I have had the pleasure of using the La Sportiva Skwama for the last year and a half (if not more). I have decided that I can now give my proper opinion on these shoes. I have used them for Trad, Sport, Bouldering, DWS and pretty much everything in between.
I've had these for 1.5 years now and they've been re-soled twice without a rand repair. I just got them back from the resoler 4 weeks ago and suddenly started to wear through the rand (too much flagging?). I agree with the remarks about the heel, it sucks. It's too deep, too big and too insensitive. I can't use it for any small holds and it doesn't give me any feedback whatsoever about what I'm actually doing. Toe-box is pretty good, but the footbed has gone soft and molded to my toes (like, you can see where my toes are in the shoe). The biggest problem with the toe-box is that if you're using these shoes for a somewhat longer session, they will get super soft and your feet will start to move around. I've heard this from other climbers as well. Toe hooking works well if you can jam your foot in deep, but because your toes are super curled up shallower toe hooks will hurt a lot. It's a very versatile shoe, works on slab, overhangs, tiny edges and it's my first comfy performance shoe, but I think I will be trying to find something else next, especially after they've jacked up the price for no reason whatsoever. I've heard great things about the Scarpa Drago and the new 2019 La Sportiva Python is also looking pretty good with a nice heel and apparently a more comfortable and aggressive toe-box.
I've actually picked up a pair of the new solutions! May be worth giving them a look. I find they have improved the heel and the fit is great. I found I still had dead space with the drago/furia (s) unfortunately
interestingly I've been climbing with women's skwamas for two years now, resoled them once already and I absolutely love the heel. I'm also street size 37 and I wear 35.5 skwamas I guess it comes down to whether they fit the shape of your foot.
Connor Allers it doesn’t even feel “big” which is the annoying thing. Apart from the heal (for me) they are a great pair of shoes. Rubber is great, durability is great, and I love the toe box.
That's strange but yeah fair enough, my last pair of shoes had a loose kinda baggy heel and it annoyed me more than anything else. Maybe you have to be a v8 climber to use the heel on the skwamas, dunno.
The Otaki fits the same, however it's substantially stiffer, has two strap closure, and lacks the toe rubber. It's better at edging and on dead vertical terrain, but is worse in cracks and is less sensitive.
How did these stretch out? I was in between sizes and went for the smaller, very tight fit in anticipation of all the "stretch" i've read online. Break in is killing me
@@VerticalLiving thanks! I was worried I got them too tight haha but they've actually been feeling better after 4 days of wearing them around the house. Quarantine = break in time. Cheers man!
Ahh. Now that I'll give you, yeah, there is definitely a perfect fitting shoe. But it might be terrible at smearing, or suck at edges, or it might be too aggressive for trad. That was more what I meant. Sorry for any confusion.
Kevin Diaz I’ve tried a pair out. I didn’t like the ‘hardness’ of the heel personally. Some people love it, some hate it. The Skwama heel was definitely more sensitive than the solution.
Yeah same for me ! I found they wore out super quickly compared the other shoes I've had from scarpa and five ten. I wonder if it's possibly a manufacturing issue
That’s so odd! I didn’t get any holes or blown rubber within the first year! Maybe the first batch they made were more durable? My Chimera’s blew a hole so much quicker
4 pairs in 6 months??? HOW!? How do you wear through shoes that fast?? Also, if they wear out THAT fast why would you buy 3 more pairs instead of getting a more durable shoe?? Either you've just started climbing and haven't quite figured out foot technique and quiet feet - this sounds rude but that's not my intention - or this comment is complete BS.
I have had the pleasure of using the La Sportiva Skwama for the last year and a half (if not more). I have decided that I can now give my proper opinion on these shoes. I have used them for Trad, Sport, Bouldering, DWS and pretty much everything in between.
Old video but to anyone still looking that likes the toe box of the skwama but not the heel, check out tenaya mastia, such a great shoe.
great review and love how concise it was thank you!
I've had these for 1.5 years now and they've been re-soled twice without a rand repair. I just got them back from the resoler 4 weeks ago and suddenly started to wear through the rand (too much flagging?). I agree with the remarks about the heel, it sucks. It's too deep, too big and too insensitive. I can't use it for any small holds and it doesn't give me any feedback whatsoever about what I'm actually doing. Toe-box is pretty good, but the footbed has gone soft and molded to my toes (like, you can see where my toes are in the shoe).
The biggest problem with the toe-box is that if you're using these shoes for a somewhat longer session, they will get super soft and your feet will start to move around. I've heard this from other climbers as well. Toe hooking works well if you can jam your foot in deep, but because your toes are super curled up shallower toe hooks will hurt a lot.
It's a very versatile shoe, works on slab, overhangs, tiny edges and it's my first comfy performance shoe, but I think I will be trying to find something else next, especially after they've jacked up the price for no reason whatsoever. I've heard great things about the Scarpa Drago and the new 2019 La Sportiva Python is also looking pretty good with a nice heel and apparently a more comfortable and aggressive toe-box.
