Toe clips and straps work fine for me. Even loose enough to pull my foot out quickly, climbing is helped by pulling up.
I like having just one pair of (running) shoes on tour.

It really does seem to be a personal choice, and may be affected by learnt riding technique as well. I'm pretty sure TDF riders have different techniques/strokes going up steep hills than me and my fully loaded rig, hihi...

"Knees in" would be another example of this