UKC

Hi,

Our house building work will soon be done and will finally give me somewhere I can put a fingerboard. The wife's agreed, as long as it's a wooden one! What should I be considering? I'm not strong so something for beginners/intermediate level would be great. I know the Beastmaker Boards are well regarded. Any others?

Cheers,

David

Lattice training have two good hangboards. One with a jug and 20mm edge which can also be used for testing. And the other also has a 10mm edge i think. And you're right both beastmakers are great. 

I've got a Dave Macleod one which is fine. It is a simple three rung design made out of a nice piece of ash which I find quite pleasing. It will probably blend in better than a beastmaker which may go some way to keeping your wife happy.

Beast maker show off some of the more aesthetic boards on their fb page. It might be worth contacting them and asking them to look out for a "good" one for you. 

Other manufacturers may do the same. 

Simple rung designs will be easier to wipe down and remove chalk if appearances are very important. 

Metolious do/did a nice looking one. Not quite as useful for training at the Beastmaker, but if looks are important then I think the Metolious looks better.

https://www.alpinetrek.co.uk/metolius-wood-grips-compact-ii-training-board/...

I have a Beastmaker 1000 and would buy the same again.  The jugs set it above the others for me.  They’re so useful for warming up and pull ups.  It’s a shame that Lattice didn’t do something similar with their latest fingerboard.

Lots of good choices though.  The main things to use it consistently.

A few thoughts. Aesthetically, the simple Lattice is definitely more attractive than the Beastmakers, however, with 10 and 20mm edges, this wouldn't suit your beginner/intermediate requirements.

The Beastmakers do seem to collect dirt in spite of regular cleaning and may offend your wife after a while. The 1000 is definitely a good beginner choice. The thing with Beastmakers, is that it is only the edge depth that is important, making the range of pockets rather pointless, i.e. if you want to hang off 2 fingers on a 30mm edge, you don't need a special 2 finger pocket, you just need to hang off 2 fingers on a 30mm edge regardless of its length.

The Metolius is plain ugly, although that's just a personal opinion.

My favourite was made for me at approx £75-80, with 10, 20 and 30mm edges. Probably the most attractive board I've seen and wipes clean, if only I could remember the wood type. Perhaps take a design to a local craftsman. The cost may surprise you. It's a fairly quick job for the suitably skilled.

Here's a link to a piccy of them on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/B7KEEHbg73r/

King Kong Climbing Walls have the Metolius runs and the Kong Strong Fingerboard 

https://www.kongrunning.com/fingerboards

The workmen might have the tools and off cuts to make one designed to your wife's liking , they could also mount it for you 

I've got a Crusher Matrix, compared to the Beastmakers at the wall, I think its more versatile.

http://crusherholds.co.uk/fingerboards

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Sadly there's a shortage of stock, presumably post-lockdown. I guess a lot of you got very ripped!

David