Bouldering mat
A Boulder mat or crash pad (English for Protective padding ) is a thick padded mat, similar to a soft gymnastics mat that is used in bouldering ( climbing without rope at a low level or to exit altitude ). You should protect against injury during a fall. For easier transport it is provided with foldable and risers. She has either one or two folding points. By an inclined arrangement of the folding points penetration at these locations is to be prevented to the ground. The internal structure consists of several (usually two or three) layers with different degrees of hardness. The top layer is hard and is used for power distribution in hard falls. It ensures to avoid penetration and thus impacting the substrate. Among them is one or more soft layers to minimize the impact speed.
Since each mat minimum provisions must meet, the quality of mats from different manufacturers is comparable. Differences are mainly in the areas of application for which the individual models are suitable. Important factors include in particular the size and number of layers.
In principle must be distinguished whether it is a boulder mat as crash pad or a mat for a boulder room, since the requirements are different.
For use in an indoor bouldering easy handling does not matter, but here is the capacity of higher relevance. Due to frequent jumps from the wall and running on the mat this is selectively highly stressed. For this reason, a high-quality foam core is required. Mats for stationary use are manufactured according to DIN 7914.
When setting up the mat is important that the upper level is very firmly to prevent it from buckling under controlled landings on the feet. The lower portion of the mat consists of soft foam, so that the impact is cushioned surface downward.
Upon impact on the mat, the foam is compressed and the compressed air present in the foam. To derive the compression pressure, a good ventilation of the mat is required. This often metal eyelets are used in crash pads. Boulder mats have a large mesh fabric strip about at least two sides.
A standard for the construction of Boulder Mats (as in soft floor mats for school sports practice ) does not exist. However, we recommend a ceiling height of less than 3 meters, a mat height of at least 20 cm, with a ceiling height of over 3 meters a mat height of at least 30 cm. The structure here consists of about one-third of hard foam on top and two thirds soft foam below. When using multiple mats next to each other they are securely connected together to prevent sliding apart. In addition, all cracks should be covered in order not to slip in with the feet can ( risk of injury).
From the farthest projecting point of the wall a drop shadow of at least 2 meters is scheduled. Of course, with proper assembly of Boulder mats and the wall inclination is taken into account.