UKC

A few years ago I bought a pair of anasazi verdes. These were cripplingly painful at the time so I steamed them and wore them for 10 minute spells around the house. Now, after this treatment till they were almost bearable to climb in and innumerable climbs they are comfortable enough for all-day wear and ace to climb in.

I just bought a pair of 5.10 pinks and, when deciding which size to get, went for a pair that felt similar to how I remembered the verdes had felt when I first got them. This was down a half size from my verdes (from 9 to 8.4, I take a 10.5-11 in street shoes).

Does UKC have any good tips other than the kettle/steaming/plastic bags on feet technique for stretching them in faster? Also, general discussion of rock shoe stretch.

R

In reply to Roberttaylor:

interesting, I never knew this was a process you could artificially hurry along. Ive always done it old fashioned with foot sweat and lots of climbing sessions

In reply to Roberttaylor:

I used to wear them in the bath, then let them dry on your feet. A friend used to give his new boots a quick blast in the microwave, he claimed it softened up the glue enough to pop your feet in, then let it cool.

In reply to Roberttaylor:
I've always found new shoes crush the end of my big toe, and breaking them in was always a very painful process. Then a couple of years ago I had access to a workshop for a while and spent some time making a pair of wooden 'feet', modelled on my feet but with an exaggerated toe and a screw to extend the length.

Pop them in the new shoes, crank them up with a spanner and leave for a few days. I find it needs repeating a few times while they're still new, then job done. I have a photo somewhere..
Yep - here: http://www.deepsoup.f2s.com/UKC/shoestretch.jpg

In reply to deepsoup:

I bought some shoe stretchers from Amazon and they have done a great job of making my painful Sportiva Muiras comfortable. They can stretch the length and width of the shoe but I go easy with them as they could do some damage.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002DQ08DI/ref=wms_ohs_product_img?ie=UT...

In reply to Roberttaylor:

My own experience is that the pinks stretch quicker than the greens. ( Your feet also sweat in them more, that is an issue in a few months time).

In reply to Roberttaylor:

You shouldn't really have to buy Anasazi's too tight. They are made of synthetic material which doesn't stretch like leather boots (eg muiras) do. They should really fit to the tightness you want out of the box.

In reply to Roberttaylor:

They are stretching in nicely using the steaming method, they are now comfortable enough to climb in.

In reply to Roberttaylor:





You could always make plaster-cast moulds of your feet.

Not as daft as it sounds because you can stretch the shoes with your feet 24/7. Worked for me when I was stupid enough to wear tight shoes. Now I buy for comfort.

Wow, that sounds like a lot of complicated methods! I have one foot larger than the other and so the big toe gets squashed, which ends up hurting the joint/knuckle. To fix that I hang the relevant shoe on the end of a broom handle, so the wood is where my big toe would be in the shoe. Then I hang 5-10kg on the rear of the shoe and leave it 24-48 hours. It stretches it nicely and leaves a small pocket for my troublesome toe. Perhaps start with 2-3kg over night and see where that leaves you first, before trying 10+kg and damaging a new pair of shoes!