In the climbing community, new climbers often wonder: “With a limited budget, should I buy good shoes first or a safety harness?” Yet few ever add a climbing brush to their “must-buy list.” However, every seasoned climber knows that compared to those visible “big-ticket gears,” the seemingly unremarkable climbing brush is the key to determining your climbing safety, experience, and even performance—it is not a dispensable “auxiliary tool,” but a “core gear” that every climber should prioritize. Today, we will explore just how important a climbing brush is for climbers from three perspectives.
First, a climbing brush is the “last line of defense” for safety, helping you avoid 90% of slipping risks
For climbers, “friction” is synonymous with safety. Whether it’s the holds you grip with your hands and feet or the edges of the rock wall where you place your feet, insufficient friction can lead to slipping. And impurities on the rock wall are the “number one enemy” of friction: in indoor climbing gyms, sweat and hand oil left by previous climbers form an invisible “slippery film” on the surface of holds; on outdoor rock walls, dust accumulated from wind and rain, damp soil in crevices, and even withered moss can drastically reduce the friction coefficient of holds.
A professional study shows that when a hold is covered with just 0.1 grams of dust, the friction between climbing shoes and the hold decreases by 30%; if there is residual sweat or oil, the friction can plummet by more than 50%. What does this mean? A hold you could easily stand on might suddenly become a “trap” due to a thin layer of dust—especially at heights above 3 meters, even a 0.5-second slip could cause you to lose balance, resulting in minor scrapes at best or a fall at worst.
The purpose of a climbing brush is to eliminate these “invisible threats.” Whether you use a nylon brush to sweep away surface dust from holds or a wire brush to clean stubborn impurities in crevices, it restores the rock wall’s original rough texture and brings friction back to a safe level. As Lao Zheng, an outdoor climbing expert, put it: “Last time I climbed the 5.12a route in Helan Mountain, a key handhold was covered in mud. After cleaning it with a brush, I could clearly feel more stability when gripping it—without the brush, I would have probably slipped off right then.”
Every climber has had this experience: clearly having the skills to keep up, yet repeatedly failing at the same hold and eventually giving up in frustration. More often than not, it’s not that you “lack ability,” but that impurities on the rock wall are causing you to “underperform.”
During indoor climbing, if a hold has oil residue, your fingers will feel like they’re pressing on “soap”—even with the correct grip posture, you’ll always feel “unable to exert force”; outdoor climbing is even worse: soil in crevices prevents your toes from fitting stably, turning a movement that should be a “solid step and push” into a “tentative tiptoe”—this sense of “powerlessness” gradually erodes your confidence and may even make you doubt your skills.
With a climbing brush, however, everything changes. A cleaned hold lets you clearly feel the “fit” between your hands/feet and the rock wall: when gripping with your fingers, you can feel the texture of the hold, allowing for more precise force application; when stepping with your toes, you don’t have to worry about slipping and can boldy exert strength. Xiao Lin, a new climber from Guangzhou, shared her transformation: “I used to keep falling at the third hold when climbing the V3 route. Then my coach told me to clean it with a brush first—and I made it in one go! It turns out I wasn’t unable to climb it; the hold was just too slippery.” For climbers, the experience of “being able to perform at your true skill level” is the real joy of climbing—and a climbing brush is the key to reclaiming that joy.
Some might say: “I can make do without a brush as long as I climb carefully.” But what you don’t realize is that impurities on rock walls not only affect you—they also damage your gear and the rock walls themselves.
Let’s start with gear: the rubber sole of climbing shoes relies on “adhering to the rock’s texture” to generate friction. If there are sand grains or small stones on a hold, these impurities will act like “sandpaper” and wear down the sole when you exert force—a good pair of climbing shoes can last 6-8 months with normal use, but if you frequently climb on impure rock walls, their lifespan may be shortened to just 3 months. Using a climbing brush to clean impurities in advance reduces sole wear, saving you a significant amount of money on gear replacements.
Now, let’s talk about rock walls: many new climbers, in an attempt to “grip holds firmly,” will aggressively pick at impure crevices or rub the holds repeatedly with their shoe soles—these actions damage the rock wall’s original structure: the plastic surface of indoor holds may get scratched, and holds on outdoor limestone may even crack. A climbing brush gently removes impurities, preventing you from harming the rock wall due to “obstacles from impurities.” As the manager of an indoor climbing gym explained: “Holds that are regularly cleaned with a brush are not only safer but also last 2-3 years longer than uncleaned ones—protecting rock walls is essentially protecting our climbing venues.”
By now, you should understand: a climbing brush is not a “dispensable small tool,” but a “critical gear” related to your safety, experience, and gear lifespan. Unlike climbing shoes that make you “feel more support underfoot immediately” or a safety harness that provides “visible protection,” a climbing brush works behind the scenes to clear obstacles, making every climb safer and smoother.
For those who truly love climbing, valuing every gear that improves climbing quality is a sign of respect for the sport. Stop treating climbing brushes as “optional”—from now on, put one in your climbing bag. Next time you stand in front of a rock wall, pick up the brush to clean the holds first, and you’ll find that the route that once frustrated you has suddenly become “manageable.”