Five Ten Anasazi Review

My name is Mike Lewis. I am a guide with Colorado Mountain School out here in Boulder, Colorado and I am gonna share my thoughts about these Anasazi Velcros made by Five Ten.

First of all, I think Five Ten makes really good shoes. They have the stickiest rubber in the market. They have been doing it for a long time, so they know what they are doing. They are a little more expensive, but personally I think it’s worth it. You get what you pay for.

So these Anasazi velcros are just classic. I mean, they have been around for really long time. Probably close to 15 years. They are around still for a reason!

First of all, personally I love the velcro aspect. I like climbing in velcro shoes for multi-pitch mount climbs, for sport climbs, for bouldering, for gym climbing. I love to be able to just pop my heel out really quickly on a multi-pitch climb, or when I get to the bottom of the sport climb I can just pop the shoes off quickly and not I’m retying and untying and dealing with laces a lot. I find that the velcro is just as tight, or more, than laces. So love the velcro aspect.

This shoe is known for its ability to edge very well. In this shoe there is an extra layer of canvas or something in here that gives extra stability. So your bouldering shoe are gonna be much more flexible than this and some of your trad shoes will be less flexible, so this is kind of right in the middle. But it gives your foot some stability to stand firm on small edges. It also comes to a point, right here. You can also see it from this side. So this point comes right at the tip of your big toe so all that pressure is going right onto the point and you can stand on a really small things.

One of the great aspects of the shoe for sport climbing and edging is that it cramps your toes up in like this. So, your big toe is kind of here (at the tip) and your other toes are kind of like this (curving down). That curving feature right there’s what really helps you stand on really small edges. But what that’ll do is cause your toe knuckles to stick out right here (on the fabric). So if you start trying to climb cracks in these too much, your toe is gonna wear through the upper material (it isn’t leather). So, generally not a good crack climbing shoe.

How long have you owned your Anasazis for?

This pair I have had for probably 4 years.

You had a pair before that as well?

This is probably my 8th pair of Anasazi Velcro and when I was climbing at my strongest, this is what I was using to do my hardest sport climbs. Something else I want to share about it…

How many stars out of 5 would you give it?

This is definitely a 5 star shoe. It’s my go-to and has been. And it’s not just about me… So many people have climbed really, really hard climbs in these things. Whether you’re climbing a 5.8 or a 5.15, when you are climbing at your edge on sport climbs, then this is the shoe, or one of the best shoes to have.

Alright, anything else?

No that’s it.

Alright thanks.