Friction Labs Secret Stuff Review
Our Verdict
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Friction Labs Secret Stuff | |||||
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Awards | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
Price | $19.00 List $19.00 at REI | $15.00 List Check Price at REI | $15.00 List $5.25 at Amazon | $10.00 at Amazon Compare at 2 sellers | $14.00 List $13.95 at REI |
Overall Score ![]() |
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Star Rating | |||||
Pros | Great Coverage, Excellent friction, almost no dust | Widely available, good texture and friction, nice price | Awesome resealable packaging, easy to dump in the chalk bag, good value, consistent texture | Excellent value, good friction and coverage | Coats hands well, least expensive "climbing specific" chalk |
Cons | Not a great value | Easy to spill, creates a lot of dust | No hard chunks for making tick marks | Unusable if you have cuts and abrasions on your hands | Low friction, doesn't last as long as other chalks |
Bottom Line | When you need all the friction you can get, this chalk cream delivers | This magnesium carbonite keeps your hands dry without costing an arm and a leg | We love the solid reusable container and the solid value of this chalk | This liquid chalk lets you apply a solid base layer of chalk on your hands without creating a cloud of dust | This chalk is the most cost effective way to keep your hands dry |
Rating Categories | Friction Labs Secre... | Black Diamond White... | Trango Gunpowder | Mammut Liquid Chalk | Metolius Super Chalk |
Friction & Overall Feel (25%) | |||||
Coverage (25%) | |||||
Mess (25%) | |||||
Value (25%) | |||||
Specs | Friction Labs Secre... | Black Diamond White... | Trango Gunpowder | Mammut Liquid Chalk | Metolius Super Chalk |
Resealable Packaging? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Price Per oz | $7.60/oz | $1.84/oz | $1.13/oz | $1.94/oz | $0.80/oz |
Type | Liquid | Loose | Loose | Liquid | Loose |
Drying Additive | No | No | No | No | Yes |
Texture | Liquid | Chunky to fine | Fine | Liquid | Fine |
Our Analysis and Test Results
While there are some subtle differences in texture between the liquid chalks we tested, we didn't experience a noticeable difference in performance. It's worth noting that liquid chalk creates the least amount of dust in the air, so if you are sensitive to particulates in the air and you train in a small home set up, liquid chalk may be your best option. It creates substantially less dust than loose chalk and chalk balls.
Performance Comparison
Friction & Overall Feel
Straight out of the tube, Secret Stuff has a finer, creamier feel that Mammut liquid chalk. Think lotion, where Mammut feels like frosting. This is in part from whatever chalk-to-alcohol ratio Friction Labs uses in their mix, and also from the fact that they use a finer textured chalk than the Mammut. Does this make Secret Stuff a better performer? Well…The majority of our testers didn't notice one liquid chalk having any advantages over another until they looked at the price. In short, once the Secret Stuff dries, its texture is closer to powder, and the Mammut Liquid Chalk is more granular.
Coverage
After rubbing your hands together and letting the Secret Stuff dry, you'll find yourself with a thin, even layer of chalk covering your palms and fingers. The alcohol mixture allows you to rub the chalk in deep, so it sticks to your hands better than when you dip into a bag of loose chalk. Most aficionados of liquid chalk aren't re-applying liquid chalk every time they need do chalk up since each time you have to wait for it to dry. More practical is to apply it as a base at the beginning of your session, and then maybe re-up again later in the day.
Mess
Liquid chalk makes for a pretty tidy operation, as it creates very little dust. If it gets into your clothes or carpet, it's harder get out than loose chalk, but as long as you give it time to dry, it's overall the cleanest way to get chalk on your hands. Folks who can't be bothered to wait for the liquid chalk to dry (read: children) should not use this product.
Value
A 75-ml bottle of Secret Stuff costs $19, where a 200-ml tube of Mammut Liquid Chalk is $12.95. No competition here in terms of value. The frugal climber should choose the Mammut variety, and honestly, we didn't experience much of a difference in performance between the two.
Conclusion
A tube of Friction Labs Secret Stuff is a handy tool to have around for humid conditions or if you have especially greasy mitts. Keep in mind that the combo of evaporating alcohol and fine chalk powder is an extremely effective drying agent, so folks with dry, cracked hands need not apply.
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