Moon vs. Kilter vs. Tension Board

Does anyone have data on how popular each of these system walls are? I'm re-building my 2 y/o woody and I want to build a system wall but I'm conflicted on which to build. Cost wise, it seems as if building a moon wall is the cheapest option followed by tension and finally Kilter. Also, I like the how the tension board is symmetrical so you can work on each side equally but I'm not sure how important that really is, anyone have opinions or other info to chip in about that? What else should I be thinking about regarding choosing one to build?

I reckon you'd be happy with whatever you end up going with, but one thing to think about is the size of the community on each of the boards. Moonboard is definitely the most universal of the three in terms of number of climbing gyms with a moonboard and a particular hold set. Tension is probably close, and Kilter is a long way behind both in my experience. Another thing to take into consideration is changing the wall angle. Moonboards do not change angle, but the other two do (or at least there are options for it). So if you want a very flexible set-up with a fairly large community, Tension is probably the way to go if that fits nicely into your setup. Kilter at least so far seems to be the Rolex of training walls, it looks sick but a Timex also tells you what time it is.

You are building a wall for yourself, what is more popular is kinda moot point. All that matters is what YOU like best. If you haven’t climbed on these boards, I would strongly recommend finding a place that has them, and trying for yourself.

For me:

-Moonboard, IMO, Is the hardest-graded of the three boards. Nothing below V3, and really, those V3s are as hard as V4 on the other boards. Sure, you can make your own problems, but it would be a shame to build a wall and not use the database of problems.  It also has very grippy holds that rip my skin. I feel like skin is the major factor in deciding to end the moonboard session. If Moonboard is the only thing you have, that might be a problem, if you are trying to do longer sessions.

-I LOVE the symmetry of the tension board. And the texture of the wooden holds. Really nothing negative to say about them.

-kilterboard REALLY nailed the lighting scheme. It is by far the best, in terms of hold visibility. And  I think the hold texture is also great. My skin likes them a lot. A bit low on crimps, and high on pinches, slopers and jugs.

If I were to build one at home, I’d go with Tension or Kilter, for myself. But as it is, the bouldering gym I go to has moonboard and kilterboard across from each other, and Tension board is coming, right next to kilterboard, this winter. So I don’t have to choose one. :)

Thanks for the input, both of you. I wanted to build it in the garage but It turned out I don't have the space height wise to build it. I really don't want to go with the moon board mini as its only like 6'6. 

I agree with the popularity being kinda a shoddy aspect to go off of but I think it's important because of the availability of routes. Anyways, I like the wood grips myself but I have a feeling they're more subject to get grimmy and are likely harder and harder to clean over time, the oils in our skin would probably seep in and I fear it would climb like it has been rained on. 

I've trained on a Moon board and it's for sure hard as hell. I climb 12a and I used to boulder 7's in gym but whenever I jump on the Moon board I feel like I get slapped by the easiest problems out there. Do you guys know how much the holds cost for the tension board? I gotta figure a set runs well above 2k

I’ve climbed for 2-3 seasons on moonboards, once or twice on the tension, and never on a kilter.  After my first full season climbing almost exclusively on a moonboard, I got significantly stronger and better at steep climbing. (It’s historically a weakness of mine) I love the fact that it’s all hard and there really isn’t any filler.  I also got beat down on it at first, but over time it gets easier as you get stronger and learn the holds.  I also like the friction on the moonboard.  For whatever reason, lower friction holds hurt my wrists and trying to climb around my limit on the tension board feels extra tweaky.  Grippier holds also help me build good skin.  Edit to add: my suspicion is that the symmetry thing is a total gimmick that appeals strongly to the engineer-climbers out there who are obsessive about their training.  People have gotten very, very good at rock climbing without really focusing on symmetrical bouldering.

Yeah that was one thing I was considering about the tension board... might get boring due to the symmetry... I do like climbing on the moon board and fuck am I broke so kilter is likely out of the question 

I looked into Kilter at the start of COVID and they weren't selling to homes, only to gyms.  Has that changed?

Cris Garcia wrote:

Yeah that was one thing I was considering about the tension board... might get boring due to the symmetry... I do like climbing on the moon board and fuck am I broke so kilter is likely out of the question 

How would you get bored due to symmetry? It’s not like you have to climb on one side of the board only, in order for the mirrored problem to work, so I’m a bit confused.

Most of my experience has been with moon and kilter. Tension board is at the gym that is an hour away, so I don’t go there often. But I’m still not sure how the symmetry affects long term boredom. 

I've spent a lot of time on the Moon and Tension Boards, and a few sessions on the Kilter Board.

The Tension Board is the clear winner on ergonomics. The holds are comfortable and don't tear up my skin as fast, which means I'm more motivated to train. The Moon Board is a clear loser here--the holds are rough and sharp, and I found that made me not want to train. And when I did train, it tore up my skin which put a limit on how long sessions could go. I have the least experience with the Kilter, but my sense is that they did a better job shaping the holds than the Moon Board. However, I don't think you can beat wood with plastic for skin longevity.

The Kilter Board's LED system is the best. I found on the Tension board that sometimes the LEDs were hidden by the holds. I think this only really matters if you're trying to onsight problems--by the third or fourth attempt, I know which holds I'm using so the LEDs don't matter. So the Kilter Board is the winner here but I don't think it matters much.

The Moon Board has the largest database of problems, but I don't think there's any shortage of great problems on the Tension Board. I didn't use the Kilter Board enough to know if their database size is a problem. So the Moon Board is the winner here, but I don't think that matters either.

