Opinions on Metolius crash pads?

Me and a few friends are looking to get a crash pad or two to start bouldering.  Leaning towards metolius since we can pick them up locally without a fee and they’re relatively cheap.  Thoughts on the Metolius Recon?  That’s the one we’re looking at getting to start and then another smaller pad to go along with it in a month or two.  Is the recon solid to start on and does it hold up or should we just get two smaller, normal sized pads like the metolius session or the mad rock mad pad?

I’ve got a couple of Metolius sessions on my indoor wall. I have not taken them outside and they are pretty new. Out of the box they are really firm, almost painfully so compared to my other pads. I am hoping they break in and soften up, because right now they are too hard. But the price was really good, I think I got them for about $110 each, and they seem decently Made. Time will tell. I really like having a bigger of for outdoors. I use a Misty Magnum, and if I only had one pad, I’d be happier with bigger.

I’ve had a session for about five years now, and it did soften up it not a huge amount. I’ve been happy with it, but it would be nice to have a larger/cushier pad if it were to be your only one for outside 

I've had a Metolius bi-fold and tri-fold pad for a couple years now and haven't had any issues with either. They've retained their padding well, despite pretty constant use as couches, beds, and, occasionally, bouldering pads.

I've had a Metolius bi-fold for... maybe 18 years! Softened up obviously, but it has been awesome. Never really think about it, TBH.

Idk what you guys are doing but I've found metolius pads to be soft and they get very soft over time, after 5 years my friends one is soft af, it's also by far the worst upper out there. I'd go mad Rock, from what I've seen and heard much better pads. 

Mine has certainly softened a lot, but the fabric is holding up amazingly well. Lots of time in the NM/CO desert. Might be a case of they don't build them like they used to - like Smartwool, Prana Zion pants... my 10-12yo stuff is bomber, 2-4yo stuff is absolutely garbage.

yes they are good, the firmest pad is soft compared to a rock

that guy named seb wrote: Idk what you guys are doing but I've found metolius pads to be soft and they get very soft over time, after 5 years my friends one is soft af, it's also by far the worst upper out there. I'd go mad Rock, from what I've seen and heard much better pads. 

I’ve got Metolius, Asana, and Misty Mountain. The Metolius is much harder than either of the other two by a long shot, but like I said, the  Metolius are new and I’ve had the others a while.

I've got a Metolius Magnum and a session, They're both great. definitely pretty stiff initially but they'll soften up.

Hope for Movement wrote: I've had a Metolius bi-fold for... maybe 18 years! Softened up obviously, but it has been awesome. Never really think about it, TBH.

Ditto here. The gold standard.  My experience with pads is that you want it hard!

I have a metolius tri fold, mad rock and organic pad. Metolius and mad rock for 4 years. Still use it constantly. Mad rocks break down faster than metolius but are thicker. Metolius is fairly soft but depending upon the situation sometimes you want that. Organic is obviously more expensive but it’s very firm and well made. I find what pads I like is situational. You’ll be happy with metolius.

I've had a Metolius bifold for about 6 or 7 years now. It has gotten a moderate amount of use over its life span, maybe on average 1 outdoor session a month. Overall it has softened quite a bit since it was new. My friend has an organic pad that is about as old with more use, and I would say the Organic has held up better (though the Metolius was about half the price). I'm much less concerned about bottoming out on the Organic than I am on my Metolius. Overall I still like it, especially as a top layer pad to fill in holes and edges. The edges of the Metolius are soft enough that I'm not worried about messing up my ankle by falling on it. It's also good for moderate height bouldering (< 15 ft or so), though if it was my only pad for a highball I would be a bit concerned about bottoming out.

I like the recon, the foam seems to be better than on the bi-fold. Though for longer approaches I don't think the recon distributes the weight of the pad very ergonomically over my back, and can be quite painful (uphill approaches ~hour in length)

They are super firm but if you climb highballs then that is what you want IMO, i needed the firmness when i fell 25 feet not long ago and I was mostly unharmed thanks to the pad!

They are good, the session is a great beginner pad and travels well. I have several different pads and the session was the cheapest and I use it often.