Minimalist Footwear Recommendations for Hiking

[Nick Gatel]

A lot of the trail was rocky scree type of terrain. Mostly rocks and difficult to find a spot of plain dirt on each step. Rocks about 3" – 6" in size. This is the PCT Section from the Cedar Spring cut-off to Fobes Saddle. The Jo Pond Trail Section has about 7 miles of volvanic rock. Miles of nothing but rocks, and little dirt at all. Not your typical well worn Sierra trail.

Craig told me that his MT100s have about 250 miles of trail running on them. I was surprised, as they looked to be in great condition. So, they are durable, but as Eugene mentioned, you will probably be buying many pairs to do a thru hike.

They are fairly inexpensive, so you might want to buy a pair and try them out. Everyone is going to be different.

As an interesting side note, I had been running a little bit in my Shays the past couple of months, just to make sure they would fit right. I really give no thought on my foot strike at all. But, I tend to be a light walker. Craig followed my most of the first 11 miles, and commented that I did the entire section walking on the balls of my feet. That comment really surprised me.

[ROBERT TANGEN]

I love my Asics Piranahs. Comfy right out of the box. Like Roman Dial, I use Salomons for my 1,000-mile hikes.

[Nick Gatel]

I love them too. But they don't last. Mine were done after a 60 mile hike last year. My son's college cross country used them one year for races only. They did not last a season.

[ROBERT TANGEN]

Is there any glue, liquid rubber, epoxy, or other substance one could paint on them to toughen them up? I hate to give up the great fit and extreme light weight of the Piranahs.

[jj]

I love hiking in my Tom's, theyre the most comfortable shoes Ive ever worn. I never get blisters or experience any discomfort but they do tend to get a little smelly after awhile, especially in wet conditions. Even when Im off trail they work great, keeping thorns out of my feet and on the ground.

[jj]

shoe goo is great for shoe repairs when stitches start to come out or you wear holes in the upper portion
http://www.biosafe-inc.com/shoegoo.htm

[Roger Caffin]

> shoe goo is great for shoe repairs

+1

Cheers

[ROBERT TANGEN]

Thanks

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

I backpacked a 32 mile trip the other weekend in MT100s. 20 miles the first day and 12 the second. They were fine but a little narrow for my feet. One thing I did not like was how easily foxtails went through the shoes. Otherwise, they did not feel all that minimal to me. (Nor did they feel maximal.)

I brought a pair of Feelmax Osmas on a trip recently. I walked only a few miles in them. They are so much like moccasins and so close to barefoot I would have to work my way up to bigger miles.

I have been trying all sorts of shoes in order to find what is best for me. Oddly I think Chaco sandals are actually best for me, but I will have to work my way up in distance. The thing I like about them is that there is ample room, total freedom for my toes. The other thing I like about them is the support. I realize that going minimal you want to minimize that sort of thing. But other shoes that supposedly have support do not do what the Chacos do for me, which is make me walk like I should. I put them on and suddenly I'm not grinding my sesamoid bone and twisting my knee and limping. Other shoes don't seem to help me with this and instead have too much stiffness and cause me injuries. I like the dirty feet. :)

But you've ruled out Chacos so that leaves trying out other shoes. There's a company I found online that makes handmade shoes. Native Earth. You might look at their Period Styles for some possible shoes. You can order their shoes with a plain conveyor sole or with a lugged vibram sole or some other kind of sole. Their shoes are unstructured, without arch support or a raised heel. Something to consider anyway.

[Eugene Smith]

Anyone tried these?

RunAmoc Lite- Trail mocassins

RunAmoc Lite

[Eric Wheeler]

I thought I could reignite this discussion. Has anyone seen these new Merrells?

http://www.merrell.com/US/en-US/Product.mvc.aspx/22875M/0/Mens/Mens-Barefoot-Trail-Glove?dimensions=0

[CW]

Javan Dempsey wore them on our Art Loeb thru.

[Javan Dempsey]

Yeah I have the Soft Star RunAmoc Lites and use them daily. Really like them, but as with much minimalist footwear, they're primarily designed from a Runner's standpoint.

The perforations let grit in very fast, so wearing them without socks on the trail is nearly impossible, and in Peru, even with socks, it was very difficult, in fact, the grit wore holes through my socks.

I thought about trying the non perforated RunAmocs, since I really do love the shoes, but I've heard they're kind of hot for the summer.

I'm going to be trying the new Merrell Trail Gloves. I was skeptical at first, but by all accounts they have huge toe-box, so as soon as I get a chance to try some on, I'll likely pull the trigger.

Otherwise, the Altra Adam's look like a great option.

[Javan Dempsey]

Here's an interesting review of the Trail Glove that was posted on the Toesalad.com forums when I asked about them, has comparisons with the Adam and the NB Minimus helped make me really be interested in this shoe: http://minimalistrunningshoes.org/reviews/merrell-trail-glove-shoe-review

For me, the Minimus is pretty much out due to their desire to capture the vague "transition" market by not offering it with zero drop. I'm sure they'll be releasing another zero drop version later to maximize minimus profits :P

[Eugene Smith]

Javan,

You nailed it with the vague 'transitional' marketing on behalf of NB, they're going to capitalize on offering the 4mm drop Minimus line slated for March for fear of "injury" to consumers transitioning too quickly and will inevitably offer a 0-drop at a later date once those converts are 'transitioned'. The Minimus isn't going to be available online (*this may have changed) until sometime later as NB wants in-store running shoe sellers carrying the Minimus to provide a tutorial to potential buyers an educational primer on the Minimus before walking out the door with a pair. Lame? Yep, kinda lame.

