La Sportiva Skwama

This is a fantastic shoe all around. Its soft but still offers good support on small jibs. When I first started using this shoe my foot struggled but after sometime I think my feet got stronger and small jibs are no issue anymore. They are great at heel/toe hooks, and really shine in overhung routes. I'm also very surprised by how good the shoe is at edging. I thought they would be a bit of a downgrade on that from the Five Ten, but its actually been better.

In terms of my feet specifically, they fit better than any other shoe I've had before it. I think its the wider toebox/foot area in general but I'm not sure 😅. They are less comfortable for walking around in than the NIAD was, but I usually just swap out to some flip flops after a few climbs so its chill.

Warning: the color on the sole of the shoes leaches off onto your skin while you climb. In my case, it turns the soles of my feet yellow. After some time with it the leaching stops but the first few times wearing these shoes its quite the surprise.

Five Ten NIAD

I love this shoe, and would recommend it. Only disclaimer for it is that the shoe will stink like crazy. Something about the material makes the inside of the shoe reek.

• Solid heel
• Very comfortable
• Good for smearing and edging
• Toe hooks are okay
• Does not excel at overhung routes

This shoe initially is very hard, but after a few weeks climbing in them they become quite soft. So if you prefer hard shoes, these might not be for you. The sizing from Adidas on these shoes run small, so your regular street shoe size will already feel like you downsized 1 EU size.

Scarpa Quantics

I highly recommend avoiding this shoe.

This was the first pair of climbing shoes I bought, and I very quickly bought a new pair. These shoes have a stitch right where the big toes rest in the show, which when you downsize (not even by much, I went down half an EU size) the stitch aggressively digs into your big toe. Since climbing involves putting nearly all your body weight on your toes, the force is strong enough that the stitch actually cuts open your big toe. Taping up your toes helps prevent this, but the pain from climbing becomes unbearable.

When I tried the shoe out in the store before buying it, I didn't notice the stitch. It might have been because of the socks I had on at the time, or because I didn't climb in them. Regardless, its easy to not notice the stitch when trying it on but once you start climbing it becomes incredibly painful.