Minimalist Footwear
Why minimalist?
Human powered adventure almost always requires footwear and selecting the right footwear can make all the difference between success and failure both over the short and long term. If you are anything like us, you want to be active, healthy, injury free, and doing the things you love well into old age. It pains me to see people unable to do the activities they love due to chronic injuries. I know how frustrating that can be, I was there too. Luckily, I was able to break out of that cycle by changing my approach to footwear. It is my hope that things I have learned can be of use to others as well.
This page is a summary of all of the minimalist footwear information that I have posted to date. This page will continue to be updated as new content is added.
The original series
In early 2009 I wrote a series of blog posts on the topic of minimalist footwear. It was written as a chronicle of my journey, as well as the research and reasons behind why I believe minimalist footwear is best. This series culminated in me giving a seminar to fellow employees at my place of work, Bates College.
I have not given this presentation since then, but would be very open to doing it (or something similar) again if anyone is interested.
- A Brief Introduction (superseded by this page)
- Part 1: My Journey to Discovery
- Part 2: How We Move
- Part 3: How Footwear Affects The Way We Move
- Part 4: What Does the Research Show?
- Part 5: Selecting Minimalist Footwear
- Part 6: Making The Transition
- Video: The Case for Minimalist Footwear
Reviews
Over time, I have reviewed several different makes and models of minimalist footwear. Some I have purchased myself, others were sent to me by the manufacturer for review. I also own a few other makes/models (FiveFingers, Sockwa, Inov-8, Teva, and Onitsuka Tiger come to mind) that I haven't posted formal reviews for.
I am always interested in testing out and/or reviewing products. If you are a company and would like me to review your product, please contact me. If you are a reader and would like to see me review something let me know, if I don't own it you are welcome to make a donation to help me purchase them.
- Feelmax
- Kigo
- Forty Below
-
Feiyue
- Review coming this spring... (thanks to a reader donation!)
- Other brands and/or models are mentioned (but not reviewed) in Part 5: Selecting Minimalist Footwear
Miscellaneous
- Episode 2 of the Living Barefoot Show has an interview with me... (do I really sound like that?) my first ever audio interview (direct link).
- Run 100 Miles Barefoot? is a video interview (not by me) with Leif Rustvold.
- So what's up with the shoes?? is a post my wife wrote about how she resolved her knee problems by taking my advice and going minimalist.
- The Minimalist Footwear Movement is a an blog post where I was interviewed on the topic of minimalist footwear for hiking.
Updates
This page will continue to be updated as time goes on. Do you want to be notified when this page changes? Click on the link below to watch this post and recieve an email whenever it is updated.
The pursuit for the ultimate minimalist winter footwear continues but I think I am getting closer. The preceding stages have been as follows:
Russell Moccasin Russell Tracker boots: I bought these with the hopes of making them my general purpose winter boots. They were made with waterproof leather, they had flat soles, and I had them sized to accommodate thicker socks. They ended-up being not as waterproof as I needed, stiffer than I wanted, and not particularly warm, even with thick socks. I have found that in cold weather, having insulation under the soles of your feet is very important for keeping them warm.
Quoddy Trail sheepskin lined Grizzly Boots in combination with NEOS Adventurer overboots: The idea behind this combination was to try to solve some of the the problems I had experienced with the Russell Moccasins. The sheepskin lining would keep my feet warm, and the overboots would keep them dry. The other benefit would be that I could wear other footwear under the overboots if I didn't need the warmth of the sheepskin. The moccasins were very warm and flexible, and the overboots were definitely waterproof. The system was not without problems however. The overboots were not breathable and thus had a tendency to get hot and sweaty during physical activity. The overboots were also very bulky/baggy, making them feel sloppy and rather large for fitting in crampons or snowshoe bindings. The moccasins still had a tendency to get wet (from sweat, etc.) and took a very long time to dry due to their leather construction.
