I got these in the mail today. They aren’t the brand or color or size or style I wanted, but after three iterations of ordering they’re “good enough”.
I’ve been rock climbing 5 or 6 times and canyoneering as well, and now I’ve been to CityRock as a climber twice, so I knew what size shoes I needed. I found the pair I wanted online and ordered my size. But when they arrived they were way too small. I couldn’t even get my feet inside, let alone close and tie them.
So I returned them for a larger size. Those too were way too small. I did some more research and realized I needed to order two sizes up from my normal size for this shoe. Unfortunately, no one had them in my ‘new’ size.
This process took two weeks (ordering, shipping, returning, etc.) and my whole “saving money on climbing shoes by buying them” thing wasn’t working now that I’d already rented twice.
So I just found a pair of random climbing shoes in stock in my size and ordered them. They arrived today (two days late) and while I’m not happy with the color they do fit (if a little awkwardly). They’re a little big (but tight?) and I can already tell I’m going to get blisters on my heels from them (time to break out the moleskin for preventative measures). I felt like I was wearing tap shoes when I put them on, but they’re here! They weren’t too expensive, so when I decided I want to seriously climb I’ll know what to look for and get a new pair. I’m considering putting my new hiking logo on them in Sharpee to offset the wonderful orange color that I’m sure will go well with my red climbing helmet.
Now it’s time to break them in!
Wild Wanderer 