Should I keep both Scarpa Insintict VS (XS Edge rubber) and VS womens (XS Grip 2 rubber)?

Hey everyone,

I've been climbing indoors for about 6 months now (coming back to indoor climbing after a few years away from it), and have been looking to upgrade my climbing shoes.  I recently got a pair of the Scarpa Instinct VS and the Instinct VS womens (VSW), and have been trying each out (the store I bought them from lets you try shoes out a few times).  The VSW is a half size larger than the VS and they seem to have the same size last with that sizing difference.  I'm trying to decide whether it makes sense to keep both - the Instinct VSW for indoor climbing and the Instinct VS for outdoor climbing, since I also just started climbing outdoors and want to do lots more of it.

I've read all the posts I could find in this forum about the Instinct VSR, and it seems that the general view was that the XS Grip 2 rubber is better for indoor climbing, and that the XS Edge is perhaps a bit better for outdoor climbing, particularly on small edges.  And I know Scarpa says the XS Grip 2 rubber can be better for lighter climbers (not sure what range Scarpa considers lighter -- I weight 165 lbs).

After trying out both pairs, recognizing that they're not fully broken in yet, I do like the VSW better indoors and I find them slightly more comfortable.  Both shoes fit my feet pretty well as far as I can tell so far.  I'm going to keep the VSW for sure, since I'll still be climbing more indoors than outdoors, and I'm wondering whether it's worth also keeping the VS as an outdoor climbing shoe, or if the VSW would be pretty close in performance outdoors. I got both pairs at a really good sale price, so if it's worth keeping the VS, I might as well do it at this price.

I'd really appreciate any thoughts on whether to keep both. Thanks!

The chance that you'll feel a significant difference between the two different rubbers is almost zero. If one doesn't fit well, then get rid of it. If they both fit well, then you can keep both and have two pairs that you can use, which is nice if you need a backup pair when one is getting resoled or to keep one pair in your gym bag and another in your outdoor bag.

Your interpretation of the strengths and use cases of each shoe is correct. For the gym the shoe with softer rubber would along better with plastic. Outside, both will perform well, but which is better depends on the rock. On smoother rock and smeary footwork (such as slopey sandstone), the softer shoe is better. For tiny sharp edges or standing on granite crystals, the harder rubber edge of the VS is better. But this is splitting hairs, especially for a newer climber. You may barely notice the difference.  Both will perform great in most situations.

So really either way is fine. You could keep just the VSW and use it for everything. But if you like the VS and got a good price, no harm in keeping that one also. There's not really a bad choice here.

One consideration: where do you live and what is the local outdoor climbing you'd be doing? I.e. if you live in Tennessee and your outdoor rock is a lot of smeary sandstone, having just the softer shoe is fine. But if you live in Oregon and need a stiff edging shoe for Smith, consider keeping the VS.

So i've had both shoes! I am currently rocking the VSR (blue unisex with Grip2) and I like them more than the VS just from the perspective that I can feel the rock better. To each their own however.

I would personally recommend diversifying your shoe collection. The Instinct family is a more aggressive shoe in general and is great for bouldering and aggressive sport climbing (not that it cannot be used for something else, but this was the intended purpose). I have the VSR, a pair of TC pros and then a flat pair of evolv Kiras. 3 different shoes for 3 different things. The VSRs are good for bouldering and some try hard climbing, the kiras are my gym burners and all day shoe, and the tc pros are for cracks and stuff like that. 

Anyway thats my two cents. you could keep both but i would personally recommend diversifying

I'd keep both since you will need to resole one pair at some point (most likely your indoor shoes will get beat up faster) and you can wear the other shoes in the meantime. I have both VSR and VS and use them for what you described. 

JCM wrote:

Note on terminology: the stiffer orange shoe is the VS. The softer blue shoe is the VSR.

Addendum: there's also the aqua colored VS women's (presumably what the OP is talking about) which is slightly narrower than either the orange or the blue.

reboot wrote:

Addendum: there's also the aqua colored VS women's (presumably what the OP is talking about) which is slightly narrower than either the orange or the blue.

Ah good point. There's too many versions of that shoe to keep track of. Edited my earlier post accordingly.

Amazing - thanks everyone for the super helpful replies!

Yup - I was referring to the aqua women’s VS (but couldn’t find any forum posts on that version, so read a bunch of posts about the VSR).

And I live in Toronto (Canada), and most of the rock around here is limestone/dolostone, in case that makes any difference to people’s thoughts.

Thanks again.