Climbing Hangboards and Training Gear by Rocklands

Climbing hangboards: choosing the right training board

Training gear is what separates climbing from improving. A few minutes of hangs twice a week, and holds that felt impossible six months ago become routine.

Hangboard, fingerboard, training board: different names for the same idea — a wooden board, edges of different depths, and patience. Finger strength remains the most rewarding thing to train in climbing, because grip almost always gives out before the arms.

We make two, because two uses deserve two tools.

The BoD is our most complete wall-mounted hangboard: 19 grip configurations on a single board, 4 depths from 15 to 40 mm, crimps, three-finger and two-finger pockets. Screw it to the wall or hang it with the included ropes if drilling isn't an option. It's the one that builds a real routine at home.

The 1984 is the portable fingerboard: it fits in a bag and hangs from a pull-up bar, a door frame or a tree branch. It's the one you take to warm up before a bouldering session, or to keep training while travelling.

Both are made of sanded pine. Wood doesn't scrape your skin like resin does — it makes all the difference when you train several times a week.

Choosing a hangboard comes down to three things: edge depth, wood finish, and how you plan to mount it. A 20 mm edge suits almost everyone to start; below 15 mm, your tendons take more load than your fingers. Sanded pine keeps your skin intact session after session, where resin eventually burns it. And if drilling isn't possible, the ropes included with the BoD sort it out in five minutes.

One piece of advice before you start: big jugs, both feet on the ground, for the first few weeks. Fingers get stronger fast, tendons don't. That's the only rule that matters.