If I were dropping a large chunk of change on one of these boards, I'd personally go for the Tension Board.

The moon board just kinda sucks and is overall just rather unpleasant, the holds have a shit radius on them, are abrasive and grease up really quickly and be quite condition dependent the data base is pretty worthless when everything is a sandbag and it's just a tool to get strong. 

 Tension boards on the other hand are gorgeous to climb on, nice holds nice everything. Go wood and never look back. 

I just built a Moonboard w/ the 2019 set, which is half (ply)wood holds (some of them are really nice and given how they wear, they should have better friction over time than wood block holds). I actually like the original 2016 set (yellow/black/white) and so do many of my friends, they mimic the outdoor holds much more closely. I detest the 2017 red holds (thankfully no longer on the current set) and if it wasn't for the new set I'd have gone for Tension (+ it's less expensive). Never been a fan of Kilter holds (yes, they are nice to fondle, but they don't allow certain movement patterns vs more positive holds) but it's a moot point given how expensive the setup is. 

reboot wrote:

I just built a Moonboard w/ the 2019 set, which is half (ply)wood holds (some of them are really nice and given how they wear, they should have better friction over time than wood block holds). I actually like the original 2016 set (yellow/black/white) and so do many of my friends, they mimic the outdoor holds much more closely. I detest the 2017 red holds (thankfully no longer on the current set) and if it wasn't for the new set I'd have gone for Tension (+ it's less expensive). Never been a fan of Kilter holds (yes, they are nice to fondle, but they don't allow certain movement patterns vs more positive holds) but it's a moot point given how expensive the setup is. 

Glad to hear I’m not the only one disliking the red hold set. Our gym has all of the holds: original schoolhouse yellow, white, black, red, wood, and screw-ons. But I have taken to excluding the red holds when searching the problem database, and get better problems that way, IMO.

For the grades I’m doing on moonboard (v3-v5) it feels annoyingly repetitive: pretty much, start on jugs. Make two moves with feet on the kicker, the second move usually a dyno (or, often in my case, make a move, do an awkward hop/hand/foot match, do the second move). Then make couple easier moves, bc you now have starting handholds for feet. Then, go big for the finish.

Since going big is a big weakness of mine, it is an excellent training tool. But I’m sure glad that I have the kilterboard to alternate. And the movement is so completely different on these two boards. I end up spending about 30% is limit bouldering on moonboard, and the rest on kilter. 

I’m also a way bigger fan of the original hold set.  I was stoked when the gym here removed the new red and wooden holds and put it back to the old set. 

Re: MB wood holds. The set introduced on the 2017 set is the smallest and are very hard to use initially. They get better w/ use (& some wear, which tend to expose the ridges between the wood layers). The 2019 set contains 2 generally larger wood sets. Compared to the tension board, most (all?) MB hand holds are different (mirroring not withstanding, I think tension holds are not mirrored, just symmetric?) & have more varied shapes.

Lena chita wrote:

How would you get bored due to symmetry? It’s not like you have to climb on one side of the board only, in order for the mirrored problem to work, so I’m a bit confused.

Most of my experience has been with moon and kilter. Tension board is at the gym that is an hour away, so I don’t go there often. But I’m still not sure how the symmetry affects long term boredom. 

Well I want to point out that I’m not saying this as fact, I’m merely saying that’s I have the idea that I might get bored on it because of the symmetry. Whether that’s true or not is up for debate, what do I know I’m just some chimp lol maybe it would be more fun idk. 

Sounds like tension is the way to go. I love the aesthetic of the wood holds not that that means much but I guess it’s a small bonus to like how something looks if it’s gonna be expensive...

Important last question.... I see Tension Sells 10X8 but obviously the wall is at an angel so its not a full 10 ft tall. Thats actually awesome. They have this really nice image for different angels affect height for their 12X8 wall but not for 10X8 wall, help?

Did you miss that part of geometry class?

csproul wrote:

Did you miss that part of geometry class?

That's trig, dawg. Can't expect anyone to know that stuff!

Cris Garcia wrote:

Important last question.... I see Tension Sells 10X8 but obviously the wall is at an angel so its not a full 10 ft tall. Thats actually awesome. They have this really nice image for different angels affect height for their 12X8 wall but not for 10X8 wall, help?

At 45 degrees the 10ft long wall will be at a smidge over 7 feet tall.

At 60 degrees is will be exactly 5 feet tall.

Whatever angle you want, use the formula of cos (of that angle) times 10 feet. 

Max Tepfer wrote:

I’ve climbed for 2-3 seasons on moonboards, once or twice on the tension, and never on a kilter.  After my first full season climbing almost exclusively on a moonboard, I got significantly stronger and better at steep climbing. (It’s historically a weakness of mine) I love the fact that it’s all hard and there really isn’t any filler.  I also got beat down on it at first, but over time it gets easier as you get stronger and learn the holds.  I also like the friction on the moonboard.  For whatever reason, lower friction holds hurt my wrists and trying to climb around my limit on the tension board feels extra tweaky.  Grippier holds also help me build good skin.  Edit to add: my suspicion is that the symmetry thing is a total gimmick that appeals strongly to the engineer-climbers out there who are obsessive about their training.  People have gotten very, very good at rock climbing without really focusing on symmetrical bouldering.

The symmetry thing does seem like a total gimmick. Classic example of inventing and solving a non-problem.

Are/were all the training obsessed climbers without tensions walking around with arms and lats which look like hermit crabs? Is outdoor climbing symmetric?

You'd have to be climbing a very oddly curated selection of indoor routes/boulders/moonboards in order to not basically be getting balanced climbing without even trying to.