Five Ten Moccasym Review
These shoes are great for hand cracks and training in the gym
Photo: fiveten.com
Price: $125 List | $99.93 at REI
Compare prices at 2 resellers Pros: Easy on and off, comfortable, "thin" profile
Cons: Stretch a lot, not great for edging
Manufacturer: Five Ten
Compare prices at 2 resellers Pros: Easy on and off, comfortable, "thin" profile
Cons: Stretch a lot, not great for edging
Manufacturer: Five Ten
By Matt Bento ⋅ Senior Review Editor ⋅ May 11, 2020
Our Editors independently research, test, and rate the best products. We only make money if you purchase a product through our links, and we never accept free products from manufacturers. Learn more
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Our Verdict
The Five Ten Moccasym is a solid crack climbing shoe. Our lead tester wore these red slippers exclusively for years because he saw Dean Potter wearing them in climbing videos. There's been a lot of new design and development in climbing shoe technology since the Mocc first came on the scene, but decades later there are still plenty of fans in crack climbing meccas like Indian Creek where they're a popular choice for thin splitters. If you're into the Moccs for the comfort factor of its flat sole, it's also worth taking a look at the more supportive La Sportiva TC Pro.
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product
Five Ten Moccasym | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  |  | |||
| Price | $99.93 at REI Compare at 2 sellers | $195.00 at Backcountry Compare at 3 sellers | $180.00 at Backcountry Compare at 3 sellers | $185.00 at Backcountry Compare at 2 sellers | $156.00 at Backcountry Compare at 3 sellers |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Pros | Easy on and off, comfortable, "thin" profile | Versatile, durable, comfortable | Great precision, aggressive/down turned toe tip, sensitive, great toe and heel hooking, precise fit, comfortable, easy on/off | Incredible sensitivity, great edging, durability | Best edging shoe on the market |
| Cons | Stretch a lot, not great for edging | Expensive | Not comfortable for all-day climbing, expensive, not the most versatile, hard to fit, single strap broke prematurely | Specalized use, expensive, might be hard to resole | Expensive |
| Bottom Line | These comfy kicks will take you straight to hand crack heaven, but aren't a good choice for edging | An awesome shoe for long climbs requiring a variety of crack climbing and edging techniques | A tried and true modern classic, this model excels while steep and technical climbing | An incredibly sensitive and comfortable shoe that excels at edging | This high performance model is the ultimate balance of support and sensitivity |
| Rating Categories | Five Ten Moccasym | La Sportiva Katana Lace | La Sportiva Solution | La Sportiva Futura | La Sportiva Genius |
| Edging (20%) | |||||
| Cracks (20%) | |||||
| Comfort (20%) | |||||
| Pockets (20%) | |||||
| Sensitivity (20%) | |||||
| Specs | Five Ten Moccasym | La Sportiva Katana... | La Sportiva Solution | La Sportiva Futura | La Sportiva Genius |
| Style | Slipper | Lace | Velcro | Velcro | Lace |
| Upper | Leather | Leather/Lorica | Leather / Lorica | Leather/Synthetic Leather | Suede leather / Microfiber |
| Width Options | Regular | Regular | Regular | Regular | Regular |
| Lining | Unlined | Pacific (forefoot and back) | HF in toe box and arch area only | Unlined | Unlined |
| Rubber Type | Stealth C4 | Vibram XS Edge | Vibram XS Grip 2 | Vibram XS Grip2 | Vibram XS Grip2 |
| Rubber Thickness (millimeters) | 2 mm | 4 mm | 4 mm | 3 mm | 3 mm |
Show full specification detailsHide full specification details
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Moccasyms face competition from a a few other slipper designs. All offer superior comfort in hand cracks and a narrow profile for sneaking your toes inside thinner challenges.
These shoes are very soft. While comfortable, this makes them a poor choice for technical edging.
Photo: Matt Bento
Performance Comparison
Stealth C4 is still the stickiest rubber we've encountered, and the Moccs will keep you feeling relaxed on featureless, low-angle slabs.
Photo: Matt Bento
Edging
The Moccasym is notoriously bad for edging. If you size them super tight, they do ok, but eventually, the unlined leather uppers stretch into a floppy mess. At that point, they're super comfortable for all day scrambling, but unless you've got toes of steel, you'll be whimpering and over gripping when it comes time to stand on tiny edges.
Hand cracks are the ideal habitat for the Mocc. These shoes excel in the hand and fist sizes.
Photo: Matt Bento
Crack Climbing
When Moccs are sized to let your toes lay flat in the shoe, they are comfortable crack climbing machines. We've seen folks carry a quiver of these things up the crags in Indian Creek. Some climbers size their Moccs large and wear them with thick socks for offwidths. We've also seen the Mocc's uppers slathered in freesole for increased durability in hand cracks. We recommend a shoe that can also edge for finger cracks since often you won't be able to get any of your foot in thin cracks, but when it comes to an all-around crack workhorse that can take a serious beating, the Mocc is a solid choice.
Poor edging performance and a wide, blunt toe box make these shoes a bit lacking when it comes to pocket climbing.
Photo: Matt Bento
Pockets
Shoes that excel in pocketed terrain have great edging abilities and possess a pointy toe, and are typically built on an asymmetric last. The Moccasyms don't edge very well, have a relatively blunt toe box, and are a comfy, symmetrical shape. Therefore, we don't recommend the Moccs for your next trip out to Ten Sleep, Lander, or any other limestone pocket pulling paradise.
The easy on and off of this slipper comes at a price. The heel is liking to slip off during aggressive heel hooking.
Photo: Matt Bento
Sensitivity
Right out of the box the Moccs feel a bit clunky, but once the shoes start to soften up (often quicker than you want them to), they're great for slab climbing, allowing you to feel micro divots and apply a healthy helping of stealth rubber to the rock. Soft shoes are a matter of personal preference, but if it's your preference these are some of the better soft shoes you can get for crack climbing.
Comfort
The Moccs stretch a lot, and if you size them for performance they don't feel great until they've stretched to your foot. When our lead tester climbed exclusively in these shoes, he would size them down from his street shoe size of a US men's 9.5 to a 7.5 in the Moccs (ouch!) so that they wouldn't feel too big by the time they were fully stretched out.
Our lead tester cranks out one more lap before the storm.
Photo: Matt Bento
Value
These once bargain shoes have been steadily creeping up in price over the last decade to the dismay of dirtbags everywhere. However, they remain affordable compared to their highest-end competitors. Remember, size these shoes tight! They'll stretch out fast, leaving you with a shoe that's very difficult to edge in.
Conclusion
The Five Ten Moccasyms feature a classic design that remains popular, even in a world with modern designs that can provide better edging and sensitivity. However, its still hard to best the Mocc in terms of comfort and simplicity. Once you've figured out the sizing its also possible to fit them for a variety of specialized uses in ways that are no longer possible with new synthetic or lined leather shoes.
— Matt Bento