WideBoyz film review

If you like offwidth, be sure to check out the WideBoyz movie.  It will make a great X-Mas gift.

Available here:  http://hotaches.com/shop/wide-boyz/

Here is a link to my review on our sister site WideFetish.com

http://widefetish.com/simplemachinesforum/index.php?topic=764.0

Order NOW for Xmas 2012 Delivery

Start thinking about getting your Christmas orders into us as soon as you can.  If you want a Portaledge under the tree this year, the order should be in here around the 1st of December to ensure delivery by the 25th.  And remember, after Christmas we usually scale back all things FISH until Spring.  Orders can still come in, and we will be shipping stuff out, but response time can get slow.  Plan accordingly.

El Capitan film restoration

Only a few more days left to pledge money to get this project done!

See the link below for all the info and a big thanks to all that have already helped out with a KickStarter pledge.

http://fishproductsblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/el-capitan-film-restoration-via.html

Old Ads

Back in the olde days, we used to run advertising on some online sites and in the print mags.  Some of those ads were pretty funny, odd, outrageous and occasionally pot-stirring.  I'm going to start putting them up here on the blog for posterity.

We'll start with "Romero".  I think the first Romero ad ran in either Rock and Ice or Climbing, or both.  I'll try to narrow the year down, but it was right around 1993 or so.  The line was pulled from the Heminway novel, The Sun Also Rises.  The ad was conceived and published by Chris Persinger, the in-house ad guy, seamstress, and bar tender at FISH Products at the time.

The banner ads below were all put up on RockClimbing.com when it first got going.  The infancy of the web made stuff like this very affordable since nobody really even knew how many people were viewing pages or actually clicking on ads.

Haul Bag shoulder strap attachment

To attach the upper part of the shoulder strap simply thread the 2" webbing through the slider from top to bottom.  Then, and this is the key, run the webbing back up and over the buckle and thread the webbing through the top of the buckle again.  This will bring the 1" tail to right near the 1" buckle that actually does all the holding.  Look at the pic real close and follow the threading pattern.  If you don't do the second pass with the 2" webbing on the top of the buckle, there will be an uncomfortable gap in the connection of the shoulder strap to bag since the shoulder strap will hang too low.  When done correctly, the padded part of the shoulder strap should be snug up against the body of the bag.

The bottom of the bag has two brightly colored tabs sewn into the underside of the main haul straps.  The idea is to girth hitch the 1" webbing around the main haul straps and through these tabs.  Just using the tabs will not be as strong or as stable.  Just using the main haul straps will pull funny on the lower bond stitching where the main haul straps are attached to the bag.


This is what it should look like when attached properly.

El Capitan film restoration via KickStarter

 http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1765735821/el-capitan-film-restoration

The digital restoration of the classic 1968 Rock climbing film, El Capitan.

Launched: Oct 1, 2012Funding ends: Oct 31, 2012

"Even though El Capitan was no longer being distributed, I continued to get inquires and requests for the film. When very, poor, quality bootlegged copies started showing up on the Internet, I knew I had to do something. I decided to look at the original film, that ran through the camera, and to my surprise after almost 45 years, it still looked pretty good. I had it digitized (scanned) in high definition. The new technology is of such high resolution that every little scratch and bit of dirt on the film showed up crystal clear. In order to restore the film to its original condition, over 86,000 frames, one frame at a time, has to be digitally cleaned and repaired. With digital software we are able to reconstruct the film with all the original effects, restore the color, and make it look even better than the 16mm film prints.

After several years of being repeatedly asked, “Whatever happened to the climbers?” I approached them with the idea of making a film that would reveal their lives today, and have them recall their memories of filming El Capitan. About a year ago, I started filming and have captured some delightful and insightful moments of their lives and accomplishments. Though still being edited, the film is turning out to be candid and entertaining. When it is finished, it will be included on the DVD with the restored El Capitan.

