Climbing shoe Climbing shoe A climbing shoe is a specialized type of footwear designed for rock climbing. Typical climbing shoes have a close fit, little if any padding, and a smooth, sticky rubber sole with an extended rubber . Unsuited to walking and hiking, climbing shoes are typically donned at the base of a climb. Modern climbing shoes use carefully crafted multi-piece patterns to conform very closely to the wearer's feet. Leather is the most common upper material, with other materials such as fabric and synthetic leather also employed. The climbing rubber used for soles was developed specifically for rock-climbing. Climbing shoes
Patten (shoe) were known in English by the terms: 'patyns', 'clogges', and 'galoches', but the original shades of meaning and distinction between these terms is now unclear. Medieval and Early Modern overshoes are now all usually referred to as 'pattens' for convenience. There were three main types of pattens: one with a wooden 'platform' sole raised from the ground by either with wooden wedges or iron stands. The second variant had a flat wooden sole often hinged. The third type had a flat sole made from stacked layers of leather. Some later European varieties of these pattens had a laminated sole: light