he Evolv Venga is a great all-around moderate kid's climbing shoe. Children's climbing shoes are not known for exceptional performance, but instead, favor features like comfort and adjustability. This shoe somehow pulls off all three. A hook and loop strap covers the instep and opens wide to allow easy on/off, but is narrow enough to leave the toe free of pressure points in cracks. The heel adjustment gives kids the flexibility to size up and adjusts up to a full size for growing room.go to full review

Overall, the Black Diamond Momentum performed as well as expected. It can edge and hold its own on vertical terrain and we didn't notice a huge difference between the new fabric uppers and the classic leather uppers regarding breathability. Unfortunately, the women's version of these shoes is very narrow, and our wide-footed testers found the women's Momentum to be very tight and borderline uncomfortable. We were not blown away by these shoes by any means, but they are a good buy for newer..." go to full review

Once in great moon, I seem to catch it right; a warm wind, a low tide, and morning of solitude. One thing I can always count on while climbing at Panther is sandy holds. Both footholds and handholds are more often than not, caked with sand. Holds are rounded, sculpted and altered by the ever-changing disposition of the Great Pacific. Butora rubber held well on the semi-wet, sandy footholds and I felt pretty solid heal-and toe hooking across a project that has stumped me for the past six..." go to full review

The great thing about these shoes is there was virtually no break in period. They feel just as snug now as they did the first day. They are equipped with a softer rubber compound and minimal sole support that performs very well in the gym as well as on the rock. However, because of its softer midsole, it’s not a super solid edging shoe, it performs best on bigger footholds or smears.go to full review

The La Sportiva Kataki climbing shoes are a phenomenal piece of kit and I can see them becoming firm favorites for many climbers. Their versatility was a pleasant surprise, performing very well across the majority of climbing disciplines, although they were best micro foot edges, slightly overhanging terrain and crack climbs. Their only real drawbacks are that they can be warm in particularly hot weather, aren’t the best at smearing and are best left in your bag when attempting long mountain..." go to full review

A good shoe, designed with indoor competition style and training board climbing in mind, and certainly best suited to this end. Also well worth a look in you have found the other Instinct models a little too voluminous in the heel or want a slipper with a bit more rigidity than is the norm. go to full review

The Tenaya Mundaka offers an excellent blend of performance and comfort, and I think it excels as a steeper bouldering and competition shoe. It is a great option for intermediate to advanced level climbers who use and depend on precise edging and footwork through overhung sections. Like all shoes, the Mundaka doesn’t perform well in every area, and if longer duration vertical edging (e.g., a place like Smith Rock) or aggressive heel hooks are your priority, you may want to look at..." go to full review

Scarpa just keeps the hits coming in the high end shoe department, and the Chimera is what we’ve come to expect from them. If you like the Drago but want something with more support for roped climbing, the Chimera might be exactly what you’ve been looking for: a high performance tool that is geared toward sending steep routes with small, smeary foot holds that you really need to be able to feel underfoot to stand on confidently. The only drawback is the steep price tag, but you get what you..." go to full review

I’ve used the Dart for sport, trad and Scottish winter climbing and it has proved a good all-round harness. There are no areas that it truly excels in but likewise there are no areas where it is really lacking. Comfort is very good whether actually climbing or on a hanging stance and like all good kit it tends to disappear from your mind whilst in use. It was a great harness on ‘mountaineering’ type Scottish days with a fair bit of scrambling and ridge walking the design doesn’t hamper..." go to full review

The LiveWire has a nice, large, solid-gate Nitron carabiner on top, and a similarly-sized LiveWire wiregate on the bottom. The latter incorporates Black Diamond’s proprietary HoodWire design: a piece of metal on either side of the nose prevents it from snagging on your harness or other gear; this means it functions like a keylock carabiner, but still saves weight compared to the solid gate. We enjoy wiregates for the rope-side biner— we find they allow for a quicker, more responsive clip—so..." go to full review