By the time you are reading this I’ll be loaded in a large 15 passenger van bound for Vegas!

This time I’ll be with a van full of student for the CMC Rock Block Course… As you guessed it, it’s like Ice Block, but on rock and in much hotter temperatures. Rock Block often affords us opportunities for multi-pitch climbing in addition to getting our folks dialed in with plenty of top rope site management time.

Stay tuned for some updates.

Also, click here to learn about how you could earn college credit for courses like this! If your in the neighborhood, swing by the group site to say Hi.

Mike

An obvious solution to a longstanding problem. Generations of crack climbers have fallen victim to shredded shoes as a result of excessive crack climbing. Climbers have developed many mostly inaffective solutions including tape, aqua-seal, seam-grip, shoe-goo, barge cement to no avail- the toe boxes of our favorite shoes always end up shredded…

Enter the new Five-Ten Stealth Paint. The folks over at Five-ten have just released this product as a remedy to those shredded crack shoes and likely a million other sticky rubber related fixes. The paint is featured on several five-ten shoes including the Jet7 and is much lighter and more pliable then gluing a rand to the toe area. I picked up a pack of this so called ‘Paint’ and figured I might as well document the process… Check it out below.

Although the product is touted as “Paint” it is in fact two ingredients and was certainly less user friendly than any paint that I have used.

#1 Tube of Barge Cement

#2 Rubber shavings

After spending the money and producing a descent specimen, I realize that there are ways to produce your very own rubber paint. The BARGE cement supplied is nothing special. Any hardwear store should have some. I would also venture to say that any climber serious enough about their shoes to embark on this process likely has a pair of old, blown out shoes. Use a grating tool or zester (like the one above) and make your own rubber shards out of those old shoes you don’t wear, add some glue and Voila! Rubber paint!

I’ll let you know how it all holds up after some mileage.