The Tension Honestone: One Hangboard Board to Rule Them All

About the Tester

Some people seek therapy; others hangboard. Fortunately for me, I used to live in a crumbling adobe casita whose only redeemable qualities were an absentee landlord and a long covered porch. My hangboard collection grew at pace with my frustration in the desert heat—and I turned those exposed beams into Swiss cheese.

I had a favorite board for max hangs and a favorite for repeaters; one for one-arms and one for eliminations; one positioned for shade on summer evenings and another for optimal sunlight on winter mornings. Neat rows of micros filled the gaps in between. At any given point, I’d have five or six boards mounted on the porch (and another inside a bathroom skylight), which I’d occasionally swap out for testing or when a classic was usurped by a newcomer.

Throughout the 15-plus years I’ve been climbing, I’ve owned 18 different hangboards and four sets of micros; plus I’ve tested dozens more. Ever since its release in 2020, the Tension Grindstone Mk2 has ranked among my favorites, so when I heard the Denver-based company was releasing two new boards this year, the Honestone and the Whetstone, I had to have them. There’s always room for one or three more, right?

I’ve now tested the Honestone for nearly eight months, using it for a variety of training protocols, including density hangs, long max hangs, one-rep max hangs, one-arm hangs, repeaters, and velocity pulls, along with general finger-strength assessments and at-home warm-ups before heading out to local boulders.

First Impressions

Occupying prime real estate on my porch was the Tension Grindstone Mk2, my favorite hangboard to date. The board was damn near perfect, so I had high expectations for the Honestone, but I also wondered if there was much room for improvement and whether Tension was cannibalizing my favorite hangboard of all time by releasing these two new hangboards. (As of this writing, the Grindstone is still in stock.)

The overall layout of the Honestone is similar to that of the Grindstone, with considerable overlap in edge depths, and yet it somehow looks sleeker, more futuristic even. There’s asymmetrically-aligned pairs of edges at 20mm, 15mm, 10mm, and 8mm (all present on the Grindstone). The main differences are new 25mm mono pockets; an incut 25mm center edge for one-arm hangs (it’s 50mm and flat on the Grindstone); and macro-textured slopers at 35- and 45-degrees on top to replace the Grindstone’s jug rail.

What’s missing on the Honestone from the Grindstone is a third tier of edges and the 25mm and 30mm depths, which doesn’t feel like a big loss, especially since the Whetstone fills that gap. The missing top jug, however, is a sacrifice in utility, which we’ll get into later.

Let’s dive into the main features:

Edge pairs and profiles: Like the Grindstone, the Honestone has asymmetrically-aligned edge pairs to maintain consistent shoulder width, all of which are engraved with their corresponding depths in millimeters. The 20mm and 15mm edges—the workhorse depths—have Tension’s undisclosed “custom edge radius” designed for maximum comfort, while the 10mm and 8mm have a 1/8-inch edge radius to “balance bite and comfort,” according to Tension. There’s a noticeable difference in comfort between the two, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Developing finger tissue capacity and strength takes years of consistent hangboard practice, and comfort is the key to that consistency. This is where Tension really shines. I find the 20mm and 15mm edges to be some of the most comfortable for the finger joints, the tendons, and the skin that I’ve used, even with one-arm hangs or elimination grips like three-finger drag and two-finger pairs. This comfort negates the need for dedicated pockets.

Although still pleasant, the smaller edges do have a little more bite to them, but that helps you stick and can also help with skin conditioning ahead of a climbing trip or as a warm up for micro edges.

Incut center edge: The 25mm center edge, which is incut by 10 degrees, is a nice improvement over the Grindstone’s 50mm flat center slot, which didn’t seem to serve much of a purpose beyond one-arm pull-ups or plugging a cam for a makeshift pulley system. It provides a nice stepping stone for those looking to make the challenging transition from weighted two-arm hangs to one-arms.

For my hands, the center edge starts to round right at the distal interphalangeal (DIP) joint before it gradually drops to vertical toward the distal third of the middle phalange. Compared to the standard test depth of 20mm, this provides a little more surface contact, and therefore friction, yet because of the rounded edge radius it’s still extremely comfortable at high loads. The subtle incut also makes it feel a bit easier.

