Salomon wins hands down, best I've ever worn, almost unbelievably light, but can take the beating of a very heavy pack for weeks on end:

http://www.rei.com/product/788395/salom ... boots-mens

any good Keen will do you, too. Nothing. Ever. Again. From Vasque. EVER.

I just picked up a pair of Evolv Cruzers and I'm pretty happy. They are cheap, light weight, and minimalist but still seem to climb pretty well. It's basically a climbing shoe that you can walk around in. The sizing was climbing shoe tight at my normal size so I bumped up a half size. You can also fold down the heel to use it like a slipper between climbs.

The downside is that the are not burly or waterproof. Thin soles and no ankle support either (might be a plus to some people). I put in about 8 hours of hiking on muddy rocky trails in the Adirondacks this weekend and I tore up some of he canvas outer. Luckily it has two layers so its not falling apart or anything.


(not my photo)

Late to this thread, but I have had great luck with the Salawa Alp Trainer:
http://www.backcountry.com/salewa-alp-trainer-hiking-shoe-mens
Sticky rubber(at least on 5.5 rock) and is holding up well thus far. No blisters or hotspots to speak of either.

duplicate post

Daria wrote:My personal opinion from experience/research/consulting with other climbers is that the best choice is running shoes.
My plan is to continue wearing the asics and throw in my rock climbing shoes in the pack for when the going turns 5th class.

The only problem with running shoes is they don't have sticky rubber. Especially if there's any wet rock involved. I like to know the traction is going to be there. Many approaches have difficult scrambling involved and you don't want to stop to put on rock shoes just to take them back off. There's a lot of scramble climbs also where you only take one pair of shoes for the whole trip, especially if it's a carryover type climb.