Sweat control & grip · Chalk isn't a plan
Hot day, two burns in, and you're greasing off the same hold.
Sweaty hands wreck grip on rock, a bar, a paddle, a mouse, inside a ski glove. We started Rhino because we were tired of chalking up every thirty seconds and still slipping.
0aluminum. Performance and Dry Spray work at the skin, not by plugging it
Night beforeis when it goes on. Hands show up dry in the morning
2formats. Cream if you like cream, spray if you like spray
Redmond, ORmade in our own 100% solar-powered facility
If chalk is your only sweat plan, you're working harder than you need to.
Chalk dries what's already on the surface. It doesn't stop the next wave, so you're back in the bag thirty seconds later and the hold is white and slick. Performance and Dry Spray go on the night before and do their work while you sleep. You wake up with hands that stay dry on their own.
Then chalk goes back to doing its actual job: a thin, clean base for friction, not a bucket you live in.
The fix, start to finish
Months out to the night after. Then you do it again.
Prevention is cheaper than repair, and repair sets up the next round of prevention. The loop looks like this.
- 1Months out
Tip Juice two weeks at a time to dry and firm the tips. Build the night-before habit so it's automatic.
- 2Weeks out
Performance or Dry Spray nightly for a week before a trip or a comp. Sweat control builds over three nights.
- 3Night before
Performance or Dry Spray on clean, dry hands before bed. Nothing in the morning.
- 4During
Chalk thin, brush the holds, Dry Spray before a burn if that's your thing. Keep the bag closed.
- 5After
Wash the chalk off so it stops pulling moisture. Repair if the skin went soft and pruned.
- 6Start again
Nightly through the season. Skip a few nights and the taps open back up.
The routine
3 steps. Pick a size, hit Add, keep reading.
It goes straight to your cart and the page stays put.
01The night before
Step 1
Shut the sweat down before it starts.
Performance is a cream. Dry Spray is the same job in a fast-drying spray. Both go on before bed, no aluminum, and work through the night so your hands are dry when you wake up. Pick the format you'll actually use. Some climbers also hit Dry Spray right before a burn.
02Over time
Step 2
Dry and tough.
Tip Juice dries and firms the tips over a couple of weeks, so sweat has less soft skin to soak into. It's the long game, and it pairs with the night-before routine.
03At the wall
Step 3
Less chalk, more friction.
Impact Chalk lays down a thin, even base instead of a cake. Brush the holds. With dry hands underneath, a little chalk goes a long way and the rock stays cleaner.
Find your way in
Tell us what happens. We'll point.
No score and no wrong answers. Pick what sounds like you, and every answer opens another door: a fix, a page, a longer read.
Sweaty Hands & Grip
The science of sweaty hands
Your palms sweat for a different reason than the rest of you.
Most of your body sweats to cool down. Your palms and the soles of your feet sweat for grip and for fear. They carry the densest eccrine glands on the body, hundreds per square centimeter, and they're wired to the sympathetic nervous system, which is why your hands run when you're nervous and barely notice when you're hot. A little moisture actually improves grip on smooth surfaces, which is the evolutionary point. A lot of it, on rock, is a disaster.
That's why chalk is a half-measure. Magnesium carbonate absorbs what's already on the surface, then saturates, then turns into a slick paste on a polished hold. John Gill brought it to bouldering from gymnastics in the 1950s and it changed the sport, but it never stopped the sweat. It just mopped it.
Antiperspirants do stop it, by plugging the duct with aluminum salts. The first one was sold in 1903. Rhino's approach is different: Performance and Dry Spray work at the skin to reduce how much comes out, with no aluminum, and they need hours to do it. Which is why the night before matters and the morning of doesn't.
1903The first commercial antiperspirant. Aluminum chloride
1950sJohn Gill introduces gymnastics chalk to bouldering
1980sLiquid chalk appears. Alcohol plus chalk, same half-measure
2010sAluminum-free, night-before sweat control for climbers
Night beforePerformance or Dry Spray. Hands show up dry
3 nightsSweat control builds. The third night is when it clicks
Why it happens
Three ways it goes wrong. Three fixes.
Heat opens the taps.
Warm rock, a hot gym, a humid day, and your palms start running before you've touched the first hold.
Fix: Performance or Dry Spray the night before →Nerves do too.
The crux you've been punting on makes your hands sweat more than the warm-up ever did. Pre-game sweat is real.
Fix: some climbers hit Dry Spray before the burn →Chalk buildup is slick.
Caked chalk on a polished hold is slicker than the rock. More chalk makes it worse.
Fix: brush the hold, use less →
What dry hands feel like on a hot day.
You chalk up at the start of the problem and don't think about it again. The hold you keep greasing off at the second clip stays a hold. Your tips stay firm instead of going soft and sliding, because wet skin is weak skin.
The rock stays cleaner too, which matters more every year. Less chalk means less white on the holds, fewer caked-up classics, and rangers who are happier to see climbers.
Build the kitThe kit
Bottle by bottle.
What each one does, when it goes on, and a button that puts it in your cart.
The night beforePerformance
Aluminum-free cream that soaks in overnight. Dry hands that still feel like your own.
$8.95The night before, spray versionDry Spray
Same routine, dries in seconds. Plenty of climbers hit it right before a burn too.
$8.95The whole systemSweat Block Bundle$56.85$49.95
Performance and Dry Spray at a bundle price. Run both if you chalk up every move.
Field notes
Things we learned the hard way.
1
Night before, not morning of
Both products need hours to work. Apply before bed, not in the car.
2
Wash your hands first
Chalk and grime block absorption. Clean, dry hands, then product.
3
Brush more, chalk less
Chalk on a hold is only friction when it's thin. Caked chalk slides.
4
Give it three nights
Sweat control builds. By the third night you'll notice the difference.
Made inRedmond, Oregon, in our own facility
Powered by100% on-site solar
Formulated bya pharmacist, built by a chef
Plant basedNo parabens, phthalates, or BPA
Tested byclimbers, riders, fighters, and working hands
Sweaty Hands & GripBuild the kit
The Rhino Deep Dive
Want the long version?
What is in each bottle, what it does, and when to reach for it. Ingredient by ingredient, sport by sport, in one book you can flip through.