What are the BEST SHOES for rock climbing? | Climbing Gear Tips
Вставка
- Опубліковано 24 лип 2024
- What climbing shoes should I buy? And what are the best shoes for climbing outside?
Pro Climber Robbie Phillips shows you how climbing shoes work on different rock types and what are the best outdoor climbing shoes for each rock type. So you know how to choose climbing shoes that are right for your next trip/project!
Whether you are looking for the best climbing shoes for heel hooks in Kalymnos or the best climbing shoes for sport climbing in France - this video will help you decide what rock climbing shoes to buy.
Check www.scarpa.co.uk/blog for loads of helpful articles on how to choose climbing shoes for beginners, how climbing shoes should fit, and how climbing shoes are made. Check our last video 'Should climbing shoes hurt'.
Time Stamps
One shoe to rule them all? 00:00
Designed for Footholds! 01:29
Limestone: Kalymnos, Verdon & Frankenjura 03:52
Sandstone: Font, Gritstone & RRG 07:37
Granite: Yosemite, Magic Wood & Flatanger 10:58
BONUS: Trad & Multi Pitch Shoes 12:56 - Спорт
Next shoe episode should be about crocs vs slippers and why crocs are superior
I swear I saw a video of Robbie climbing in flip flops....that video needs to make an appearance
I agree you're so smart and funny
-defintely robbie and not culann
That’s so obvious it doesn’t need a video
Didn't Jimmy Webb climb V14 in crocs?
Dude, we all know we don’t use crocs because they’re so good it qualifies as aid.
Great video, I really appreciate that despite being sponsored you also provided some information on other shoe brands 👍🏼
love the editing style and fun references of this vid! great series
Robbie, this series is excellent and I really hope it becomes the go-to reference people use (especially episode 1) to link to people when they're asking about shoes in many places online
Aww thanks man! I hope so to 🙂
That Vapor V catch was so smooth, I knew there had to be an outtake. Beautiful.
Great video, thanks for the in-depth break-down!
Haha! Of course - there are always outtakes 😅No problem🙂
We just posted one as well today guys!! Ha ha! We should probably have a group WhatsApp or something :-D
@robbie philips This one is much better than @Lattice Training ... NO SERIOUSLY both complement each other really well thanks guys!!! the other one is here: ua-cam.com/video/KkcJlxObnc8/v-deo.html
very different videos though. I enjoyed yours earlier and im enjoying this one now. I have no wish or need for new shoes, im quite happy with what I have but its still all enjoyable :)
Your video sucked peepee
This is such an informative video! I feel like I have to watch it again and take notes haha.
haha brilliant! I'm imagining you studying and taking notes :P
That's great guidance, Robbie - best I've seen, thanks very much
No worries 😜 thanks
for moderate/vertical limestone climbing I prefer the miura vs or boostic. Very percise, stiff, but still quite comfortable in the right size/toe-form (egyptian)
Excellent insight! Thanks so much. 😁
No problem Mix :)
I’ve been searching for a breakdown of shoes by brand based on the asymmetry of the toe position. For example, the most asymmetric of the La Sportiva models is the Testarossa. For Scarpa, it’s the Mago. I want the full list!
Hey lee, sorry for the slow reply dude. That would be an interesting comparison, but I feel in some ways it's a bit useless as there is so much more to climbing shoe design than assymetry e.g. Boostic and Drago are both very assymetrical shoes but are two ends of the spectrum in terms of application to climbing. I think what would be more interesting would be a brand comparison chart that focussed on shoes or certain styles of climbing
Your guides are awesome and have helped me a lot finding the right climbing shoes. Thanks man!
No worries dude :)
I struggle with stiffness Robbie, Do you think that age has anything to do with it?
My wife says that I’m imagining things, is she just being kind?
If we’re talking about shoes, then yes... but we ain’t talking about shoes are we Rob 😅🍆
@@RobbiePhillips No..no we are not
Perhaps you just need stiffer, more down-turned rubber? Good for overhanging caves and all that.