I am now in the third iteration of my winter minimalist footwear search, and I think I am getting closer. The current system that I am trying is based on research and recommendations from a series of articles on BackpackingLight. I am taking the ideas from those articles and am slowly adapting them for use with minimalist footwear. The approach involves treating footwear as a layered system (not unlike we are used to doing with clothing) for use in a wide range of weather conditions. The various components of this system and how they work together is outside the scope of this article, but I plan on writing more about it once I have completed more in-depth testing.
Note: For the record, I just wanted to say that I purchased all of the products described above with my own money, none were given to me as samples for review. Yes, it gets expensive, but I have managed to sell most of the failed experiments to recoup some of the money. The same goes for the new system I am testing (with the exception of the Kuuvas). I thought it was important to say this so that you know that this is genuine, that there are no perks/incentives for me in talking about these products.
One of the components of this system is a light weight overboot made by Forty Below: The Light Energy TR Overboots. The TR stands for Trail Runner, which means that these overboots were designed to go over light-weight running shoes. They are described as having the following key features:
Designed to help insulate trail running shoes and light hiking boots for a variety of applications.
Superlight and Supercompact!
Low profile, and dynamic fit design.
Stretchy nylon covered neoprene foam insulation on sides of foot.
Upper gaiter has stretchy side panels to allow for wide range of clothing and temperature range.
Coated rear calf area to reduce snow buildup and melt through.
Removable closed cell foam bottom insert to help reduce conductive heat loss.
Light and flexible Rubber Dot patterned sole fabric.
Easy to put on in the cold.
An added bonus is that when you purchase a pair of these, they send you several different thicknesses of foam inserts that you can stick inside to accommodate various shoe sizes. Because the lower section is made with stretchy neoprene they fit snugly over your footwear, and because the gaiters are breathable they don't get nearly as hot and sweaty as the NEOS did. The soles are thin, flexible, and have no heel (a huge bonus as far as I am concerned). One downside is that the outsole is not really designed for heavy use on it's own (it is not highly abrasion resistant like a normal boot), it is designed to be used in snowshoes or crampons. If you want to be able to use them on their own, then they need to be paired with a pair of external soles/cleats like STABILiciers.
Pictured here with my STABILicers Sport (not recommended, get the Originals instead)
I have only had the opportunity to take them out on two occasions so far, so I don't have much to report as of yet. At this point I am very pleased with the results and can't wait to do more testing. Tomorrow we are heading out do do some winter hiking and I am planning on trying them out with my Feelmax Kuuvas. Stay tuned for future posts on this topic!
I first read about Kigos on the Exuberant Animal blog. After reading over their website, my curiosity was sufficiently aroused that I thought they merited further investigation. What can I say, I am a footwear geek, I can't help it. While I do believe that barefoot is the ideal, I also realize that it is not always practical and therefore I am always on the lookout for interesting products that meet my requirements for minimalist footwear. I contacted Kigo to see if they would be willing to let me review a pair of their shoes and they agreed.
Prior to receiving the shoes I didn't really know anything about this newly-founded company. Thankfully, along with the shoes, Kigo sent me a package of company literature talking about the company, their history, vision, values, and products. After reading through it, I must say that I am impressed. As we have talked about previously, our family likes to purchase products from companies that really care about how they do business (environmentally, socially, etc.). Based on what they are saying, Kigo seems to fit with our values nicely:
As a company, they work virtually via telecommuting. They say that this allows the employees to not have to make a daily commute to an office and minimizes driving. I like this idea. If the company becomes successful, it will be interesting to see how they are able to sustain this model through growth.
There current shoe models are made with a textile called CYCLEPET which is made out of post-consumer PET bottles (plastic). They don't mention anything about the rubber, so I am not sure if it is recycled or not.
The boxes are made of recycled corrugate, printed with eco friendly inks. The shoes are stuffed with a small amount of tissue. All packaging materials can be recycled.
