Wednesday, February 25, 2015

What Size Shoes Do I Wear and How do I compare?

I have measured my feet with a ruler on a piece of paper and in-store on those foot measuring apparatuses.
In my findings I found that my left foot (and it was clearly noticeable in all the shoes I have ever worn, street shoes/climbing shoes/etc.) was much larger than my right.
I have a high volume feet with boney protrusions on top and on the sides, and my feet are borderline E width (depending on the shoe brand). I have a case of Morton's toe as well.
I'd like to think my feet are meaty and not skinny or narrow but a little wider than average.
I am also flat footed with barely any arch (5-10 degrees at max).

Left foot - 10.8 inches
Right foot - 10.5 inches

Here are a lists of climbing shoes I have worn and for how long I used them.
Disclaimer: These are all my own personal opinions/sizing on these shoes and on any future posts that I decide to eventually write reviews on all of the following shoes.

I HIGHLY SUGGEST TRYING SHOES ON IN-STORE
 (if you live in SoCal, "Gear-Coop" is a great place to go)
Then proceed to order them online or wherever you can get discounts.

Legend: * Would probably size down if I wanted to buy them again
               ** Would buy them again or recommend them to a friend
               + Testers only had them for a limited time

                 Shoe                                   Brand              Size                   Time of Use
1st pair     Rogue (2011 model)          5.10                  10.5*                  11 Months
2nd pair    Team 5.10 (Black)             5.10                 10.5*                   3 Months
3rd pair** Shamans (1st gen)             evolv                10.5                    11 Months
4th pair** Moccasyms                        5.10                  8.5                       9 Months
5th pair** Hi-Angles (Blue)               5.10                     9                        6 Months
+6th pair** Team VXIs                        5.10                   9                        2 Months
7th pair      Sharks 2.0                         Madrock             10*                     1 Month
8th pair      Pythons                           La Sportiva           39.5                  Newest pair

*I probably would have gone down half a size in all of those to get a more tighter but still comfy fit

List of climbing shoes that I know what size I am and may want to eventually buy.

                   Shoe                                   Brand              Size
                   Anasazi Pinks                    5.10                  8.5
                   Anasazi Verdes                  5.10                  8.5
                   Anasazi Arrowheads          5.10                  9.5
                   Blackwings                        5.10                  10
                   Cobras                                LS                    39.5
                   Futura                                 LS                    40
                   Nexxos                               evolv              10.5
                   Luchador                            evolv              10.5
                   Miura VS                           LS                     40.5

Second Disclaimer: I included a time of use column to show my personal time with the shoes. I will go further into how the rubber held up and my personal opinions on each in their own separate posts/reviews.

To give a comparison to some street shoes, I wear my street shoes comfortably with about 1cm of space in front of my toes for my feet to move around in my shoes.

Brand                            Size
Vans                             10.5
Sperrys                          9.5
Adidas                           10
Converse                       10.5
Nike                               10.5
5.10 Guide Tennies       10.5 (2013 model)

Last Note: I wear my climbing shoes with curled toes because it helps me as a climber get a better edge, I also personally like unlined leather shoes opposed to synthetic because they 'stretch' and conform to your foot allowing for an overall more comfortable experience, although they do leave a dye on your foot (red/blue/etc.). I rarely ever have to take my shoes off and I can sit with them on my feet in the gym for my entire session (2-4 hours). My average gym time for the 'Time of Use' column was about 2-5 times per week inside on plastic and when I bought my Moccasyms I was hitting outdoor crags more (Riverside Quarry, Tramway, Black Mountain). I will go much further into detail on each separate shoe and how I abused each on the rock and describe how each withstood the test of rubber against rock/plastic over time.

All in all, I hope this helps the climbing community not only with shoe choosing, but also some other advices/opinions I plan to give on the way.

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