UKC

Climbing walls with garbage hand dryers in the bathrooms. Like having your hands blown upon by an asthmatic vole.

Floor is always covered in water from people shaking off instead of using them, you end up with chalk dust paste when you go back to climb and worst of all, I'm pretty sure some people just don't bother washing their hands as a result - which has all of the associated grimness you'd imagine.

You spent £4500 on a hipster coffee machine, how hard is it just to fit one of those dyson wizards?

The Dyson ones are crap, particularly the sort you have to put your hands inside while trying not to touch it to spread stuff.

The best ones were the old ones that blew properly heated air.

I’ve been waiting for this rant for nearly 24 hours

Hand dryers, cut out the middle man, remove them and replace with a sign instructing "now wipe your hands on your trousers" 

Its quicker and more effective anyway.

....Or under armpits!

Aren't they a haven for bacteria, which then get blown all over you? I don't know the facts but it seems likely and that was my rationale for not using them and so, I suspect, getting a reputation at work for not washing my hands when no-one heard the blast of air as I came out of the toilets. I used my trousers.

Strangely , I am certain that a famous wall in Sheffield has driers that are so loud that they must contravene some health and safety law.

it is painful to my ears to dry my hands.

The Unit in Derby has phenomenal hand driers!

Back on topic, they have painted panels that mean that my colour blind mate struggles to identify the holds. Doesn't stop him burning me off though.

I don't see why the old properly-hot ones would be.  The "hands inside" Dyson ones absolutely were, with manky water stuck in the bottom and blown around.

People who don't take their shoes off to go to the loo in walls. Never understood why this isn't insisted on. Yeah just go paddle around on the pissy floor and come back and smear it all over the holds. How's that better than not washing hands?

Have you tried not pissing on the floor?

The best hand dryer always was and always will be your trouser legs. No point even bothering with one of those machines 

When my children were little, if we had to visit a public loo, after washing hands I always told them wipe their hands on mummy's jeans.

Sadly I know more than I want to about hand dryers. The claim from Dyson about their dryers being hygienic is because they pump the air through a HEPA filter, but then they don't mention the manky overspray that goes all over the dryer, and the walls and floor

Have you ever been in a public loo? Usually a nice lagoon around the bottom of a urinal to puddle jump in at the very least. I mean I consider my self pretty considerate and all but there's not a man on earth that hasn't been surprised by a wayward angle of exit once in a while and that's not even taking into account the people that don't care, the unseen splashback or less than well sealed plumbing. Shoes off and one of those footbaths like you used to have at swimming pools on the way out I reckon. 

Toilet crocs like an alpine hut. 

Well wild swimming is popular nowadays...

I can see both sides of this argument. Yes, walking out with pissy shoes is grim, (although I reckon if you went looking you'd find more piss on the mats than the holds, and grosser things than piss on the holds). But also I can sympathise with people not wanting to add to the bouquet of their shoes by ploshing through piss barefoot then pulling them back on. Also pretty grim.

Luckily not a dilemma I've had to face because the walls I frequent seem to have a sufficient mopping and/or toilet training regime. Hard to tell which but it's a nice thing not to have to worry about.

What are you talking about? Why would you possibly be barefoot? Go to your bag, put your outdoor shoes back on, and go for a piss. You didn't come to the wall wearing your climbing shoes.

That's turning a quick piss into an expedition at some walls!

Yeah, lockers and bogs are opposite ends of the building. That's why that hadn't crossed my mind.
Also I don't think I've ever needed to go mid-session.

Why would you not be? Much easier not to be precious and/or squeamish and save the bother of hauling round extra shoes. The pissy chalk paste will have dried off by the time you're back at your ropes

No, I get my butler to carry me over such detritus.

It was a joke I'm fully with you, climbing shoes should not be worn in (male) toilets.

Paging punter watch

<combs beard , massages beard oil in , rolls checked shirt up to revel large falling feather tat , positions cap jauntily >

had a look st the pressure specs on that . Could you explain  just how the f£@k am I suppose to turn this handroasted Rwandan single estate small batch into a ristretto on one of those ? Fool .

The best hand dryer is the one having the most fun. 

Isn't that why the mats are usually carpeted, to wipe your shoes or feet on before climbing? Luckily the places I climb usually have dry floors.

Can't we just use paper towels? Personally I hate the loudness of the super fast hand dryers. I feel like I need ear protection.

On a similar changing room based theme, rubbish showers.  A certain London climbing wall replaced the, admittedly also rubbish, old ones a few years ago with 'eco' showers.  Now I'm all for reducing our impact on the planet, and presumably the wall's costs, but as far as I can tell these ones took whatever reduced water pressure they were provided and turned it into a fine mist which by the time it made it to shoulder height had pretty much evaporated.  Add in some 'home-made' eco soap which basically didn't wash off and you had to spend more than twice the time in the shower than before, which seemed to defeat the point.

There was a notice up in the male changing room for a while "We didn't make all this effort to install rubbish showers".  A few months and no changes later it was removed.

I don't know why, but this clip from The Young Ones comes to mind.

youtube.com/watch?v=FfxQvA8bW5c&

Maybe you need to curb your imagination and was your hands after climbing.

Just think of all those nasty bugs that infest your shoes whilst climbing outdoors

People always make this moronic comparison. I don't wear my climbing shoes walking up the path to the crag and purposefully step on dog shit at every step. I take my outdoor shoes off, sit on a rock, clean the toes of my shoes on a beer mat towel then start climbing. Unless you've suddenly met some labradors that can climb E4 (lol, as if I climb E4), I'm equally pretty sure I'm not standing in dog shit half way up a route.

Why the obsession with dog shit?

There an awful lot of less visible sources of microbes in the outdoors and some of them will be found on the craft itself.

Keep it simple, look after your own hands hygiene and you will be fine indoors or outdoors.

No no no your tee shirt is more absorbent than your trousers...