Bouldering gear: What you need to get started

With the Olympics and IFSC World Tour happening, it’s clear that rock climbing and bouldering are out of the shadows and straight into the limelight on the stage of popular sports, and for good reason – it’s fun, it’s somehow accessible, and it takes you to a hell of fun places!

With climbing gyms popping up like mushrooms after a summer rain, it’s only a matter of time until one of your friends invites you for a climbing session at your local gym.

And it happened; you went to the place with plastic holds on the walls, and you liked it. You’re hooked. What’s next? Well, probably that’s why you’re here because you’re looking to find out everything you can about the marvelous sport of indoor climbing.

First things first – you should know that climbing indoors and outdoors can be broadly separated into two different activities: sport climbing and bouldering. We’ll be focusing our attention on bouldering because this is boulderflash.com!

If you know about sport climbing, you might have seen them using specialist equipment such as; harnesses, carabiners, ropes, belay devices, and so on. But lucky for you, in bouldering, you won’t need all that equipment, but you’ll still have to get some of it, and it’s even more specific than you think.

Indoor bouldering gear

At first glance, what else than a pair of rock climbing shoes would you need when visiting your local bouldering gym? And that’s absolutely true. When starting bouldering, you can start your thing only with shoes, but you know how it is, as you get deeper into the rabbit hole, you find out more and more stuff that proves almost as essential as your shoes.

So let me make things easier for you and make a quick list of bouldering gear for beginners (it also works for more seasoned climbers too, wink wink):

Climbing shoes

These are essential. Even if you’ll see kids at the small wall wearing sneakers, they’re not the best option and a pair of rock climbing shoes will offer you support, increased grip and better performance when climbing. Check out our guides on best shoes for beginners and how to fit climbing shoes if you need some more information here.

Chalk

This is needed to dry sweat and other moisture, increasing grip and friction on the holds. The reason I put only chalk is because some indoor climbing gyms have little tolerance for powder chalk and prefer that you use liquid chalk. So yeah, if your gym doesn’t provide chalk and you want to be comfortable with your own supply, it’s a good idea to get yourself a chalk bag or some liquid chalk.

Hold brush

At a certain point, you’ll notice that the holds become slippery. That’s when your hold brush will come in handy. Cleaning all that extra chalk and grease off the plastic holds will considerably increase your grip. You might find free brushes at your gym, but why not have your own?

Finger tape

Well that’s surprising; isn’t that only for the pros? In fact, the newer you are to this sport, chances are bigger that you’re going to end up with a ‘flapper’ or other types of skin or finger related injuries after your first sessions. Finger tape is a must-have in order to keep having fun after you have shredded your skin.

Hand creams or balms

While we were talking about skin, you’ll notice that after a session of climbing, your hands might feel tender. That’s where the climbing hand cream comes in handy, speeding the recovery process because, truth be told, your skin doesn’t agree with you rubbing your palms on grippy plastic holds.

Clothing

Not only do you want to look good but selecting the right clothes for bouldering is important for performance and protection. You ideally want lightweight flexible materials to accommodate dynamic movements. You may also want to cover as much of your skin as possible as a beginner with long-sleeved tops or trousers because scrapes are inevitable but keeping your skin is always a good thing!

Flip-flops

Climbing shoes are meant for climbing, and whenever you’re going to take a break, letting the piggies breathe is literally like a breath of fresh air. This tip works for indoor bouldering and outdoor, avoid spending too much time in your tiny climbing shoes and take a break in something comfortable. And also, do you really want to go to the bathroom wearing your climbing shoes?

Climbing bag

You will need something to keep all of your bouldering gear together and store away in a locker at your bouldering gym

Outdoor bouldering gear

If you are thinking of bouldering outdoors you may want to consider a bit more gear:

Bouldering crash mat

Essential for safety when outdoor bouldering. They are required to cushion your landing in case of a slip or fall and prevent injuries. You want something that is easy to carry, durable and has good cushioning

Warmup equipment

In the gym there may be lots of equipment around to warmup but outdoors you are limited. Things like resistance bands and small portable finger boards are great for warming up outdoors and are lightweight.

Guide books and protectors

You may have heard of some great places to visit but when you get there actually finding certain climbs can be just as hard as actually climbing them. Therefore the more information you have the better so consider purchasing relevant guide books and a protector before your visit.

Best bouldering gear

We are always looking for the best gear whenever we want to start a sport. In bouldering, you will need some high-quality gear to ensure things go smoothly, but keep in mind that in this sport, the most expensive doesn’t really mean the best for you.

Bouldering shoes – to rent or to buy?

Chances are that when you got to the gym for the first time, you rented or borrowed a pair of old stinky climbing shoes, and somehow that’s part of the charm. But if you’re really ready to invest some time in this sport, you should consider buying your own climbing shoes.

Now these come in different shapes and sizes and are meant for specific stuff. For example, you have bouldering shoes, gym shoes, multi-pitch shoes, and sport climbing shoes. Usually, they are specifically meant for beginner, intermediate, and advanced climbers.

You will notice that the most expensive shoes are usually packed with features, bells and whistles, and everything, but the entry-level shoes are the ones we’re going to focus on today.

So the entry-level shoes come with a more comfortable fit, which is good because you want your experience to be a pleasant one, not a session in a torture chamber. More than that, they have quite resistant soles because you’ll be rubbing them all over the hold until you develop a proper technique. And of course, they are more accessible; you’ll find the best climbing shoes for you at an affordable price!

As a recommendation, you should check out La Sportiva Kubo, La Sportiva Tarantulace, and Scarpa Veloce, which are some of the best rock climbing shoes for beginners and absolutely fantastic for indoor climbing.

Let’s talk about chalk

When you don’t have a rope to save you from falling, your grip is all you got! Choosing the right chalk for indoor bouldering is really a game changer, and you’ll notice boulderers simply bathe in it; that’s how much they love it!

Basically, all chalk is supposed to do the same thing – keep your hands dry and increase your grip. I found that the perfect liquid chalk for me is EB 99% Extra Pure Liquid which is really nice to my skin. Regarding powder, chunks, or blocks, I prefer Black Diamond Black Gold (I don’t know what they put in there, but it is REALLY GOOD) and Wild County Pure Chalk Block which felt really nice to the touch.

You may want to try this, I noticed that most of the pros nowadays enjoy using Friction Labs Loose Chalk so maybe you’d like to give it a try.

Chalk bags for bouldering

Whenever you go to the boulder gym, you’ll find yourself with not enough hands for your things, such as a water bottle, brush, telephone, and locker keys.

The ZigZag Vessel Chalk Bag could be a great solution for your needs, as it has an incorporated zipper where you can store your phone and small belongings, leaving you only with your water bottle and shoes, so it’s a great solution.

When going bouldering, bear in mind that you’ll want to have easy access to your chalk, so a generous bag would be the best option regarding size.

What’s your next project?

Getting started in indoor bouldering can be a bit challenging, as you’ll see the stronger climbers in the gym sending project after project.

But don’t worry. You’ll notice that soon enough, things start falling into place, and with the right kind of gear, your progression should l be really fast. And that’s a cool thing about bouldering. Going from novice to intermediate is really fun and fast.

Later on, you’ll get more specialised and plan some great routes. Remember that nowadays, indoor climbing is an independent sport, and if you don’t want to or don’t have access to the outdoor boulders, you can be as good as any other pro just by climbing plastic.

It’s very important to be patient with yourself, take care of your body , and, of course, have fun!

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