[mook456]

Hi all, as the title says I'm looking to buy my first bouldering pad and wondered what the recommended minimum size people use for bouldering alone. If I can get away with it I'd prefer not to spend a fortune as will only be using occasionally as I mainly trad climb. Just don't wanna get something too small for when alone with only one pad.
Cheers

[bigtuboflard]

I would avoid trying to get away with something too small or cheap to be honest. I started with an S7 pad which was great but in hindsight was way too small and the foam wasn't very thick so at best it gave you something to aim for and not hurt as much when landing. I now have a couple of Metolious pads (Session and Bailout) and am very happy with them (size is 122 x 91 x 10 cm open).

Pads are quite subjective in peoples preferences and I doubt there are any really bad ones out there; people will probably recommend you their personal preference.

Having said that, if you want a great value pad, I would look at the alpkit ones https://www.alpkit.com/bouldering-mats. I've never tried one personally but I've used a lot of their other kit and its good quality stuff, so sure their pads are up to it too.

[tomtom]

As a min size I would say 100 by 100 by 9 cm. Most are in the 120 by 100cm size which is a little better IMHO.. I've gone for a min of 9cm thick as thinner than that and I suspect its not much use.. most are 10-12cm thick...

[Fadanoid]

You could always go mid sized and get a couple of the small 'bump start mats' to go inside the bigger mat?

My current lone wolf set up is a moon saturn and a snap (pizza i think its called?). Its ideal of traverses as you can have one at the start, one at the crux.

I recently picked up the quite small metolius sketch on ebay very cheap. I would keep an eye on there as you get a few mats come up quite frequently.

[erm, sam]

As long as you get a "normal sized one" eg a Moon Pluto or Warrior or DMM Highball you will be fine. Getting an additional small pad like the Moon Bump or DMM Bit makes a big difference. You can use the main pad to cover the worst imapct zone and the smaller pad to start, keep clean boots and guard against a foot firing onto a half buried rock when slipping of a start hold or what have you.

[slackline]

Getting an additional small pad like the Moon Bump or DMM Bit makes a big difference. You can use the main pad to cover the worst imapct zone and the smaller pad to start, keep clean boots and guard against a foot firing onto a half buried rock when slipping of a start hold or what have you.

I thought they were just for keeping your Patagucci threads clean on the sit-starts. 

[tommytwotone]

As long as you get a "normal sized one" eg a Moon Pluto or Warrior or DMM Highball you will be fine. Getting an additional small pad like the Moon Bump or DMM Bit makes a big difference. You can use the main pad to cover the worst imapct zone and the smaller pad to start, keep clean boots and guard against a foot firing onto a half buried rock when slipping of a start hold or what have you.

Interesting this thread has started, was going to ask something along the same lines.


I'm off to Loch Lomond en famille in August and am hoping to sneak a session or two at Dumbarton in. As we'll have all our baby clobber there's no way I'll fit my Ocun Dominator pad in (well, not without turfing Una out and I doubt that will be very popular).


Was considering buying one of the "takeoff pad" things to use as it'll be better than no pad at all.


So my questions are a) are any of them better / preferable? and b) bearing in mind I'll be at Dumbarton is it a total waste of time anyway - is there stuff climbable up to, say, Font 7a that will be safe on my own with only a takeoff pad?

[tomtom]

A few years back I bought a snap calzone (1m by 1m) as a main pad - and whilst its v good, its a little small.. (fits in the boot easy so is good for when theres not much room - e.g. 3T's issue..) But a year or two later I bought a larger pad and the calzone now doubles up as my additional smaller pad. It also fits inside many other pads too...

As Fadanoid and ErmSam suggested I also have a Snap Pizza (like a stiff  padded doormat) and this lives inside one of my larger pads.. Its small and good enough to cover over that 'extra pokey out rock' that you want covering as well - additionally its great as a starting pad for traverses etc...

If its your first/only mat I would make sure its not too thin or soft.. last thing you want is to bottom out on it...

My present set up is:

For regular use/nothing too large:
Ocun Paddy Dominator - with Snap Pizza (Dominator good for high stuff/rocky ground - smaller pad useful as above)

For larger padding areas (not necessarily highball performance)
Large POD mat with Snap Calzone fitted inside it... (great for longer traverses - though the POD mat is a little thin)

I also have an old Snap Bun (with newer foam) that gets added to either of these two if its a solo highball/hard to pad problem - if I can be arsed to carry it along with me!

[psychomansam]

For a week in Font the minimum is a doormat. Thousands of low balls with flat sandy landings.
For an afternoon at Porth Ysgo, above jagged rocks, the minimum is something quite large.

So where are you hoping to boulder?

Bouldering alone is the main reason I now have the giant trangoworld and two backup pads.

I would happily take one of these to Font: http://www.podsacs.com/i/q/CCPODCP/pod-crash-pad but would use it as a second pad in most of the UK. It would be passable at burbage south boulders

Realistically most people start off with something about 130*100*12 these days and then either combine with mates or buy more pads, or both, when necessary. This is probably the most sensible starting point. Gooutdoors has two options for under a hundred in this size. Though they could be shit. Don't know. You do tend to get what you pay for. Good foam is not cheap.

[SA Chris]

I'm off to Loch Lomond en famille in August and am hoping to sneak a session or two at Dumbarton in. As we'll have all our baby clobber there's no way I'll fit my Ocun Dominator pad in (well, not without turfing Una out and I doubt that will be very popular).


Was considering buying one of the "takeoff pad" things to use as it'll be better than no pad at all.


