[rodma]

seriously.. isnt it all the same. I bought some of the cheap stuff from rock n run but I find its all the same.. except from chalk blocks, they seem a bit greasy.

Everyones different

I had my first session last night after ditching the blowstone stuff in favour of block. They are worlds apart.

[psychomansam]

seriously.. isnt it all the same. I bought some of the cheap stuff from rock n run but I find its all the same.. except from chalk blocks, they seem a bit greasy.

I have to agree with this. I personally think all chalk is equal, and none are more equal than others! I suspect there's very little too it apart from superstition anyway, altho everyone is of course entitled to their own superstitions! 

I've had various balls, blocks and am now using rockrun bleaustone with no problems... maybe i'll do some more rigorous comparisons on our fingerboard slopes tho!

And i'm also really liking some (beal?) liquid chalk i picked up the other day. Makes a great, even base layer...

[Jaspersharpe]

I'm still unconvinced by the variations. Superchalk is in no way super in my experience. Liquid chalk is good although only in conjunction with some decent crumbly stuff. I might point out that I love chalk and really had high hopes for the advancement in anti sweat technology on my return to the sport. Monolith you have mail (or will do if I can continue to be bothered typing on this little keyboard in the dark for much longer).

[psykx]

I managed to spend an hour travelling to the bouldering wall today and managed to forget my kit ( ) after hiring shoes and later buying tape and chalk I reckon the DMM chalk I was using before is the dog nads and the much finer powder of what ever bleaustone chalk  I bought today is crap.

or at least that is my excuse for climbing rubbishy today

[Jaspersharpe]

I managed to spend an hour travelling to the bouldering wall today and managed to forget my kit ( ) after hiring shoes and later buying tape and chalk I reckon the DMM chalk I was using before is the dog nads and the much finer powder of what ever bleaustone chalk  I bought today is crap.

or at least that is my excuse for climbing rubbishy today

You have a perfectly good excuse without resorting to blaming the brand of chalk used. Should I point it out? 

[Dr T]

maybe he hired some boreals and so decided to do campus training....
 

[psykx]

actually I did do that too , although I found I'm too weak to do campus training  . Ordered a powerbar pull up thingy and a powerball when I got home 

[sjw]

We met a Cadandian bloke in Font a few years ago who swore by Franklin White Gold. He was so positive it made the difference that when he ran out (he was staying for a few months) he got some shipped over from Canada. Extreme 

[moose]

I'm a tight git but I do have a preference for loose Super Chalk, despite the price.  Maybe I'm a deluded slave to Metolius' marketing, but I'm sure that it sticks to my hands better than the competition and seems to keep them dry for longer.  The Camp block chalk feels especially talc-like in comparison: falls off instantly and I can never get a good coating on my fingers. 

The Wild Country Pure Chalk is pretty good too though; similar feel and cling to Super Chalk but without additional drying agents.  I won a year's supply which has been getting a lot of use this summer grit bouldering season (unemployment and free chalk, the nearest I'll ever come to being a sponsored hero).  As I've been ticking along better than ever, even during what passed for a heat-wave in Yorkshire, and my skin hasn't split it must be pretty good.  Hell, considering my normal form I'd be tempted to ascribe voodoo powers to the stuff.

That said, it probably is my imagination and chalk is just chalk.  Saying otherwise would be a bit hypocritical given what I found on an old thread; really sorry but I couldn't resist it.  Behold, King of the Chalks - Moon Dust:

Congratulations to Ben for managing to market chalk as Moon Dust

I hope you are not insinuating that Moon Dust is a shallow exercise in brand-name attachment!

I'll have you know that, between tackling boulders, Ben Moon has trained his mind to become one of the world's leading inorganic chemists.  Moon Dust is the result of an extensive private research programme that required Ben to plum the structure versus property relationships of every conceivable calcite; investigating the effects of hydrate coordination on the mysteries of grit friction.  If you look closely at the training videos on his website you can see the X-ray Diffraction Spectrometer he built from old car parts and a disused TB testing station, found junked behind a hospital.

The effort nearly drove Ben insane.  He is still often found looking bewildered and muttering "....magnesite.... barringtonite ... nesquehonite ....and lansfordite" on street corners.  The respiratory problems he developed whilst personally mining and purifying dolemitic minerals will blight his future.  But it was worth it: Moon Dust is truly chalk par excellence, utterly distinct from anything else on the market.

