Crack Climbing Hand Care: Gobies, Tape and Splitters
Crack climbing · Skin is gear

Hand jams cost skin. The backs of your hands pay first.

Splitter cracks grind the knuckles, the thumb web and the back of the hand on every jam. Tape gloves help. They don't stop the gobies. Here is how crack climbers keep the backs of their hands intact through a week of splitters.

Pack the rack Find your way in
Alex JohnsonMichaela KierschKatie McKinstry StylosFanny GibertEthan Salvo
6 on the crew · see who
Skin is gear
Why jamming eats skin

The crack holds you by the back of the hand.

Face climbing loads the fingertips. Crack climbing loads everything else: the knuckles, the thumb web, the outside of the palm and the back of the hand, twisted against rock that does not give. Sandstone splitters are sharp at the edges and gritty inside, granite cracks are crystalline and rough, and both take a little skin with every jam.

Tape gloves cover the worst of it and leave the gaps. The routine that keeps a trip going is the same every night: wash the grit out, close the gobies so they don't reopen tomorrow, and put water back into the backs of the hands so the skin bends instead of splitting. Rhino came out of a climbing town. The crack crew had the ugliest hands in it.

The crack scale

Every size takes skin from somewhere different.

Where each width bites, and what goes on that night.

  1. Fingers0.5 to 1 in
    The first knuckle and the sides of the fingers.

    Fingerlocks twist skin around the joint. Tape the first knuckle, then Split on anything that opened before bed.

    SplitRhinos' Own Adhesive tape
  2. Thin hands1 to 1.5 in
    The thumb web and the backs of the knuckles.

    The cupped, painful size. Gobies show up across the knuckles. Repair every night keeps them from turning into splits.

    RepairSplit
  3. Hands1.5 to 2.5 in
    The back of the hand, where the glove ends.

    Perfect jams still grind the edge of the tape glove into skin. Clean it, then Split+ whipped balm on anything raw.

    Split+Cleanse
  4. Fists2.5 to 3.5 in
    The outside of the palm and the knuckles.

    Fist jams load the knuckles directly. Massage Cream on the forearms and hands at camp, Repair on the knuckles.

    Massage CreamRepair
  5. Offwidth4 in and up
    Everything. Knees, elbows, ankles, shoulders.

    Skin goes where clothing doesn't. Split+ on the abrasions, Massage Cream on everything else, a rest day if you're honest.

    Split+Massage CreamRAD Roller - Helix
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.

The pack

What rides on the harness.

Travel sizes in the chalk bag. Full sizes and the tape stay at the truck.

Power Company Performance Kit
All of it, one boxPower Company Performance Kit

Toughen, grip, close, recover. One box for a crack trip.

The whole routinePower Company Performance Kit$66.75$56.95
10 items · pick a size, hit Add
Tape gloves, every dayRhinos' Own Adhesive tape$3.95
Gobies at the belaySplit$4.95
Whipped balm, raw backs of handsSplit+$8.95
Every night at campRepair$8.95
Grit out of the cutsCleanse$9.00
The night beforePerformance$8.95
Thin and evenImpact Chalk$19.95
Forearms and handsMassage Cream$8.95
On the belayAcupressure Massage Ring$5.00
The one that won't closeSuper glue$2.00
The crew

The people who test this in cracks.

Desert splitter regulars, Yosemite crack climbers, offwidth masochists. They tell us what the cracks did to their hands.

Alex Johnson
Alex JohnsonBouldering, Rhino athlete
Michaela Kiersch
Michaela KierschSport, Rhino athlete
Katie McKinstry Stylos
Katie McKinstry StylosIce and mixed, Rhino athlete
Fanny Gibert
Fanny GibertCompetition, Rhino athlete
Ethan Salvo
Ethan SalvoRhino athlete
Anak Verhoeven
Anak VerhoevenSport, Rhino athlete
Seen in the crack

Show us the gobies.

Taped hands, the splitter, the rack at the base. This wall is yours.

Bouldering@rhinoskinsolutionsSkin abuse@rhinoskinsolutionsSkin after a hard day@rhinoskinsolutionsChalked climber's hands — skin care tips from the Rhino Skin Solutions blog.@rhinoskinsolutionsClimber Anak pulling through a roof section — Rhino Skin Solutions athlete.@rhinoskinsolutionsClimber Selena bouldering in Hueco Tanks — Rhino Skin Solutions athlete community.@rhinoskinsolutionsClimber on Chacal — sport climbing action photo from the Rhino blog.@rhinoskinsolutionsClimber caring for worn skin at the crag — Rhino blog skin tips.@rhinoskinsolutionsClimbing in the Lofoten Islands, Norway — granite walls above the sea.@rhinoskinsolutionsBouldering in Hueco Tanks — Rhino Skin Solutions blog photo.@rhinoskinsolutionsClimber on Kachoong, the classic roof route at Mount Arapiles, Australia.@rhinoskinsolutionsTag us
#SkinIsGear

Post it, tag @rhinoskinsolutions and #SkinIsGear. We pull the best ones onto this wall every week.

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