Our owner, founder and designer of the Toughook, Tony, has always said Toughooks were so strong you could build a climbing wall from them. But nobody had ever tried ... until now. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!
A few weeks ago we received an order from Glasgow Climbing Centre for some Toughooks for their changing rooms. An opportunity was spotted.
“When I designed the Toughook I knew the design was strong. I tested the hook in my factory and couldn’t break it no matter what I tried. After holding on to the hooks and hanging off them myself, I thought they would be strong enough to build a climbing wall from.”Tony Hopkinson - managing director
After a brief exchange with Rob, the manager at Glasgow Climbing Centre - it was agreed that the brave employees would attempt to climb the world's first Coat Hook Climbing Wall.
Starting with stripping off the existing hand holds (we didn't want any cheating), the route-setters in Glasgow set about their business.
They used Toughooks (the original 80mm) in a variety of colours to stand out against the bright background. An area of the bouldering room was used so that we had some good light for photographing the climb.
The Toughooks were attached normally, using screws onto the plywood walls, nothing special or different was done.
They were attached the same way as you would attach them in your own changing room.
Once all the hooks were in place, the first brave steps were made onto the world's first coat hook climbing wall.
If Toughooks could stand up to being climbed on, they could stand up to just about anything a changing room has to offer.
Since this was the bouldering room the staff used no ropes, hardnesses or other safety equipment. Toughook would be taking the entire weight of the climbers.
After a while it became clear that the Toughooks were more than up to the job and the climbers got a bit more daring!
“We thought the hooks would be strong, but we weren’t prepared for quite how much we could throw at them. I was able to climb the entire route and perform some pretty advanced moves, and not a single Toughook broke. I think it proves they are more than strong enough for our changing rooms.”Rob Watts - Glasgow Climbing Centre
They didn't bend, they didn't break - we didn't have to replace a single one under our Lifetime Guarantee. And nobody fell off!
They were very surprised at how easy it was to climb the Toughooks actually, expecting them to bend and be a lot less stable than they were expecting. The climbers thought it sensible to use some tape to protect their fingers, the usual handholds are larger than the Toughooks and easier on the fingers. You can see some in the background of this picture.
We want to say a huge thank you to all Rob and his team from Glasgow Climbing Centre for proving Tony right and demonstrating the strength of Toughooks. And now the Toughooks are back in their natural habitat, adorning the changing room walls of Glasgow Climbing Centre, doing the far less strenuous job of holding coats and bags.
Photos by Clear Blue Photography
