This is a replacement favorite for my Anasazi lace-ups. Brian at Evolve went way out of his way to make sure I had a good fit - even sending me four pair in the mail (with no money from me) to try and return the shoes that didn't fit. He did this for me after messing up on a meeting we had set at Rockreaction.

The shoes fit my foot great and are an excellent replacement for my Anasazi's. The heel cup fits far better because of a slightly less radical sling-shot rand than the 5.10 shoe. Don't let this worry you because the rand still crams the front of the foot nicely into the toe box very effectively. The shoe edges on anything with authority, but because of the sling-shot rands effect on the front of the foot you will find smearing somewhat compromised unless you size up. (but then you lose edging power) That said, I have used my shoes on everything with total confidence. The construction is solid and these should hold up for quite awhile.

I'll skip the description since you can read the other reviews and visit their website. First off, kudos to Evolve owner Brian for helping me determine which size to buy. He promptly responded to all of my emails.

After consulting with Brian I decided to order my Kaos in my street shoe size (10.5). This was absolutely the right decision, any size smaller and my toes would have been mangled. For me the heel fit of the Kaos is the best of any shoe I've ever tried. The low volume toebox means my toes are curled slightly, not exactly comfortable but then I didn't buy these shoes for all day trad routes. I've had my shoes for 5 weeks (regular amount of use) and they have not stretched at all.

I was impressed by how well the Kaos edge. Looking at the soles I would have guessed these shoes to be more "floppy" but they stand on just about anything. Other qualities I like are the shoes' ability to toe in to small pockets and heel hook/scum. The other thing I am not completely satisfied with is the smearing. I feel the C4 rubber does a slightly better job. That said I still very impressed with the Trax rubber.

Overall I give the Kaos a 4.5 rating.

Super edger, that almost makes it feel like you're cheating. , as they tend to be on the tight side... Or better yet, just call Brian, and he'll help you get the correct size. For an Article format RC.com Gear Review for EVOLV shoes, check out the <a href="http://www.rockclimbing.com/articles/view.php?ID=173">article of this review.

The shoe features more or less standard velcro straps, a split tongue
opening, 2 dual pull on loops, lined synthetic leather material and a
somewhat exotic looking sole. I don't know if the color will change but
my pair is a bright yellow. Construction appears sturdy and resilient,
the rand is holding up well and the unique "S" shape of the sole does
not appear to detract from the performance one bit. This is a shoe that
excells at face climbing or thin (finger-hand) crack climbing. The
Toebox has a nice narrow profile for jamming into thin seams or stuffing
into hand cracks. The rand could be a bit higher to protect the toe
knuckles but would probably stiffen the front of the shoe up a bit.The
heel cup fits like a dream, not to baggy and enough "grab" that my heel
always feels firmly in place, this is a Heel hookers dream shoe. The
Split Tongue overlaps just a bit preventing the skin on the top of my
foot from being exposed or pinched. The only drawback with the Velcro
strap system is the ability to really crank the front strap down and not
notice the pain until you're mid route. On the other hand that's also a
plus. The shoe edges well and has enough sensitivity that I can "grab"
holds with it.
I've put these thru the paces for a couple of weeks climbing in Joshua
Tree and the gym.
I can say this is a shoe I would spend my hard earned pennies on.

These are very nice shoes, especially for the price. I normally wear a pair of scarpa dominators for most of my gym/bouldering/sport climbing. Well my dominators were getting trashed so and I had a chance to buy the Kaos at a good price. I bought them as my throw away pair in an attempt to preserve my dominators for more "important" climbs but they soon became my shoe of choice. I would not recommend the Kaos for granite cracks a la Little Cottonwood Canyon, UT. Also, during break in, they would rub my ankle bones but this dissappeared before long. Good shoes at a good price.