge especially if you have a limited area to work with. If you are a beginner a 15 to 20 degree overhang would be good.

I made a pretty good board in a garage with 3 8x4 plywood panels, they could be pushed back against the wall to allow a car to get in. The boards can be set at various angles via a hinge at the bottom and chains at the top.

My mate has a great training board set at 45 degrees in a tiny spare room.

Good luck with it.

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=7
fraidycat 20 Aug 2012
In reply to Beardyman:
Thanks buddy, I'm waiting for my brother to get back off holiday to see what he thinks as my DIY skills are non-existent hence why I was just going to screw right into the shed walls. I would like to have some sort of angled section but to be honest I'd be happy with just climbing around the shed as I want it mainly to practise/build up my grip because the local wall is not far from where I live.
 Beardyman 21 Aug 2012
In reply to fraidycat: If it is a wooden shed then that would work ok, you would be better to buy screw on holds (rather then bolt on holds) but whatever you do the screws or bolts would emerge though to the outside, this would create issues with corrosion and water coming in too.

You may still want to attach a plywood panel for strength (and to avoid issues with corrosion and water), I reckon most sheds would not be strong enough to withstand the forces generated by climbing!

Putting a plywood panel at even a slight angle would be much better then vertical for getting some training value from your wall.

Happy climbing!
fraidycat 23 Aug 2012
In reply to Beardyman:
Cheers buddy; it's a concrete shed and I was thinking of just screwing the holds directly into the wall with suitable raw plugs so's I can change the routes every now and then. It's only 7and1/2 foot by 6and1/2 foot plus I'm no good at DIY so I either go straight into the walls and ceiling or pay someone to do it with wood.
Decisions decisions...
In reply to fraidycat: two companies that have been helpful to me have stock and bespoke mats

http://www.foams4sports.co.uk/

and

http://www.jumpjump.co.uk/JJproducts.asp?RID=28
 Šljiva 23 Aug 2012
In reply to fraidycat: if u can get to London, westway climbing centre have the old foam from their bouldering wall up for grabs for nowt. have a look on their Facebook page.
fraidycat 25 Aug 2012
Cheers everyone, will keep you up to date right here on this page.

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