Five Ten Stonelands Slipper Review

Summary: great slipper, especially for crack climbing. Comfortable out of the box. Only thing it doesn’t do is overhangs.

Back story: Well, my La Sportiva Barracudas finally bit the dust. I searched desperately for a new crack climbing shoe, namely, one with rubber over the toes. To my dismay, most shoes with rubber over the toes are aggressive and downturned, not ideal candidates for a crack climbing shoe.

The decision came down to the Five Ten MocAssym (a favorite of many crack climbers) or the Five Ten Stonelands Slipper, a new addition to the Five Ten family. Apart from key words like “thin crack,” “Firsten Last,” and “lined leather,” it was difficult to otherwise characterize the shoe. With no stores nearby that carried them, I called Five Ten to get their take on sizing and then purchased the shoes.



Fit: If you climb in and enjoy the Five Ten Anasazi, you will likely be pleased with this shoe. The major difference is in the toe box. It is boxier which allows your smaller toes to lie flat. The only toe which is bent is the big toe. The shoes fit comfortably now that they’ve been broken in. I am a street size 11/11.5, wear my Anasazis at 10.5 (see photo, shoe on the left), and the Stonelands at 10.5 (see photo, shoe on the right). The Stonelands are now significantly more comfortable than the Anasazis but fit well, the goal of a crack climbing shoe.

My recommendation would be to size the Stonelands the same as your Anasazis for crack climbing applications.

Why the Stonelands over the MocAssym? Because there was more rubber over the top of the toe.



My first trip out with these shoes proved to be a success. I onsighted my first 5.11a, Gunsoke, in Long Canyon near Moab, UT. This particular climb goes through a myriad of crack sizes from big hands down to fingers layback.

Performance: Sticky C4 rubber. They come with a great edge (until you wear it down). These shoes also double as a great slab climbing shoe. They stuck well until the sun came out on a 5.11a slab (Punany) in Little Cottonwood Canyon, UT.

You will have problems with back-stepping small edges (compared to the Anasazi). But most importantly, these shoes become socks at anything over 10 degrees overhanging. Small pockets and edges which need to be pulled in to with your feet will prove to be a difficult task. Also, I found my feet slipping off of holds instead of staying firmly planted.

Durability: we’ll have to see on this one. If they’re built like the Anasazis, I’m sure they won’t disappoint. I wanted to switch to a slipper to avoid laces and lace wear on crack climbs. So, in that regard, these should outperform the Barracudas by a long shot.

Other Photos:

Stonelands, top view.


Stonelands, side view.


Stonelands (left) against the Anasazis (right), side view. These particular Anasazis have already seen two years of rock climbing, vs. the Stonelands which are new for me this year.


Stonelands (left) against the Anasazis (right), bottom view. The Anasazis just went through their first resole.

I just wore through my first pair of Stonelands (laced) and I think they are pretty durable. They lasted through 7 months of mostly full time crack climbing (sandstone).

I ended up wearing holes over the pinky joint in the leather so I couldn't get them resoled....

I really like them. MOst of my issues with them had to do with the lacing, so that's not really important to the slipper.

Also, I was forced to use these when I was climbing overhanding limestone tufas and they performed reasonably well for everything other than heal hooks.