Reviews You Can Rely On

Friction Labs Gorilla Grip Review

Friction Labs obviously goes the extra mile to ensure a consistent and quality product
gearlab tested logo
Friction Labs Gorilla Grip Review
Credit: REI Co-op
Price:  $25 List
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Manufacturer:   Friction Labs
By Matt Bento ⋅ Review Editor  ⋅  Mar 29, 2019
75
OVERALL
SCORE


RANKED
#6 of 10
  • Friction & Overall Feel - 25% 9.0
  • Coverage - 25% 8.0
  • Mess - 25% 8.0
  • Value - 25% 5.0

Our Verdict

Friction Labs Gorilla Grip is good stuff, providing an additive free, consistently textured product. It's hands down the most expensive brand of chalk we tested. We've all seen Friction Labs' ubiquitous marketing campaigns with athletes from every tear of the sport hawking this magic white dust in return for free chalk. We've seen the #chalkmatters all over our insta-feeds and the shiny packages that made us think our local gear shop has started selling coffee. Our most frugal testers approached this chalk with raised eyebrows of skepticism and came away confirming a touch of truth to the adage “you get what you pay for.” In the case of Gorilla Grip, that's a bag of marble-sized chalk chunks that give a uniform crunchy feel in your chalk bag with very little variation from package to package.
REASONS TO BUY
Consistent texture bag after bag
Great friction
REASONS TO AVOID
Expensive
If you don't want to pay top dollar for chalk then Black Diamond White Gold is the closest product in our review regarding texture but lacks the consistency of the Gorilla Grip. A bag of White Gold will have a more seemingly random assortment of chunks and dust.

Compare to Similar Products

 
Awards  Editors' Choice Award
Best Overall Climbing Chalk
Top Pick Award
Fine Cut Chalk in a Great Container
Top Pick Award
Best Liquid Climbing Chalk
Best Buy Award
Best Bang for the Buck
Price $25 List
$10.00 at REI
Check Price at REI
Compare at 2 sellers
$15.00 List
$14.95 at Amazon
$9.95 at REI
Compare at 2 sellers
$14.00 List
$13.95 at REI
Overall Score Sort Icon
75
80
80
78
75
Star Rating
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Bottom Line Consistently crunchy and provides great friction, for a high priceWidely available and reasonably priced, this chalk takes the taco in our competitionWe love the solid reusable container and the solid value of this chalkSimilar performance to Secret Stuff at a lower priceA good choice if you like to use loads of chalk
Rating Categories Friction Labs Goril... Black Diamond White... Trango Gunpowder Mammut Liquid Chalk Metolius Super Chalk
Friction & Overall Feel (25%)
9.0
8.0
7.0
8.0
6.0
Coverage (25%)
8.0
8.0
8.0
9.0
8.0
Mess (25%)
8.0
7.0
9.0
9.0
6.0
Value (25%)
5.0
9.0
8.0
5.0
10.0
Specs Friction Labs Goril... Black Diamond White... Trango Gunpowder Mammut Liquid Chalk Metolius Super Chalk
Resealable Packaging? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Price Per oz $2.50/oz $1.84/oz $1.13/oz $1.94/oz $0.80/oz
Type Loose Loose Loose Liquid Loose
Drying Additive No No No No Yes
Texture Chunky to fine Chunky to fine Fine Liquid Fine

Our Analysis and Test Results

Performance Comparison


friction labs gorilla grip - there's chalk in there, not coffee. friction labs offer its chalk in...
There's chalk in there, not coffee. Friction labs offer its chalk in three textures, fine, chunky, and super chunky. We opted to test the chunky flavor.
Credit: Matt Bento

Friction & Overall Feel


Straight from the packaging and in hand, Gorilla Grip feels harder, crunchier and less powdery than the competition. On the plus side, chalk that chunky and less fine doesn't cake up on your hands or on the climbing holds like the chalk in the bottom of your bag that been there since last spring and has been ground down to moon dust. On the other hand, you'll need to grope around in your chalk bag a bit more to get as much chalk on your hands. It really depends on your preference, but considering Friction Labs sells chalk in three different texture varieties, you can bet that if you want crunchy chalk with a medium chunk, that's what you'll get every time with Gorilla Grip.

friction labs gorilla grip - consistency is what you're paying for with this chalk. each bag...
Consistency is what you're paying for with this chalk. Each bag contains mostly uniform marble-sized chunks
Credit: Matt Bento

Coverage


As mentioned previously, this chalk doesn't cake up on your hands as much as chalk of a finer texture. In cool, dry conditions we felt like Gorilla Grip is the perfect texture, giving us that confidence inspiring crispy feel on the rock. In more humid conditions, we actually preferred it when more chalk caked up on our hands. In our blind testing on the hangboard, there was slightly less chalk left on our testers' hands after three reps on the slopers than chalk with a finer texture like BD White Gold or a grounded down block of Frank Endo Chalk. Compared to the chalk balls we tested, loose gorilla grip provided much more coverage. Check out the before and after photos below that show how much chalk is left after three 20-second hangs on sloper holds.

Here's what you can expect from a tablespoon of this chalk. Pretty...
Here's what you can expect from a tablespoon of this chalk. Pretty good coverage.

Mess


Friction Labs uses some fancy packaging for its chalk, which has us wondering how much that contributes to the overall price. The packaging resembles a bag of coffee and is resealable in the same way- just roll it up and fold over the wire tabs. The mouth of the bag is conveniently small so it's easy to dump whatever amount you desire straight into your chalk bag. Since this is loose chalk, spillage and dust will be an issue, especially if most of your climbing is done indoors. Chunkier chalks don't pass through the cloth of a chalk ball as well as finer chalk, so you'll want to grind down your Gorilla Grip a bit before you put it in a refillable chalk ball, or you could purchase a bag of Friction Labs Unicorn Dust, the finest-textured chalk they sell.

friction labs gorilla grip - turns out the resealable coffee bag is a great delivery system. we...
Turns out the resealable coffee bag is a great delivery system. We could easily get the chalk in the bag without spilling it on the ground.
Credit: Matt Bento

Value


Friction Labs is the most expensive chalk in our review. You pay for consistency and a promise of additive free chalk (and maybe shiny packaging). If you buy into the whole #chalkmatters thing, you'll appreciate that you get the same thing every time. Our testers ranged from boulderers who swear by this stuff to a big wall free climber who said she couldn't tell one chalk from the next and would use whatever she could get for free. If you're on a tight budget, Metolius Super Chalk is the most chalk you'll get for your hard-earned dollar.

Conclusion


Friction Labs Gorilla Grip led to some of the most serious discussions about chalk we've ever had.

friction labs gorilla grip - we debated endlessly about whether or not this chalk was worth the...
We debated endlessly about whether or not this chalk was worth the price, but we agreed that when the stakes are high, we never want to do without a bag of our favorite chalk.
Credit: Matt Bento

Matt Bento