If you first saw ChalkBlaster in an Instagram comment thread calling it a giant toothbrush, you're in good company. That's how most of our customers found us. The first video we ever posted went viral for the dumbest reason: people hated it.
500K views from zero followers
We posted the first ChalkBlaster video on a brand-new Instagram account. No followers, no ads, no strategy. Within a few weeks it had 500K views. That was the moment we realised we might be onto something, and we decided to keep building in public.
Then we read the comments. "Why a blower brush?" "Complete waste of money." "150 euros for a brush?!" "Your product is crap." "Another useless gadget going straight to the trash." I'll be honest, at first it stung. We'd spent months on the thing and the internet had decided in about four seconds.
Who wasn't hating
Here's what was interesting. The casual climbers were the ones calling it a gadget. The experienced ones weren't. Because they know. Chalk builds up on holds, gets into every crack and makes everything slippery, and a traditional brush can't eject the chalk once it's loose. It just moves it around and drops it back on the hold. Anyone who has projected a sloper for three weeks understands why you'd want airflow that blows the chalk right off.
Every negative comment meant more eyes on the product. And while everyone else was arguing in the thread, the 5% of climbers who truly understand how much clean holds matter for friction were quietly paying attention, and then reaching out. The controversy did the filtering for us. It cut through the noise and attracted exactly the people ChalkBlaster was built for.
"Why a blower brush?"
"It looks like a giant toothbrush."
"150€ for a brush?!"
Know chalk builds up and gets into every crack
Know a normal brush can't eject chalk once it's loose
"Oh yeah, I saw you guys blowing up on Instagram."
What happened in the six months after
We kept posting the build, ugly prototypes and all. Six months after that first video: 18 million views in two months, dozens of pro climbers reaching out, major distributors asking about collaborations, and the first ChalkBlaster batch sold out across 19 countries, mainly Europe, North America and Asia. The haters, ironically, helped make that happen.
One thing surprised us. The climbing industry itself wasn't looking to build with us. Most of the interest was commercial, buying and reselling. Fine. So ChalkBlaster V2 is being designed for scale, with the economics to work through shops and distributors from day one.
What this means for you
The people who don't understand a product aren't always its customers. If you're reading this, you're probably in the 5%. You know what a clean hold feels like under your fingers and what a chalked-up one costs you on the crux. ChalkBlaster was built for exactly that, and the comment section is still welcome to argue about it.
Paul: "While everyone else was arguing in the comments, our real customers were quietly paying attention. The controversy actually did the filtering for us."
Quick answers
Why does ChalkBlaster get called a gimmick?
Because if you haven't fought a greasy hold for a project, a brush with a fan in it sounds silly. The climbers who have don't think it's silly.
Did the hate hurt sales?
The opposite. It put the video in front of hundreds of thousands of climbers, and the ones who understood friction bought the first batch out.
Where can I see the original video?
On the SWEEP Climbing Instagram. The comments are still there too.
SWEEP Climbing builds tools for climbers who take friction seriously.
