climbingshoes.com Firewall Review
By John Walter

climbingshoes.com Firewall
$69.95
Slip Lasted, Cambrelle Lined, Cambered Flex, Leather, US Sizing

Editor's Note: For an introduction to Climbing Shoes, click here.

climbingshoes.com is a newcomer to the climbing shoe industry. Fed up with the high cost of climbing shoes, the founders of climbingshoes.com wanted to bring high quality European made shoes to the end user at a palatable price. They do this by skipping the distribution channel and selling directly to the user through their internet site. These are serious shoes. They are made in the same factories that companies like La Sportiva and Boreal use.

The Firewall is a great performance shoe. Similar in design to the Razor from Five Ten, the Firewall has a blunt toe and a sling shot rand on the heel. It has a full Cambrelle lining and a well paddded tongue that are both comfortable features. The slip lasted cambered flex gives nice performance on thin edges without sacrificing comfort.

When I originally sized these shoes, the size 8 Firewalls on my size 9.5 feet were painful, so I returned them for an 8.5. This size seemed to be the ticket because after they stretch out a bit, I find the Firewalls to be very comfortable. The blunt toe doesn't fit well into small pockets, but overall these shoes gave me good performance. The sling shot rand keeps the heel snug. The tongue is made of a synthetic material, which makes me concerned about how well it will last, but allows ventilation to your foot. Comments from other testers described the rubber as feeling not quite as sticky as other shoes, but this could be due to the new shoe. I found that as I broke the Firewalls in, the sole was great on small smears as well as edges.

The Firewall is a well constructed shoe. Detail in the design and manufacture ensures that this shoe will be able to handle what you throw at it. After climbing a full month in them, they show no signs of excessive wear anywhere. These shoes seem to become my favorite shoe lately. I find that as I am heading out to climb, I reach for these shoes more than any other.

Summary
The Firewall from climbingshoes.com is a great shoe. It offers the intermediate to expert climber a durable shoe that performs well on most types of climbing. climbingshoes.com has gone to great lengths to manufacture quality shoes and the Firewall is no exception.

John Walter is a Contributing Editor at GearReview.com.