Bouldering Pads
Six years ago I raved about this new company called Organic Climbing and its flagship crashpad, the Full Pad. Since then, a few features on the Full Pad have been tweaked, but the main features that make it one of my favorite landing zones remain.
Revolution can be counted as one of the most impassioned, high-quality bouldering companies in today’s market. They are constantly redesigning and tweaking their products to improve the caliber and function. For this year, they’ve refaced the Mission pad, a large taco-style pad that is a direct descendant of the classic Cordless Large Crash Pad.
The Mad Pad takes the cake for pure shock absorption. With over 4.75 inches of foam, this lunker of a pad almost never bottomed out.
Besides the Triple’s budget price, the bi-fold is its most intriguing feature, letting the pad fold up into a narrow, 24-inch package.
The Magnum doesn’t have any one thing that sets it apart, but it is a solid, well-made performer with all the features you need.
As the foremost hipster of Carbondale, Colorado (population 6,000), I accept that people look to me for what’s avaunt-garde, trendy and cool. Believe me, it’s a lot of pressure.
So iLL Carcass Catcher $299Real Estate: 22 square feetThickness: 4.5 inchesWeight: 20 poundsDesign: Hinged with two padsThe Carcass Catcher hinges cle...
Voodoo Highball 5000 $369 Real Estate: 20 square feet Thickness: 5 inches Weight: 18 pounds Design: Continuous-foam taco fold The Highball 5000 is Spartan ...
If I were obsessed with pads, say, sitting upright in bed at 2:17 a.m., debating the merits of taco versus hinged folds, I'd jot down the features that, in addition to the basics of foam and straps, every bouldering pad should have. The list would go:
The Butler is an inch-thick pad that zips up like a gun case. Store all your gear in it for a day of sport climbing or bouldering, and wear it as a pack, or stuff it inside a full-sized crash pad.
If you wax nostalgic for those brimming days when the Mandala was the “hardest thing in the world,” you can count yourself as a part of that charged moment of climbing called the Bouldering Boom.