Here’s my review of the Scarpa Vapour V WMN climbing shoes, which I bought about six months ago and mostly use for indoor bouldering. I really love them, so I thought it was time I shared my experience!
Scarpa Vapour V WMN Review
When I first started climbing, I wanted to get away from rental shoes straight away. But I didn’t want to commit to spending over £100 on expensive shoes. So for the first six months, I was wearing the Simond Rock+ shoes from Decathlon.
I still rate them as good first climbing shoes, but after a few months, they had stretched and my toes were completely flat. By then, my climbing had gotten better and I was wanting to do more advanced routes. For that I needed more precise footwork on tiny holds.
The decathlon shoes just weren’t cutting it. So, I set about researching intermediate climbing shoes.
I ended up choosing the Scarpa Vapour V WMN shoes.
Why I bought Scarpa Vapour V WMN
I knew I wanted velcro climbing shoes. Although laces can help you to get a better fit, I had watched a friend at my climbing gym accidentally undo her own laces on a climb. In between climbs, I also tend to take my shoes off a lot and so I thought laces would be a pain.
I have a fairly narrow foot, so I knew I was looking for a low volume shoe, which most women’s versions are. If you have a wider foot, there’s no reason you can’t buy ‘men’s’ shoes instead!
Scarpa Vapour V WMN have a lot of really good reviews, and one of the coaches at my gym had recommended them too.
One the Scarpa website the Vapour V WMN are rated highly for all types of climbing, whether indoor, bouldering or trad climbing. I thought they seemed like a good ‘all round’ shoe, which would be helpful if I wanted to test them outside of the gym.
Aside from technical reasons, I also really like how these shoes look. Mostly black, with sections of pink and turquoise, they are just feminine enough without being too overly pink!
What size Vapour V WMN should you get?
There seems to be a lot different information on what size climbing shoes you should buy in relation to your normal shoe size. This can be really confusing, particularly if you’re new to climbing!
Some people insist climbing shoes should be two sizes smaller than your shoe size, others will tell you that wearing your normal size is just fine.
The truth is that it differs between shoes and brands.
I spoke to other people at my gym wearing Scarpa shoes, and ended up buying mine half a size smaller. I’m usually a EU 37 and my climbing shoes are 36.5.
A friend of mine has the same ones and tried a pair half a size smaller than her usual shoe size. However, she found them too painful to climb in and sent them back. She ended up with her usual shoe size and is happy with them.
It’s important to make sure your new shoes fit properly. Your toes should be curled, but not massively painful. You’ll want to make sure there isn’t too much air around the heel. You shouldn’t be able to pull them off by tugging the heel. If you can, you’ll struggle to heel hook.
What are they like to climb in?
The first time I wore my Scarpa Vapour V WMNs they were a little bit painful and I was taking them off every 20 minutes or so.
BUT they did wear in nicely. After a few sessions I was able to wear them for a couple of hours at the gym without them bothering me.
One common thing with these climbing shoes is that they press on the top of your big toe knuckle quite a bit to start with, giving you ‘toe dents’. Again though, they wore in.
I’ve now been climbing in them for about six months, three times a week, and they fit my foot like a glove.
Performance-wise they do what I was looking for, and my foot placement is now much more precise. Now I’m all about the balancey slabs and toe hook overhangs!
Buying Scarpa Vapour V WMN
These climbing shoes retail at around £130 and are available on Amazon and in many outdoor shops. You may be able to find them cheaper than the full retail price, as they’ve been available for a while now.
I hope you’ve found my Scarpa Vapour V WMN review helpful. If you have any questions about them drop me an email. I genuinely do respond and I like to help!
Looking after your climbing shoes
By the time I replaced them, my first climbing shoes absolutely stank. So bad.
I didn’t want that to happen to my shiny new climbing shoes, so I vowed to look after them better.
Do yourself a huge favour and make sure you wipe out your shoes with baby wipes after each session. This prevents the bacteria from settling and growing.
Then leave them to air for a few hours with some activated charcoal boot fresheners inside.
You can shove them back in your bag, with the activated charcoal still inside, and they’ll be fresh for your next climb.
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