Imagining things actually might be helpful in your case
Maybe you missed this, but you actually do recommend the same shoes for multiple categories- the Instinct, Booster, and Drago. Not one to rule them all, but the Instinct line takes top honors by your analysis.
Yep! The instinct line has the best all round features 🙂 but it isn’t the best in every category.
Where would you put the new scarpa boostics in this video? What are they best at? Rock types and all that jazz.
Honestly, I just buy shoes because of how they look.
Fair play mate! 👠
Yeah, good idea!
I also always buy screwdrivers and other tools on how they look instead of the screws I wanna use or for what purpose i wanna use or need them.
Best idea ever.
No offence thogh.
Same man
me too ahaha
Lattice Made one too!! you guys were all together and planned that shit!! :-D so funny!
hahaha I've just bee told :P Amazingly we didn't plan it... but hey, great minds think alike
Scarpa Drago fit like glove, I swear to God. My new favourite shoe.
Just got myself a pair of Evolv Phantoms and they are superb for indoor bouldering. I know this doesn’t fit in with your Scarpa video but they really are a good shoe.
Nah it totally does! This video is supported by SCARPA, but the goal is to help people think differently about their feet. Thats why each section I spoke about what type of shoes work well in different scenarios, what features you should look out for, and then showed SCARPA shoes that do that job and other brand alternatives.
Psyched you found a shoe that works for you :)
Robbie Phillips ah ok cool. Anyone interested the Phantoms are fine in your normal street size maybe 0.5 size down for ultra performance!
They are quite aggressive in their downturn so they perform well on those pesky pebbles on the walls, in terms of smearing I’d say that my Scarpa instinct VSR are far superior.
@@MF-CLIMB I also just got myself a pair of Phantoms. I am loving them so far! I've been wearing the Instinct VS for about a year now and the Phantoms fit my feet very well. As you said, 0.5 size down from street shoe is VERY tight!
Cole Hennies exactly the same as me. I use the Scarpa VSR for outdoor now and my Phantoms for indoor. I couldn’t get my foot in the 0.5 size down!
You never mentioned the edging king, Scarpa Boostics 😉
Love my Boostics!
I KNOW!!! There are a lot of good shoes to mention..... I love my boostics too!
@@RobbiePhillips I don't ike them since beeing resoled (and got used to soft shoes, despite beeing a heavy climber 83kg 1,80m, sporty, muscular and not skinny), because they feel like... na they don't feel anything or anyhow, that's the problem!
For Boostics you need to have small positive footholds, typically limestone.
Also the flat toe box with less curled up toes may be better to drive your big toe in low-rise (is this the correct english term for it?) holes.
Now i use this resoled Boostic which feels like a ski boot made of concrete, for our new Bouldering Gym, which has the roughest surface i have ever experienced.
Great information, thanks Robbie! Is there any shoe you would recommend for foot jamming on single/short multipitch trad?
Hey Stephen, thanks man :) As I said in another comment somewhere, I think Vapor Lace or Velcros could be an option, especially if its a half size up - for roof cracks I actually use the veloce. But worth looking out for is the 5.10 moccassin and super mocs as they were designed specifically with this in mind. Scarpa don't currently have any dedicated crack shoes, but watch this space :)
No mention of Furias (original, S, or Air) in here! Do you find them too soft for outdoor use?
Well, if the first toe is longer than the second one, assymetric forms may be even more comfortable.
For the last few years, the Booster S was my one shoe to rule them all! I have a wide forefoot and love the toebox shape with the sensitivity. the magos are a close second.
how does the new booster toe box compare? and fwiw how does the toebox of the instinct lace? i like the slipper, but the VS/vsr are way too narrow!
Hey Ryan, sorry for the slow reply - The new booster was built on the same last with some slight adjustments (i don;t know what they were, sorry!). The toe box should be similar though.
