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Kettlebell Liquid chalk - Rosin or rosin free?

schurgerdc

schurgerdc

Level 6 Valued Member
I recently picked up some rosin free liquid chalk, commonly used by the climbing community. I was low and it was easily available at a good price so I said give it a try. The reason the climbing community use it is so there isn't a ton of chalk residue on the rock, i.e. preserving nature. I use liquid chalk regularly, and maybe 1-2x/mo I need to really clean off the accumulation of junk on the handles (really common on KBKings bells, less on my IronWarriors). What's most interesting so far is this rosin free brand seems to be staying on my hands longer (less reapplications thru Giant right now, bearing in mind I grip heavy throughout). Curious if anyone else has compared the different types.

Funny aside for people who wonder why you need chalk, I was in Fayetteville for a weekend, working on Giant 1.0 with my 20's & forgot to pack chalk. Without chalk, I was going to have hamburger hands. I found a store that had liquid chalk, and sure enough, also had 48kg bell there. I was working towards Sinister with a 44, and felt like I could probably swing the Beast 1-handed. Shop owner gave me the green light, and I went for it...got a good swing started. The finish on this bell was less aggressive than I would have liked, and lets just say I should have chalked up!! Thankfully the bell just flew into a rubbermaid cart with nothing on it to no damage!! Chalk up comrades, you may not be as lucky!!
 
Chalk is a polarizing topic around here as I'm sure you know. No rosin for me, thanks.

When I was in Japan armed w. only a brand new RKC kettlebell and a lot of humidity, I searched high and low for chalk. All I could find was rock climbing chalk that had (unbeknownst to me) rosin. It made my hands stick to the bell - probably would have been fine for swings and presses, but a disaster for snatches and I quickly developed blisters.
 
Maybe a dumb question yall... but does this apply to block chalk, or just the liquid stuff? My block chalk just says 100% magnesium carbonate.
 
I tried liquid chalk a few times a decade or so ago.

I've used it so little I still have a nearly full bottle in my competition bag, along with thumb tape.

I've used the thumb tape far more.

I stopped using chalk entirely once my hands got strong enough to grip ballistic implements in hook without overgripping.
 
Almost (but not all) climbing chalk is mostly mag carb. Although there may be some small amounts of fillers and additives in some brands.
Friction Labs has a fairly pure product…

When in doubt… walk on the wild side and just say no… :cool:
 
Liquid chalk always reminds me of a misadventure from my youth.

Once upon a time in my late 20s, imagining I was being suave, I decided to use Icy Hot in a sensual massage of a young woman with whom, in today's vernacular, one could call "friend with benefits."

Sensual massage, being what it is, naturally included areas beyond just the major muscles.

The evening ended with us both hopping around, in bathrobes, near the ice maker of the freezer, jamming ice cubes onto our tender bits.
 
Secret Stuff (alcohol free) from Friction Labs has been a bit hit here - my wife and all the students are using it.

offwidth said:
Friction Labs has a fairly pure product…
Click to expand...


watchnerd said:
in today's vernacular, one could call "friend with benefits."
Click to expand...
I'm becoming hipper by hanging around here. Note to self - saying "hipper" probably isn't very "hip" in today's vernacular.

-S-
 
i honestly don't know of any available climbing / gymnastic chalk brands that contain rosin. for awhile, beginning i think in the 90s, some companies began adding aluminum base salts (common in antiperspirants) to climbing chalks, but that didn't last because of concerns about inhaling that stuff. in fontainebleau, climbers began using rosin way back in the 1930s. last time i visited, at least some of the older climbers still used rosin, or mixed small batches into their chalk bags, but most folks seemed to have made the transition to chalk.

i've tried both the liquid chalks mentioned in this review, but i stick with endo block. prolly bc im old. like old enuf to remember going to frank's house in orange county, bc that was the one place in socal where you could buy gymnastics stuff. and before that, drug stores lol.

fwiw, this review goes through all the brands i've seen recently. obviously aimed at climbers. gymnasts want slightly different things from chalk, but you can click through or use this as search to find ingredients. it looks like most of the powder chalks differ mostly in their processing.

The 4 Best Climbing Chalks of 2024
 
klk said:
i honestly don't know of any available climbing / gymnastic chalk brands that contain rosin.
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What is it that makes the chalk "sticky" then?

