La Sportiva Kataki

How do these shoes perform compared to the Katana Lace's and Miura VS? I'm looking for a she that excels at precise footwork and can stick on a micro edge or smear well when needed.

Overhangs are not a concern...I climb some steep stuff but nothing crazy. 

email@ryanschneider.name Schneider wrote: How do these shoes perform compared to the Katana Lace's and Miura VS? I'm looking for a she that excels at precise footwork and can stick on a micro edge or smear well when needed.

Overhangs are not a concern...I climb some steep stuff but nothing crazy. 

Boreal Linx for better smearing and very good edging. 

email@ryanschneider.name Schneider wrote: How do these shoes perform compared to the Katana Lace's and Miura VS? I'm looking for a she that excels at precise footwork and can stick on a micro edge or smear well when needed.

Overhangs are not a concern...I climb some steep stuff but nothing crazy. 

They seem a tad stiff and more precise to my foot that the katana lace.

Just to add a couple more data points, I have been climbing in TC Pros (44.5) for cracks mostly in Squamish and Shamans (12) mostly for the bouldering gym but also for the occasional real face climb.  I blew out the toe on my TC Pro trying to stick a smear on a single crystal and my Shamans are nearly worn through the toe too so I figured I'd try something a little different and picked up a pair of Skwamas (44) and a pair of Katakis (44.5).  

The Skwamas are a good replacement for the Shamans and fit nearly the same but are not nearly as comfortable.  I've had the Shamans for so long that maybe I don't remember how they felt when they were new.  The Skwamas have a terribly sharp edge on the plastic material under both ankle bones.  I actually took a nail file to the shoe to smooth the sharp edge out and it helped.  I can't believe a $170 shoe would have such an unfinished detail.  Other than the pain in the ankle I really like the way the shoe climbs both in the gym an on real granite.  It's softer both under and over the toes than the Shaman which gives it a little more sensitivity but somehow feel like it edges better too.  That might be due to the broken midsole in my Shamans.  The heel fits well (other than the sharp edge) and stays secure during heel hooks.  Overall the Skwamas are a good addition and I think they will get better as they break in.  

I have less days in the Katakis so far, just a couple of pitches outside and a session in the gym.  Initially they felt too tight, I was hoping to fit them for finger cracks, my thinking was that the lower profile toe box might fit better in less-than-hand cracks than the toe on the TC Pros.  Both the TC Pros and the Katakis in a 44.5 leave me with a flat big toe and the rest of my toes are curled.  With the wider toe in the TC Pro my toes aren't as curled as they are in the narrower toe of the Kataki.  As they break in I'm starting to feel more optimistic that I got the sizing right.  My gym session in them gave me the impression that they had all the feel of a wooden clog under the big toe which is a stark contrast to the Skwama but I could stand on the big toe well even with less compression.  My one day climbing outside in them (just a few pitches after teaching some belay skills) left me thinking that I sized them right and that they will work for what I want.  They are not a direct replacement for the TC Pro but I think they will perform better in the smaller cracks.  I'll have to get some more mileage on them to know if they'll stretch as much as the TC Pros did.  If they do then they will be great crack shoes, if they don't then they'll be good for finger cracks only and not so good for hand cracks where my other toes will get smashed knuckles.  Time will tell.  Someone with narrower feet or different toe shape than mine would have a very different experience comparing the TC Pro and the Kataki for crack climbing.

The Skwama fits very differently for me; can’t wear it. The Otaki a little differently and I probably need a half size larger. The Kataki is a great face climbing shoe, a little like the Miura lace but not as precise in the toe. However they fit me better and I really like them.

The Otaki feels like a larger volume Miura VS with a less aggressive shape (just as downturned, but less asymmetrical). Baggier heel (for me).

I have the womens skawama in 40. I just got a pair of women’s Katakis in 41. I got the women’s because I wanted the grip rubber instead of the edge due to the fact I’m a only 136 lbs. there super comfy but I do regret not getting a 40.5. The toe flexes a bit on small holds. I’m thinking about sending them back but I’m not sure what that half size will really benfit enough for the trouble. I wear a 42 street shoe.

Ethan Fletcher wrote: I have the womens skawama in 40. I just got a pair of women’s Katakis in 41. I got the women’s because I wanted the grip rubber instead of the edge due to the fact I’m a only 136 lbs. there super comfy but I do regret not getting a 40.5. The toe flexes a bit on small holds. I’m thinking about sending them back but I’m not sure what that half size will really benfit enough for the trouble. I wear a 42 street shoe.

Same size street shoe, 40 skwama was a snug performance fit on me, 39.5 was damn near plastic bag required when new.

I have women’s kataki in 40.5 and just picked up the men’s as well. They perform very different, since they don’t knuckle up your big toe the women’s really lacks edging power (compared to other shoes with grip rubber). The trade off though is that they smear/smedge very well and contort to wiggle in rand smears in thin finger pods really well. 
For fine/medium grain granite that tends to be more smearing (Index/wa pass) I’m keeping the women’s. For course grain with small edging (Squamish) I’m using the men’s. 
Don’t think I could get a 40 on without a plastic bag on my foot fwiw. That would be too small for me

Brian Abram wrote:

I just got back from a week in Indian Creek with the La Sportiva Kataki, and here are a few initial thoughts.

The Sportiva Kataki is the lace version of the Otaki and the sister shoe to the softer Skwama. I have worn out a pair of both the Otakis and the Skwamas, and I'll compare the Kataki to both of those.

The Kataki fits like the Otaki and Skwama: wide at the forefoot. But the laces extend down to near the toe, allowing a more precise fit. The toe is low profile and similar to the Otaki. The Skwama's toe is a bit higher profile and less supple with all the rubber up front. I climbed cracks from fist size down to 5.12 .3-.4 Camalots in the Kataki. I also used them to climb Stolen Chimney, and I used them for an afternoon of sport climbing at Wall Street. From 5.10 hands to 5.12 fingers to 5.12 edgy face routes, they performed great.

The laces do show some fuzzy wear after several days of jamming in cracks. I imagine if I was there for much longer, the laces would need to be replaced.

They are much stiffer than the Skwama. The Skwama is not only softer in flex, its XS Grip seems to wear out nearly twice as fast as XS Edge. The benefit of XS Grip is that I think it holds much better on rounded crappy feet frequently encountered while bouldering. The Skwama is definitely better for bouldering and gym climbing for me than the Otaki/Kataki. The more custom fit of the Kataki over the Otaki due to the laces make the Kataki my choice for roped climbing.

Some folks may poo on the idea of using an "aggressive" shoe like the Kataki for crack climbing. But other folks recognize that shoes like the Katana Lace and Kataki can be great for cracks---especially thin cracks.

Anyway, that's about it at this point. I need to wear them more to have more thoughts on their performance on other terrain. My prior experience with the Otaki and Skwama informs some of what I think I'll find. For example, I think the S-heel is a gimmick and doesn't do much, if anything, for me. I'm really liking this new line from Sportiva.

When would one choose the Otaki over Kataki?

Albert Cronenberg wrote:

When would one choose the Otaki over Kataki?

I personally wouldn't. for anything

Albert Cronenberg wrote:

When would one choose the Otaki over Kataki?

I love my kataki! They are stiff compared to my skawama. But I don’t have to bail out of them at the end of each route. I have to women’s so they have to grip rubber compared to edge. But I’m only 62 kilos 

Brian Abram wrote:

I personally wouldn't. for anything

Yeah, i’m curious why la sportiva even designed a velcro system. It’s more expensive too, albeit by 5 bucks.