5 Things To Do With Your Pad When It Finally Dies
Retired from catching falls does not mean useless.
When foam loses its spring or the shell gives up, your pad can still support your climbing in smarter (and better) ways than landfill. Here are five options that climbers actually use.
1) Keep It as a Backup Pad for Roadside Blocs
Close-to-car crags do not demand perfect foam. An old pad can still:
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Fill holes and level sketchy landings
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Cover edges beneath the main pad
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Add extra foam in 'unlikely to fall' zones
Highball? No. Extra insurance? Absolutely.
2) Slide It Under Your Home Wall
Most garage and cellar boards do not have big falls. A retired pad becomes:
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Impact protection for low-level training
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A safer zone for blown foot moves (out to the sides of your main pad)
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Cushioning under a fingerboard for when you fire off
3) Turn It Into Furniture That Has Seen Stuff
Your pad has lived more adventure than any sofa from IKEA.
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Durable dog bed that can take claws and mud
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Durable bench cushion in the van or gear room
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Garage sofa that doesn’t care about chalk and beer
Your home deserves furniture with send history.
4) Upgrade or Repair It Instead of Replacing
The best option on the list - if the foam is tired or the shell has failed, you can often revive it:
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New foam insert into the existing sleeve
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New cover if the materials are past saving
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Repairs to straps, hinges and seams
We support repair over landfill. Visit our Repair Station to extend your pad’s life as long as possible.
5) Strip It Down and Recycle Into New Projects
When your pad truly cannot protect anything anymore, and you choose not to repair (or it is beyond it) - break it down and give the parts a new purpose:
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Foam cut into kneeling mats, or void fills for outdoor bouldering
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Buckles and webbing reused for field repairs, compression straps or DIY craft projects
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Fabric panels repurposed into simple sewn bags or material donations
You get extra utility from material that would otherwise go straight to landfill. That is sustainability done properly.
Keep Pads in the Game
Pads should protect climbers as long as possible. Reuse, repair and repurpose until the absolute end.
If your pads can’t handle the landing, fix that first.
Shop Slaphappy Bouldering Pads
Whilst risk management, experience, and good practice can improve safety, bouldering pads do not guarantee safety.
Read our Safety and Liability Disclaimer for more information.