Mono pockets: For the Grindstone, Tension’s description states, “The custom edge profile eliminates the typical pressure points of a standard rounded edge, making it possible to train 4, 3, 2, or even 1 finger at a time without the need for designated pockets.” So what’s the point of the new mono pockets on the Honestone?

As I mentioned earlier, I find Tension’s edge profiles to be comfortable enough for two-finger pairs, but I’ve usually shied away from trying to hang from the edges with just one finger because it felt too tweaky and dangerous. The Honestone’s mono pockets, however, have rounded bases that gently cup the fingers, which increases friction (more surface contact) and also stability (less side-to-side wobble). These pockets not only feel more comfortable, but also safer, as far as mono pockets go.

The “macro-textured” slopers: Tension traded a top jug for a set of asymmetrically aligned slopers, and honestly I wish they hadn’t. When it comes to training slopers on a hangboard, especially on a wooden board, friction is almost always the limiting factor, not strength, so it’s nearly impossible for a well-trained climber to reach full motor unit recruitment through load alone.

Likely in an attempt to increase the amount of friction, Tension machined in what it calls “macro-texture,” but these washboard-like grooves, which run perpendicular to the fingers, don’t seem to add much.

Moreover, the slopers are labeled as 35 and 45 degrees, but their angles are (purposely) inconsistent across the depth of the holds. Tension describes this as “continuously variable curvature.” In practice it looks like a slight concave, or cupping, where the back is steeper than the front of the hold. This curvature is the opposite of what the fingers want to do and seems to inhibit consistent pressure along the length of the digits. The result, for me, is that when I use the slopers, my fingertips slide down the steep part at the back and settle somewhere in the middle, so I end up hanging from only the front half of the holds, reducing contact area (and therefore friction) even further.

Slopers are important to train, of course, but I don’t think training them on a hangboard is an efficient use of time. I’d rather target them through climbing itself. For me, the utility of a nice top jug for pulling and core exercises trumps the benefit of slopers.

Attention to detail: Tension has set the standard for hangboards with their modern designs, thoughtful attention to detail, and quality hardwood, machining, and finishing. Here I wanted to point out a few of the finer touches that elevate this board.

The hold depths, in millimeters, are engraved on each edge, and while this is becoming more common, I’m still amazed it isn’t the standard.

The pre-drilled screw holes are not placed within edges, so you never have to feel them with your fingertips while you hang. Again, I’m surprised this isn’t standard, yet I see—and feel!—this on too many boards (Beastmaker, Rock Prodigy, Metolius, Frictitious).

This might seem trivial, but I appreciate that the Honestone comes with countersunk washers for the mounting screws. With my Tension Simple Boards (yes, I have those, too), the first time I backed out the screws to move the boards, a couple of the heads caught and peeled up splinters of wood. The washers prevent that from happening and also stop people from overdriving the screws into the wood.

Who is the Tension Honestone for?

The Honestone is no doubt one of the best hangboards on the market. Its smaller edge range and mono pockets make it a step up in difficulty from its more beginner-friendly sibling the Whetstone, yet I wouldn’t label it as an “experts only” board. With a little direction, anyone can use this board effectively and safely, regardless of training age.  That said, a climber with a deeper history of structured hangboard training will likely get more out of it.

Bottom Line

Does the perfect quiver-killer hangboard exist? Tension’s Honestone comes close. It’s a high-quality wooden board with all of the edge depths a dedicated climber needs for structured hangboard training, and it’s very skin- and tendon-friendly to boot. Updates like the incut 25mm center edge and comfortable mono pockets give it a leg up on the older Grindstone. The lack of a top jug, however, limits the versatility of this board for pulling and core exercises, so one still needs to fill that gap with a pull-up bar or another board.

Since I started testing the Honestone, I’ve moved away from the desert, leaving behind my beloved front porch, which had more hangboards than the average climbing gym. In my new place, I only have room to mount two boards (gasp), so I have been forced to whittle down my stash and make some hard choices. After much deliberation, I have settled on the Grindstone Mk2 and the Honestone.

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