With the money that I hope to raise from Kickstarter contributors, I will be able to complete the El Capitan film restoration, finish “Whatever happened to the climbers?” (working title) and prepare the DVD master.

After being out of distribution for over 10 years, with your help, the classic film, El Capitan, will finally be available again, restored in HD and looking better than ever.

If you would be inclined to pass this information on to your friends by way of Twitter and Facebook, it would really help.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Fred Padula"

We're Back!

Back in the office starting right now.... things will be a bit slow for a few days while we get back into the groove.  Go easy on us.

Hey!  The heat is almost done and Fall wall season is coming up fast.  Get your orders in now for the rest of the season.  Ledges are a 3 to 4 week delivery time and haul bags and stuff should be about  a week or two from when you order.  Don't wait!  Order up soon!

Summer Hiatus

FISH will be sorta closed starting June 1st until maybe the end of July.

What this means is email confirmations of orders and inquiries might take a few days until we can get back to you.  Panic orders for large items are probably not going to happen within that time frame.  Feel free to ask if we are around and might be able to make you something, like a Haul Bag, some Aiders, perhaps a few Daisy Chains etc... Stuff like that should not be a problem.

If you are going to want something like a Portaledge for your Fall wall season, now would be a good time to get that order in here so we can plan it out and get you the goods when we return.  Use the order form on the site and send it on in with your drop dead date and all the vital info.

If you already have an order in here, it will be produced and shipped according to your drop dead date.  Our summer hiatus should not affect you.

Have a great summer and let us know if you have any questions.
Cheers!

Ps:  EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY:  We're are also moving or now have moved out of the Indian Cove area, so don't do any flybys and scare the renters that are now living in the house.

We're out of town!

We will be out of town from May 3rd until May 12th, or so... 
Adjust your panic accordingly.  If possible, I'll try to check on emails and such, but a reply could be slow in coming.

You can still send in orders and all that other jazz, but you will have to wait on getting a confirmation.

We're Back!

We're Back!
Give us some time to sort through the wreckage and the tons of emails and orders that came in during our hiatus.  If you sent in an order you should have received a confirm by now.  If not, bend our ear about it.

If you have any wall plans for 2012, be sure to order your wall goodies EARLY!  Plan ahead for maximum product enjoyment.

Take it S L O W

We will be mostly closed / out of the office / doing the winter hiatus thing until sometime in late February.  Orders that are in here now will be made and shipped for their due dates.  New orders will be accepted for Spring delivery.  If you need something NOW, you will need to email us to see just how possible that might be.

If you want a Portaledge for the Spring/Summer of 2012, think about getting that order in here now. There is already a list going and production, as always, is limited.

See ya'll in 2012!

Copperhead Sizing

Here is a pic that will help you get an idea on what sizes copperheads come in from FISH.  The smallest is the #1, going up to the #5.  We also make a #6 which is the same components as the number 5, but with no crimp in the middle of the head.  This gives it a fatter body, much like the jump from the #3 to the #4.  We do not make the dreaded "#0", as even in a lab it will only hold about 225lbs.  When you hear about guys running out it out on a string of zeros, they are really on #1's 99.3% of the time.

Here is some more info about copperheads and rivet hangers from our catalog pages.

Spectra Slings and Cord Test

Spectra Slings and Cord Test

Posted on Supertopo.com

Read the entire thread here:

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=274304

Lazide Writes:
I also have some 2 year old mammut slings with light fuzzing, and some 5mm spectra cordalettes and at least as old spectra cam slings (5mm cord) - how about those?

Russ writes:
The Mammut cord was pulled to 4200lbs and there was some fiber separation at the points where the biners were. Here are 2 pics:

The Mammut sling is rated to around 4800lbs.... survey says, bomber.

Last chance to order for X-Mas delivery!!

We are getting down to the wire and if you had any dreams of FISH stuff under the tree this season, now would be the time to order.  In about a week, no more orders will be accepted for delivery by Christmas.

