Instinct VSR

The VSR's stiff toe rubber needs lots of breaking in and it loses its aggressive bite, giving the toes more room; they wish they'd sized a half size down.

Bought the VSR 2 sizes below street (43.5 to 41.5): pretty uncomfortable at first but stretched quite a bit to a perfect fit.

The VSR still edges very well, only slightly less stiff than the VS, with stickier Grip 2 rubber at the expense of durability; it's their main shoe, though not super sensitive.

Sized their VSRs at 39 with a 41/41.5 street, a perfect fit.

Feels 'meh' about their Instinct VSR.

Switched from Drago to Instinct VSR: tiny holds became easy with a stiffer front and soft middle.

Has VSRs and Drago LVs and loves both; pretty much equally good.

The Instinct VSR is a workhorse for almost everything; the Drago is a specialty tool.

Recommends the Instinct VSR: super comfy and the heel is amazing.

The Instinct VSR is the only shoe that has given them a very nice fit.

Likes the Instinct VSR for indoor and outdoor bouldering, sport and some single-pitch trad: just so versatile.

Their Scarpa VSRs have the best heel and toebox for them, used indoors and on sandstone.

Has Instinct VSRs and doesn't think they'll need another shoe as a boulderer.

Has worn the Instinct VSR almost exclusively for 5 years for indoor sport.

Finds the Instinct VSR better all-round than the Booster.

Constantly trying shoes, but the Instinct VSR still takes their heart.

Has the Instinct VSR and absolutely loves it for their wide toe box; the break-in wasn't bad.

First session in the Instinct VSR: comfortable very fast but suddenly baggy with dead space, leaving little confidence toeing on tiny holds or heel hooking.

Wanted something more aggressive than the Kronos, settled on the Instinct VSR and is happy with it.

Uses the Instinct VSR as their try-hard shoe.

Likes the limited-edition Instinct VSR a lot.

The Instinct VSR is the best shoe they've had for serious double toe hooks, the only one they can let go of their hands in, though the toe rubber can hurt the top of the knuckles.

Wears the Instinct VSR as their main route shoe: not as soft as the Skwama, pretty great edging and solid all round.

Can wear the Instinct VSR in a 40 comfortably for a few hours; Scarpa tensioning is gentler on the Achilles than La Sportiva's.

Prefers the Instinct VSR even though the heel seems looser, as it stays in place well.

Calls the Instinct VSR a superb all-rounder: they used to bring up to four pairs to the crag and now pack only their Instincts.

“The instinct VSR is such a badass ass all rounder, I used to bring up to 4 different types of shoe to the crag but now I just pack my instincts”

Has used VSRs for years and resoled them, calling them the best shoes they've owned, though the velcro straps were always the first part to wear out.

“I've had a pair of VSRs for several years, loved them enough to have them resoled, by far the best shoes I've ever owned.”

Used their VSR for two years indoors and outdoors; far more durable than La Sportiva shoes that lasted them six months.

“I used my VSR for 2 years both indoors and outdoors. Far better than La Sportiva and its 6 months durability.”

Has an Instinct VSR alongside another Instinct and likes it for different reasons.

With bunions and bursitis, climbs almost exclusively in the Instinct VSR now; as aggressive as they want and their feet handle it.

Just finished breaking in their VSRs: they stretched about half a size and the downturn mellowed; the big toe is the main pain point as the rubber is slow to mould.

Their VSRs were nasty to break in because the synthetic feels stiff; they stretched only about half a size but got pliable quickly, and they wish they'd gone half a size smaller.

New Instinct VSRs are good everywhere, tight in the toe box and width, but the heel is pretty spacious.

Their Instinct VSR lasted about 6 months; resoled with different rubber and liked the shoe less after.

Used VSRs for a few years before switching; heel too loose and rough hard toe materials.

Doesn't like VSRs at all; the heel kept popping off.

Finds the VSR heel extremely baggy.

The Instinct VSR is one of their overall favourites; despite not fitting perfectly it has gotten the job done.

Their heel is loose in the VSRs; it took a couple of months to break in but now lasts a full session.

The Instinct VSR is the only technical shoe that fits their wide feet well.

Their VSRs (1.5 sizes down) are usually comfortable after a couple of hours in them.

The first session in VSRs sucked, but after 2-3 three-hour sessions they broke in super nicely.

Their VSR heel started making fart sounds from the gap.

The navy Instinct VSRs still have some heel dead space but bother their toes far less.

The Instinct VSR caused so much big-toe pain on their Egyptian feet that they stopped bouldering for two weeks.

Their VSRs were painful; half a size bigger was manageable and they've gotten better over a couple of months.

Bought the Instinct VSR in true size; extremely snug but never painful.

Their Instinct VSRs look quite worn at the toe after only 6 weeks.

After Evolvs felt too big on wide feet, they bought Scarpa VSRs and never looked back.

Their Instinct VSR hurt to break in but feels great eventually.

Their VSRs were quite painful to break in but are pretty comfortable now, only hurting after about an hour.

Wears the VSR and VSR LV as primary all-rounders for bouldering; they stretch at least half a size.

Uses the Instinct VSR for overhangs.

