Chalk isn't necessarily better just because it's drier. But there was one man who was determined to dry it out anyway.
Hakase here.
As some of you may already know, many TOKYO POWDER products have a relatively high moisture content.
Drier chalk isn't always better. In fact, chalk that's too dry can sometimes make you slip. A certain amount of moisture is essential for generating effective friction.
That's exactly what we've focused on with our high-end models, such as RX, V3, Super.B, and ZERO.TT. Rather than simply drying out the chalk, we carefully adjust its moisture content to create the right conditions for friction.
However, there's a downside to this approach.
Worn-out skin.
As the skin on your fingertips wears down, sweat inevitably starts to seep through. When that happens, the excess moisture reduces the friction you've worked so hard to create.
So, what do you do when that happens...?
Meet Wakamiya, TOKYO POWDER's number-one test subject and a self-proclaimed sweaty-handed climber. His hatred of sweaty hands and obsession with dryness are truly second to none.
About three years ago, he came up with a way to modify chalk specifically for climbers who struggle with sweaty hands.
At first, I was pretty skeptical. (And I suspect he was too.)
But after holding chalk-blending events at various locations and testing his methods with different climbers, skin conditions, climbing styles, and environments, it seems he's discovered something that actually works pretty well...
So this time, we've asked Wakamiya himself to write about his chalk-modification technique.
A chalk geek's secret trick for sweaty-handed climbers. Straight out of a video game cheat guide.
Enjoy!
SPECIAL REPORT
Chalk, Microwaves, and Me
TEXT BY KYOSUKE WAKAMIYA : TOKYO POWDER's Number-One Test Subject / Self-Proclaimed Sweaty-Handed Climber
It all started at an event held at a climbing gym that no longer exists.
"Chalk Blending"
It was a rather unusual event where you could create your own custom blend of chalk to suit your hands.
For someone like me, who sweats a lot, chalk is an absolute necessity.
Taking something that's already a finished product, adding even more ingredients, and turning it into something entirely different...
It felt like the ultimate guilty pleasure.
Our very first chalk-blending event. At Binti.
Chalk made from mineral rock doesn't taste very good... Oh, wait. I mean, it doesn't work very well with my hands.
The reason turned out to be my fingerprints.
Whether chalk particles can get into the tiny grooves between your fingerprints makes a difference in how well the chalk sticks to your skin. Chalk made from seawater has finer particles, allowing it to get into those grooves.
Well, there's more to it than that, of course...
With my sweaty hands, I wanted something that would keep working all the way through the second half of a climb.
So I started mixing different types of chalk.
This is more of a feeling than anything scientific, but I wondered if having two layers of chalk on my hands might work better.
Or, more precisely, what if I mixed chalk that stays on my skin with chalk that comes off more easily? Maybe some of it would remain on my hands until the very end of a climb.
To me, chalk is:
"Something that does its job when it's no longer there."
There are no sebaceous glands on our fingers.
But we do have eccrine sweat glands. So when our fingers slip, it can be caused by oils transferred from elsewhere, moisture from our surroundings, or sweat coming directly from those glands.
I wanted to stop that slipping...
Stop it... Stop it...
Moisture?!
That's when I started thinking about how to reduce the moisture content of my chalk.
At first, I considered using old, deteriorated chalk. Its moisture content decreases over time, but once you've used it, it also contains oils, dust, and all sorts of tiny contaminants.
And because of that, it doesn't adhere to your fingers properly.
Your fingers become as sensitive as your... well, you know what I mean.
So what could I do...?
Then one morning, while using the microwave to make breakfast, it suddenly hit me.
What if I microwaved my chalk?
Heat it up, and the moisture should decrease!
This was right around the time ZERO.TT was released.
I already knew that reducing its moisture content even further would make it easier to work into my skin, so I decided to give microwaving a try.
And I burned it.
Well, of course I did. I was heating the same spot for too long...
I nearly started a huge fire.
When I opened the microwave door, chalk dust went flying everywhere.
The moisture was gone.
From there, I started experimenting with different heating times, taking the chalk out to mix it halfway through, and then putting it back in the microwave.
After plenty of trial and error, I found that 500W for up to 50 seconds gives me my personal favorite level of dryness.
I take it out and mix it once after about 30 seconds.
I want the chalk to dry as evenly as possible, so I recommend spreading it out on a flat plate.
"Something that does its job when it's no longer there."
That's exactly what I was looking for.
The chalk works its way into the tiny grooves between my fingerprints, while layers of chalk build up on the ridges themselves.
Even when the surface layer comes off, I feel like my hands don't sweat as much. Maybe it's something to do with the ingredients in ZERO.TT.
And that's how I ended up creating an incredibly high-maintenance chalk.
It doesn't taste bad, either.
I even started using a skin moisture analyzer to measure oil and moisture levels, collecting data on which chalks to mix and how many seconds to microwave them.
Maybe thanks to all that experimenting, I managed to climb some high-grade problems in the newly developed areas of Fujikawa, as well as some short, tricky problems in winter at Ogawayama where even a little moisture on your fingers can ruin your attempt, much sooner than I expected.
Ever since then, whenever I'm working on high-grade problems or climbing in particularly humid conditions, I bring along my microwaved ZERO.TT.
Sure, it's a hassle.
But it's a whole lot better than slipping off.
At Fujikawa Boulder, a local climbing area near my home.
So, what do you think of Wakamiya's microwave chalk-modification technique?
Tempted to give it a try?
Your wife might not be too happy about it!
Here's a summary of Wakamiya's experimental conditions:
- Spread approximately 80g of chalk on a flat plate.
- Microwave at 500W for up to 50 seconds.
- Take it out and mix it once after about 30 seconds.
IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTICE
This is simply a record of Wakamiya's personal experiments. It is not a tested or verified safe method of processing chalk.
Heating powder in a microwave can cause localized overheating, damage to containers, and airborne dust. In fact, Wakamiya burned his chalk during his very first experiment.
Airborne chalk particles may also enter the internal components of a microwave oven and potentially cause damage or malfunction.
We do not recommend attempting to reproduce this experiment at home. Please keep these risks in mind.
Wakamiya's microwave. A battle-hardened veteran, still bearing the scars of his experiments.
Actually, a microwave is a very convenient tool for processing small amounts of chalk.
Wakamiya's experiments reminded me of something from our own product development days.
Some time ago, we were experimenting with block chalk containing large amounts of the special ingredients used in products like RX and V3.
During those experiments, we created an incredibly high-performance chalk that could only be made using a microwave.
It was something truly special.
"We've made something amazing!"
That's what I thought at the time.
But when we tried to scale up production, we ran into a problem.
With the equipment we had in our factory back then, we could only produce tiny batches using a microwave. We couldn't find another suitable manufacturing method, so we reluctantly had to abandon the project.
But now, maybe...
Wakamiya's microwave chalk-modification technique brought back those memories.
For those of you with sweaty hands who still haven't found the right chalk, it might be interesting to take another look at moisture content and how different types of chalk interact with your skin.
Hakase