There have been a lot of people getting early orders in for Spring delivery, and this is a great way to lock in 2011 prices and make sure you have the goods for those early season walls.  Keep in mind, FISH production will be mostly closed for all of January and well into February of 2012, so plan your orders accordingly.  Email us direct if you have any time sensitive questions.

Vacation and Shipping schedule 2011

Ok... all you Spring order guys should be bailing off your walls already with tons of shiny new FISH stuff.  You Fall Season guys have some time to get your orders in for August delivery.  This rest of this year it is looking like this:

June:  Orders coming in and out as usual, unless it is for Portaledges.  You should order in JUNE, for something like a Mid July or August delivery.  Econoledges can be ordered any time and will ship sooner than ledges with a rain fly.

July:  We will be mostly closed for all of July.  It is too hot to climb anyway, but small items can be ordered and shipped as we are in and out all month.  You can order Portaledges, Haul Bags and big stuff to be shipped in August.

August: Shipping all month as much as we can.  All the June and July portaledges will be going out this month.  Regular orders will be filled as fast as possible, but on August 15th, we will be accepting no more orders for anything, unless they are for delivery in mid October.

September: Full on closed from 8/26 until 10/5.  We will not even be in the country.  Emails will probably not be answered, no confirmations will be going out, and the cone of silence will be lowered.  You can place orders and stuff like usual for delivery sometime in Oct.  All orders with a September delivery or drop dead date will be shipped for a timely arrival.

October:  Back into the office on 10/6 to a mountain of emails, rants, and hate mail.  We will probably be back up with production and shipping about a week after we get back.

November: Start getting your orders in here for Christmas delivery.

December:  The elves will be hard at work making your goodies until about Dec. 15th.  No more orders will be accepted after about the 15th.  The last shipping day will be Dec. 20th for arrival by Christmas.  After the 20th, we will be closed until well into the New Year.

Hope this helps for your trip planning and keeps you in the loop a bit as far as getting some gear for your next project.

Happy ledge customer!

Before vacation we sent out a ton of ledges for mostly visiting British climbers.  The best way to get these goods to international climbers is to ship the product directly to the Yosemite Post Office.  Cheap, easy, and it will be there waiting for you when you arrive.

Reports of success are starting to filter in from this latest batch of wall climbers:

by David Coley on 09:47 Tue
Russ, bye the way the Fish ledge arrived on time at the post office just like you said it would. Thanks.
We got hit by a rain storm on Lurking Fear in mid September and spent a night with three of us on a double whammy, so who says Fish ledges are too small. And unlike a BD one, you can put it up in the dark by yourself.

Portaledge waterproofing

From an email exchange a while back.  Good info:

On May 4, 2010, at 11:07 AM, Hoffman, Dan F wrote:
Fish,
My 5-season fly is pretty old (10+years) and I tested it in the backyard with a hose and it is no longer waterproof

Portaledge Flagging cont.....

To further rant on this subject.... I just finished repairing a ledge that was flagged for a couple of walls.  Slow ascent style walls.  Out all day for weeks kinda walls.  The UV exposure to this ledge had shrunk the bed to the point where a hammer was needed to get the ledge together, and something like a come-a-long to get it apart.  I had to cut off over an inch off of each tube to get the ledge working again as it should.  Food for thought.....

Portaledge Review

Below is a link to a good overview of available portaledges from a year or so ago.  Big Wall Kate put this together for a project she was working on, I think for one of the magazines.  Anyway, it has tons of good info in there, some wall tips, and photos.  As a "by the way", Kate has changed over and is now using a FISH ledge for all her ascents.

Portaledge Review

If you ordered a portaledge right now...

Production and delivery for April is full.  The next delivery window for ledges ordered RIGHT NOW is late May at the earliest!  So, if you are planning a trip and need a ledge, I'd get on that train pronto.