I broke down and bought a new pair of climbing shoes after I came to the realization that the used pair I had got off Craig's List weren't going to cut the mustard anymore.
I had listened to and read the advice of many different climbing enthusiast and many seemed to adhere to the notion that when selecting a climbing shoe it's good to go a size down from what you would normally wear in a street shoe. The idea being that it forces all your weight onto your big toe(being the stronger one) while curling your other toes down and toward the big toe thus making it easier to wedge your foot into different holds. Also a tighter shoe allows for greater sensitivity. Some will go as far as to say that if doesn't hurt your feet than they're too loose.
After trying on a few pair, I settled on one. It seemed very tight but, being an over achiever, I figured it was just me being a pussy and that I would eventually get used to it..... I was wrong! I haven't been in such pain in years. I felt like a cripple trying to hobble up the walls. Once I got to the top it hurt too much to climb down and I wouldn't dare jump down for fear of the pain the shoes would cause as I hit the floor. Luckily a guy I had met there had also just bought a different pair for the same price but wanted the pair I had. We ended up trading shoes. The pair I traded for ended up being just right.
Saturday I'll being trying them out on my first out-door climb......Wish me luck.....
