So ILL Factory Seconds

Has anyone out there bought or know anyone who has bought the factory seconds climbing holds from So ILL? I'm curious how much extra work needs to be done so that they are usable and if there is anything else i should be aware of before purchasing.

I haven't had any myself, but I sent them an email with similar questions. Here's what they said to me:

"Our seconds are great! They are all usable on your wall and just have minor defects that need either some sanding order drilling in the bolt hole from some over pour of poly."

Doesn't sound too bad, but I decided against getting seconds because they seem to be more expensive than regular holds. So Ill told me that 20lbs of seconds is about 30 to 40 pieces and that costs $140 not including hardware. A starter kit with 43 holds and hardware is $159. A So Ill Rep. told me that they usually put in a variety, so I'm assuming you'll get a set of holds similar to their starter package. If you subtract the cost of the hardware from the starter kit (it's about $129.00) and then calculate the cost per hold the seconds actually end up costing between $0.50 and $1.66 more per piece than new holds. Even if you don't subtract the cost of the hardware you could end up paying more for seconds.

Thanks for the response. Based on weight I think your logic seems a little off since the weight of the 99 piece starter kit weighs 16 lbs and is $239 according to their website. Though factoring in the hardware is certainly a noteworthy point. Still, I sent them an email and was told its a total crapshoot as to what you'll get, whether its a ton of small holds or just a couple jugs (i guess worse case scenario you could get a bunch of footholds, but Dan said that they try and put in mostly "CD" sized holds). Anyhow, I think I may look into one of the smaller packages of seconds as well as a regular kit and see how it goes. Will post back here to let you all know what you can expect as far as quality goes and how much work needs to be done on the holds.

I bought seconds' directly from them at the RRG Rocktober fest a few years ago. They were fine, just had a burr of plastic on an edge, or a crappy color or messed up texture on a small part of the hold. Nothing wrong like misalligned bolt holes or anything serious at all.

I bought a box of seconds from Escape Climbing and they were great. Some had slight color variation, but they were pretty cheap and Ryan, the owner, was great to deal with. I told him what kind of holds I was looking for, and he filled a box for me.

Atomik just posted up a bunch of seconds for $1 or $2 each...

atomikclimbingholds.com/sec…

I've purchased quite a bit of Atomik holds for the gym and they're great. The seconds should be a good addition to anyone's wall.