Quiet Bolting

For the audio sensitive crag near you. Whats the best practice? Tap-tap-tap of a hand drill for 20 minutes or the quick Electric burrrrr-uuppp? 

Asking for a friend.

depends on if power tools are allowed

The only reason I would think to not use a drill would be that its illegal and too close to someone hearing... otherwise... why not?  

Your 'friend' sounds like they shouldn't be bolting/doesnt have permission. 

Tap tap tap for 20 min...20; min is fast....depending on type of rock(hard or softer), stance ( or on rope), drill bit, fitness, technique, experience, weight of hammer, weather,  first bolt or second or third or more.......lots of factors....but it is often more than 20 minutes...hand drilling is noisey and goes on "forever"......

For .375 work, any run-of-the-mill suppressor chambered in .375 should be appropriate. Just make sure you put in your order early as it takes several months to clear the ATF for the order. 

Joe Campbell wrote:

For the audio sensitive crag near you. Whats the best practice? Tap-tap-tap of a hand drill for 20 minutes or the quick Electric burrrrr-uuppp? 

Asking for a friend.

Until your friend defines "best" there is no best answer.

If you get a stick sufficiently hot, you can burn a nice hole in the rock silently.

Haulbag suppressor... Makita 18v sub compact or milliwaki m12, you can bang holes all day, 

Personally, if it is legal, I think a good power drill with a quality sharp bit is the most unobtrusive ( and you get a better hole) . It literally takes me about 30 seconds to drill a 5/8" hole in granite for glue-ins. If you wrap the drill in a heavy coat it might help with the sound a little. Sometimes to avoid disturbing people you may have to get up really early, wait until everybody has left eod or even work during crappy, windy weather so the sound is muffled and less chance of anyone being around. I have worked on routes through the night with a headlamp on popular crags to avoid disturbing people or risk dropping something on them also.

Shop at your local thrift store for a pillow, pillows, soft cooler, or some other similar objects that you can use to muffle the drill noise.  The noise comes from the drill bit impact with the stone and the impact hammer mechanism inside the drill that is delivering the percussive force on the bit.  Figure out a low cost way to muffle those noises using thrift store resources.  Keep in mind the drill motor generates heat and typically is designed to ventilate or exchange that heat into the surrounding air......so your homemade muffler needs to allow that air exchange or not inhibit it too much.  Using quality bits also helps the drill time short and therefore the noise minimized.  Also realize that the bit chuck rotation should not become inhibited so that it twists your muffler around it and the torque jerks the drill out of your hand

i feel the best thing to keep it quiet is to open it up to the internet.   

how about you get off the computer and go see what works?