The SR (Slipper Instinct) is built more narrow and shallower heel than the VS/VSR/Lace. The toe box I believe is quite similar though.
Very informative,👌🏻👍🏻🧗🏻♂️🏴......oh I thought that catch was too cool for one take 😂😂
Haha yeah, think it was 5 takes 😂 that outtake was the first one
Robbie Phillips great content ,looks like you guys are really enjoying this wee venture and it comes through on the vids👌🏻 on a side note after ten “unusual” months here in Mallorca. My girlfriend,two dogs and I have had to bite the bullet and will be driving back to Edinburgh this weekend,might see you guys doing the rounds 👍🏻✌🏻🧗🏻♂️🏴 I’ll be back at alien bloc ( lockdown permitting) if not looks like a bit outdoor stuff 💪🏻🏴🥶🥶...........anyway blah blah blah 😜✌🏻
@@bazwax77 haha yeah we do man! Loving it!
ahh cool - hopefully see you around :) We will probably be between Eden/Ratho and Outdoors :) DOn't really go to Alien tbh. Lets us know if you're going to Eden though :)
Robbie Phillips definitely mate 💪🏻🏴🧗🏻♂️ I will do.
Do you ever climb with different shoes on each foot?
I know it maybe sounds daft but I found when bouldering at my limit on certain probems and projects it sometimes helped as there was maybe 1 hard smear move for say the left foot above an overhanging roof so a more smeary boot for the left and downturned for a particular right micro edge etc could help send it.
Absolutely. I do it all the time :)
Im heavy and have high volume feet. Scarpas are only for low volume feet rigth?
I fond that the vapor v are really good in the gunks they can edge really well but cant crank climb whell
What type of rock is the gunks?
Robbie Phillips Gunks quartzite composite
My problem is granite boulders have micro edges (as a dinner plate comes off from frost damage it leaves a sharp edge) and smearing. Do I go for edging or smearing shoes? Have Scarpa Maestros.
Hey George, sorry for the slow reply - I would go for edging boots personally, but you can get a bit of best f both worlds if you get yourself a pair of stiff shoes a resole in a softer rubber. For example, after one season, I get my Maestros resoled in grip2 ;) Works a treat!
Hi Robbie; love the detail on this! I wear the Instinct SRs in Font (weird choice? dunno) and thinking the Dragos could up ma game. Are they built on a similar last? Many thanks for any input!!
On another note, those SRs are just sitting there in the front row getting no love 😭 Their rubber is weird and their heel won't stay put, but oddly they're my favourite of the instinct range (which I swear by) - I'll turn to them on granite slab multipitch as much as I will in Font! Yet I can't bring myself to wear my VSW outdoors, and still remember with nostlagia the days when I tolerated the lace-y fuss of the Instinct Laces (because best shoe ever. except laces. ugh.).. WHO'S WITH ME ON INSTINCT SRs!?
Hey dude,
They aren’t built on a similar last actually. The instinct SR are built on a different last even to the other Instinct models (narrower and more sculpted/shallow heel).
I don’t think it’s a weird choice for Font. The SR’s have a good moderate stiff edge on them and soft sticky rubber, so a good combo for sandstone. I find Dragos for smearing are much better and especially for steeper sandstone climbing and toe hooking (Dragos are my sandstone go to most of the time I’ll admit).
What’s up with your VSR’s?
If you can, get a pair of Dragos on your feet. They will feel really different to your instincts but they break in really nicely. They eventually become like a rubber sock. The softness is real, but I think once you get used to it it makes a huge difference to your climbing :)
@@RobbiePhillips awesome thanks for the explanation! When I see the Dragos I always think 'damn those look like socks!'. I shall go try a pair whenever possible. I just seem to be wearing through the SRs faster than any other shoe !
I think I hadn't felt too much of a difference with my Laces because I upsized a bit (I like comfy) from my laces.
