Second pair

By Tony Zammit Ranked #795 - Climbing Shoes May 5, 2008

I bought my first pair of Katanas about a year ago. They held up pretty well - I used them a ton - I probably had about 75 solid days climbing in them. When I realized that they were just about dead, I bought another pair. They are comfortable as hell, edge fantastically, and can smear with the best of 'em. I climb mostly on sandstone, so this is about all I get to climb on - dime edges and sloper smearing.

The reason these get 4 stars instead of 5 is that the heels seem to be loose in every pair I've tried on. Everyone I know who has these shoes (they're pretty popular at my gym) says the same thing - the heel is a bit on the big side. It's fine for most climbing, but when you're heel is a foot above your head and you're trying to clip, you really don't want to feel it starting to slip. In all fairness (the reason for 4 instead of 3 stars), I've never had a heel come out, but I have had it move enough to really make me think about it every time I put my heel up. You can look at the picture and see what I'm talking about. The leather patch in the back just looks loose.

I normally wear a 45, but sized down to a 44 for these shoes. A 5.10 44.5 won't fit me, but a La Sportiva 44 fits perfect. Go figure.

Bottom line: These shoes will work for 98% of you to climb something way above your ability.

View Details: La Sportiva Katana Vibram XS Edge Climbing Shoe

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