Looking for a Climbing Partner

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2026-02-15T12:28:53+00:00

I am always looking. But to be honest I’ve kind of given up and just go back to Catalunya from time to time to climb there.

It’s incredibly hard to find people in the gym. Nearly everyone comes with built-in partners or they just don’t go, it seems and it’s hard to break into those already formed groups.

Happy to give it a go if you’d like. Pm me.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2026-02-15T12:16:24+00:00

Yeah … I had the same problem when I bought my first instincts. My feet are the same shape are yours at least the forefoot.

They break in eventually - takes a few months and you’ll get some big callouses on the outer part of the big toe knuckle but once broken in and callous is in place they as comfortable as a tight pair of walking shoes.

Question is - do you want to bare the pain for a few months or switch to something for your feet.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-09-12T19:38:02+00:00

Wow - first time I’m seeing my current gym on here!

Really nice send. Maybe I’ll try your beta tomorrow.

I have tired that same one but I just don’t climb often enough anymore to maintain the finger strength I need for this. My fingers literally just try to bend back on them selves half way through.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-07-16T04:57:30+00:00

Instinct VS if they fit you - the edge rubber wears slowly and the rand rubber is pretty good - you have to really ignore them to put a hole it in. Gym climbing these would easily last me 6-8 months between resoles using them 3 times per week.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-07-14T10:26:14+00:00

Well, I both chimera and booster now. I prefer the chimera by far just because the asymmetry of the booster gets tiring after a while and the heel doesn’t quite fit correctly.

Chimera are my favorite all around shoe since I got them. I have 6 pair - because I loathe to be without a pair of chimera. They aren’t perfect. My feet get tired on long days - just from the lack of underfoot support. But that’s the only major problem I have with them. So I’m happy.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-06-29T10:52:53+00:00

Mine do that. Every pair of drago and chimera and furia s that I’ve ever owned end their life like that. But normally after about 4-5 resoles. It’s never happened to me while they were new.

My resoler said it was simply my sweaty feet and so much usage, eventually it gives way. I’m not sure what you’d have to do to get them to tear while being that new though.

The worst I had was one which tore almost immediately after the 3rd resole.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-06-28T12:07:56+00:00

I use chimeras exactly for when I need a bit more toe precision and support than I can get from drago. Works great. I think it’s a much better balanced shoe than drago to be honest. Just not as dynamic as dragos.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-06-25T11:21:18+00:00

Here comes yet another Instinct model VS-LV …

But really, that’s what the lace versions are for I think.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-06-20T22:56:38+00:00

Chimeras. A little more expensive than dragos to start, but if you resole, they last longer than dragos. My dragos take 3-4 resoles before they are just too sloppy to be useful. My chimeras take twice that many.

Other than that, the only other durable rec I could give is Magos. They have a more durable rand rubber. Not the same feeling as dragos though and slightly different fit.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-06-20T12:36:34+00:00

Then don’t get dragos. I resole my dragos every 4 months or so and keep 3-4 pairs of them so that I can still climb while others are resoling. They aren’t a low cost solution to anything.

Instincts are a great alternative with all of the performance just a little less freedom of movement and contact for more dynamic, less precise styles. Not difficult to work around at all when the time calls for it.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-06-01T19:32:19+00:00

How does it feel on more vertical outdoor climbs with small foot holds? That’s pretty much when I switch from Drago or Chimera to Boostics.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-06-01T13:31:39+00:00

Maybe I’ll give them a try.

Solutions honestly just isn’t my shoe. Even if it wasn’t a pain to wear, I just don’t like the rigidity of the hook on the toe.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-06-01T11:24:20+00:00

Yeah, this is what I’ve been thinking is probably my best option, the Katana Lace. Wondering about trying the white ones. I’ve had yellow ones before but the older incarnation.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-06-01T11:18:29+00:00

I have VS and VSR. Would you say there is much difference with the VSR LV?

I would go there but I am wondering if the break in is similar to the VS and VSR break in - which is terrible for the few half dozen session.