Concerning Vs, I wear mine at street-shoe size but had to go with VSW instead of regular VS, which have become really hard to find in smaller sizes :/ Tough for us ladies with small but larger forefeet. This means my Vsws are a bit tight ; uber precise without being painful, but I really need to take them off often & not push on them too long. All that is just inconvenient outdoors.
Thanks again for.your reply mate, and thanks for the cool vids!
the instinct vs is my first pair and I love it, I percieve it as perfect for kinda everything lul, use it for boulder and sports see no issue
how long did they take to break in?
@@bladee_city a couple of days , very quick , love them
How would these recommendations vary for various foot issues such as flat feet, bunions, instability in midfoot, etc?
I guess you’d have to account for this in your decision making. With flat feet, perhaps a less downturned/asymmetric shoe would suit? With bunions, look for a bigger toe box? And instability in midfoot, perhaps a stiffer midsole?
Where I could find information when to use Drago vs Furia S vs Chimera :)
I’ve done some guides on the scarpa.co.uk blog - but for quickness:
DRAGO and Chimera are built to same last but with some small changes to the midsole and stitch pattern. Chimera has a better overall fit because of the way the stitch pattern pulls across the upper when using the laces. Also the chimera has a marginally stiffer midsole. The FURIA S is softer again than the DRAGO with a different last and heel.
I’d say the furia S is a more specialised shoe than the others personally. I prefer the DRAGO and Chimera for most things. For indoors I haven’t found a better shoe than the DRAGO and for adaptability to rock the DRAGO and chimera are my soft shoe of choice in this area.
I’d say where the chimera would be better than the DRAGO would be in situations where you might want more support through the toe - maybe a boulder that has some edging as well as smears, or maybe sport climbing on steep limestone or granite.
Hey Robbie! Nice video! Only one thing.. I have trouble finding a decent "performance" crack shoe that fits to single pitch fingercracks and thin hands. Do you have any suggestions? I've tried Anasazi, but they don't work for my foot-shape at all!
Hey man, so I don’t have tonnes of experience with different brand crack shoes. Couple of options:
Vapour Velcro in a half size up from your tight size.
5.10 Moccasin (Super Moc is supposed to be amazing but they don’t make them anymore)
Hoping Scarpa dive into the specialised crack shoes soon!!!
@@RobbiePhillips Thanks for the reply. I don't get why there is not more specialized crack shoes. Seems like there is an under-saturated market for it. But I'll be sure to check those out.
Because it’s not a big market
They dont sell the La Sportiva Python in the US.... :(
I was told by the worker at the climb gym shop that as I'm tall - and despite mainly indoor bouldering- I should go for instinct VS over the VSR because only 'smaller people' need the VS as they have trouble breaking through the stiffness.. this is nonsense right?
🤣 it has nothing to do with your height. Very lightweight climbers can find the stiffness of the EDGE rubber and INSTINCT midsole a bit much... so the softer option is the VSR which has a softer rubber compound called GRIP2 albeit with the same stiff midsole. I have found that a lot also has to do with the strength of your toes, and climbers who are used to stiffer shoes also find the VSR quite soft for them.
So it really does depend, but in my experience climbers in the 90+kg weight range tend to prefer the VS whilst those below 70kg are definitely more in the VSR bracket. I’m 80kg and I prefer the VSR for indoors/limestone/sandstone and break out the VS for certainty types of granite.
Can you actually get all of those shoes to fit well?
What would you recommend for the scottish highland classic conglomerate? The lucky dip of climbing foot holds. 😂
Ahhhh so I was actually up north climbing on the Camel a couple of months ago! As the footholds tend to be more like little stones there, I find something with a moderate stiffness in the midsole, a softer rubber and not too aggressive is ideal. For me in the Scarpa range I liked the Instict VSR, but equally a Vapor Velcro/Lace would be great.
@@RobbiePhillips cheers robbie. 1 crag I still need to get over to, to give stone of destiny a try.