Their Instinct VSRs really hurt the big-toe area after a couple of climbs.

Has used Instinct VSRs for 5 years, but their current pair's sole started cracking after only about 3 months.

After TC Pro fit problems, they now climb almost exclusively in Instinct VSRs for trad, sport and bouldering.

Got Instinct VSRs at street size with virtually no break-in despite being aggressive; meaningfully better than previous shoes.

Instinct VSRs killed their big toe.

Prefers Scarpa since La Sportiva doesn't fit; the ridged toe patch on their VSRs is the best toe hook they've used, though it tends to peel off on outdoor rock.

Instinct VSRs fit them really well in 42.5, one size down from street.

Moved from Simond Klimbs to Scarpa Instinct VSRs, which fit them very well and feel very good.

Switched from the orange Instinct VS to the blue VSR and finds it much softer with stickier rubber at 50 kg; loves it on coarse sandstone.

Has resoled their Instinct VSRs, one of only two shoes they've resoled in over 10 years.

Loved the Instinct VSR until the toe box gave them painful knuckle calluses.

Used to climb only in VSRs and liked them, but now prefers the stickier Veloce; VSRs need a little adjustment yet are still very capable.

Loves their Instinct VSRs for footwork.

Switching from Skwamas to the VSR, they sent several V6s in under five attempts each.

VSRs were a step up from Veloces for standing on smaller edges; smearing was a learning curve.

Never had slipping issues in the VSR, finds them very grippy, but they're less good for smearing.

VSR excels on small edges and slightly overhanging terrain; gave up Veloces as too sticky for footwork.

First sessions in new VSRs felt horrible and they kept slipping coming from Veloces.

Uses the Instinct VSR as their hard shoe; significantly stiffer than their very soft Tenaya Mastias.

Really wanted to like the VSRs but they were brutal on their big-toe knuckle.

A V4–V5 boulderer with a narrow foot and heel started with the Instinct VSR to replace worn-out Finales, but found the heel pretty baggy and exchanged them.

“I started with Instinct VSRs, but the heel was pretty baggy, so I exchanged them for Skwamas.”

Recently switched to the Instinct VSR half a size down: at first their toes hurt unbearably, but after about a week the shoes started to stretch out; wearing them at home with socks helped.

“I recently switched into Scarpa Instict VSR, downsizing half a foot size. First time I put them on they were unbearably, toes hurt.”

Bought the Instinct VSR on a big discount and had to size down considerably for the heel to fit; at their normal sizes the heel made air noises with every step.

“I picked up a pair of VSRs today thanks to a huge discount... had to size down considerably for the heel to fit right. At my normal sizes, they made fart noises with every step.”

Climbs almost only indoors in the Instinct VSR in EU 41, their first high-performance shoe; it fits well, gives very good support on tiny holds and edges, and they have no major complaints.

“I’m looking to try a softer shoe without going in the complete other direction and having something really soft. I like that the vsr provide very good support for tiny holds / edging.”

Does all their climbing in the Instinct VSR and likes the fit and versatility, but finds them clunky until thoroughly broken in, when they get softer and more sensitive.

“I do all my climbing in Scarpa Instinct VSRs and quite like the fit and their versatility. But I find they feel very clunky until they’re thoroughly broken in”

Has owned several pairs of the Instinct VSR: slightly better edging and a sharper angle than the Skwama, but the 3.5 mm rubber wears out quite a bit sooner.

“VSR got slightly better edgeing and sharper angle of attack. But 3.5mm rubber makes them last quite a bit shorter than skwama which has 4mm.”

Bouldering about every third day since May, wore their VSRs to the point of needing a resole within months, faster than their Solutions; the VSRs feel softer to them.

“For now I'm back to the solutions and so far the wear doesn't look like that. Weirdly it has the same rubber, doesn't it? The VSRs somehow feel softer to me.”

Finds the blue Instinct VSR loses its tension really quickly.

Switched from Solutions to the Instinct VSR mainly for sport climbing; the heel is slightly baggy but hasn't been a problem on 5.11 in the gym and around 5.10b outside.

“I went from normal Solutions to VSR for mainly sport climbing, but I agree on the heel being slightly baggy. Hasn't been an issue thus far and I can do 5.11 in the gym and ~10b outdoors”

Just received the Instinct VSR: the length is right, but there is an air pocket at the heel on one side, and they are considering swapping to the LV.

With very wide feet, finds the Instinct VSR an amazing fit, though says it needs wide feet and a high-volume heel to work.

Wears the Instinct VSR in 42 against a 44–45 street size; break-in took a couple of months, but now they are pretty great.

Their Instinct VSRs always hurt for the first couple of sessions, and they are dying to take them off between attempts until they break in.

Bought the Instinct VSR last year after three-plus years of climbing and found the fit absolutely perfect.

Was comfortable in the Instinct VSR until their Achilles became too sensitive to its heel rand; finds the VSR toe box wider and comfier than the Skwama's.

Their Instinct VSR fits well in the heel, but the toe box is extremely tight on their big toes and has left marks, so they are looking at a Skwama next.

With a wide forefoot and shallow, narrow heel, found the Instinct VSR heel too baggy.