How to choose the right climbing shoes?
Choosing climbing shoes depends on many things, including budget, ambitions, fit and weight. And here are the explanations :)
1. budget
There's no need to choose the most expensive climbing shoe. As such, an expensive climbing shoe is no better than a cheap one. If you stick to the recognised brands, you will only find good climbing shoes. Typically, an expensive climbing shoe is narrower in its use - that is, it does one specific thing really well. Conversely, this also means that it does other things badly.
2. Ambitions
What are your ambitions? Do you want to be the best climber in Denmark or are you an exercise climber who comes for the good company? If you want to be as good as possible you should have several different climbing shoes that are good for different things, e.g. A shoe for slab climbing, a shoe that is good for smearing (soft) and a shoe that is especially good for overhangs.
If you have ambitions to be the most fun climber in Denmark, you should buy a cheaper and flat shoe that fits a little tight and comfortable (eg Five Ten Kirigami)
3. Fit
Most people have probably heard that climbing shoes have to be infinitely tight and painful to wear. This is not true. A climbing shoe should be loose enough that you can wear it for 30-45 minutes at a time after it's worn. If you often fall off small climbing ropes, you may need to look for a stiffer shoe. If you often slip when smearing on boxes, you may need a larger, softer shoe to get the most rubber on the grips and boxes.
4. Weight
Climbing shoes are produced different hardnesses from stiff to soft. A stiff climbing shoe is good for putting a lot of weight on small climbing ropes, e.g. on slabs. A medium stiff shoe is good for everything and a soft climbing shoe is good for smearing on boxes. If you weigh a lot, be aware that a medium stiff shoe will be perceived as soft. If you weigh very little, a medium stiff shoe can be stiff. In other words, it is good to be aware of what the climbing shoe is for in relation to your weight.
We offer a small selection of climbing shoes in our webshop.