I've actually picked up a pair of the new solutions! May be worth giving them a look. I find they have improved the heel and the fit is great. I found I still had dead space with the drago/furia (s) unfortunately
@@VerticalLiving So how was the Solution's new heel? Can you do some aggressive heel hooking with those? :) Other thoughts?
I much prefer the solution heel! Review coming this summer!
interestingly I've been climbing with women's skwamas for two years now, resoled them once already and I absolutely love the heel. I'm also street size 37 and I wear 35.5 skwamas I guess it comes down to whether they fit the shape of your foot.
I will say the scarpa instinct have a pretty good heel and are good on small holds however the rubber on the toe area isn't very grippy
If you like instinct vs but don’t like xs edge, they make the Instinct VSR which has grip 2, same as the skwama. Rest of the show is nearly identical
The 2019 solutions have an awesome small heel
Personally I love the heel, it fits me really well, but I can see why it would be annoying if its too big
Connor Allers it doesn’t even feel “big” which is the annoying thing. Apart from the heal (for me) they are a great pair of shoes. Rubber is great, durability is great, and I love the toe box.
That's strange but yeah fair enough, my last pair of shoes had a loose kinda baggy heel and it annoyed me more than anything else. Maybe you have to be a v8 climber to use the heel on the skwamas, dunno.
Connor Allers dab
Nevermind
Connor Allers ;)
had the same problem with the heel with the otaki, despite being 3n half sizes lower.
Hello! Have you had a chance to try out the La Sportiva Otaki? If you have how do they compare?
Hi Kevin, unfortunately I haven't!
The Otaki fits the same, however it's substantially stiffer, has two strap closure, and lacks the toe rubber. It's better at edging and on dead vertical terrain, but is worse in cracks and is less sensitive.
Good review.
I only want to know 1 thing, How many sizes smaller/bigger is the best for indoor bouldering?
How did these stretch out? I was in between sizes and went for the smaller, very tight fit in anticipation of all the "stretch" i've read online. Break in is killing me
They stretch out well, but took a decent break in period
@@VerticalLiving thanks! I was worried I got them too tight haha but they've actually been feeling better after 4 days of wearing them around the house. Quarantine = break in time. Cheers man!
i think you should try ocun oxi, it's the most comfortable heel so far for me. cheers
2:00 - 2:10
My dude, there is no such thing as a perfect shoe. There is a perfect shoe for a style of climbing, but no one shoe is "perfect"
There is definitely a shoe out there that is perfect for your foot. No dead space in the heal, right shaped toe box etc
Ahh. Now that I'll give you, yeah, there is definitely a perfect fitting shoe.
But it might be terrible at smearing, or suck at edges, or it might be too aggressive for trad. That was more what I meant. Sorry for any confusion.
Nah you are all good! Different tools for different jobs, but they should all fit your foot well!
Have you had a pair of Solutions from La Sportiva? If so, what do you think of the Solution heel and how would you compare it to the Skwama?
Kevin Diaz I’ve tried a pair out. I didn’t like the ‘hardness’ of the heel personally. Some people love it, some hate it. The Skwama heel was definitely more sensitive than the solution.
I am trying the new ones soon. Apparently the heel cup is narrower so I am intrigued to see how they perform now. Thoughts to come!
Teams for life
Jake Sugawara you are such a roof ryder boi
Vertical Living don’t worry I’ll get some uncut slab footy
I would love to see you on slab! Like a fish out of water ahaha. Keep crushing dude.
yo max, how do these compare to teams? looking into another roof climbing shoe
Definitely a wider fit. I much prefer the toe box on these though. Maybe check out the agros. Lots of good rubber on those.
sick. Just noticed the Arizona patch! way to represent
All about AZ. Home away from home.
Have you tried La Sportiva Genius? The heel felt much stronger for me, but there's no edge on the toe - so I prefer Skwamas overall.
Nathan Beth I haven’t! But I really don’t like the no edge malarkey so it kind of puts me off!
Love the genius heel!
uhhh I disagree with being durable... I’ve gone through like 4 pairs in the last 6 months
Yeah same for me ! I found they wore out super quickly compared the other shoes I've had from scarpa and five ten. I wonder if it's possibly a manufacturing issue
That’s so odd! I didn’t get any holes or blown rubber within the first year! Maybe the first batch they made were more durable? My Chimera’s blew a hole so much quicker
4 pairs in 6 months??? HOW!? How do you wear through shoes that fast?? Also, if they wear out THAT fast why would you buy 3 more pairs instead of getting a more durable shoe?? Either you've just started climbing and haven't quite figured out foot technique and quiet feet - this sounds rude but that's not my intention - or this comment is complete BS.
Kevin Diaz I mean if you climb 7 days a week outdoors I can see them going through in that amount of time.
Vertical Living I probably should've at least been more polite. There could be a legitimate explanation.
mad how cheap they were compared to now
Maybe get better at heel hooking? Just a thought lol
Sure, always room for improvement. It doesn't mean I can't not like the heel. It's baggy and doesn't fit me well.