UKC

Has anyone ever tried to make their own climbing shoes? I have a few old pairs knocking around, thinking of trying to take them apart and make my own. Just wondered if anyone has tried before and if so what was the out come and does anyone have any tips?

They are so damn expensive now, the rock shoe people must be laughing!

In reply to B_M:

Probably not laughing if they don't sell as many shoes because the price has gone up due to exchange rates and raw material costs.

In reply to Swig:

and people start to make thier own!

In reply to B_M:

At the risk of pre-judging the outcome of your efforts (and you should be applauded for you ambition) and demoralising you before you begin, I would imagine the results might well give you an explanation of why commercially avilable shoes cost what they do, and why people buy them rather than make them.

But it'd be interesting to find out how it goes - I'd be up for having a go if it's easier/better than I assume!

In reply to B_M: Really keen to find out how this goes.
I'm not planning on making my own shoes, but I do want to try to improve the heel on my Scarpa Instincts, I was thinking about melting the rubber form an old pair of shoes onto the outer part of the heel cup for a bit more friction. I was thinking about melting and dripping the rubber on bit by bit, so I don't heat the shoe too much and hopefully avoid damaging it.
Anyway any info on how you get on, or anyone's opinion on this would be appreciated.
Good luck and ta

In reply to Lucaj:
Pretty much the same deal as what your suggesting, but im sure you can buy stuff called stelth paint.. 5.10 sell it and its basicaly recycled 5.10 shoes, that you can apply (not sure how) to your own shoes to repair wholes, or (like you want to do) customis them to your requirments...
Cheers

And in reply to the OP...
Just wondering.. how would you start, with a pair of trainers and then put the rubber on them.
Or maybe try to get some rubber like materail and mould and melt them into a shoe shape?
They way i would see it, is.
A. can you get the correct materails for cheep enough.
B. How many man hours would it take to produce it, even assuming your paid minimum wage per hour.
C. would the end results be better than somthing that (if in sale) you could probably pick up for about £40.

I think in all likly hood the answer is that it would cost more than a bog standard pair of rock slippers, and probably not be as good.

All that said, iv seen people customis gear to there benifit, why not do the same with a pair of rock slippers... except these would be fully custom build rock slippers

What about taking a worn out pair and working from there... you know combinding a couple of old pairs which you can pick up cheap (i suppose) and creat one good pair from those???

In reply to B_M:
nip into a formula one workshop>
thermoform/vacuum form some foam to your feet (like they do to create the seats). then hotglue some qualifying-tyre rubber to them. Glue to the forms, not your feet

In reply to Swig:


They went up when the exchange rate dropped... then stayed put when it went back up again....

Thieving shop burgers :0(

In reply to smile:

I saw this stuff in Joe Browns I think it was £11 a tin, check their website

In reply to wobl: Perhaps you could liberally apply 'Shoe Goo' to your bare feet?

In reply to smile:


I'm considering returning the "Stealth Paint" we bought under the trade descriptions act, as it is most definitely not a paint.
It mixes up into a gloop that is virtually impossible to apply satisfactorily and lasts one session, if that.
In my view it is not fit for purpose so I'd advise people not to buy it.

In reply to smile: I considered the stealth paint, but looking online at other peoples reactions to and experiences of it - it's crap and only last a couple of climbs. It's basically rubber filings and the glue from a puncture repair kit

In reply to Lucaj:

Isn't the rubber on climbing shoes vulcanised? If so you can't simply melt and reform it.

In reply to B_M: I think home resoling/ making your own rockboots is more common in the states, where men are men and you can buy resole kits. I always fancied giving it a go - I think you can buy the rubber from US websites.

Let us know how you get on.

In reply to B_M: youtube.com/watch?v=eC0zPE6FbRE&

In reply to B_M:

Unless you can find a handy source of information to get you up and running there's likely to be a significant (potentially annoying and costly) R&D phase while you experiment with materials, techniques and designs. You may also have trouble sourcing materials at reasonable prices in the volumes you require (if you can source them at all). Oh and the tooling required to do a decent job won't be cheap even second hand and it will be bulky.

All that said and presuming you knew it anyway... Good luck. Developing the skills and ultimately your own bespoke shoes to suit your feet and needs should be really really rewarding.

In reply to hokkyokusei: Wasn't going to melt and reform the instincts, but melt the sole from an old (different) pair of shoes onto the outer heel on the instincts, just to give it something a bit girppier.
But still too scared to do it!

In reply to Lucaj:

I think you'll hit the same issue. I'm pretty sure any shoe that is actually made of rubber (as opposed to some other plastic) will be vulcanized so you can't just melt and reform it.

In reply to Luke90:

Another negative for stealth rubber paint. It did not do what it said on the tin. It is factory floor scrapings and a tube of glue. Though now the sports shoe people have 5.10 the scrapings will be disco colours!

Can you not cut the good bit of rubber off an old pair of shoes and glue that on your good shoes?

In reply to jkarran:
Do you remember fishy1 and his plan to make his own winter boots? Don't think he's ever been seen since, His body might turn up one day naked and decomposed with just his MDF cumbres!

In reply to blanchie14c:

Fishy1 was crazy drytooling callum!

In reply to B_M: You may find a few tips in this video about Alf Randell

vimeo.com/34482694

p.s. Worth watching!

In reply to Luke90: thanks for the response, that's good to know, I'll leave the shoes as they are!

I suspect the 'rubber' is more likely to burn rather than melt. Even if it did melt, I doubt it would bond to the heel cup. It's very similar to looking at the tyre of a racing motorbike. The rubber will get hot and greasy and then scuff off the surface and move in ripples towards the edge. This layer can be scraped off, but by this time the tyre may have reached its heat cycle limit. It's also a good indication of suspension set up.
Many years ago, I tried some commercially available tyre softener fluid on a pair of EB's when I couldn't afford a pair of Fires - it didn't work