If you’re a climber, you understand the need for chalk. If you don’t have chalk, the sport is much more difficult, and the more you sweat, the harder it gets. And climbers have to chalk up again and again, throughout the entire session. But one company, aptly named Chalkless, is claiming to change that requirement.
Chalkless was invented by Greg Pope and James Pidhurney, both chemical and coatings experts who’ve worked on fighter jets and submarines. During a particularly sweaty tennis or pickleball match, Pope realized that his hands were to wet to grip the racket, and that’s where the idea for this coating came to be. After two years of testing, Chalkless was a thing, and now it could change the way climbers treat their hands.
Chalkless claims to work for a ton of sports and activities, from the racket sports that inspired it, to climbing, to gaming, to musicians, and even into construction. All that’s needed is half a teaspoon into your hand. Rub it in, and your hands will apparently stay dry until you wash them with soap and water.
It isn’t cheap, though. One small 8 gram bottle of the stuff costs $25, and a larger 75 gram bag costs $75. Of course, you only need half a teaspoon for one climbing session, so you likely won’t cook through it like you would with chalk. You can order it on their website, here.
As you can tell if you watched Nate Mitka’s review, Chalkless doesn’t work as well as chalk when it comes to getting your hands as dry as possible. But it does seem to last an entire climbing session, and that’s pretty impressive. The real question is, what does it look like when you combine the two together….?
