Steph Davis (pictured above) has been crushing it climbing since 1990. She likes Five Ten products and so do I. The Newton is one of Five Ten’s newest creations and is built to be an all day trad shoe that has the stiffness and comfort to climb long hard route without turning you into a sniveling little baby. I bought a pair a few weeks ago and REI and have been pleasantly surprised…
Five Ten claims that the Newton is the stiffest shoe that the make. That likely explains its awesome edging ability. The plan was to use this shoe as my long trad route shoe like the Five Ten description pegs it as. I tried it the other day as a sport shoe and I think that is actually excels more in that arena. Here is why: The newton edges as good or better than any velcro shoe since the old Accent, the Onyx Rubber kills it as always on slabby stuff and small smears, and contrary to some popular notions you do climb better in a comfortable shoe. Another reason I feel it is better for trad climbing is that the toe box area is too thick vertically to jam well into medium small and smaller cracks. (Thin hands or less.) I found the only option was to edge on the corners of the cracks. This was effective, but on harder routes I know you will want to be able to get your toes in for that painfully secure jam.
Overall I think the Newton is a great shoe and I would recommend it to anyone serious about climbing. It can be used as a one shoe quiver, but does not kill it on thinner cracks due to a chubby toe that just won’t slot into the thin stuff.
Dave Graham, one of the best climbers alive, sporting on some Five Ten rubber.
