Wood dry tools for gym climbing?

I have been thinking about picking up a pair of wood tools for dry tooling at my gym. I'm looking for something closer to real mixed climbing than the strap kind and have found a few companies making tools these days. But I was hoping I could find some actual reviews on a few of the options that are out there?

Hex torr tools

DryToolz

Dry Ice Evolutions (I know they are not out yet)

Raven Training Tools

Just looking at the manufacture websites it looks like the Hex Torr has small finger rests that would be less than ideal.

Drytools look bulky, the others all look like they have a metal core, and they say not to practice "stein pulls"(Furnace industries mention that they ripped a t-nut through the wall doing a stein pull on their tools so I'm not sure how much I really want to stein pull.  But have a much better price

Dry Ice Evolutions look to be the most refined, but that comes with a hefty price tag, still on pre-order.

The raven Ice tools seem like they are a nice middle ground, good shape, metal core, good finger grip, price is more reasonable. Excessive rubber on the head but I doubt that will really matter.

I have X-dreams so I can't use the evolution gym picks, and don't really want to make my own, but not totally opposed to it. 

Anybody used any of these, more than one of them? General thoughts?

These all look super easy to make yourself.  You only need a jigsaw and clamps.  A router would be nice but optional.  Get good plywood though, apply ply it's called.  

Why would you just go to the dry tooling gym in slc instead?

zoso wrote:

These all look super easy to make yourself.  You only need a jigsaw and clamps.  A router would be nice but optional.  Get good plywood though, apply ply it's called.  

I don't have the tools, nor would I use the tools often enough to justify storying them.

Mark Westfall wrote:

Why would you just go to the dry tooling gym in slc instead?

I have free access to a small community gym.

https://escapeclimbing.com/products/ec74003

i have these and am happy with them..

sandrock wrote:

https://escapeclimbing.com/products/ec74003

i have these and am happy with them..

As I said in the original post I have cassin x-dreams, escape only makes picks for BD and Petzl 

I use the drytoolz ones at my gym. Annoyingly, mine didn't include the back foam padding, but whatever. I like them and I think they make me stronger for real drytooling. My gym said I could such tools as long as they were non-metal, so some of the other options might not be acceptable (whether they'd actually spot it is another matter). You get a similar deep pump and ache as you do with ice tools, and some of the principles (maintaining tool placement angle through movements) still apply. Like it says though, you can't torque or stein with them, and forget about scratching to find divots etc. They mostly work with jugs and those arete/corner like holds, so routes up to "gym 5.9" are appropriate, of course you can also rainbow. I'd wear a helmet and also watch out for nearby climbers. Even with tethers, good chance of bonking someone if the routes at your gym are closely spaced.

Escape dry tool picks for Xdreams

sandrock wrote:

Escape dry tool picks for Xdreams

Did you custom order these? They only list BD and Petzl on their site?

I echo most of James C's opinion.  I use the DryToolz as well (with the foam padding).  I also did not want to go strap style (figure it wouldn't foster any good habits).  The bulkiness is definitely noticeable (compared to real tools) but I'm assuming the extra mass of wood there is needed for strength.  The "pick" is able to hold on to quite a bit more than I expected (not just jugs but some edges and pockets as well) so there's that.

I would also say consider wearing a helmet...in a gym I know you'll hate yourself, but I've smacked myself multiple times HARD when a tool pops off.

+1 for helmets in the gyms for dry tooling, i also use a mouth guard, some may laugh but you don’t get new teeth past 13. Also escape custom makes all picks to order, so im sure they can manage making em for x dreams if you ask them. I use em on my nomics. 

jacob m s wrote:

As I said in the original post I have cassin x-dreams, escape only makes picks for BD and Petzl 

Escape now carries Grivel and Cassin dry tool picks: escapeclimbing.com/products…

Bugger, just bought the furnace industry ones like a month ago. Can say the feel a lot like real dry tooling, complete with popping off unexpectedly and hitting totals in the head/helmet with all your might. The slight compression of the rubber on small edges is not the greatest thing either. All in all I'm satisfied it's a great way to mix things up at the gym

Mark Westfall wrote:

Why would you just go to the dry tooling gym in slc instead?

I live in salt lake and I don’t want to pay for another membership 

zoso wrote:

These all look super easy to make yourself.  You only need a jigsaw and clamps.  A router would be nice but optional.  Get good plywood though, apply ply it's called.  

There are homemade wood tools available on Etsy, but they are just that: wood. Furnace Industries' tools have a beefy aluminum core so you can stein pull and torque them. If you're serious about dry tools, they are worth the extra coin.

FWIW, I’ve been using the Hex Tor tools for a few months in the gym and on my home wall.  I like them, but maybe I have small fingers.  They too have an aluminum layer sandwiched in the middle and feel strong enough for steinpulling, etc.  I ordered another product from Hex at the same time and had to exchange it for a different size.  I thought it was my fault more than theirs (I could have actually measured but didn’t), and they were prompt and generous about the exchange— paid for shipping, etc.  Nice small company, it seemed.