UKC

Until very recently I believed that you couldn’t climb hard without super technical rock shoes. This is a result of staring at too many pictures of Dave Macleod, cranked into tiny rock shoes, pushing on a foot hold the size of a quark and thinking, “if I wore shoes like that maybe I could climb that hard, or at least look like I do.”

Tom Ripley (aka Wee Tam) has an epiphany whilst wearing a pair of Red Chili Mescalitos.

Read rock shoes according to Wee Tam: http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=950

If you have a pair of Red Chili Mescalitos please feel free to add to this review by posting your thoughts on this thread.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

I don't normally read gear reviews, but this one was superb.

Mick

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

I recently bought a pair of Mescalitos, and they're great. I used to have a pair of Spider's that were about 2 sizes too small, and I can climb just as well with the correct size mescalitos (so comfy - no more aching toes)!! Would recommend trying them.

Andy.

In reply to Mick Ward:

Aye Mick - a cracking review which brought a warm smile to my face on this whisky - hangovered morning.

Gosh, Im envious of young Tom and all that climbing,travel and exploration still ahead of him.

Brilliant!!!

P.S. Tom - try submitting some articles of this quality to the mags - better than a lot of the dross thats printed and you could get some freebies/earn some money for your next big trip

In reply to David Hooper:

Hi David,

Sounds like you had a good session last night! A while ago, I suggested to Tom that he got into gear reviewing seriously (under the aegis of UKC maybe?). There are a lot of duffers like me who need more than a bit of guidance.

Will give you a shout when back up north. I've not failed at anything at Pex since, err... I've been back down in Dorset.

All best wishes,

Mick

In reply to Mick Ward:

Don't worry Mick. I'm giving Tom some guidance. He is very keen.

You will find that at UKClimbing.com we are upping the ante on real gear reviews, rather than cutting copy from gear catalogues and giving terse one liners.

Significant is that there is a thread attached to each gear review so that all who have experience of a particular product can, if they wish, have their say.

Hence now we have: "If you have a - insert product - please feel free to add to this review by posting your thoughts on this thread."

People's comments are a very important part of a Gear Review at UKClimbing.com.

That's the great equalizer and eliminates much of the BS that we read in gear advertorials masquerading as gear reviews.

Ooohhhh - Aaaah.

Mick

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Sounds good!

Mick

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:


In the bio section "in his own words" did you leave in the "Swirl Edge" just so we can get the normal amusement from Tom's regular, inadvertent spelling mishaps - or is there a classic Lakes scramble I've never heard of before?

I'm not sure if the clearly noted recommendation of the shoes for routes he hasn't climbed is just a flashback to the old Great Pretender - or a subtle, postmodern, nod to those of us who have read Tom's work for the last few years?

Tom - good review, the one thing I would suggest adding is to describe your feet: slim or wide? What shoes have been a good fit for you in the past? That really helps readers get a feel of whether it might be a good shape for them or not. You don't need to describe their smell though...!

In reply to TobyA:

Seconded. I noticed a fair few Anasazi lace-ups in Tom's 'previous shoe' collection, a shoe which simply does not fit my wide feet. However, the best fitting shoes I have ever had was a pair of Red Chili Phantoms, so perhaps these Mescalitos might fit me too.

In reply to Alun:

Apparently Mescalitos are the replacement for the Phantom.

I'd describe my feet as phat.

The shoes performed brilliantly today, in the scorching sun on Kern Knotts... pity about the wearer though.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: crikey! a decent, readable gear review at last- well done, young man!

In reply to TobyA, Mick Ward, etc:


As a timid, sociable, consensus-loving individual I naturally also acknowledge that this must indeed be an excellent review. However .. could someone possibly map out the key points of said review for my better understanding? So far I have gleaned:

1. high-performance shoes are rubbish once they are worn out.

2. a competent climber can ascend low-grade routes like the Dervish in an old pair of EBs or similar .. so don't bother buying high-performance shoes.

3. Red Chili what-nots are nice and comfy (and thus, I infer, not a high-performance shoe .. though that doesn't matter .. see point 2 ...)

4. comfy shoes are good for long routes, especially ones the reviewer hasn't climbed.

Meanwhile I hear that ursine mammals defecate in boreal environments and that the Bishop of Rome is an adherent of the religion that repudiates Monophysitism yet asserts the actual physical nature of the Eucharist?

In reply to Alun:


Curiously, after years of contrary evidence, I recently discovered that Anasazi Pinks do fit my feet, but only once priced at $30 in the remainder bin at the Vancouver MEC.

In reply to tobyfk:
I had to look up Monophysitism.

In reply to tobyfk:

I once tried to convince myself that a 10 pounds pair of Boreal Ninja's weren't actually *that* painful. Fortunately for my feet, I didn't succeed, and they remained in the bargain bin.

I'm having a couple of pairs of shoes resoled at the moment by a chap out here who has had rave reviews. What convinced me were a pair of la sportivas that I saw which he had repaired. Unless you looked very very closely, they looked brand spank-me new. 23 Euros per pair fixed. If he does a similar job with mine, it will be bargainous.

In reply to tobyfk:



In english?

In reply to tobyfk:



In english?

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Pretty Hot And Tempting?

I'll pass

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide: Halle-f**king-lujah. Somebody finally publically says you don't need to bother cramming your feet into stupid shoes and that what actually counts is technique, and that you'd be better off spending your 72quid that you were going to spend on buying yet another pair of stickies on buying a weekend or two on the rock...

In reply to tobyfk:


As JCM has gone quiet, are you making a bid for his crown as the king of the putdown?

In reply to TobyA: p.s. I'm a bit upset that young Thomas is once again provoking debate and discord, whilst my review published the same day slips into obscurity. Perhaps I should try reviewing things more exciting than a bag that functions well as a bag...?

In reply to Wee Tam:

Do bears sh*t in the woods & Is the pope a catholic?

In reply to TobyA: Ahhh didums

In reply to mike kann:

A bit like the Emperor's New Clothes!

Although saying that if you look around at some of the latest offerings from the rock shoe companies you'll see that many are pushing comfy technical shoes that are good from VDiff to E11.

In reply to mike kann:

I think its been said enough times. Its just that knackered toes are part of an essential rite of passage to enligtenment, comfortable shoes and socks. People have to discover it for themselves.

In reply to TobyA:

Try a few more grammatical errors and spilling mistakes ?

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: Its about time too... I still remember my toenail trying to part company with my toe because I was overzealous with my sizing and decided to try to squeeze into childrens sizes

In reply to GrahamD: You missed out a grammatical error. You could have gone for: "try few a more grammatical error's and spilling mistake's "