Stiffest climbing shoe for an injured toe?

Hey friends!  

What are the stiffest, relatively flat climbing shoes going these days?  Spray me down!

The long version is I have a buggered up big toe that I tried to get fixed with surgery but it made it worse.  Both joints on this big toe are almost fully seized up and pressure (like standing on a normal climbing hold) on the tip of the toe is somewhere between uncomfortable and unbearable.  I used to always sport climbed in Miura VS's but even my loose fitting size is excruciating to wear for even 10 seconds and impossible to step on a hold.  After some experimenting I'm getting back to the crag wearing a TC Pro on my bad foot and while not idea, it's getting me back on a rope and not too far off from what I used to climb.  But at the end of the day my toe is still pissed off and I'm wondering if there is something stiffer (and not down turned) that I can wear.  I tried going all the way to a mountaineering boot but it's way to clumsy for me and I'd guess an approach shoe would be no different.  I need a real climbing shoe!  The TC Pro works but if there is something better to check out, I'm all ears.

It sounds like what you need isn’t necessarily a stiffer shoe (TC Pros are pretty stiff), but maybe a more neutral/less aggressive one?  The pointy shape of TC Pros might be aggravating your toe, as their shape is designed to focus power onto your big toe.  Maybe try a Mythos or Nago?

I'd get the most comfortable possible fit and then experiment with specialized insoles.  See, for example, https://www.theinsolestore.com/graphite-insoles.html .

What about something like this.

Edit: Looks like rgold beat me to it. 

Did you get a bunion corrected? I have a bad one that can be awful some days. Solution was five ten verdons that I had resoled with thicker rubber that what was original, way more rigid now

Not sure if this is helpful as the stiffer rubber also feels clumsy, but I’ve always found the stiffest shoes to be gym rentals. Maybe try a pair next time you’re in a gym? 

I've heard of guides climbing hard in board-lasted shoes that protect their feet through all the high mileage climbing.

They have a piece of wood running the length of the sole. Not sure if anyone is making a shoe like that these days...maybe Butora?

Besides shoes have you tried taping your toe to accomodate for pain. I wear Evolv Defy for multiple reasons. It doesnt cause unnecessary stress to the already stressed joint and I have pretty wide feet. I have a bunion and it randomly will shoot pain so bad up my foot that I too cant stand on a hold. I started taping my foot in a more normal position while climbing and it seems to help enough to get my climb on. This may be helpful if the shoe search doesnt work. 

I like a stiff shoe for standing on small edges all day (Red Rock jumps painfully to mind).  When I have my shoes resoled at Komito Boots, he makes the forefoot totally inflexible.  I suggest you give him a call.

Note that the shoes I am using are of the board lasted type, which I assume would work better for this.

Jesse Jakomait wrote: I tried going all the way to a mountaineering boot but it's way to clumsy for me and I'd guess an approach shoe would be no different.  I need a real climbing shoe! 

Approach shoes (many models, at least) are much closer to climbing shoes than to mountaineering boots - I wouldn't assume it "would be no different" until you try it. 

If you could find yourself a pair of Boreal Aces, boy would you have yourself a stiff shoe. I think they're discontinued now. I still have a pair, PM me if you are close to a 47 euro size. Pretty sure they would stop a small rifle bullet. REALLY stiff. 

Dude:  You need the Boreal Ballet Gold. I have arthritis in my feet, and cannot stand shoes that compress my toes much. The Ballet Golds have a board last, and are extremely stiff. They still climb surprisingly well.

rgold is right. Your best bet is a carbon fiber insole that you slip into your shoe. After my accident in 1999 and amputation in 2001 I went back to climbing pretty regularly. My feet had been badly frost bitten and the tendons, fascia, and fatty tissues in my residual foot were basically fossilized. The have no metatarsal flexibility, no toe flexibility, ability of inversion and eversaion, no doriflexion and limited plantar flexion.

A carbon fiber insole makes all things possible. I can edge like a demon but smear adequately. Importantly, the CF insole significantly reduces all the foot pain I have and protects the bottom of my foot.

You might find you have to start “gelling” too. That insole is going to be hard as rock and you might need some padding.

AN insole made for a walking/running show isn’t going to fin your Murias. Find someone with a belt sander and custom shape it for whatever shoe you end up with. Don’t worry about getting an exact fit; any shoe that’s worth anything will have enough structure to support a little slop from the shoe.

Enjoy your new edge!
Mal

I have arthritis in my big toe and need a stiff shoe.  I ended up with the Five Ten Blanco.  Great edging shoe and it has helped a ton with my toe issue.

I had a similar issue where I tore a ligament in the top of my big toe.  Must like you I couldn't really bend the toe due to the injury.  I like you was unable to wear my normal Mira VS.  I purchase a set of black diamond momentum shoes in a very comfortable size.  this allowed me to start climbing again at the gym but at a couple levels lower than I used to climb.  Being that it had been 6 months of I wasn't overly surprised.  Once climbing for a month the toe definitely loosened up and unlike all the other therapies I tried started getting better.  I have now upgraded to a pair of Otaki in the same size as my old Miras and they are my all around shoe.  I have have been able to get back into the Miras after a bit of warm up climbing but still get pains in them after a while but not much more than before the injury.  Lastly I will say that slipping off a hold and kicking the wall with my bad foot will still end that climb for about 5 minutes.  Hope this helps

https://www.alimed.com/carboplast-thermoplastic-plates.html

I use these in my regular shoes. You'd have to cut them to shape though

Tony Bob wrote: https://www.alimed.com/carboplast-thermoplastic-plates.html

I use these in my regular shoes. You'd have to cut them to shape though

Just wondering, how do you cut them? 

The material is pretty tough so it required something beefy. I think I used straight-cutting tin snips and either filed or sanded to finish. A coping or scroll saw would probably do a nicer job.

jt newgard wrote: I've heard of guides climbing hard in board-lasted shoes that protect their feet through all the high mileage climbing.

They have a piece of wood running the length of the sole. Not sure if anyone is making a shoe like that these days...maybe Butora?

Boreal still does board lasted shoes, ace and ballet gold. Backcountry has them both on sale in most sizes right now.

Downside is that for me at least they are too "symmetrical". The big toe inner edge goes inline from the ball of the foot, similar to a lot of 5.10 lasts. Great if you have a bunion, not if your big toe points out in a straight line from the ball of the foot. 

boreal ace - the shoe Lynn Hill used on the first free ascent of the Nose, and still my favorite shoe, although i keep trying more "modern" shoes just to see...
board-lasted so dead easy to resole (I do my own), much stiffer than most "modern" shoes; leather upper so some stretch/break-in with "neutral"/forgiving fit - feel is similar to tc-pro
find them on ebay for about $20. (how I got my last 2 pairs) - and yeah, Boreal still makes them if you absolutely gotta have new...

for me, insole/orthotic is a deal-breaker in rock shoes - I feel the loss of sensitivity, and the inevitable "slop" (never been able to completely resolve slippage inside shoe) negate comfort gain.  I do use orthotic insoles in approach shoes, but I don't push my standard in that set-up.

if you're truly desperate, try climbing in rigid alpine boots. climbing 5.10+ rock in alpine boots is getting to be a lost art these days, and it seems a shame since the modern ultralight rigid boots edge phenomenally well, and reduce any hand-sized crack to mere step-kicking.  smearing takes some getting used to, but with reasonable ankle range-of-motion, it does work.  I do enough rock in rigid boots that I've become adept at resoling the front inch-and-a-half of sole...

Nice that is some good info!...off to ebay I go....haha