I am in a huge shoe dilemma. First off, I am somewhat of a shoe minimalist. These days I hike in regular canvas Van's classic shoes. Pretty plain, simple, with a sole at just the right thickness. Works fine, just not durable.
The problem is around here in the Oak Savaahnas during late summer/early fall we get stickers and pokey things. It's so bad that I used to duct tape my pants to my shoes when hunting with my dad.
I get all kinds of stuff falling into my shoes. I tried going with high top converse and pants, which solved part of the issue, but I am still getting stuff in my shoes. When I step, especially uphill, the shoe flexes as my foot bends, leaving a crease or folding gap between the tongue and the rest of the shoe and letting stuff get under the tongue and into the shoe.
Basically, what I need is a somewhat high top shoe, that will be completely sealed from any thorns or stickers or anything you get from grasslands, and it needs to be minimalist! Thinnish sole, not heading towards barefoot by not boot thickness. And the sole needs to be flat.
Do you know of any good chukka style shoes out there that would fit the bill? Leather would be nice for durability and keeping off the thorns. I have considered sewing the tongue of the converse onto the top of the shoe to seal it. That would make it pretty sealed from stuff, but is kind of a weird fix. And I would rather have something more durable.
