Chalk - you've got to be kidding me...

[Dru]

Next you will be telling me you can get aids from chalk.

 

Well, chalk IS aid

[choss_crawler]

I did some research on it in grad school, the worst its going to do is irritate your nose and throat. It is not toxic in any way. If anybody wants more technical bullshit supporting this, too bad. Actually, if you are really interested, let me know.

[catbirdseat]

The reason chalk is not harmful is because it is just calcium carbonate. It is soluble in dilute acid and weakly soluble in water. Any particles that are not carried out of the lungs with mucous eventually dissolve.

[RuMR]

...but what does it do to the strength of knots???

[catbirdseat]

...but what does it do to the strength of knots???

You use chalk, don't you, RuMR? Don't get it on your tie-in knot. It will cause it to automatically untie and you will die.

[RuMR]

Thanks!!

[chelle]

I did some research on it in grad school, the worst its going to do is irritate your nose and throat. It is not toxic in any way. If anybody wants more technical bullshit supporting this, too bad. Actually, if you are really interested, let me know.

 

Maybe this is "true" based on your research, but I have asthma and chalk and dust from the pea gravel at Stone Gardens has triggered an attack more than once. And was a major reason I stopped climbing at the gym.

 

I have certainly wondered about chalk in gyms... breathing it that is. Aren't some substances harmful to your lungs due to their shape, not their chemical composition?

 

If by shape you mean on the molecular scale, then yes. But then you say not chemical composition so lets leave the molecular scale. Above molecular scale,in lung toxicology the size and mass of inhaled particles is important. For diameters much above 2 microns the particles tend to slam into the airway walls when the path to the alveolus makes angles. They get stuck in the mucous and cilia transport it all back up to the throat where you hork it down or out. For diameters below 2 microns the particles follow the airflow gracefully to the alveoli but there they just get absorbed into the cells and disposed of like other junk. 2 microns is supposed to be a bad size, but I don't remember why, only that a toxicologist told me that long ago. And now I finally got to sound technikal. Sorry I couldn't answer your question, though. I imagine little ninja death star sharp-edged shapes could be bad.

 

There was a very interesting article about particle size in a recent Harvard Magazine (April or May issue). Both particle diameter and length are an issue. The problem with asbestos and other micro fiber shaped particles is that the macrophages in your alveoli wrap around them but can't fully engulf them. They end up looking like a bagel dog with the hot dog sticking out the ends. When the macrophage secretes digestive chemicals to absorb the particle, they leak out the ends. This leakage is what causes damage to the lungs over time and what they believe causes asbestos related cancer.

Edited August 3, 2005 by chelle

[Knottygirl]

Damn, I'm one of those nervous chalkers....I also have extreamly sweaty, clamy hand...grose I know! I'm working on my chalk addiction.

[billcoe]

Damn, I'm one of those nervous chalkers....I also have extreamly sweaty, clamy hand...grose I know! I'm working on my chalk addiction.

 

You could do what I did last night. Leave mine at home and just borrow yours when I grease off at the crux cause my finger slipped out of the crack.

 

I've found it's cheaper too!

 

No, seriously, nice climbing with you last night Bri, and thanks for the chalk.

 

Nice thread-revival effort too.

[LUCKY]

If you grease up the holds on climbs I am about to do expect me to go off, grabing that sloper that has just been greased by some wet handed sun cream top roper just sends me into a frenzy .

Before I climb on popular routes or at the local crag or jym I clean my hands with a WETONE cloth to remove grease the chaulk works better and I don't leave oils or body fluids for other climbers to deal with, in the alpine, dirt and fir pitch on the approach seems to work well.

I do remove all tick marks...that $#!t's for the jym and mother nature removes unused chaulk.

[gavastik]

Sure, I'm a psychological chalker. Solution: don't actually put any chalk in your bag, just dip into an (empty or mostly empty) bag to cure nervousness. Works for me. Er... sometimes.

[billcoe]

You're Lucky

[flyingpig]

i remember when there was a bolt war at beacon. now there is chalk war.you guys better call the U.N., go to beacon and destroy all chalking vessels of mass destuction.

[flyingpig]

perhaps we should all be grateful that we have beacon rock. sniveling about chalk use is somewhat absurd. i am a chalk feind. but it never seemed to help when i was climbing it in the rain.and down came the rain, and washed the chalk marks out. the itsy bitsy chalk marks climbed up the route again.

[flyingpig]

keep talking about beacon. it will be taken away from you. just ask opdyke.

[JosephH]

Seriously, there's nothing about what you're saying here you can't rightly say as kevbone. And I'm not a completely insensitive luddite, I know just how desperate those first seven moves on the SE Corner are...

[flyingpig]

i remember climbing with the falcons, before the closure. the falcons paid no attention if you were cool. then some daryl got approached oneday by our feathered freinds, and went crying to the ranger.that was the start of the closure.our activity got replaced by a bunch of bird watchers(the audoban society) which is a bunch of blue hairs with binos and a strong lobby. next you will have some environmentalist proving that chalk stunts the growth of lichen. you guys dont get it. keep you stupid ass arguments on the rock. i am seeing a relation between chalk, bolts, falcons, etc. please keep your battles to the land of the little poeple. the access fund doesn't need another battle that they can't win. money and cops win. i have never met a real climber with scoot, or a badge. please be private with beacon, beacause is a special place. without beacon, portland is a lame climbing town.

[flyingpig]

i can pull those moves with tick marks

[flyingpig]

who's kevbone anyway

[JosephH]

Well, Kevin, I didn't ressurrect this thread now did I...

[flyingpig]

who's kevin?

[JosephH]

Who's not Kevin? Or do you also like to not talk about Beacon on the Internet by talking about Beacon on the Internet...

[catbirdseat]

Damn, I'm one of those nervous chalkers....I also have extreamly sweaty, clamy hand...grose I know! I'm working on my chalk addiction.

There is always Botox for hyperhidrosis of the hands.

[flyingpig]

the flying pig did not direct statements to joeH. that was just the first entry.

[richard_noggin]

i remember climbing with the falcons, before the closure. the falcons paid no attention if you were cool. then some daryl got approached oneday by our feathered freinds, and went crying to the ranger.that was the start of the closure.our activity got replaced by a bunch of bird watchers(the audoban society) which is a bunch of blue hairs with binos and a strong lobby. next you will have some environmentalist proving that chalk stunts the growth of lichen. you guys dont get it. keep you stupid ass arguments on the rock. i am seeing a relation between chalk, bolts, falcons, etc. please keep your battles to the land of the little poeple. the access fund doesn't need another battle that they can't win. money and cops win. i have never met a real climber with scoot, or a badge. please be private with beacon, beacause is a special place. without beacon, portland is a lame climbing town.

 

Dude you hit the nail on the head...the shoot yourself in the foot mentality of your fellow climbers....

the god squad/rock cops need to STFU, it's ok to talk ethics one on one but not in public forums, go cry to your mom not to land managers