So ILL climbing shoes

I’ve been thinking about buying a pair of these.  I would love to hear reviews from people who already own them. Which one would you recommend and why?

I forget which model I bought, but they were without a doubt the worst fitting, worst performing shoes I ever wore, and there were a lot of bad shoes around in the late 80s/early 90s. I ended up giving them to a coworker’s kid who didn’t know any better. 

Not only should you not buy these shoes, you should refuse to climb with anyone who owns them.

They make off brand shitty products, and they retain well-known shitbags on their staff.  

Russ B wrote: Not only should you not buy these shoes, you should refuse to climb with anyone who owns them.

They make off brand shitty products, and they retain well-known shitbags on their staff.  

Can you go into more detail? I oversee a bouldering wall and have been looking at different holds brands for new purchases. Quality of their holds is likely very different than the quality of their shoes, but all the same, if the company is full of turds, I’ll take our business elsewhere. 

Their holds are designed by Louie "Gluey" Anderson, who's vandalized crags across the west (most recently Ten Sleep Canyon) for decades while being aware of the communities distaste of his practices.

Is there anyone out there  that advocates these shoes?

My brother got a pair of SoILL shoes, and they fell apart almost instantly. They don't give him confidence in his footwork either.

Jason Momoa sure does seem to like them  

Dude forget these guys.  If you want to shop at GAP then go for it!  

Russ B wrote: Their holds are designed by Louie "Gluey" Anderson, who's vandalized crags across the west (most recently Ten Sleep Canyon) for decades while being aware of the communities distaste of his practices.

I know of Louie and his ongoing Ten Sleep nonsense, but wasn't aware he designed the holds for So iLL. Welp, looks like I'll be turning to another company.

Toshi Takeuchi climbs V15 in them.
Jason Kehl still climbs pretty hard in them.

with that said, i could care less about Louie Anderson.

Do So Ill shoes still come with a free vape pen?

Redyns wrote: Toshi Takeuchi climbs V15 in them.
Jason Kehl still climbs pretty hard in them.

with that said, i could care less about Louie Anderson.

So we have two movie star boulderers who are paid to use the shoes, and some nobody who also works for so ill.

99 prercent of everyone else who uses them are young, mostly female, inexperienced, urbanite boulderers who post videos of their indoor "v3" flashes on social media every other day.

It doesn't surprise me that someone who uses their "gear" isn't offended by chipping holds, they are the same people who call people who develop outdoors "route setters" and only boulder. Can't expect them to have any idea behind the ethics of climbing outdoors or care that they're supporting a company that employs people who are threatening the entire communities access to crags they don't have the skills to climb. 

TenTon Kodiak wrote:

I know of Louie and his ongoing Ten Sleep nonsense, but wasn't aware he designed the holds for So iLL. Welp, looks like I'll be turning to another company.

Do some research on your own, my god, unfortunately Louie Anderson has shaped holds for nearly every hold company out there. I dislike his practices as much as anyone but you’d have to avoid nearly all “top brand” hold companies if you don’t want to buy anything that he has ever been associated with. 

He is also not one of their main shapers as far as I am aware, far from the only one as well. Sh!t, Jason Kehl has an entire line of soil holds. 

With all of that (rant) said, soill shoes are worse than mad rock and climbx shoes. 

Go Back to Super Topo wrote:

Do some research on your own, my god, unfortunately Louie Anderson has shaped holds for nearly every hold company out there. I dislike his practices as much as anyone but you’d have to avoid nearly all “top brand” hold companies if you don’t want to buy anything that he has ever been associated with. 

He is also not one of their main shapers as far as I am aware, far from the only one as well. Sh!t, Jason Kehl has an entire line of soil holds. 

With all of that (rant) said, soill shoes are worse than mad rock and climbx shoes. 

Fair enough. If it's unavoidable to go with a brand that doesn't have some involvement from ol' Louie, than so be it. But if it can be avoided, like you said, time to do some research and sort that information out. 

Anyway, the only place I've ever seen a positive review for So iLL shoes is their own website. Anything on MP or Reddit, etc. always leads to the same summary: So iLL shoes are terrible and apparently only worn by hipsters who've never actively climbed outside.

I will admit I like the look of some of their shoes. So, they at least got that going for them. 

Russ B wrote: So we have two movie star boulderers who are paid to use the shoes, and some nobody who also works for so ill.

99 prercent of everyone else who uses them are young, mostly female, inexperienced, urbanite boulderers who post videos of their indoor "v3" flashes on social media every other day.

It doesn't surprise me that someone who uses their "gear" isn't offended by chipping holds, they are the same people who call people who develop outdoors "route setters" and only boulder. Can't expect them to have any idea behind the ethics of climbing outdoors or care that they're supporting a company that employs people who are threatening the entire communities access to crags they don't have the skills to climb. 

at the end of the day, "movie stars" or not, they both climb light years harder than you can ever imagine, whilst in SoIll Shoes.

Do you have half a clue of what your aforementioned "nobody" has done for climbing over the past 25 years? with no love and zero respect, you're a total shitbag.

I had a pair of shoes re-soled with the dark matter rubber and it's fucking awesome. That's all I can say.

Sheesh.

A simple reply to the OP. I got a pair at a brick and mortar Sierra Trading Post here only about two years ago, maybe less, super cheap, probably a closeout. They fit well, so I popped for them, gym shoes at least, right?

Wrong. The rubber wouldn't stick at all. To anything. For me, they climbed really, really badly, so I quickly took them to my little used gear store to sell.

Sorry, I can't remember which shoe it was, but they were brightly colored two toned things, part of their "retro" bowling shoe thing they had going. Probably would have done great for bowling....

That said, YMMV. If you can try them out, do so, and base your decisions on what works for you, and anything else you choose to consider.

Best, Helen

I had a pair a few years back that was pretty poor quality. My wife had a pair too and agreed. She purchased a pair this year though and so far they are her favorite pair of shoes. We climb in the gym a few times a week and outdoors every weekend, combination of crack and face climbing. Less now that she is pregnant. So far, they have held up for around 10 months I think. The gym we climb at has some Walltopia walls, but they are older so they don't penalize bad footwork as much as some more modern/new gym walls.

I think they look cool and she likes them. If you hate the look or think looking cool is for hipsters who don't climb outside, then don't buy them I guess. For the large majority of daily gym climbing, it's a fine shoe. I imagine it would do fine outside as well. If you need to see other people wear something to determine if you like it, then you probably will see many people wear them in the gym and not outside, so go ahead and do that if you want to as well.

I personally think their converse like approach shoes looked cool. I also tried on a pair of New Zero and liked them. I have too many shoes as is though so would wait until I need a new pair before I get one. 

Nathan Witt wrote: Do So Ill shoes still come with a free vape pen?

That, and a complimentary clip on man bun. 

Thank you Helen and Anthony for your responses

Yuri...... best comment out of everyone haha