Yesterday the Plastic Fantastic Climbing Team had our official review day for the Shamans! I’ve been in these shoes about a month now and feel like I have a much better idea of their all around quality and capability.  At this point, I am happy to report that I am still very impressed with this shoe.

Over the past month I have really put them through their paces, taking them on every type of route imaginable, including some trad and crack climbs, which was very painful and not recommended. Haha.  Other than that though, my overall impression of the LV Shaman is very positive.

I continue to be impressed with the versatility of the shoe and my ability to take it on most any type of climb, from overhang to slab.  I never once had an issue with my feet slipping or blowing off, which I think is a testament to the quality of the Evolv rubber.  Besides those climbers who want to focus on trad, crack, or exclusively slab climbs, I would really recommend this shoe to just about anybody.

To answer my questions from before: 1.) The shoes have continued to stretch a bit throughout the month, leaving a small amount of space around my toes, which makes me feel like my feet are slipping inside the shoes.  Though they are fairly true to size, for a bit more security, in the future I might think about downsizing 1/2 street shoe size. 2.) After a month of hard climbing, the rubber is still solid.  I generally wear through my Nagos in about three months, and the Shaman seems to be on track to make it at least this long. 3.) As mentioned above, the shoe continues to impress me with it’s versatile performance.  I bouldered on many steep routes over the past month and was happy with my ability to toe down and generate power off of even small holds. 4.) Even though I am becoming more used to the Shaman, I’m still a little unhappy with the lack of sensitivity.  On thinner climbs I am forced to simply trust the shoe, rather than actually feel what I’m standing on.

But like I mentioned, I’ve never had my feet come off, and despite the lack of sensitivity, I am definitely adding the Shaman to my very small arsenal of shoes.  Coming from somebody who has fought a losing battle with aggressive shoes, I think that’s definitely saying something!