[dave k]

I have opted for use of liquid magnesium on my wall. Main reason is cos its cleaner and I have found myself getting weasing fits in the last few years which I think might be to do with chalk dust.

Anyone do similar? Or have any words of warning about - over use of liquid chalk. It is a cheap french variety that contains no resin, but does stink of ethanol.

[Fiend]

Only worthwhile if you drink a fair bit before the session to give it time to percolate through to your skin. Little sips every now and again, or an overdose when you're not climbing won't really do the trick...

[a dense loner]

i do exactly the same. only i tend to use it at the start of a session n thats it, while others use it a fair few times in a session

[dave]

we once saw some spanish in font who put liquid chalk on before every problem attempt!

[r-man]

I've always thought this seems like a really good idea. If liquid chalk was provided free at walls and other chalk banned (I've heard this is the case in some Spanish walls, where there is a bottle available for everyone to use) then all that horrible chalk smog would disappear. It really does bother me sometimes, and must be a nightmare for anyone with asthma.  

...I've often thought it must be extremely unhealthy - who knows what the long-term effects are... The wall owners must be affected most, but if you are a dedicated user and go 3 or 4 times a week, it can't be good. Plus I'm sure you could climb harder if you could breathe better!  

[dave]

another solution to the chalk-smog at walls would be this peice of radical new thinking - I know its totally off-the-wall but bear with me....

.
.
.
...wait for it....
....
...

....
how about.....

.
.
.adequate ventilation at indoors walls? sounds crazy i know, but it just might work.

[Taxi]

My uni wall has a really bad ventiation problem, you can't stay there too long bacause 1. they don't put the fans on so you overheat and 2. they don't but the extractor fans on so there is years of minging chalk dust in the air!
Its almost unclimbable sometimes, hence i go outdoors I think ive been twice this term...
How much will it cost them to turn on the fan???

[Jim]

the best is the so called fan at boulderuk, well at least they got a fan I hear you cry.... yeah but it only makes a noise and doesn't do much ventilating

[r-man]

the best is the so called fan at boulderuk

Yeah, the one that stops if you accidentally kick it.  Though apparently I was the first person to do that. What?! Does no-one else ever try stupid moves?

My uni wall has a really bad ventiation problem

Yeah, the wall at my old uni was terrible like that too. It was right next to the cafe, so they wouldn't turn the ventilation on in case the cafe users got chalk in their food. Climbing wasn't a high priority.  

adequate ventilation at indoors walls?

Hmmm, I bet for small walls that would actually be pretty hard. I remember someone telling me that to keep a room smoke free (as in fag smoke) you need a system that can shift something like 10 cubic metres of air per second.

Personally I would be happy with walls just supplying liquid chalk and banning normal chalk. Seems a cheap and effective way to solve what at some walls really is a major problem.

[dave]

but to be honest, would you want to climb at a wall where you could only use liquid chalk, where its actualy effectiveness, particularly in the highly sweaty environmejt of an indoor wall is a unknown quantity to say the least - i certianly wouldn't.

indoor walls don't need to be kept chalk-free, i'd settle for something taking the hot sweaty air away a bit, or just blowing in some air from outside. I mean the edge bouldering wall being totally enclosed has no windows and as far as i remember no extractor fan or owt like that, which makes it pretty unbearable when its busy, which is partly why i dont go anymore. the edge woody was good cos you could open the windows, and it had a fan. the matrix has no ventilation at all, and there is an openable window in the neighbouring corridor but they've screwed a bracket over it to stop you openeing it.

[r-man]

its actual effectiveness, particularly in the highly sweaty environmejt of an indoor wall is a unknown quantity

I have to admit I've never tried it, but I've heard from a friend who climbed in Spain that it worked fine. And if it does work fine then it seems like it would be a good solution.

Of course, if it doesn't work that well, then that's a different matter.

And as for ventilation in small rooms - I agree that it would be worth trying some simpler solutions like opening windows or installing fans, but if they don't do the trick (eg. the fans at boulder uk) then liquid chalk would surely be a good thing to try. If a room doesn't have a window, especially if it has no walls adjacent to outside space, then it would be a bit hard to stick a window in.

Seems to me that chalk needs somewhere to be expelled to - which is why the fans at boulder uk don't work; they just blow the chalk around the room.

[Jim]

no, the fans at boulder uk are just too small to be effective at all. Problem with just liquid chalk is having to wait for it to dry before ever go. I use it a couple of times a session as well as chalk on top. it creates a good base is all IMO.
Do you chalk up before every go at a problem? I do and every one I have ever climbed with indoors does

[webbo]

i chalk up even when just thinking about having a go.liquid chalk is good as a base for long problems i.e. longer than one move.
personally i would'nt use a wall that restricted my chalk use.
not that i'm addicted like.

[a dense loner]

no, but you are obsessive :wink:

[webbo]

i thought i was more like this

[bob]

using copious amounts of chalk is a requirement for some of us that when we get a couple of degrees above freezing, or our skin gets thin triggers a self preservation response of sweating buckets through our tips. i have heard of an op for peolpe that sweat excessivley in social situations and that it has been utilised by at least one climber to reduce chalking up so often :shock: anyone with knowledge of this drastic step please share. slimy by name slimy by nature

[MB]

If liquid chalk was provided free at walls and other chalk banned (I've heard this is the case in some Spanish walls

When i was in Madrid the wall i went to provided liquid chalk, dont know if they banned loose chalk cos i just used the liquid, was a very dust free zone.