UKC

Need some new shoes, and as winter will soon be upon us, I figure they're mostly going to get used indoors. What's the stickiest rubber for indoor use?

I climb at Craggy so walls will have that sandy textured paint stuff on them.

In reply to Clinger: Whatevers cheapest, your boots get trashed pretty quickly climbing indoors.

In reply to Clinger:

Personally I'd go for something vaguely foot shaped and cheap. How many wall routes actually have matchstick edges or proper, slip-offable padding moves? Maybe Craggy does?

jk

In reply to jkarran: And if you're used to climbing in non-sticky shoes indoors, your outdoor shoes will feel really sticky when you do go outdoors, for extra confidence

In reply to Clinger: Boreals. The best shoe for campusing and footless work anyway...

Andy F

Thanks folks,

One of the things I want to work on indoors is my footwork, so would definitely like to get something sticky so I can develop more confidence in my feet. If they slip off the holds (and Craggy does have some pretty small ones) then I think that'll be counter-productive.

In reply to Clinger:

It depends what you want to practice, though. If your boots stick to anything it isn't going to make you place and weight your feet correctly. remember that some bloody hard climbs have been done in shoes nowhere near the capability of modern shoes so you know that 'non optimum' shoes can stick if used correctly. I'd go with the others - walls trash boots anyway and using softer rubber just adds to the problem. I use a pair of resoled boots that have long since been retired from outside use.

In reply to Clinger:
I think you should just get what fits your feet. While there may be slight differences between different rubbers I really doubt you'll notice them. Generally most of the small holds I've encountered at Craggy has been small and positive so edging was far more important that smearing.

In reply to Clinger:

From my experience the rubber on my Red Chilli Spirits (old blue ones) is not as good as my girlfriend's Scarpa Vantage's which in turn is nowhere near as good as the FiveTen Stealth Onyx rubber on my Anasazi Velcro's and Verdes.

That said the Red Chilli's outlasted the 5.10 Velcro's by about 6 months.

In reply to Clinger:

for durability go for red chillis rubber. For stickiness 5.10. Scarpa and lasportiva are a good compromise between the 2. The priority realy is what fits your feet - but you knew that anyway.

Evolv are pretty good and cheap. As good as my ananzies (5.10's).

In reply to Clinger:

For best rubber it's between 5.10, Evolv and Mad Rock in my opinion. Each one fits differently, though - so pick on that fits your foot best! Often it's the shape of the shoe as well as the rubber.

If you're looking for edging skill and accuracy improvement worry about the style, not the rubber.

Go into a good climbing shop in your area and ask the questions with the boots right there to try.

In reply to Clinger:

Any climbing shoe is more than sticky enough and good enough for indoor climbing. Get something comfy and cheap. For me that was the Boreal Joker Velcro, being the cheapest thing in the shop at around £50. They've actually turned out to be really good shoes and I'll buy again.