CHALK REBELS

Chalk & Skincare for climbers. 1% For The Planet Member. Seawater-based chalk with Upsalite® for maximum grip. Less Chalk. More Grip. Send With Confidence.

[CHALK REBELS @chalk_rebels]

Product Dev. If you're not ashamed of your first prototypes you're doing things wrong. Release early. Release often. Summer 2020. Glued together cardboard prototype ... #buildinpublic #climbing #bal

[CHALK REBELS @chalk_rebels]

Product Dev. Small contributions can make a big difference to your motivation. One of the first things we did for the brand was ordering logo stickers. And it was so nice to see them show up on climber's vans. Even before we had product to sell. #climbing #buildinpublic

[CHALK REBELS @chalk_rebels]

Product Dev. Shot from one of our earliest runs of climber's balm. Probably summer 2020. Our first batch of labels was bad actually, totally unreadable #buildinpublic #climbing #balm #skincare

[CHALK REBELS @chalk_rebels]

Product Dev. This is how messy prototyping gets when you're mixing up your own chalk for prototyping. Summer 2020, still in lockdown. #climbing #buildinpublic

[CHALK REBELS @chalk_rebels]

Product Dev. This silly little green measuring mat has turned out to be so useful in making the chalk rebels products. Here it's being used to measure the dimensions for a P.O.S. display #buildinpublic #climbing

[CHALK REBELS @chalk_rebels]

Product Dev History. Turns out that showing up at a gym with samples & some info on the products works! Sometimes it's just an insta-buy. #sales #buildinpublic

[CHALK REBELS @chalk_rebels]

Product Dev. Sometimes your best product shots come from the community. Another reasons to release early, often & be generous with the samples you send out! Picture is summer 2021... #buildinpublic #climbing #chalk

[CHALK REBELS @chalk_rebels]

Product Dev. Early on in the Chalk Rebels journey I was obsessed with this type of tube. Turns out that they are lined with plastic or made from plastic, that the "green" solutions don't biodegrade well & that your cap is still going to be regular plastic. #buildinpublic

[CHALK REBELS @chalk_rebels]

We're finding a rhythm here. And a theme: chalk, skin & the mind game. Talking of mind game: do you map out the moves on a boulder? Do you draw a mini-topo of the problem? You should!

[CHALK REBELS @chalk_rebels]

One of the first things we tried out at Chalk Rebels was to make liquid without magnesium carbonate We settled on modifying an anti-perspirant. We did many rounds of formulations until we ended up with Crystal Chalk. First samples looked like this #buildinpublic #climbing #chalk

[CHALK REBELS @chalk_rebels]

Q: Is Upsalite® nano-tech? Is it safe? A: While Upsalite® was discovered at a nano-tech lab in Sweden the particles are not small enough to qualify as nano-technology. It’s safe to use & has found applications in medicine, cosmetics & pharmaceuticals #chalk #climbing #upsalite

[CHALK REBELS @chalk_rebels]

Today's thought about chalk: adding more chalk does not create better friction. That's a myth. We know that a thin layer of chalk works best. Too much chalk actually reduces grip. #climbing #friction #chalk #myth

[CHALK REBELS @chalk_rebels]

You really don't need as much chalk as you think you do. Agree? Disagree? Why?

[CHALK REBELS @chalk_rebels]

We think it's important to do more than just create "good enough"products. You need to raise the base line of quality in your industry. Upsalite® is doing that for us. It's the first form of chalk that performs so well we feel comfortable selling it in powder form.

[CHALK REBELS @chalk_rebels]

Product Dev. Cheap-ass P.O.S. display prototyping. Cardboard & duct-tape to the rescue. Spring 2022. #buildinpublic #climbing

[CHALK REBELS @chalk_rebels]

Creating novel products & building a brand means geeking out on a topic (chalk) & diving in so deep that you start joking "I could write a book about this" to your friends. Then you actually do. And end up tweeting nuggets from it here. #climbing #skin #book #whatchagonnado

[CHALK REBELS @chalk_rebels]

Product Dev. We wasted so much time early on designing cardboard boxes for our chalk products. In the end we just started shipping tubes without box at all. Box design printout, probably summer 2020. #buildinpublic #climbing #chalk

[CHALK REBELS @chalk_rebels]

MAGIC CHALK: High-Performance Chalk Powder With Upsalite® ... getting ready to launch ... Product Dev: ahead of schedule ... Launch Communication: behind schedule ... oh well ... let's get this going!

[CHALK REBELS @chalk_rebels]

Product Dev. This is what happens when you have too much time on your hands because of COVID lockdowns. You end up imagining all kinds of products for climbers. Including this ill-fated soap. Summer 2020. We have a lifetime supply of these ... #buildinpublic #climbing

[CHALK REBELS @chalk_rebels]

Product Dev. Made in China vs. Made in EU. In the summer of 2020 we ordered a batch from China and one from Europe. Pic from summer 2020 comparing EU vs. CN. Turns out that manufacturing close to home & keeping control of the formula was the way to do! #climbing #buildinpublic