@@sidious-dy9rh Its amazing! Go for the no hands sit down rest on the stone when you get over there :)
@@RobbiePhillips I will definitely go for it once it dries up again. It's only 25mins away from me. Cheers
When’s he coming out with the best competition style climbing shoes?
Start of November we have the indoor video which will include competition shoes
What are those white dragos on the thumbnail??
DRAGO LV (Low Volume)
For the pro climber Laura Rogora there is only one shoe for everything: Wild Climb Pantera.
Thanks for the video, it was very informative. This is the first time I’ve heard that the instinct vs are the best scarpa for granite. I was already considering the instinct laces but now am even more. How do you think the instinct vs compare to the instinct lace? I’m generally climbing on granite in the Bishop/Jtree area. Was also considering the VSRs. Do you think they are too downturned considering I climb a lot of slabs?
The VS and Lace are very similar - I think the midsole is slightly longer in the lace and as the lace has more control over tightness you can generally get better edging from it.
The VSR is softer in the rubber but to all intents and purposes has the same edging capabilities. I definitely found on JTree granite the VSR wore down quite quickly relative to Yosemite granite... might just have been the types of climbs I was on though as I was trying really hard stuff in the 13d/14a range on tiny razors and smears (feet were doing a lot of work!!!)
Oh and also the VSR are not too downturned at alll for smearing
@@RobbiePhillips thanks so much for replying and for your info. I ended up getting the laces. They fit perfect and I’m really looking forward to climbing in them. May eventually get the vs or vsrs too. Thanks!
Vapor vs skwamas and solution comp do everything
So la sportiva phyton is the best shoe
and here I thought we agreed in the comments on the last climbing shoe video that crocs is the the best climbing shoe ever, so the shoe to rule them all is crocs right? don't keep that secret from us
HAAHA I don't want everyone knowing that SHHHHHHH!!!
What about the Vapor Lace?
The new vapour lace will be very stiff!
I just know you will say Neigh,but you can't honestly beat a good auld horse shoe
Drago LV clickbait!
Any clue when they are releasing? Should be soon no?
You can already buy them at some places now.
Yeah man they are already out :)
Oh and the Drago and Drago LV are the same shoe essentially and I spoke loads on the Drago, so didn't think it was clickbait :)
@@RobbiePhillips yeah I wasn't being serious bout the clickbait.
Just haven't managed to find them anywhere yet, only place I've seen thats not just preorder is scarpa uk site but even they didn't have my size, so I didn't think they've been widely released yet atleast.
Butora Acro
me with pythons: i can climb anything!
also me whenever i have to edge in them: fuck
😂Yep! Soft shoes allround! I remember training for Yosemite and somehow getting it into my head that my Scarpa dragos would be good for layback smearing up El Cap... stupid!
TC pros aren't that stiff. I can bend mine all the way around
How long have you worn them for?
@@RobbiePhillips about 1.5 months. They're like semi-stiff. Nothing compared to like an Anasazi imo
@@ryangamv8 oh wow! Hmmmm... I haven't worn a pair of Anasazis in years (I had old school Pinks and the velcros) but from what I remember they weren't as rigid as a TC Pro. Just throwing it out there, but maybe your TC is too big? Certainly the fit of Anaszi compared to TC Pro is really different. Anasazi are designed to be tight fitting, whereas TC Pro are designed to be worn as a comfortable all day shoe. I would suspect that Anasazi feels better on small edges generally as I would say it's a more Precise shoe, but the TC pro on the whole is more rigid. I would need to have a look at the Anasazi and TC Pro materials to really answer this - quick glance on the adidas website and they didn't provide any info annoyingly.
Pythons for edging? you crazy.........
Yo chad, so I haven't worn Pythons personally, but the alternative was more to show a shoe that has a softer rubber with a medium stiff misdole. I was told by a LaSportiva rep and Scarpa designer that the Pythons are that. It doesn't necessarily mean they are a great edging shoe, just that they are adaptbale :)
I liked the part where frodo fingered a shoe.
Really nice 👌 😍💋 💝💖❤️