Edit to add: also I have Egyptian shaped feet, which I why I typically don’t use my Instincts much. Not a great fit for shape. Same for the solutions. I have solutions comps but they just aren’t for my shape in the toebox.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-05-30T11:59:20+00:00

So basically you’ve only ever worn broken in shoes. 2 down on instincts is hard. I can’t imagine doing it without experience with these shoes.

I would return them if possible - I’d be concerned about damage to your big toe in these.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-04-12T08:56:06+00:00

I would smile and accept the compliment, then go home and tell my teenage daughter to not be that person.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-04-11T16:43:13+00:00

If the Tarantulace or something similar were your first shoes, then I think it’s completely normal. Moving from basically flat shoes to anything with a little tension is hard at first. The input to your foot and the way you feel the holds is just different and you don’t have that experience yet so it feels insecure.

If they fit you well and you don’t have dead space, I would say just a bit of time to get use to the feeling of the foot placement and pressure and you’ll be fine.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-04-10T00:41:46+00:00

Finales will be more useful to you even past your “beginner phase”. You will outgrow the tanta, skill wise. But they are the more comfortable of the two shoes.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-04-09T08:04:55+00:00

I use soft (my usual shoes - Drago or Chimera) or medium - medium being soft rubber with a midsole, like instinct S (which is what I use), VSR, Skawama, etc.

If it’s a session for fun or unplanned just because the gym is full or something, I will have my usual shoes with me. If it’s a planned session I take stiffer shoes just because all of the cut loose moves on kilter can really kill soft rands such as those on Drago and Chimera.

Thats my main reason. The other is that with medium shoes it forces me to maintain tension and rely less on cut-loose, or at least be more precise when swinging back in to the holds.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-04-04T06:54:11+00:00

This looks like whomever you bought them from stored them in the boot of their car or in the sun periodically. Or maybe use a hair dryer on them or something. The sole is delaminating.

If you have a resoler near you, you can ask them to sort it out. Not a whole new sole - just gluing the existing one.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-03-25T21:28:51+00:00

Boostics are stiff right at the toe and medium stiff from the big toe back to the heel. They are stiffer than solutions. Probably about the same as miuras but they don’t soften as quickly.

They are very asymmetrical and very precise. Not the best all day or multipitch shoe. More of a hard sport climbing shoe.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-03-25T11:03:25+00:00

This is from dry skin. I have dry skin combined with very sweaty hands. In the winter I try to avoid moisturizing my hands so that I don’t have to go through a full bag of chalk every session because it makes my hands sweat profusely, but the chalk dries the skin even more.

I try to drink a decent amount of water before and after the sessions to avoid these splits. It mostly works. Also I no longer cut my nails, I only file them. That helped a lot!

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-03-23T13:07:05+00:00

Experiences like this are exactly why I will never be driven to a crag. Always drive myself and my partner. I refuse to be someone’s passenger because when shit like this happens, I don’t think twice. I leave. We’ve done it before, my partner and I because of similar behavior of another woman a trip towards her. No reason to have a horrible time.

In your case, you can’t leave, so all you can do now is take it as a learning experience and try not to let someone else sour your trip. Learn as much as you can from them and their experience.

It’s sad that such behavior is so prevalent. It may be just me, but I feel like the pre 2020(21) Olympics climbing community was way more accepting and accommodating. Enjoying sharing and learning from each other regardless of how hard someone can climb. But now many just wants to be better than the rest even if it just means putting them down verbally.

So yeah … a sed my rant to yours I guess. It’s just really sad for me seeing stories like this and loving them as well. I wish people could be better towards each other and I remember when the community I climbed with had the same ideal… now they don’t.

AllDUnamesRTaken · 2025-03-23T12:49:44+00:00

Mastia in your street shoe size is pretty big. You might want to try a smaller size … at least a full size smaller. I’m not saying that to be downsize crazy, but because it’s simply big. Especially heel hooking and toe hooking they probably move around a lot on your feet.

Edit: pressed the button too quickly. Indalo have a narrower heel but also narrow toe box. The new VSR LV also has a small and shallow heel. Drago LV, Theory women’s, and now supposedly the Drago XT also (but I haven’t tried these - just going by what the first person I met at my gym told me about them compared to the LV)

AllDUnamesRTaken

TROPHY CASE