So my questions are a) are any of them better / preferable? and b) bearing in mind I'll be at Dumbarton is it a total waste of time anyway - is there stuff climbable up to, say, Font 7a that will be safe on my own with only a takeoff pad?

There's a fair bit of stuff at Dumby up to 7a you can do with a smallish pad, but it's not great, tends to be very polished (the rock is pretty glassy before you start polishing it!) the landings are usually flat slightly rocky ground, so you can get away with it. It's a bit of a detour to get to though, and not the most family friendly spot. Some good stuff to do around Trossachs area though.

http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=885

Apologies for highjack, this should really be a seperate thread.

[psychomansam]

As long as you get a "normal sized one" eg a Moon Pluto or Warrior or DMM Highball you will be fine. Getting an additional small pad like the Moon Bump or DMM Bit makes a big difference. You can use the main pad to cover the worst imapct zone and the smaller pad to start, keep clean boots and guard against a foot firing onto a half buried rock when slipping of a start hold or what have you.

Interesting this thread has started, was going to ask something along the same lines.


I'm off to Loch Lomond en famille in August and am hoping to sneak a session or two at Dumbarton in. As we'll have all our baby clobber there's no way I'll fit my Ocun Dominator pad in (well, not without turfing Una out and I doubt that will be very popular).


Was considering buying one of the "takeoff pad" things to use as it'll be better than no pad at all.


So my questions are a) are any of them better / preferable? and b) bearing in mind I'll be at Dumbarton is it a total waste of time anyway - is there stuff climbable up to, say, Font 7a that will be safe on my own with only a takeoff pad?

In your position I would be tempted by the 1m² alpkit phud (£65) or the podsacs above. Don't cost a lot more than most takeoff pads

[Fiend]

There's absolutely loads at Dumby to do below 7a, including a lot of the classics: Pendulumn, Friar's Mantle, Zig Zag, Hard Cheddar, Blue Meanie, 2HB, Supinator, Railing, Mestizo, Home Rule, Toto, Gorilla, Good Nicks etc etc.

There's a bit less to do at those grades with only a very small pad: Friar's Mantle, Home Rule, Hard Cheddar....ummmm.....

BUT there's always loads of people and loads of spare pads there, and a lot of the harder problems are next to the easier ones so it's easy to share too. I guarantee you will be fine.

Alternatively there is some great stuff around the Trossachs (Loch Katrine, Loch Sloy, Stronlachar, St Bride's Wall, Achray Wall) - BUT there's much less choice at each venue and very unlikely you'll meet anyone there if you need more pads.

    

To the OP: Get two smaller (small pod / small moon size) pads if possible. Gives you the option of only taking one if that's all you need, and two smaller pads are much better for sorting out funky / rocky / slopey landings if you need to.

[Johnny Brown]

To the OP: Get two smaller (small pod / small moon size) pads if possible

What Fiend said. I've never owned a bigger pad than a POD small and never wanted one. Doies the job 90% of the time, if not take two or get some mates, or cadge at the crag.

[Paul B]

To the OP: Get two smaller (small pod / small moon size) pads if possible

What Fiend said. I've never owned a bigger pad than a POD small and never wanted one. Doies the job 90% of the time, if not take two or get some mates, or cadge at the crag.

Another + 1 on this.

I have a Moon Saturn and often (especially on windy days) find myself wishing I had two smaller-options instead.

[Sasquatch]

wind can be tricky, but I've gone down the road of the bigger the better regardless.  My standard setup is a 48"x60"x5", so 120x160x12cm? and a little bum start pad to go with it.  I also climb in big talus areas , so more pads is the norm.  I've done 4 stacked on my back before

[Paul B]

I don't think you'll ever beat a friend who will remain nameless. He became more than a little bit obsessed with Renegade Master and the amount of pads he'd attempt to carry in was hilarious, especially when for instance, it was snowy/icy.

I find the Saturn to be a bit of a PITA when I can't get it to lay flat beneath a problem (due to other boulders, eroded ground etc.) and thus I'd still opt for two smaller ones if I had the choice.

[psychomansam]

My trangoworld is 140/110/18(!) Add a metolius bailout, and a shite old red chili and you can do quite a lot happily. Maybe it's because I'm a big fucker, but little pads have always disappointed me.

[tomtom]

I think we might be getting things a little confusing here... (well in my brain it is anyway...)

I would describe a small pad as one like the small pod ones (ie less than 1m max dimension), Large pad c.1.3/1.4m by 1m (ish) (Snap Bun, large pod pad etc..) and HUGE pad as something greater than 1.5/1.6m in its max dimension...

Given the above, I would agree that two large is better than one HUGE, but I dont think that two small is better than one large...  too many joins/gaps etc... Also the small ones tend to be thinner...

Anyway - its often down to the problem/location (as Psychosam pointed out) and preference (including what you want to lug in etc..). Often I'd rather just lug in a single pad and miss out on some problems needing more pads - than lug in loads. Though if I'm working something needing more pads that goes out of the window

[mook456]

Hi thanks for all the replies! Seems there are quite a few different views out there! I think I may go for something like the dmm highball although I think that's only maybe 25 cm wider than the likes of the alpkit phud but double the cost? I'll be using it in Northumberland like Kyloe and Shaftoe but also for tricky trad starts for those who asked

[mrjonathanr]

I think highball would be 1st choice but not smaller. V robust so you can hook a smaller mat on with ease. When you take a whipper you'll appreciate what it is you paid for.