Bouldering mat

A bouldering mat or crashpad (also originally called the sketchpad) is a nylon-enclosed multi-layer foam pad used to give the climber a degree of protection when bouldering. Bouldering mats help prevent climbers from injuring themselves from the continuous and repeated falls onto hard or uneven surfaces that are associated with projecting a bouldering problem.

Some modern bouldering pads include a hinge so that the pad can be folded over into a more compact form for transportation (a 'hinge mat'), and some also come with shoulder straps, and even waist straps, for easier carrying of the mat to and from the bouldering area. The first commercially available bouldering mat, the "Kinnaloa Sketchpad", was designed and produced in 1992.