Gallencamp Scats

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Messages 1 - 15 of total 15 in this topic

bvb

Social climber

flagstaff arizona

Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 27, 2011 - 06:38pm PT

Who else out there discovered and used these remarkable $16.00 tennis shoes in the 70's? In most situations they were easily as good as EB's. I did a lot of hard face and hard cracks in 'em. Longish climbs as well -- in '77 or '78 Watusi and I did the South Face of the Throne and I opted for the Scats. Loved the bonus style points you scored doing hard routes in el cheapo tennies.

What's occurring to me now is that the use of Scats may have been a SoCal phenomenon. Never saw them in use, or heard about them being used, anywhere else. What's up with that!?

Levy

Big Wall climber

So Cal

Aug 27, 2011 - 06:45pm PT

I only saw Scats around Socal as well. I had a pair way back in 1981 maybe? I also liked the Nike corsair model. It had a decent rubber sole & I led Mechanic's Route at Tahquitz, in them in 1980.

Several friends of mine liked them & bought several pairs which lasted for a good while. Good times!

Off White

climber

Tenino, WA

Aug 29, 2011 - 04:32pm PT

Mervyn's was the source, right? Scats were the super cheap alternate before the Fire revolution took the climbing world. They were toast after sticky rubber appeared on the landscape.

mooser

Trad climber

seattle

Aug 29, 2011 - 05:22pm PT

I had a bunch of pairs of Scats, Bob. I used them at Santee and Woodson a ton, and they were definitely stickier than EBs. I remember buying four pairs at once from some store up at Grossmont Center in La Mesa, and thought I'd struck it rich. I mean, EBs were going for somewhere between 30 and 40 bucks at the time, for cryin' out loud! I couldn't afford not to buy those goofy looking Polish shoes!

The only problem with them was that they wore out really fast. I discovered a temporary solution, though, after they'd worn down pretty far. I built a cardboard form around the front half of the sole, filled it in with Shoe Goo, let it dry real good, and then sanded it down to proper form. That was even stickier than the Scat "rubber," but it wore down even faster.

Conspiracy theory time: I think EB got wind of 'em, and bought the company. Scats went the way of the Tucker automobile... A brilliant alternative, whose brilliance was its demise...

WhiskeyToast

Social climber

Hawaii

Aug 29, 2011 - 08:05pm PT

Bump for Pics. There's got to be some out there.

mooser

Trad climber

seattle

Aug 29, 2011 - 08:39pm PT

I did a "scat scan" in Google images, and couldn't find any shots. I don't think I've got any pics of me in them. They'd be really retro cool now, but were a tad this side of butt-ugly when they came out.

Phil_B

Social climber

Hercules, CA

Aug 29, 2011 - 08:42pm PT

They were pretty fugly

bvb

Social climber

flagstaff arizona

Topic Author's Reply - Aug 29, 2011 - 08:48pm PT

but they edged like demons, smeared really well, and when they were worn down they were sweet in any sized crack.

F10

Trad climber

e350 / Bishop

Aug 29, 2011 - 08:50pm PT

I remember showing up in JT with them and blowing away my friends,

They were the bomb, climbed like hell and they were cheap

TwistedCrank

climber

Ideeho-dee-do-dah-day boom-chicka-boom-chicka-boom

Aug 29, 2011 - 08:54pm PT

I'm not so sure about a pair of shoes named after a term a wildlife biologist would use to describe the fecal matter he was studying.

Nonetheless, at the various midwestern and eastern venues I was climbing at way back when, the Adidas Cross Country was the real deal over the PAs. None of us were cool enough to own EBs.

Gilroy

Social climber

Boulderado

Aug 29, 2011 - 09:04pm PT

Not sure if Texas is considered the Midwest (heh) but the fellow I learned from at Enchanted Rock had been taught to climb by John Harlin, Jr. and all he wore was Adidas Cross Country's.