One thing I don't think anyone who's doing KB snatches wants is more friction - straight up magnesium carbonate blocks from Cramer, et al, have never given me a problem, however, more than one climbing chalk has.
 
Climbing chalk isn’t sticky. (At least no brands I’ve ever used) It’s used to dry the hands from sweat.
 
offwidth said:
Climbing chalk isn’t sticky. (At least no brands I’ve ever used) It’s used to dry the hands from sweat.
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Sure, that's what I use chalk for. Friction is not something I want however and it's something I got from climbing chalk. I don't know if that was just my perception (because I was in Japan at the time and it was admittedly very humid) or if there were additives that changed how chalk adhered to the bell and my hands.
 
Boris Bachmann said:
Sure, that's what I use chalk for. Friction is not something I want however and it's something I got from climbing chalk. I don't know if that was just my perception (because I was in Japan at the time and it was admittedly very humid) or if there were additives that changed how chalk adhered to the bell and my hands.
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It’s actually kind of an interesting topic. I have never used chalk for KB’s, or weights, so I shouldn’t really comment on that usage.
I have (and do) however use chalk for climbing. Both on indoor climbing holds, and to a lesser extent whilst climbing outside on real rock.

Holds (both indoors and out) will often times get covered in chalk. This has the effect of smoothing out the roughness of the hold(s) in question, thus reducing the holds usefulness. Climbers in a gym setting and in outdoor bouldering locations are typically armed with an arsenal of various brushes to brush the excess chalk off the holds, thus affording a better grip.
(After chalking their hands up of course… :))

To another lesser extent some climbers will bring small portable electric fans to help remove moisture from their fingers and even holds in humid conditions.
 
I would think that all chalks that are actually 100% MagCarb would be pretty much equal (especially in block form)

This stuff, relatively new on the market, is getting good reviews. (Could just be the social media popularity of Magnus though…)

IMG_0924.jpeg
 
offwidth said:
I would think that all chalks that are actually 100% MagCarb would be pretty much equal (especially in block form)

This stuff, relatively new on the market, is getting good reviews. (Could just be the social media popularity of Magnus though…)
Click to expand...
You would think so, but if they are all the same why are there even reviews then?
 
Boris Bachmann said:
You would think so, but if they are all the same why are there even reviews then?
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Good question.
Several differences come to mind…
One… that might have some bearing in non-solid block chalk is grind size. Several brands come in varying particle sizes from superfine to chunky.
Another is just plain old marketing hype. Catchy packaging. Endorsed by the latest 5.15 wunderclimber. Stuff like that. You have to differentiate your product somehow. (Especially when it is 100% MagCarb just like the other guys…)

In pure MagCarb chalk I have never noticed a difference between brands.

Now… there actually are some brands that do have additives; usually a drying agent. Some also (if you can believe it) have colours (to blend to the natural stone), and some are scented!

My money is on pure MagCarb.
 
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Boris Bachmann said:
What is it that makes the chalk "sticky" then?
Click to expand...
chalk can have different properties depending on the situation, the thickness/grind, and how you are using it. a combination of super high humidity and thick layer of chalk will make for a "sticky" or "tacky" feel esp if some of the base on a bar or whatever is a bit old. and if you watch enough gymnastics, you will see folks sometimes preparing parallel bars or uneven bars (laminated wood surfaces) prior to there set, by spraying key areas with a mister and then plastering chalk onto the surface so that section is tacky. that can be helpful with certain kinds of release moves, especially on p-bars when you drop onto your upper arms.

especially in gymnastics, chalk does very different things-- it absorbs sweat so that your hands are less likely to slip; it can be used in prep to create especially tacky stretches of surface; and paradoxically, because it is essentially lots of tiny ball bearings that can sometimes stick together, it can help you to slide or swing once your grip is slightly loosened. so it can both help improve grip and facilitate swinging.

for climbing, all you want is for the stuff to help you hold on, so the demands aren't as great. i wasn't especially surprised to read that review and discover that in blind tests, folks really couldn't identify their longtime favorites. but the climbing grinds tend to make for a much more finely powdered feel than what you get using block chalk.

the main advantage of block chalk, for me, is that if i'm careful with the block, i can just trace the stuff onto my hands, and i don't get great clouds of chalk dust coating my gym and my lungs
 
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