Review > E-Grips > 2-Tex Pure Crimps

We've had these for a few months, moving and rebuilding the wall has stopped us from getting a review out on them. Sorry about that, but now we're back in full swing and we can pass our judgement on the 2-Tex Pure Crimps from E-Grips!
Now, the word pure means this:

• clean, spotless, or unsullied: pure hands.
• (of literary style) straightforward; unaffected
• without any discordant quality; clear and true: pure tones in music

if you read a dictionary that is, and when I first got onto them this video was the result:



On an overhanging wall I had lots of trouble pulling an easy sequence, it took me a good number of tries, as you can see but eventually it went, the use of the word pure in the name of these holds is correct, they are pure crimps! Ranging from thin to REALLY thin! Really really thin! I've never been much of a fan of crimps for home walls, you're asking for an injury unless you're either very strong or stupid. I know that crimp strength is something that we all need, but over training on the small stuff over a long period of time will at somepoint leave you sitting icing your hand. These holds were made for competitions pure (ho ho) and simple, and when you get them onto some easier terrain then they become very interesting to climb on, add tracking with the feet and you're asking for a fun ol time as your feet will flail all over the place!

As you can see i'm having to be very careful with my feet even when you're using the part of the holds that has texture upon it as they're so thin! We've had these on the 30 degree wall, the steps as underclings and on the flat wall, they perform pertty well with anything over about 15 degrees making you think about how your next move is going to be executed. They're a complete no-no for roof's unless you're Spiderman or have super human strength.

Pairing these holds with another set of E-Grips the 2-Tex Stealth Edges (review coming soon) will allow you to take your routes onto steeper terrain, but still not into a roof section. The mix of the two sets allows you to set horrible crimpy sections and then allow a semi-rest inbetween the onslaughts :P

Where these holds are going to come into their own on a home wall is for traverses and very short boulder problems, their main forte in my eyes is in the competition setting where you can force a mover very easily with these holds as there is normally only one way of grabbing them and its super thin. The texture on the is enough to hold onto, but does get a little clogged up after repeated attempts, so make sure you have a brush handy!

RATING
NOODLES SAYS
I've had some good sessions on these, and most of the time i've walked away pretty ok from it. On overhanging walls you're going to be holding on for dear life and your fingers will complain if you overdo it on them. When they're on a vertical wall they're not so bad and you can set some really nice moves where you've got to cross, matching is hard, it can be done but it'll take you a few go's to figure out where exactly to put your one (sometimes two) finger tips so you can balance and get your match. These should be a staple of any competition setters bucket that's for sure because they will sort the wheat from the chaff!! And when you look at the price running at $46 for 10 holds you're not going to go far wrong. I hope they actually extend the range of these holds some more, making them bigger but still keeping the same texture / slick combination!

CHRIS SAYS
Tiny, tiny, tiny! I'm going to mirror a little of what Noodles says. Training on small stuff will give you an injury if you over do it! So becareful people :) I like crimps, so i'm the polar opposite of Nuds. These for me are what dual tex holds should be like, we've got a whole bunch from lots of companies and these are some of the best out there! My current list of dual tex crimps favorites are from Holdz, E-Grips and then some of the Globes that we've had for years, it's not a list that's easy to get onto as there are alot of companys that are dabbling with dual-tex and as the bar has been set so high buy the above guys it's a tough field to stand out in! These holds are hard, real hard but i've seen strength gains in using them, I do prefer then on the 30 over wall when they're set in a short boulder problem rather than the vertical like Nuds likes them but we're different people so we want different things :)
Next time the Tour-de-Bloc rolls into town these are going to be on the wall in one variety or another, competiton settings is where these holds will shine.

PROS

• Comp crimps as they should be, dual tex and thin as hell
• Will make you strong
• Will make you use your feet if you set a problem that tracks
• Some of the slickest Dual Tex out there
  

CONS

• Not for super overhung walls, they're too thin
• Could cause an injury if you go mental with them
• Do chalk up and need to be brushed more than most holds
  

PRICE

• $46 for a set of ten