I tested the Katana Lace on limestone and sandstone of all angles and slipperiness, and was pleased with its versatility as well as the Vibram XS Edge rubber’s stickiness. The asymmetric Katana Lace is slightly down-turned, which gave the sensation of a performance shoe but managed to retain the comfort of a flatter shoe without those performance features.

La Sportiva’s proprietary randing system, the P3 (Permanent Power Platform), tensions the rubber and maintains this shape through the lifespan of the shoe.

The shoe is just plain comfortable, employing some nice padded cushioning atop the foot. I could easily wear these shoes all day. This is one of the lowest volume shoes I’ve tested, too. For those of you with narrow feet, this may be your new favorite kick.

Edging 
The Katana Lace edges well enough on routes up to 5.12, but the shoe isn’t quite sensitive enough to use when edges get really small or steep.

Smearing 
That sensitivity factor came into play on smears, too. The performance was good enough, but I think a slightly softer shoe would help feeling those smears.

Pockets
The narrow, low-profile toe box fit an array of pocket sizes, and allowed me to torque and twist my big toe inside them.

Heel/Toe Hooking 
Without much rubber atop the foot, the Katana Lace struggles to keep up with other models in the toe-hooking category. Its heel-hooking capabilities also fell short due to how the shoe fit my wider, higher-volume heel.

Cracks
Though this shoe is billed as a sport-climbing and bouldering shoe, I found success even on cracks, particularly of the finger to hand-sized variety. The low profile toe, plus a bit of torsional support, made it possible to jam in these shoes.

Comfort 
The padded tongue atop the foot kept the laces from digging into my foot. The upper breathed well and kept my foot feeling comfortable during all-day climbs.

Value/Longevity 
A retail price of $165 starts to feel expensive for a shoe that may be high-quality and overall performs great, but lacks any features that give it an outstanding “wow” factor.