Coating Shoes for Crack Climbing

Okay  it's that time of year again.  What do you coat your upper's with to make the shoes last longer.  I saw a couple of guys in SLC who had a good setup, and they told me what they use. Unfortunately, both my climbing partner and I forgot what they mentioned.  Also and advice for repairing a hole in leather uppers would be appreciated.  

I think Shoe Goo would work well

"free sole" works better than anything I have tried including shoe goo.

Phil Sakievich wrote:

What do you coat your upper's with to make the shoes last longer. 

Good crack technique.

I find "seam grip" penetrates the material pretty well, and "free sole" (which is really just barge cement mixed with rubber shavings) does a good job of creating a thick rubber layer on the surface.  So it depends what you are trying to do.  

With a new pair of shoes (once they've broken in), I'll use a small brush to rub seam grip into the stiched seams and high wear areas.  With an older pair of shoes, I might use free sole to build up an area that is getting worn away to make the shoes last a bit longer.  I find free sole adheres better if you start by brushing on a thin layer of just barge cement and letting it dry a few minutes until it's tacky.  Then mix up a batch with the rubber shavings and apply it to the pre-treated areas.

Marc801 C wrote:

Good crack technique.

Lol. Yeah saw that one coming. 

Rich Farnham wrote:

I find "seam grip" penetrates the material pretty well, and "free sole" (which is really just barge cement mixed with rubber shavings) does a good job of creating a thick rubber layer on the surface.  So it depends what you are trying to do.  

With a new pair of shoes (once they've broken in), I'll use a small brush to rub seam grip into the stiched seams and high wear areas.  With an older pair of shoes, I might use free sole to build up an area that is getting worn away to make the shoes last a bit longer.  I find free sole adheres better if you start by brushing on a thin layer of just barge cement and letting it dry a few minutes until it's tacky.  Then mix up a batch with the rubber shavings and apply it to the pre-treated areas.

Ah seam grip! Yes that's what it was! K im going to try the seam grip free sole combo on my slippers. Thanks!

Marc801 C wrote:

Good crack technique.

Phil Sakievich wrote:

Lol. Yeah saw that one coming. 

Only semi facetious. Having climbed tens of thousands of feet of crack in Yosemite, RMNP, and a few other places (and not Indian Creek, btw), I've never had an upper wear out or get holes, and this is on  shoes that had been resoled at least twice. Thus never felt the need to coat the uppers with something that will turn them into worse foot saunas than they already are.

Pretty sure folks like Mason Earle and Peewee have excellent crack technique but I've seen them in vids with freesoled moccs or other shoes. For hand / thin hand cracks Indian Creek where there are no other feet most of the time except the crack, shoes are bound to wear on the tops. 

I did mine with the 5.10 stealth rubber kit I got for free years ago. It has lasted pretty well. Basically, Barges shoe cement mixed with fine rubber shavings. Plain old sim grip probably works just as well. After all, you don't need to grip, just prevent wear.

Marc801 C wrote:

Only semi facetious. Having climbed tens of thousands of feet of crack in Yosemite, RMNP, and a few other places (and not Indian Creek, btw), I've never had an upper wear out or get holes, and this is on  shoes that had been resoled at least twice. Thus never felt the need to coat the uppers with something that will turn them into worse foot saunas than they already are.

I get it and yes if your technique is good you see a lot less wear and tear. My hole-y slippers are almost explicitly used on a textured crack machine. The slippers are a little loose so the only place I would really climb with them outside is a splitter hand crack at IC. After hundreds of laps up and down in the hands/thin hands regions the holes seem pretty inevitable. When I'm training I try to push myself to the point where my technique is falling apart so I expect the wear and tear to also be more than on my other shoes. 

Rich Farnham wrote:

I find "seam grip" penetrates the material pretty well, and "free sole" (which is really just barge cement mixed with rubber shavings) does a good job of creating a thick rubber layer on the surface. 

Which "free sole" is this?  I know of "Freesole" from Gear Aid / McNett, but it is a urethane adhesive.  Just like "Seam Grip", only much thicker consistency.  Neither is a rubber cement (unlike Barge) or contains rubber shavings.

Patrik wrote:

Brilliant!  How do you thread them, though?  I tried this and couldn’t get the cord through the eyelits.

baldclimber wrote:

Which "free sole" is this?  I know of "Freesole" from Gear Aid / McNett, but it is a urethane adhesive.  Just like "Seam Grip", only much thicker consistency.  Neither is a rubber cement (unlike Barge) or contains rubber shavings.

Sorry, I might be using the wrong name.  There used to be a product that I think was put out by 5.10, that was barge cement and a container of rubber shavings.  I guess that's not what "freesole" is?  I've never bought either.  I stopped by Rock and Resole years ago and got a small amount of rubber shavings and have mixed it with barge cement when I needed to make a repair.

Rich Farnham wrote:

Sorry, I might be using the wrong name.  There used to be a product that I think was put out by 5.10, that was barge cement and a container of rubber shavings.  I guess that's not what "freesole" is?  I've never bought either.  I stopped by Rock and Resole years ago and got a small amount of rubber shavings and have mixed it with barge cement when I needed to make a repair.

What you're describing is 5.10's "Stealth Paint Kit".

Ted Pinson wrote:

Brilliant!  How do you thread them, though?  I tried this and couldn’t get the cord through the eyelits.

Try using a lighter to melt the end a bit then pinch it so it's long and narrow idk about using 5mm though 3mm works pretty well.

Ted Pinson wrote:

Brilliant!  How do you thread them, though?  I tried this and couldn’t get the cord through the eyelits.

Depends on which brand shoes you have. For wider cracks, I tend to stay with cheap shoes that have no eyelets (just a plain hole in the leather). If yours have metal eyelets, you can either just punch them out or you can easily replace the eyelets and 1/4" eyelets are easy to find. These should be big enough to even handle 6mm cord. Most climbing shoes these days only have eyelets at the upper end of the shoe (2-3 holes or so), so they are easy to work with. If you intend to put eyelets all the way down to the front of the shoe, make sure you get an eyelet plier and don't mess with the grommet tools, they can be a PITA to work with in the tight spaces at the front of a shoe. 

"That guy named Seb"s suggestion works well for thinner cord, but I'm not sure how much protection those give while crack climbing. Yes, of course you get the advantage of nylon cord shoe strings lasting A LOT longer than flimsy cotton shoe strings (if you have been to Indian Creek, you'll know what I mean), but I'm not sure about protecting the leather of the shoes though as the OP was looking for. If you try it, let us know what protection you get with thinner cord. I've never used anything less than 4.25mm. Bigger is better and if you go through the hazzle of new eyelets, you might as well go with 5mm cord. Whatever you do, stay away from the really slippery 5.5mm spectra. I can't attest to any real physical difference, but when you get gripped, it is definitely a mental aspect kicking in reminding you about that slippery stuff on your shoes!