XXL Golfus Rail (Low Profile)

Got this as a Deal of the Day and I am not disappointed. This thing may be easy on the eyes but definitely not as easy it looks, at least where I have it set up. It's on a vertical section of my garage bouldering wall but it's only less than halfway up. I have it set so that when I'm sitting on my gym mat it's around eye level, on a diagonal so that it's more of a side pull. It's a tough hold to start with, dragging my almost 40 yr old butt off the floor and onto the wall lol. If set higher up for use when you're already on the wall it'd be a lot easier to mess with. Either way, this rail is beautiful. It's a challenging, fun, and interesting shape to throw up on your wall. The length is perfect for a small home wall. I have mine snaking in between a few other holds. The 2.0 texture is nice but for such a shallow hold I kind of wish they had gone with the 1.0 for a little more grip. That's a very minor gripe though, I would still highly recommend this hold!

At first glance, this hold looks like it will be easy to latch onto, but it is deceptive. On vertical to slightly past vertical walls it will reward finger strength, core tension, and precision. You get around 1 pad’s depth of dimpled, sloping edge to work with, but there’s a lot of it. Tilting it a bit to either side creates an entirely different challenge. The texture and shape are reminiscent of the sandstone in Virginia and West Virginia. I recommend using 2” #8 set screws to make sure you get good bite into the plywood. This hold is like the big brother to the 5 Large Golfus Rails. It pairs well with them and with the XXXL Golfus Rail (low profile).

More challenging than it looks - depends how vertical or horizontal you set it.  The softer 2.0 texture is well suited to this hold - the 1.0 texture could be too abrasive.  Semi-shallow pocket depth requires thoughtful hand placement and lots of possible setting angles make this a very versatile hold.  Plus it is more compact and easy to set between holds than the XXXL rail.  Great bang for the buck.

This hold is not only aesthetically pleasing, it is quite large and has room for many different hand placements.  I bought it for the 45 degree section of my home wall, and the “V7+” in the description is not an exaggeration.  I climb V5/V6 in my local gym, and I cannot stay on this hold with both hands for more than a second at that overhang.  I am able to use it as a bump hold, but that would be a waste in my opinion.  

That being said, I plan to use it on a vertical section of the wall that I am building in the future. Right now it’s screwed into a vertical part of the wall’s frame and I’ve been using it as a pseudo hand board.  V3 definitely sounds about right on a vertical wall.

This is a fun one!  Side pulls, heel hooks, hand match sequences are all possible.  This would be one tough sucker on a steep wall. Be sure to use the screw holes along with the bolt hold. I promise it will spin away if not!