Mammut Liquid Chalk Review
Cons: Unusable if you have cuts and abrasions on your hands
Manufacturer: Mammut
Our Verdict
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 This Product
Mammut Liquid Chalk | |||||
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| Awards |  |  |  | | |
| Price | $12.95 at Backcountry | Check Price at REI Compare at 3 sellers | Check Price at Backcountry Compare at 2 sellers | $6.50 at Amazon | $3.95 at Backcountry Compare at 2 sellers |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Pros | Excellent value, good friction and coverage | Widely available, good texture and friction, nice price | Coats hands well, least expensive "climbing specific" chalk | Very porous cloth, decent coverage for a chalk ball | Refillable, nearly mess-free, inexpensive |
| Cons | Unusable if you have cuts and abrasions on your hands | Easy to spill, creates a lot of dust | Low friction, doesn't last as long as other chalks | Still allows a lot of chalk dust into the air | Poor coverage |
| Bottom Line | This liquid chalk lets you apply a solid base layer of chalk on your hands without creating a cloud of dust | This magnesium carbonite keeps your hands dry without costing an arm and a leg | This chalk is the most cost effective way to keep your hands dry | This is the chalk ball for people who don't like using chalk balls, but have to because their gym makes them | A great way to keep chalk in your chalk bag out of the air of your busy climbing gym |
| Rating Categories | Mammut Liquid Chalk | Black Diamond White... | Metolius Super Chalk | Refillable Chalk Shot | Metolius Super Chal... |
| Friction & Overall Feel (25%) | |||||
| Coverage (25%) | |||||
| Mess (25%) | |||||
| Value (25%) | |||||
| Specs | Mammut Liquid Chalk | Black Diamond White... | Metolius Super Chalk | Refillable Chalk Shot | Metolius Super Chal... |
| Resealable Packaging? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Price Per oz | $1.94/oz | $1.03/oz | $0.80/oz | $4.95 per ball | $4.50 per ball |
| Type | Liquid | Loose | Loose | Refillable Ball | Refillable Ball |
| Drying Additive | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
Our Analysis and Test Results
There are some textural differences between Mammut Liquid Chalk and Friction Labs Secret Stuff, but whether or not one performs better than the other continues to be debated among our testers. One thing is for sure, Mammut liquid Chalk is a much better value at about 9 cents per milliliter, versus 25 cents/ml for the Secret Stuff.
Performance Comparison
Friction & Overall Feel
After squeezing a teaspoon of this stuff on your hands, the strong scent of rubbing alcohol will have you smelling like the doctor's office. Don't be alarmed, it dries in under a minute, and your hands will turn completely white with chalk coating every nook and cranny of your hands. Compared to Friction Labs Secret Stuff, Mammut Liquid Chalk has a slightly more granular feel.
With our blind testing, our testers did not observe a difference in performance. One of our testers applied some liquid chalk after several days of bouldering, and she reported stinging pain on the thin tips of her fingers and a cut on her palm. Never use liquid chalk if you have cracks or cuts on your hands, as per the warning label on the bottle.
Coverage
A hefty dollop of liquid chalk will provide more comprehensive coverage than any other chalk delivery method aside from dipping your hands in a bag of very fine loose chalk, without any dust or mess. It's best to use as a base layer at the beginning of your climbing session since you're not going to want to wait for it to dry over and over again.
The base layer of liquid chalk helps whatever loose chalk you're using adhere to your hands better, and so potentially, you won't have to chalk up as much. Certainly advantageous for folks climbing at their absolute limit.
Mess
In both our experiences and in a study we read, using liquid chalk is the best method for reducing particulates in the air of your climbing gym. A combo of a liquid chalk base layer with a Metolius Super Chalk Sock is a good compromise for keeping your hands dry and sticky without leaving behind a cloud of dust. Liquid chalk avoids the pitfalls of loose chalk since you won't accidentally dump it out of your chalk bag.
Value
Mammut Liquid Chalk is a far better value than the Friction Labs Secret Stuff and our testers experienced little difference in performance. Friction Labs suggests you'll get about 100 uses out of a 75ml tube, so a 200ml tube of Mammut Liquid Chalk should give you 266+ uses. If you are super particular about your chalk, you can try the Friction Labs out on the cheap, since they sell Secret Stuff in $1 single-serve packets.
Conclusion
Liquid chalk is a great tool for keeping your hands extra dry in humid conditions or the gym when you don't want to create a lot of dust. Are all the pros using liquid chalk? Nope. Will 9-year olds at the gym still climb harder than you if your hands are covered in a thin layer of dazzling white? Definitely. Can a little extra friction give you the confidence to try your hardest, get deep in the zone, and send your project? Our testers say "Yes!"
— Matt Bento