[SA Chris]

liquid chalk works amazingly for me in the cave when the air is above 60% saturation or thereabouts

Do you carry a wet and dry bulb thermometer around with you?

[richdraws]

We met a Cadandian bloke in Font a few years ago who swore by Franklin White Gold. He was so positive it made the difference that when he ran out (he was staying for a few months) he got some shipped over from Canada. Extreme 

That Canadian fella is briefly in The Players spotting Daniel Woods. He is very thin.

[ww]

is the Frank Endo block chalk available in the u.k.   seems its for sale in every gym and climbing shop in the u.s. for quite cheap.   

[ferret]

i bum super chalk, anyone who doesnt think this drys yor hands more than "normal" chalk, why do you think some people get dry cracked skin from using it?
if conditions are cool it makes less difference, any chalk that isnt powdery flour like crap is fine for me but i still tend to buy SC for the placebo.
in hot humid conditions i tend to apply liquid prior to super chalk once im ready to crush! (wish this was more often)

[slackline]

Chalk is cheap 

[Greg C]

I feel I must reply to this, as I bought all that cheap chalk for R+R on the basis that I trialled it and found it perfectly usable. I have compared it to Megagrip Block Chalk, Super Chalk, Camp Block Chalk and the Wild Country Chalk. Other than Super Chalk - which is a different product - it is, in my view, at least as good as all the the others mentioned. Perhaps you got a couple of duff bags, as I have used around 8 bags of it and not had any issues? Do you really think that there are hundreds of chalk refineries in the world, sifting, tending and distilling the stuff like fine wines? At the end of the day, 90+% of all these chalks are mass produced products, coming out of the same few factories in China. Even if you disagree with my assessment of the Bleaustone chalk, logically I don't really see how they can all be so different from one another.

PS: I would add that I haven't used the 'Fine' version, so I can't factually comment on this. However it is supposed to be the same chalk just sifted to a finer level.

[SA Chris]

Double blind testing required. Only way to know the answer.

[SA Chris]

Chalk is cheap 

Not sure if that deserves smiting or wadding, so will leave it neutral.

[Houdini]

Double blind testing required. Only way to know the answer.

Indeed

[oyyou2]

Moon Chalk all the way!! No drying agent just pure chalk.

Tried the Metolius stuff but got really deep cracks down the edge of my fingernails, Moon Dust and Climb on solved this problem!!

[rodma]

I feel I must reply to this, as I bought all that cheap chalk for R+R on the basis that I trialled it and found it perfectly usable. I have compared it to Megagrip Block Chalk, Super Chalk, Camp Block Chalk and the Wild Country Chalk. Other than Super Chalk - which is a different product - it is, in my view, at least as good as all the the others mentioned. Perhaps you got a couple of duff bags, as I have used around 8 bags of it and not had any issues? Do you really think that there are hundreds of chalk refineries in the world, sifting, tending and distilling the stuff like fine wines? At the end of the day, 90+% of all these chalks are mass produced products, coming out of the same few factories in China. Even if you disagree with my assessment of the Bleaustone chalk, logically I don't really see how they can all be so different from one another.

PS: I would add that I haven't used the 'Fine' version, so I can't factually comment on this. However it is supposed to be the same chalk just sifted to a finer level.

Maybe the stuff I got was just from a duff batch, I've given the rest of it away at the wall for free (or tried to anyway) 

[fatneck]

I bought a bag of this stuff off Ebay last month and have to say, I'm impressed! Have used it on lots of different rock types as well as indoors and it goes on well, stays on and with free delivery, is pretty cheap.

[tomtom]

I bought a bag of this stuff off Ebay last month and have to say, I'm impressed! Have used it on lots of different rock types as well as indoors and it goes on well, stays on and with free delivery, is pretty cheap.

50p cheaper than decathlog...

[DAVETHOMAS90]

I bought a bag of this stuff off Ebay last month and have to say, I'm impressed! Have used it on lots of different rock types as well as indoors and it goes on well, stays on and with free delivery, is pretty cheap.

"Psychi Loose Chalk Shot for Rock Climbing Gymnastics Bouldering Pole Dancing"

Does it help with sweaty cracks too? 

Great research there Fatneck.

+1

[fatneck]

Ha! Not so great with mine but apparently great for reducing cleavage glare under stage lights...

[Coops_13]

Three bags have just arrived, cheers for the link!