I have taken a few breaks from climbing here and there, sometimes for a few months at a time, and each time my shoes felt more like plastic than I remembered. It's not to the point where it's a whole new break-in process, but, it usually takes about a session or two to get used to them again. It's really about getting my feet used to climbing shoes again, the shoes usually keep the shape they had before I took my break, it's my feet that need to re-adapt to the tightness of the shoes.

I have washed my chalk bag a few times throughout the years, not that it was REALLY needed, but, I personally like to refresh my gear after sometime. Other gear I might buy new, but chalk bags I feel can just live on until they are really in bad shape and ruined, especially because they are not a matter of safety. When it comes to safety or performance, like quick draws or shoes, I would buy new, but chalk bags don't fit those categories so I just keep them for as long as they last and give them a little wash if I want to "renew" them.

I have taken a few breaks from climbing here and there, sometimes for a few months at a time, and each time my shoes felt more like plastic than I remembered. It's not to the point where it's a whole new break-in process, but, it usually takes about a session or two to get used to them again. It's really about getting my feet used to climbing shoes again, the shoes usually keep the shape they had before I took my break, it's my feet that need to re-adapt to the tightness of the shoes.

I have washed my chalk bag a few times throughout the years, not that it was REALLY needed, but, I personally like to refresh my gear after sometime. Other gear I might buy new, but chalk bags I feel can just live on until they are really in bad shape and ruined, especially because they are not a matter of safety. When it comes to safety or performance, like quick draws or shoes, I would buy new, but chalk bags don't fit those categories so I just keep them for as long as they last and give them a little wash if I want to "renew" them.

I've been climbing for a few years now and have never had to wash my chalk bag. What happened to yours? Did something spill on it? I can't imaging why one would need to be washed unless you are trying to sell it or it got into an accident and got spilled on!

Either way, I don't see why it would hurt to wash it by hand and let it dry out in the sun. I know that some chalk bags have different materials in them besides the fabric, so they may not all be good for the washing machine, but by hand I think is alright, but I have never had to do it before so I am not talking from experience!

Hello.

Good cheer to all on this beautiful day!!!!!

Good luck :)

I kind of like the grading differences between climbing gyms. In some gyms a v4 could be as hard as a v6, and in some gyms a v8 can be as easy as a v6. It makes me sort of have to ignore the grades and just go for what ever route interests me and challenges me.

I understand the concept of soft grades, but, when it gets to the point where the grades are so soft that a v5 is actually a v3, shouldn't they just give it a v3-v4 grade instead of just calling it a soft v5?

All of the boulders in my gym are actually around 2 grades below their given grade, I don't understand why they give them the higher grades and not the actual lower grades. Is there a reason for it?