I’ve been wearing the UpMocs for around 4 weeks now. A few people have asked about them so here’s a few thoughts...

I have ruined more climbing shoes than I care to remember, my buddies are sick of it. All I do is complain about my new shoes falling apart. In my two years of ‘serious’ climbing I’ve easily gone through 10+ pairs. I don’t climb particularly hard, I just climb particularly scrappy. A mixture of my sweaty goblin feet and distinctly average technique provides the perfect environment for rips to be born, holes to grow and the general degradation of the materials used to protect my precious little piggies.

My feet have been around the block, they’re sassy, they know what they like & what feels good.

1 - Look

The UpMoc is a slipper style climbing shoe, from the relatively new brand Unparallel. In a jazzy yellow the aesthetic that is right up my street. The shoe has 4.2mm Unparallel RH rubber with a nifty little rubber patch to help in those toe hooking situations we all love. The upper is unlined leather, so for any long-arm vegans, these aren’t for you.

2 - Feel

The first thing I noticed was how soft the rubber was, there is sooo much flex in the shoe, making for a lightweight feel. Climbing in them I can feel the subtle changes in the rock, any indents or outdents are exposed to my new radar feet, it’s a real test of trusting what you feel. Comfort gets an A* from me, my wide goblin feet feel snug but not crippled. The mid-foot area is supported with nice elastic cuttings that stretch to the natural size of your foot, so for all my brothers and sisters with high volume feet the bridge of your foot won’t be getting battered.

3 - Performance

A super soft flat Moc clearly belongs on some scary slabs and this is where the shoe starts to prove itself, I find it slightly easier to commit to those scary rock over moves when I can feel the pebble I’m standing on. I have no qualms with the rubber it seems very grippy on sandstone, lime and grit. The obvious questions in performance is with hooking. Firstly the toe hook, the new rubber toe patch adds some grip but little protection, it has been useful as a way of stabilising my body position however the rubber is thin so don’t be expecting painless latches. Slip on style shoes are notoriously bad for heel hooking, with no lace or tightening system its hard to strap down the heel of the shoe, my experiences with the UpMoc are similar. I find it hard to trust big heel hooks where I’m pulling a lot of weight through. I think it's half a mental battle because you expect there might be some slippage. To be completely fair I recently just broke my grade barrier, I managed to climb a 7b arête boulder problem, there was a big ol’ heel hook in it and it worked out brilliantly. So in short, they’re good just trust ya feet more!

4 - Durability

4 weeks of climbing outdoors, 3/4 times a week and they’ve broken in beautifully. However signs of wear are starting to come through. I run hot, I’m a sweaty boyo. My feet used to get stained red for days after wearing my old red Mocs. I’m not sure any shoe can ever be designed to handle this much abuse. I’m starting to see parts of the toe patch becoming unstuck, little corners are becoming separated to the suede upper, this can also be seen a little on the main rubber. The upper seems to be in good shape, I worry most about creating a tear around the ankle area when heaving them on. I have slight concern for the longterm durability but so far they’re doing well!