I was talking with a buddy of mine after a run who has about 60 miles under the new Merrell Trail Gloves so far in the past week and he compared the Minimus to the Merrell Trail Glove as well, they're both very comparable in terms of balancing low weight, encouraging neutral positioning, and providing minimal amounts of protection for the feet for use on rough trails. I was very impressed checking them out, I have elephant feet so I couldn't try them out but if they can handle the trails we run on out here they can handle hiking most anything except crampon worthy travel. It should be noted that the toe box is wide as hell and should accommodate really wide feet.

The Minimus to me is nothing special, another great slightly more minimal shoe offering, a stripped down MT101, there are a plethora of 4mm drop racing flats available, NB is in some ways reinventing the wheel here- changing the styling and marketing the shoe under the feet and long hair of Anton Krupicka and it's going to work very well for them in 2011.

Here's two reviews, one on the Minimus, the other on the Trail Glove *(the author of the review is the ambassador working with Merrell in developing, testing, and educating consumers on their new 'Barefoot' line)

Barefoot Running University- Merrell Trail Glove review

Barefoot Running University- NB Minimus Trail review

[Landon Schrock]

According to a recent post, we are no longer allowed to hike in lightweight shoes, trailhikers, or anything of the like. They are ruining the trail, because we move too fast. The thing to do is to buy boots so that we won't walk so fast on the trail. Just FYI.

[Richard D.]

I've recently gotten a bit into the barefoot running/walking thing, and decided to give it a try on a 4-day hike. I went to the outdoor market near where I live looking for shoes with the following characteristics:

1. uniformly flexible sole with no stiff areas
2. no arch support
3. no heel rise
4. a wide toebox
5. no midsole padding
6. removable insoles
7. quick drying

The pair I found that fit this list ideally weighed < 400 g (together, size 13M) and cost $12.

By day 2 of the hike I found myself rethinking my allegiance to Inov-8 shoes. I really liked the way my stride felt and how I felt on the trail, including lots of elevation gain and rocky sections as well as soft forest dirt. On day 3 I felt like trying some trail running, which I'd never done before. It felt great.

After the hike, my calves and ankle stabilizing muscles were sore for a couple days.

[Gabe Miller]

What shoes did you find and where did you find them? $12 is a steal! Can you post a pic?

[Michael Bachman]

http://www.swimoutlet.com/PhotoGallery_New.asp?strHideColors=&ProductCode=17745

Thoughts, opinions. Tread doesn't look great for trail running…price looks nice.

I currently am integrating an old pair of speedo water shoes. Will update with photo later. Seems to be working out ok, not the holy grail but is improving my form, working my calves fo sho…

[Gabe Miller]

The shape from the side angle looks kind of funky and makes me wonder how much of a drop there is from heel to toe, but I like the pull closure. Hard to go wrong at $10 ($16 w/shipping). If you get them, let me know how it goes.

[Richard D.]

Sorry it took so long to reply to requests for more information about these shoes. I am currently living in Ukraine, where there are a lot of street markets selling cheap goods from China, Turkey and who knows where else. These goods are geared for poor to average people who don't have money to shop for real brands. I'm not sure where one would find shoes like these in the U.S. Perhaps in the cheapest of the cheapest stores, maybe those geared towards the poorest immigrants? Maybe in second hand shops?

Anyways, the "brand" of these shoes is "Sport" :)) Here are some pictures. I would guess they are similar in qualities to these inexpensive martial arts shoes from China: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000CDBSD?ie=UTF8&tag=shgusst-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0000CDBSD

On the basis of my experience with these and some online research I just ordered some Unshoes Wokova Feathers at http://www.unshoesminimalfootwear.com/shop.html that I think will have similar characteristics, but will be even lighter. I'll be taking these on a very long summer trek as a second shoe (pair weighs ~180g) and will spend as much time in them on the trail as possible.

I think the main thing when looking for this class of shoe is the list of characteristics in my previous post. There's no reason shoes with these qualities have to cost $80 or $150 dollars. Practically all the items I listed contribute to making a cheaper shoe, not a more expensive one. So be prepared to find shoes in unlikely places with noname brands.

[Michael Bachman]

There speedo water shoes from costco and really old. Not ideal but work…
pros: light, decent tread, fit good
cons: don't fit like a "glove", can stub toe if not careful, lots of groundfeel but not a barefoot feel.

[W I S N E R !]

While running a lot in them already, I just did my first backpacking trip in these two weeks ago and loved them. It was an overnight, ~18 miles one way (36 RT). Loved them.
Totally comfortable even without socks; nice to be able to jump into swimming holes without taking shoes on and off.

I think that's the greatest benefit of minimal shoes- fast drying…no standing around like a bozo, taking shoes on and off for every swim or stream crossing.

But as is always said, if you're not already into walking/running minimal, shoes like this might not be the most comfortable with extra weight on.

[Anthony Rosen]

I currently hike in Inov-8 X-Talon 212 and am looking for a more rugged minimalist option. The 212's have great traction, even on wet rock, but I find them to be too narrow and uncomfortable when doing high mileage on rocky trails.

Maybe I should just use superfeet? I'm thinking the Saucony ProGrid Peregrine might be my next choice. I like the minimbus and amp lite's look interesting.

[Matti West]

Dunlop Volleys are awesome, get them for less than $20 sometimes on special for $12. Grew up in these as a kid and they are used a fair bit down under.

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