Field Notes

Climbing gear guides, written by climbers

Everything we've worked out about chalk, bags, brushes and grades — from our own sessions, not from a spec sheet. Straight answers first, detail underneath.

20 guides
Inside a bouldering chalk bucket with its roll-top open, showing the liner and interior pocketsLatest
bouldering

What's Actually Inside a Chalk Bag: Liner, Drawstring, Brush Loop, Stiffener

A teardown of what actually separates a chalk bag that lasts from one that leaks: the liner, the cord-lock, the stiffener, and the brush loops.

8 min read Read →
Boulderer pulling over the lip of a desert highball, the kind of outdoor session you carry a bouldering chalk bucket into
approach

How to Carry a Chalk Bucket on the Approach (Hands Free, Chalk Sealed)

Four ways to carry a chalk bucket on the walk-in, which one to use when, and the eleven-second routine that...

10 min read
Bouldering chalk bucket loaded with climbing shoes, brush and chalk — a boulder bag that carries a whole session
boulder bag

Boulder Bag vs Chalk Bucket vs Tote: What Actually Carries a Session

Boulder bag, chalk bucket or tote — we judge all three across the four moments of a session that actually...

8 min read
An open chalk bag with its drawstring hanging loose on a bouldering mat, climbers standing behind it
bouldering

We Read the Reviews of Every Major Chalk Bucket — Here's What Climbers Keep Complaining About

We read the independent hands-on reviews of every major chalk bucket and pulled out the four complaints that keep coming...

10 min read
Where loose chalk is banned: a boulderer with chalked hands on an indoor climbing gym wall
bouldering

Where Loose Chalk Is Banned: US Gym Rules, Explained

No US law bans climbing chalk — but plenty of gyms ban loose powder. Here's what the four common wordings...

9 min read
Hands opening a climbing gear bag with a harness and slings inside, on a gym floor
bouldering

What Is a Chalk Bucket? And How to Choose One That Doesn't Leak

A chalk bucket is a chalk bag you park instead of wear. What's actually in one, how big it should...

10 min read
Moss-covered sandstone boulders scattered through a pine forest
bouldering

Font to V Scale: The Full Conversion Chart, 6A to 9A

6A is V3, 7A is V6, 8A is V11. The complete Fontainebleau to V-scale bouldering conversion chart, grade by grade,...

9 min read
Chalk dust falling from a climber's hands after chalking up — the dust liquid chalk avoids
bouldering

Liquid Chalk: When It Beats Powder (And When It Doesn't)

A practical field manual for liquid chalk climbing: how to apply it properly, when it genuinely beats loose powder, how...

10 min read
A climber squeezing a chalk ball over an open chalk bucket
bouldering

Chalk Ball vs Loose Chalk vs Liquid: The Real Tradeoffs

Loose chalk applies fastest, a chalk ball meters your dose and kills the dust, liquid chalk survives humidity — here...

10 min read
A climber pulling on rock above water, hands the only point of contact
bouldering

Why Do Climbers Use Chalk? The Science of Friction

Climbing chalk is magnesium carbonate, it manages moisture rather than adding stickiness, and most climbers use far too much of...

9 min read
A boulderer high on a steep gym wall covered in holds and volumes
beginner

V0 to V5: A Realistic Bouldering Progression Timeline

How long it really takes to climb V5, phase by phase — what unlocks each grade, why V4 is where...

10 min read
Colour-coded climbing holds spread across a bouldering wall
beginner

Bouldering Grades Explained: V-Scale, Font, and Why Your Gym Lies

A plain-English guide to the V-scale and Font scale, with a full conversion table and an honest look at why...

8 min read