Every week someone walks into the shop, points at the most aggressive shoe on the wall and asks for it in their street size. We usually talk them out of both. The right bouldering shoe depends far more on the angle you climb than on the grade you want to climb.

A flat shoe has a straight last and an even sole. Your toes lie almost flat, your weight sits over the whole forefoot, and a stiff sole like the 4.5 mm rubber on our Kante does the work of standing on small edges. On slab and vertical walls, and for long outdoor circuits, flat is not a beginner compromise: it is the precise tool.

A downturned shoe curves the forefoot down like a claw. On overhangs you are no longer standing on footholds but pulling on them, and that camber lets your big toe hook and grab. An aggressive downturn, the 40° of the Krallen Pro for example, adds a hard-asymmetric toe that focuses all force into one point, plus toe-patch rubber for toe hooks and bicycles. The trade-off: on a slab that curve stops you getting your heel down, and soft soles tire your calves on edges.

Asymmetry matters as much as downturn. If your big toe is your longest (an Egyptian foot), asymmetric shoes fit naturally. With a Greek foot, where the second toe is longest, look for a more symmetric point; with a square Roman foot, a wider toe box.

Our advice: buy for the wall you climb most. If you climb in a mixed gym, a moderate downturn like the Mondmilch covers 80% of problems. Use the fit lab to translate your street size, foot shape and favourite angle into a starting size, then come and try it on the test wall in Dresden-Neustadt.

A bouldering crash pad looks like a mattress, but inside it is a carefully stacked sandwich. Knowing what each layer does helps you choose the right pad and spot a worn one before it lets you down.

The top layer is closed-cell polyethylene, usually 2–2.5 cm thick. It is stiff and does not compress much on its own. Its job is to spread the force of a heel strike over a wide area, so the softer foam below can absorb it without your foot punching through to the ground. A pad that feels soft to your hand but hurts when you land has often lost this top layer.

Underneath sits open-cell polyurethane foam, the soft, spongy part that actually absorbs energy. Our Schleier uses 6.5 cm of it. Highball pads like our four-layer model split it into two densities: softer above for small falls, firmer below so a big fall never bottoms out. A thin firm base layer protects against roots and stones.

Then there is the fold. Taco pads bend the foam in a U and leave no seam, but they never lie quite flat. Hinge pads cut the foam in two, so they fold flat and lie flat, but leave a soft line in the middle. A baffled hinge cuts the foam at an angle so the halves overlap and you get a flat pad without a weak seam.

Open-cell foam slowly loses its rebound. If a pad stays dented after you kneel on it, or you feel the ground through the middle, it is time to replace the foam. Ask us: we rebuild pads with fresh foam layers in our Dresden workshop.

Climbing chalk is magnesium carbonate, the same white powder for every type, but how it reaches your skin changes everything. Block chalk is pure, compressed and cheap; you crush it in your bag to the texture you like. Crushed chalk often contains a drying agent and sticks well for long sessions. Fine powder in a chalk ball releases a thin, dust-free layer and is required in many gyms. Liquid chalk mixes the powder with alcohol: rub it in, wait thirty seconds and you have a base coat that survives a whole session.

For sweaty hands we recommend liquid as a base and a chalk ball or crushed chalk on top. For dry skin, less is more: a little block chalk on the fingertips only.

Just outside our door lies the sandstone of Saxon Switzerland, one of the oldest free-climbing areas in the world, with rules to match. There, chalk is not allowed at all, and neither are metal brushes. The soft sandstone polishes and clogs, so locals climb with dry hands, a towel and lots of patience. Granite and limestone areas welcome chalk, but brush your tick marks off and your holds clean before you leave.

Whatever you use, carry a boar-hair brush. A brushed crimp holds better than a fresh layer of chalk on top of old grease, and the next climber will thank you.