Product Info

We certainly don't want to give away any of our secrets or methods, but here is some information that we feel it is important for you to know. The infomation below is just a taste of what stands us apart from the rest.

About our Plastic
Crater Holds climbing holds are produced with the finest materials using state of the art methods. Nearly 4 years ago, we began as one of the first companies to use polyurethane resin to produce climbing holds. While most companies are turned away by the higher cost of urethanes, we decided that the quality of our products was more important. Our special polyurethane resin is stronger, more durable, and has better texture life than the other options for climbing hold plastics. Our holds are solid to the touch and will not flex under body weight. However, they are durable enough to allow for slight flexing. We have virtually eliminated chipping or cracking, even from over-tightening or dropping. Unlike most of our competitors, we do not add any fillers to our resin. This results in a stronger plastic that is more resistant to abuse. In addition, the lack of filler greatly reduces the weight of the climbing hold. This is a good thing for all the route setters out there! With the exception of minor color shifting that is common with all plastics left outside, our plastic is not structurally damaged by weather.

About the Texture
The texture of our holds is in the medium range. It can be compared to 80 grit sandpaper. We have found it to be the perfect compromise between comfort and longevity.

About the Countersinks
We have developed a unique process for implementing the bolt hole and countersink in the climbing hold. The holes are clean, the countersinks are precise. In the holds that contain an embedded washer, there will not be plastic build up that you have to dig through when mounting. The countersinks are placed at the correct depth. You will not see bolt heads sticking out of our climbing holds. We make certain the bolt hole and countersink is properly aligned before the hold leaves the factory.

About the Inserts
Some climbing holds are designed with an embedded steel washer. We only use the best grade 8 (hardest steel) washers with yellow zinc plating for weather resistance.

About our Hardware
Crater Holds is proud to be a leading distributor of t-nuts and bolts. We use only the finest grade of hardware available made by leading manufactures. We do not skimp on quality to reduce our costs.

About Production
We use specialized processing machinery for the production of our holds. This ensures that chemical ratios are correct and mixed properly and quality control is at the highest. Most hold companies hand mix their resins. Incorrect chemical ratios and less than adequate mixing are quite common when hand mixing and pouring. Often times they will look good enough, even though they are not quite perfect. This can lead to many problems including reduction of texture life, changes in the hardness of the plastic, and even materials slowly leaching out of the resin. In addition, hand mixing generates a tremendous amount of waste - some of it being hazardous.