SHOE REVIEW: La Sportiva Katana (VS)

Katana* (VS, size 42) by La Sportiva

*old version/design

Killian Fischhuber, world renown bouldering powerhouse, still competes with these guys for a reason (I'm guessing that he likes them).

Two Velcro straps, two Velcro circles, and the character for "Katana" in Japanese mark this shoe branding it with the responsibility for precision, deadly accuracy, and power of the katana.

I've had these sweet mature puppies for over a year. They got me through the dark ages of poor footwork. The features an asymmetrical toe that really helps out with concentrating those little toesies into a point. It has enough toe rubber for toe-hooking when needed. The toe box isn't too advanced, which is likely related to the fact that it isn't particularly aggressive (even though it's named after a sword! HA I JEST). I find this to be a plus. When toe-hooking in an aggressive shoe, that toe joint curling into the safe welcoming home of the toe box is above the rest of the foot, which leads to terrible pressure on a red-point on your toe joint. With the Katana, this toe-issue (a tissue) is not an issue (not a tissue). You are able to toe-hook with ease.

Sizing (the wide-footed-man's shoe)

It's wide. It's comfortable. But it leaves too much dead space for my slender high profile feet. Furthermore, its not very aggressive. High-grade boulder problems could result in many foot-caused falls with these guys. Wide low profile feet rejoice! You have a shoe that can do virtually any style of climbing with have to be squeezed into a tube of misfortune.

You can crack, sport, trad, and boulder with these hombres.

So get to it!

Rating (scale of 1 to 5):

Bouldering - 4.5

Sport Climbing - 4.5

Crack - 4
Comfort - 5

Til next time!
Kevin