Millet Hybrid

Having climbed up to 5.13a on Spurt-A-Tron in Rifle, Colorado, these shoes have proved their worth on everything from overhanging, glassy limestone to sharp, vertical sandstone. With rigid 4 Points Grip rubber throughout the shoe and an inflexible forefoot, the Hybrids were some of the best edging shoes in our review. Unfortunately, that means they didn’t excel at smearing: “It’s smearing with your entire foot—ok when there’s a big platform, but not great for nuanced smears,” said one tester. They did stand out for jamming—especially on thin hand cracks and wider—thanks to the rigid forefoot, Velcro straps farther back on the foot, and extra rubber up over the forefoot on both sides. A favorite was the Crash Pad heel, which was “great for bouldering, both landing and walking between boulders,” said another tester. It has a built-in EVA anti-shock insert so the force from every heel strike is absorbed into the shoe, and not back up into your bony foot. They also scored high marks in the durability department (4 out of 5); the leather upper held up really well to repeated foot jamming and scumming.