Home Wall - Kicker or No Kicker?
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Pile of wood in the garage, holds on the way. Building a 30 degree spray wall (not systems) in a room with a 9' 9" ceiling. Last unknown.... Do I build in a kicker panel at the base or not? Due to wall construction It would either have to be 3" tall (which basically isn't anything) or 10" tall (which cuts into available height for main wall). I'm leaning to excluding it and having a single surface. Any deep thoughts from the very online climbers? Thanks. |
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Kicker. Hands down.
30 is right on the verge of when I'd call it necessary, but yes, I'd highly advise a kicker, and 3" is not enough. At 30, you'll probably be fine without, if you go that way though. Get some big feet for the bottom row. |
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I'd recommend doing kicker if you can make it work. We have a tension board at our place but due to space constraints we could only put a 5" kicker. at 5" it is big enough such that it doesn't eliminate a tonne of the problems, but there are still a handful of problems that are impossible (for me anyways) to start as the space is just too tight. |
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Kicker. Personally I say get some crappy/slopey feet (like those on a Moonboard) so that just pulling on can be a hard move. IMHO, the whole point of woody training is to squeeze as many hard moves in as possible, which will probably be about 5 legit moves on most boards. Also, having the lowest footholds a few inches above the floor versus right above the floor makes things harder, which again I think is the point. I put juggier holds on the periphery for warming up/circuits but leave the main area for the biz. |
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I never understood what the point of a kicker was. Just to make the starts easier? If you only have a small space, why limit how difficult you can make climbs and reduce the area of your wall. I was always happy my wall didn't have one. |
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Was having the same consideration. Thanks for the advice. |
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No kicker. This question just keeps on popping up. You can install a range of footholds near the base of a steep wall adjusting the potential difficulty as needed and preserving maximum wall length which is a big deal for smaller home walls. |
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AndyMac wrote: I never understood what the point of a kicker was. Just to make the starts easier? If you only have a small space, why limit how difficult you can make climbs and reduce the area of your wall. I was always happy my wall didn't have one. At steeper angles like 40+ degrees a kicker will make climbs less dabby. This becomes really obvious when you pass 50 degrees. Technically yes, kickers do make starts easier. But they also allow for lower starts and thus give you more climbable surface on your board. |
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Will O, thanks for offering some reasons to have a kicker instead of just a yes or no answer. I can see the advantages of having the base of the wall raised up (steeper angle, more clearance, harder to pull on). I just don't know if I could get over having footholds on a vertical surface (maybe add the heighth w/o the footholds?). I also wonder how that extra height transfers the weight of the wall into the floor vs the back wall. |
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Decided to go no kicker. If I change my mind it will be much easier to add one to the base of the wall than remove one! |
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Add a kicker. |
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Bumping this because I’m considering adding a kicker to my 45. What height would you guys recommend? Overall wall height is obviously fixed since I’ll be attaching to a prexisting wall (which is already as high as it can be), so ideally I would be looking for the minimum useful kicker height. Also - attachment to the wall would be a bit more complex. I was thinking I’d need to bevel it at 45 to lay flat. Do you think screwing into the existing ply + something to secure it to the floor would be enough? I was thinking of just a 2x6, screwed into the floor behind where the kicker will go so that I can go through the kicker ply. Finally - any point in T-nuts, or should this be strictly screw-ons? |
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Why make things more difficult for yourself? Put some better footholds on down low. Spend the time you would have used thrashing with lumber and tools and hardware climbing instead. |
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I built a home wall and started using it before I had installed the plywood for the kicker. It is better with the kicker (my wall is 33deg cause that's where the beam was) |
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Ted Pinson wrote: Bumping this because I’m considering adding a kicker to my 45. What height would you guys recommend? Overall wall height is obviously fixed since I’ll be attaching to a prexisting wall (which is already as high as it can be), so ideally I would be looking for the minimum useful kicker height. Also - attachment to the wall would be a bit more complex. I was thinking I’d need to bevel it at 45 to lay flat. Do you think screwing into the existing ply + something to secure it to the floor would be enough? I was thinking of just a 2x6, screwed into the floor behind where the kicker will go so that I can go through the kicker ply. Finally - any point in T-nuts, or should this be strictly screw-ons? I would recommend a 12" kicker, with t-nuts; that's what I have on my 43 degree wall. It gives you enough room to do some foot moves low-down, and actually step up some for move 2 or 3. You don't need a lot of T-nuts, just enough to bolt on some footers that aren't drilled for screws. I also screw on scrap oak molding and trim, fwiw. |
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Peter Beal wrote: Why make things more difficult for yourself? Put some better footholds on down low. Spend the time you would have used thrashing with lumber and tools and hardware climbing instead. That’s what I’ve done so far. I’ve gone back and forth on it but the arguments for kickers seem to be stronger. |
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Kicker is easier to add later, think kicker volumes. |
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AndyMac wrote: I never understood what the point of a kicker was. Just to make the starts easier? If you only have a small space, why limit how difficult you can make climbs and reduce the area of your wall. I was always happy my wall didn't have one. It buys you a bit of space at the bottom of the board, where without one your heels would strike the ground. And FWIW, so long as the kicker isn't too tall you can always start with feet on the steep wall, anyway. |
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I was short on space, so I went with a 6” kicker, just enough for a row of t-nuts on the kicker. I am really glad I did, as it’s already cramped at the bottom. The steeper the wall the nicer the kicker. If the wall is lower angle, maybe not as important. |
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Built a 30* wall over the lockdown and went no kicker. If it was any steeper, I would've gone with a kicker. |
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M Mobley wrote: Kicker is easier to add later, think kicker volumes. That’s basically what I did. Just beveled the top at 45 and screwed straight into the existing plywood. Totally worth it, would definitely recommend for steeper walls. |