Compression sleeves with three more advantages

Vertical sleeves are a new interesting product that aims to decrease your pump through compression on your forearms. Similar products has been used by long distance runners. Climbers can also benefit from warming up quicker as the sleeves warm up the muscles in the forearms. They will also make it possible to climb better during winter conditions as the blood going out into your fingers will be warmer. Further more, scrub them in with chalk and you might be able to chalk up on the crux, when there is no time to dip the fingers in your chalk bag. "The compression expands the arteries because the muscles of the arteries relax. The more blood which goes in the muscle will be accelerated by flowing out in direction to the heart by the compression of the venes." This is how the innovator Stefan Hummer explains it and Stefano Ghisolfi who tried them successfully during his recent trip to Red River Gorge, see the picture, says. "They are not magic, you cannot climb a grade harder if you wear them, but they can help. The positive thing is that you can feel the forearm, like Kinesiotape, when you are climbing, and they are very good in cold days." 8a has tried them with mainly positive feedback but they only come in three sizes. The trade off is of course that if you use the biggest size the effect will be minor but if they are to small, they might be counter productive. If you get a bad pump, you should take them off directly. All in all, some climbers will most certainly benefit from them but it is a learning process to get the most out of them. We will come back with more feedback.