Customer Reviews La Sportiva Katana Lace

First: this is an incredible shoe, one of the best I've used in 30 years of climbing. Details: The Katana lace up is a significantly changed design, and a great improvement on the older Katana velcro. The P3 last is much more down turned, to the level of the Miura VS or the Solution. Interior finish of the shoe is very very comfortable, the last shrink wraps the foot, almost like a slipper. But there is enough stiffness in this shoe to use for vertical edging on multipitch routes. Closest fit for me to compare to is the Sportiva Testarossa, but the new Katana Lace is a more robust and much stiffer shoe. The new Vibram XSEdge rubber is harder than previous XSGrip rubber used by Sportiva. Personally I find XSEdge excellent outdoors on a range of rock textures, with good friction, but on some gym surfaces it is too firm. The lacing system really locks this shoe into place. I've used it for intensive heel hooking- it is terrific, and I have a low volume heel. For several reasons- the last, the lacing, and the fit- I could see this shoe replacing the old standard Miuras, as it does nearly everything they do, but better. It won't replace the Miura VS, however, as that is a softer shoe and more suited to very overhanging terrain. In summary, an extraordinary shoe. Can't speak highly enough of it.

It's been a long road finding a more technical shoe that really fits my foot well. I had been using the La Sportiva Mythos for my first year of climbing and I'm at the point where I really want a more downturned shoe. I actually didn't start with the La Sportivas this time around. Instead, I tried a few different brands (mostly 5.10 and Evolv) and had really thought I could make the 5.10 Anasazis work for me. Unfortunately, I finally had to come to terms with the fact that they just didn't fit my feet right: if the heel fit my toes felt like they were breaking and if the toes were manageable the heel was too loose. After speaking with folks in my gym I learned that for my type of foot: long and narrow with long toes, La Sportiva is a better match. Sure enough, they spoke the truth! I started with the Katanas (velcro) in both men's and women's, but they don't make my size in the women's shoe and in the men's shoe I felt like it didn't have that "glove" feeling no matter what size I tried (went from a little too big to way too small). The Katana Lace got better reviews and is actually a fairly different shoe. While I had wanted a velcro this time around for easy-on-easy-off, I have to admit that the laces just really give the shoe that perfect fit. These to me are comfortable (at least comfortable enough, my toes still hurt but c'mon, they're climbing shoes!) and really do feel like they hug every bit of my foot as if they were made for me. I've been wearing them about a month now (so ~12 gym sessions) and I can wear them for about an hour straight without too much discomfort; looking forward to breaking them/my feet in further. Great stickiness. Good for toe and heel hooks. I'm using them for both bouldering and sport climbing and feel they have a good balance for both uses. I'm excited to try these on real rock once the weather warms up. The moral of the story: try on a lot of brands and models to find what really fits your foot. If you have a narrow foot with long toes, these might be perfect for you. I love them! Oh, and for anyone going from Mythos to Katana Lace, I went up a 1/2 size.

We'll start with the good... one of my friends ordered these and she likes them. They fit her foot well and she hasn't complained about them. I also tried these on. I thought the toe box felt really odd. It's hard to explain but it's almost like the front end of your foot is being compressed from the top and bottom. I went with the Miura Lace instead and love them. Bottom line, try them on, they fit differently than other shoes.

I bought these shoes for face-climbing/edging. As other reviewers have noted, the toe box is very low on these, owing to the 'love bump' in the sole. Most climbing shoes have enough vertical space that the toes curl, but these don't, so sizing is really critical. I had to try 4 different sizes before I found one small enough to sufficiently push my heel in to the cup. The sole is stiff, so breaking them in has been a little uncomfortable. But having climbed on them 3 times outdoors and 10-15 times indoors, I really do like them, and am looking forward to getting them broken in and ready. Sizing: LS Cobras 41, 5.10 Rogue 10, LS Katana Lace (these shoes) 40.5. Five Fingers M42. I don't know what my 'street shoe' size is.