[danielb]

Ok I'm thinking about getting a bouldering mat, I'm after something thats robust and has rucksack like shoulder straps. I've been told the Franklin Drop Zone is very good any others I should have a look at?

Cheerz

[dave]

The main bouldering Matt i can name is Matt Birch. (not funny now he's corrected his spelling)

Seriously though, get a pod mat, they are the best made and longest lasting.

[danielb]

Ah thanks for pointing out the spelling error...

[John M]

Red Chilli Mat

Red Chilli Mat

Red Chilli Mat

Red Chilli Mat

Red Chilli Mat

Red Chilli Mat

£90 if your a BMC member after your 10% and it's great

John M

[dom]

The franklin Drop Zone is a good mat.  Slightly bigger and a bit thicker than most others its price. Taco shape mats are handy for stuffing your backpack or whatever inside so you dont have to carry it around aswell.  But if i could afford it and if it could fit in my car i probably would have bought the XXL metolious one.

[dave]

I thought Red Chilli mats were toss? At least the ones I've seen had foam so soft it would make most down jackets feel like concrete. As far as mats go you get what you pay for.

[Bubba]

Franklin pads are good but take up a lot of boot-space.

I agree with Dave - all the Red Chilli pads I've seen have been far too soft to even consider. They may have changed now.

[Norton Sharley]

Thirded, Chilli pads are shite.

[Norton Sharley]

Maybe that now Matt Birch is a matt that's why he's in the States - he needs their huge trucks to get his shoulders in the boot (trunk).

How stupid are septics, everyone knows the trunk is at the front of an elephant  :wink:

[fatboySlimfast]

Yeah and we havent even started on 'fanny packs' yet :wink:
now that i really would like to see on a pod rucksack

[John M]

Maybe I got lucky , Most of you are slagging of Red Chili. Mines 2 months old so it must be the latest model and I think it's as good as anything else that i've seen in the shops recently.
They must have changed the designs from when you've last looked.
John M

[dave]

Having had a thought about this topic for a while, i recon one of the key points you want to consider when buying a mat is how do you usually get to the crag? If you often go out on the bus or walking it, you're going to want a compact mat like a small Moon, Pod or Snap. If you go in a car on your own you might want to consider a franklyn, morphix or a big metolius xxl. But bear in mind that if/when you and 3 mates all need to cram into a small car with 3 or 4 mats to go to wales/font/wherever its going to be nigh on useless to own a massive pad - again you want a smaller pad, with dimensions that'll fit in most cars, i.e. a small pod, S7/moon.

So decide what size you want first, then go round the shops and get the one with the firmest foam and you can't go wrong!

[danielb]

Thanks for the tips dave, I usually walk to the crag nearest to me or drive anywhere else and my car is a Ford Escort Estate but I will check the size of the boot before I get a mate as it would be more than a bit stupid to buy a mat that does not fit in my car!!

DanielB

[dobbin]

Perhaps it should be noted that Dave's own mat is made of cardboard and about as comfortable?

[hongkongstuey]

i recon one of the key points you want to consider when buying a mat is how do you usually get to the crag?

i usually walk through the centre of Hong Kong, hop on the tube, get a taxi and then slog uphill for 30+mins with a nice big Franklin mat on my back

this seems to attract strange looks from others for some reason!

[dave]

Perhaps it should be noted that Dave's own mat is made of cardboard and about as comfortable?

Ey, that mat has withstood 3 1/2 years of intense falling off highballs. Advantages are it's good training for decking out onto concrete, and you can fold it up to fit into the blovebox. Still firmer than a brand new Moon mat mind.....

[danielb]

So Moon mats aren't very good either then? What about Metolius pads?

[dave]

To be honest i've never climbed over a moon mat, but in the shop they seem soft. Also metolius mats always seem soft to me.

[Scouse D]

The best mats for firmness and durability seem to be POD. They can withstand a lot of abuse without ending up being as useful as a used sanitary towel- wings or not.(i.e a new metolius mat)

[dave]

Is bouldering above a used sanitary towel the norm at Pex then? :wink:

[Scouse D]

Only if you're lucky. Broken bottles are the norm but aren't that forgiving. The softest landings there are the piles of dog shit- Like deep water soloing but with a greater incentive not to fall off.

[danielb]

Has anyone used the small Moon mat? It looks alright and seems quite cheap. The area around me does not have much bouldering that I am aware of so I'm wondering if I really need a big £100+ mat...

[AndyR]

Also metolius mats always seem soft to me.

My metolius mat went very soft after a couple of years of my fat arse falling on it, so I bought a cheapish karrimat (some freakish mattress kind of thing that non-boulderers insist on using?), cut that in half and it did the trick - firmed the mat up nicely, all for eight euros.......

[Scouse D]

Nice idea Andy.
The lesson is though-don't buy metolius.
They're really good in the states but they just import the covers to Britain where we fill them with cheaper foam than over there. I think it's the same foam as S7/moon.

[AndyR]

Nice idea Andy.
The lesson is though-don't buy metolius.
They're really good in the states but they just import the covers to Britain where we fill them with cheaper foam than over there. I think it's the same foam as S7/moon.

Yep, don't know if I'd get another, but I did get mine very cheap direct from the importer........

Glen Dale on here has a very funky mat from NZ that comes with door mat foot wiping bits built in (they're attached with velcro) - tres chic!