Frequently Asked Questions
A bit of everything! Crimps, pinches, slopers, jugs, footholds. Big or small, thick or thin, incut or sloped. Caveman Climbing holds are designed with uniqueness and customizability in mind.
We also offer climbing training items including hangboard crimps, hangboard blocks and campus rungs.
If you have any requests for custom holds please Contact us, we’d love to hear from you!
Whenever possible, Caveman Climbing holds are offered in a range of grip surface angles, thicknesses, and sizes. Use the drop-down menus on each product page to buy exactly the holds you desire.
Foothold chips and small crimps (Simple Crimps 11 mm or less, and Hangboard Crimps) are screw-mount only because they are too small/thin to be fixed with a bolt.
All other holds are mounted with standard 3/8″ UNC climbing bolts. If you would like screw-mounted holds instead, please let us know in the order notes section when placing your order and we will add the required screw-mount holes free of charge.
The incut angle of the grip surface depends on a variety of factors like your climbing level, the angle of your wall, and your specific climbing/training goals. But it depends most of all on what types of holds you want!
If you’re not sure which options to choose, here are some general recommendations. Note that these are only suggestions, and you may want different holds for your specific situation. Contact us if you have further questions.
Beginner (V0 – V2) with any wall angle, or Intermediate (V3 – V5) with > 30 degree overhang:
All jugs, round profile shaped crimps, incut simple crimps (14 mm or greater), incut medium and large pinches, medium or large slopers.
Intermediate (V3 – V5) with < 30 degree overhang, or Advanced (V6+) with > 30 degree overhang:
All jugs, all shaped crimps, all incut simple crimps (11 mm or greater), incut or flat pinches, all slopers.
Advanced (V6+) with < 30 degree overhang, or Elite (V9+) with any wall angle:
All shaped crimps, incut or sloped simple crimps of any thickness, all pinches, all slopers.
Since all Caveman Climbing holds are made by hand they cannot be mass-produced. We’re sorry the holds you want aren’t available right now, but more will be coming soon.
If you want to be the first to know when holds are back in stock, please Contact us directly or follow us on Instagram (@CavemanClimbing). We will never give away your email address or send you spam.
We currently offer a Local Pickup option for residents of Ontario and Quebec, and regular shipping throughout all of Canada. If you chose the Local Pickup option during checkout, we will be in contact shortly after your order is placed to organize a pickup location and time.
If you would like express shipping or have other non-standard shipping requests, please Contact us before ordering so we can explore other options.
We no longer offer Free shipping on large orders, however, the local pickup option will always be free! If you would like to place a large custom order that you cannot pick up in person, please Contact us to discuss available shipping options and discounts.
Free shipping is not available for orders outside Canada.
Caveman Climbing is based in Kanata, Ontario, and local pickup is offered to orders within the Ottawa/Gatineau region and surrounding areas.
If you do not live near Ottawa but will be travelling here for other reasons, Contact us before ordering to confirm if your order can be completed in time for when you are in the area.
All holds are cut and shaped by hand. Starting from large pieces of locally-sourced hardwoods, boards are ripped down to size and cut into individual holds. Edges of smaller holds are mostly cut with a router to offer a narrow but consistent grip surface. Larger holds are all individually shaped by hand with various wood grinding and sanding tools.
Some holds will show small tooling marks from the shaping process. These do not affect the feel or function of the holds and can only be seen if you look very closely.
If we spend the extra time to make every hold perfectly smooth, we would have to charge more per hold for the labour. We aim to provide functional and affordable holds rather than small art pieces for your climbing wall.
Since all Caveman Climbing holds are cut, shaped and finished by hand, they won’t be exactly the same. They may be slightly asymmetrical, or rougher/smoother in different areas. And climbing in nature is never perfectly consistent either!
Each Caveman Climbing hold is one-of-a-kind, and encourages adapting your grip positions to each distinct feature of the hold, just like real rock. That said, all holds of a single type will be roughly the same, it’s just the fine details that may vary.
Crimps and footholds are made of dense hardwood, typically Maple. Pinches, jugs and small slopers are made of lighter hardwood like Poplar, which is easier to shape into rounded forms. Large slopers are made of dense softwood.
Wood climbing holds are much easier to use during long climbing sessions, as they do not rob your hands of as much skin and chalk as gritty plastic holds. You can adapt wood holds to your climbing style or training goals, using rough sandpaper to enable more friction, or fine sandpaper to require more body tension to keep contact with the hold.
Hold prices are primarily based on the labour required to make them. Holds with a larger surface area and/or more rounded features (like slopers and jugs) take longer to shape by hand. Dense hardwood (like Maple) also costs more than lighter hardwood (like Poplar) or softwood.
Custom climbing holds may be requested; we enjoy helping your ideas come to life! Contact us to describe the holds you desire and we’ll give you a quote and lead time.
The Caveman Climbing logo is an iconized arrowhead symbol. It is used to represent the ingenuity, craftsmanship and persistence of early humans in their natural environment. These qualities are also consistent with the principles on which Caveman Climbing was founded, and the dedication with which climbers practice their passion.
The logo is not intended to impart relation to any particular indigenous culture or geographic region.