[JamieG]

Does anyone else struggle with the sound of brushing holds? Especially on my board! It really sets my teeth on edge, similar to the sound of squeaking polystyrene and ice build up in the freezer. Apparently the Spanish call this ‘grima’ but we don’t have a specific name in English. Absolutely horrible. I have to psyche myself up to brush the holds on my board, sometimes it’s the crux of the problem!

[Bonjoy]

My son complains of this.

[Fiend]

No. I love it.

Is grima that much worse than grimer, though??

[Andy F]

Grima sounds like a bit of a wormtongue.

[JamieG]

I think I must be quite susceptible to it. Even thinking about the sound of brushing holds sets me on edge. So weird!

[ali k]

It’s the sound of people brushing teeth that bothers me. Particularly on TV (I think they must do it without much/any water or toothpaste so it’s a really dry brush). I’ve never had a problem with brushing holds at the wall, but weirdly thinking about it now I get the same reaction.

[stone]

One idea is that horrid noises such as fingers down a blackboard (and perhaps hold brushing?) have acoustic similarity with the sound of a human scream. At a deep, subconcious level, perhaps we are induced to avoid them.  https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1759-12.2012

I don't mind hold brushing at all. My guess is that I'm failing to hear the noxious frequencies because my hearing is bad. In general I'm pretty uptight regarding getting annoyed by eg people whistling -that pisses me off at the crag, at work, even at the supermarket -though I appreciate that is entirely unreasonable of me.

[webbo]

I don’t mind the sound of brushing holds but when I brush holds (indoors) with a Lapis brush I get a smell like burning flesh, which is

[SA Chris]

I get that burnt smell too, i think it's because it's hog hair, and we are long pigs after all.

[stone]

I get that burnt smell too, i think it's because it's hog hair, and we are long pigs after all.

I presumed that it was fully vegan and so only used hair naturally shed by palomino mustangs roaming freely across the sagebush uplands. The difficulty in gathering it accounting for the cost of the brushes.

[James Malloch]

Does anyone else struggle with the sound of brushing holds? Especially on my board! It really sets my teeth on edge, similar to the sound of squeaking polystyrene and ice build up in the freezer. Apparently the Spanish call this ‘grima’ but we don’t have a specific name in English. Absolutely horrible. I have to psyche myself up to brush the holds on my board, sometimes it’s the crux of the problem!

What material holds / type of brush do you use? Can’t say I’ve ever noticed it!

[JamieG]

My board is all wooden holds and the brush is a typical lapis style brush, so I assume horse/boar hair. Interestingly, I don't notice the effect as badly at the climbing wall on the plastic/resin holds or when I'm climbing outside. So it must be particularly the sound produced by the wooden holds that sets me off.

I also don't remember experiencing it so much when I first got my board, so I wonder if it is a bit psychosomatic. Now that I know I don't like the sound, I'm pre-emptively on edge when I start to brush.

(First world problems!)

[SA Chris]

I presumed that it was fully vegan and so only used hair naturally shed by palomino mustangs roaming freely across the sagebush uplands. The difficulty in gathering it accounting for the cost of the brushes.

I believe the finest brush hair is gathered from the wild boar that roam the forest of Fontainebleau, and only collected from ones that have died of natural causes. Apparently the inhalation of chalk and pine resin throughout their lives gives their hair an affinity that draws chalk out of holds.

[SamT]

Not me, but an old climbing partner always had long nails, and they always made a horrible sound as he crimped a small edge on the wall...

 

[RobK]

Not me, but an old climbing partner always had long nails, and they always made a horrible sound as he crimped a small edge on the wall...

 

This is me, I find if I cut my nails too short I get loads of micro cuts on the end of the nail bed. It's an excellent way of making sure you have the board to yourself...

[Fultonius]

I always get Grimer to brush my holds. All he's useful for.