All shoes are assembled using only water-based adhesives and stitching rather than toxic chemical glues. I would not be willing to eat water basted adhesives any more than chemical ones, but I am sure on the whole it is better for the environment ;-)
Included with each pair of Kigos is a storage bag that can be used for transporting the shoes when they are dirty. The bag is made of cornstarch instead of plastic which means it is biodegradable or compostable. This isn't much of a selling feature for me, I typically don't put my dirty shoes in a plastic bag, but perhaps for those of you that do, this would be convenient.
The shoes are treated with some sort of EPA approved stain/water resistance treatment called C6 that is supposed to be almost 100% protective as well as environmentally friendly.
Ok, so now that you know a little about the company and their products, on to the review. Kigo currently makes two products: the Shel, and the Star. The Shel has a closed top and is designed to be unisex. The Star has an open top with a small strap and is designed for women. This review is for the Shel.
My shoe size is typically a 9.5 or 10, depending on the fit. I am also known for having wider than normal feet. The first pair I received was a 9.5 which fit way too small for me, even with bare feet and the insoles removed. The second pair they sent me was a 10.5 and I am only able to wear them with insoles removed and bare feet in order to get an adequate fit. As far as length goes, the 10.5 fit me just about right. As far as width goes, I find them on the narrow side, most notably in the toebox. This has made it difficult for me to wear them for any extended period of time - the fabric does appear to stretch, so over time they may fit my feet better. Of course your mileage will vary depending on the size and the shape of your feet, I would say that overall these shoes will probably not work for people with wide feet.
When putting on the shoes with bare feet, what becomes immediately apparent is that the fabric (CYCLEPET) is incredibly comfortable. I haven't felt a fabric quite like this before; it is silky smooth against the skin and has a subtle stretch to it. It is very clear when putting them on for the first time that these shoes were designed for bare feet, because they feel great from the inside. I was unable to test how the shoes felt with the insole in because I couldn't get a good fit that way. That is alright with me because I prefer to have less between my feet and the ground anyway.
The soles are rubber with a swirly grip pattern on the bottom. Without measuring, I estimate them being 3 - 4 mm thick at the forefoot (including the textured grip, probably 1 - 2 mm in the valleys between the grip), 2 mm thick in the middle for folding (see more on this below), and 7 mm at the heel. The first thing that is apparent is that these shoes do have a bit of an elevated heel - I am not a fan of heels, I prefer my shoes flat. The side effect of the elevated heel is a reduction in flexibility of the sole. While the forefoot of the shoe is quite flexible, and the midsole is very flexible, the rear third of the shoe is relatively stiff. Overall the shoes are very flexible where they need it most: the front two-thirds being similar in flexibility to Vibram FiveFingers.
The soles of the shoe wrap up the front and over the toes, providing a bit of a bumper. On the very top of this bumper is a small plastic hook. At the heel of the shoes, the sole wraps up a little and is recessed in the middle to accommodate a thin nylon webbing strap which is attached at the heel and velcroed at the back of the shoe. The strap has a hole in the middle. The idea is that when you are transporting the shoes in a bag or suitcase you are supposed to detach the strap from the velcro, fold the shoe in half, and hook the strap onto the hook on the toe. When the shoes are in this configuration, they fit neatly in the included non-plastic bag. I don't see this as a feature that I would use, and if I were to use these for hiking I would probably remove the strap and hook. For transport I would have no problem just stuffing them in my backpack as-is.
I have worn the shoes at home, around town, and at the office. Due to weather and constraints in the fit, I have been unable to test these in any other conditions as of yet. In summary, I would say that I like them, but in order to love them I would want to see three things changed: first (and most importantly), I would like to see more width in the forefoot/toebox area (or make that area stretchier?). Secondly, I would love to see the heel disappear, minimal as it is, I like my shoes flat! Thirdly, adjust the sizing - right now my suggestion is to order a size up. That being said, I think a lot of people (i.e. those without wide feet) will find this to be a great minimalist shoe. They are well constructed, reasonably priced, and made by a company that is concerned about it's global impact.
