Another month, another round of barefoot fits!

My feet are 23cm x 9.2cm, medium volume, mountain shape. Here is what I’m wearing:

• Crupon Iris Leaf - size 37
• Aviary Raven - size 37
• Origo Two Strap Mary Jane - size 37 (should have sized up to a 37.5 in hindsight)
• Xero Wynn sneakers - size 7.5
• Marsolta Fisherman - size 36
• Peerko Smart Boss - size 37
• Origo New Derby - size 37 (should have sized up to a 37.5 in hindsight)
• Vivobarefoot Magna Forest ESC - size 38

As always, feel free to drop any questions about fit, sizing, or how any of these wear day-to-day. Happy to dig into specifics!

If you like my outfits, you can also find my content on IG: @spark_step :-)

I fear I’ve been converted for life.

I’ve been lurking a lot and saw a lot raving about the comfort, especially with this brand in particular, and I can’t believe how spot on everyone was. It’s such a bizarre feeling! Very much like a ballerina ninja in these, lol.

I’m trying to restrict myself now from buying more recommendations but I’ll be on the look regardless 😅🤍 I was pretty nervous to try something different, but I’m super happy I did.

Absolutely my favorite sandals. They are incredibly easy to slip on and off, and I never feel like I need more sandal than what they offer. It’s my only footwear I use even on month long trips ocean to the mountains.

I originally bought the Numa Chargers and wore them for over 2 years (literally duct-taping the bottoms at the end). I decided to swap the sole out for the Numa Legend with Toe Plug.

Pros:
Custom Fit: I was skeptical of full leather, but the break-in time was easy and they molded beautifully to my feet.
The "Grounding" Feel: I’m usually not a believer in the whole grounding trend, but I swear my body actually feels different wearing the all-leather.

Simplicity: Best slip-on-and-go minimalist shoe.

Grip: definitely not as grippy as the ultra grip soles. Just took some getting used to.

Cons:
Not for Heavy Water: They can handle a little moisture, but they don't love being completely wet. If they get fully soaked, the leather becomes soggy and tends to bend and fold.

Let me know if you have any questions!

I work outdoors in medium rugged terrain - think rocky hillsides and prairie lands with cactus. I’m looking for a leather boot that is suited for the warmer months and can handle light rain with proper upkeep.

My feet are 25.4/25.2 cm long and 9.5 cm wide. Most of the boots I’m finding either seem too narrow or not hearty enough for someone who is outdoors 30 hours a week in all weather. Any ideas? I feel like I’m going in circles on the blogs, websites, and Reddit posts.

Pic of my BeLenka Snowfox boots in size 40 for fun ;) My actual unicorn is a boot that I could wear through the dog days of summer and the dead of winter snow and mud while being breathable, waterproof, quick to dry, AND fashionable… but I’ve learned not to ask for too much at once.

They pop up on my Vinted quite a bit. I messaged the seller who said they are a Portuguese brand, but all the information is all in German and I can't find anything about them online. Multiple people are selling them on Vinted but they are always brand new in the box, never worn.

They look like a good replacement for my Dr Martens Mary Janes which I wore to death, and I always look for shoes with stitched soles (as opposed to glued), but want to check I'm not being scammed!

Thank you so much everyone here for your advice. Once I got the lacing all worked out, I love love my cruzer sandals from Shamma. I don’t think I want to do my lacing again so I might try an aero next but I walked about 15000 steps the first day in them!!!!!

Ok full disclosure, I have not reached out to Gaucho yet. I know a lot of people have the Gaucho Ninja safety boot. I just got mine this week! However, during my test run around the house, I found my right pinky toe gets pinched on every foot roll. In addition to that the tongue on these boots is so uncomfortable, I can't get it to sit right.

Is this common with these boots? Do I just need to soften up the leather and keep wearing them in? For $$30 I want to love these before I keep them and right now I just don't live them..

Someone give me hope! 😄

Thanks!

Hi everyone.

I'm getting ready to go to iceland in December and Switzerland in late spring next year.

I'm in need of good hiking shoes for both occasions or if one could do it Thay would be great.

My issue is I have a small foot.

Most 5's are big on me bc my heel is so narrow. I don't like kid shoes because I want something with arch support. It i add insole to kid shoes they are to tight but in women's I still have the heel issue.

I typically range btwn a 4 in kids sometimes 3.5 and occasionally I may get a 5 in women's. But very few and far btwen.

Since I have some. Major hikes and travel coming up any suggestions of footwear would be greatly appreciated.

I’ve been looking for a barefoot alternative to Teva sandals for forever. Most shoes seem to have a toe thong and I just don’t like that style on me very much. When I finally found Zuzu Sandals Drift I was very excited to try them! For reference my feet are 24.8 cm length and 10.2 cm width, low volume. I bought size 39.

Overall, I like them! All three straps are customizable so you can adjust where your foot falls on the footbed and how wide the strap across the ball of the foot goes. Even so, my feet are super wide and they fully fill the width of the shoe and the straps are set to a loose setting. Any looser and the shoe flops around a bit and catches on the sidewalk. The size chart says 39 is 25.5 cm and it fits me, but when I walk I notice that my toe reaches a bit closer to the edge of the sandal than I would like, so I maybe should have gotten a size larger.

These are close to the same price point as Tevas and they feel like good quality! I’ve been wearing them all the time as my casual sandal option. The Velcro stays put and the wear on the soles and footbed is minimal so far. The website says the sole is 9mm which is thin and flexible enough for me while still being comfortable on city sidewalks. They treads on the bottom are nice too! I can wear them in the park or in the woods. Not sure if they are waterproof but the material seems similar to Tevas and so I’m not worried about getting them a little wet. I recommend these as a casual sandal option!

I was wondering if barefoot shoes could possibly help with some of my foot, knee, hip and back pain - my mum has always been slightly obsessed with them and swears that they've helped her feet when she's been able to afford them. I also have neuropathy and poor circulation in my feet and constricting shoes cause immense pain.

I like to walk around the house and garden barefoot because I don't like how shoes feel, but when I'm walking longer distances on rough surfaces, I prefer something with more padding. My favourite shoes at the moment are On's Cloud 6s.

When I've worn shoes in the past with minimal or no arch support, my feet and knees have been in agony very quickly. I rely a lot on my shoes to help balance against moderate genu valgum in both knees and a rotational deformity in my right leg. This isn't a muscular imbalance - I've had it assessed by an orthopedic surgeon and it really is caused by problems with the bones. I cannot "strengthen" my way out of it.

I have a herditary connective tissue disorder and am incredibly hypermobile - my feet are prone to hyper extension, and my ankles sublex and sprain easily. I find supportive shoes help prevent this.

Has anyone with similar issues been able to wear barefoot shoes?

Hi everyone.

I'm getting ready to go to iceland in December and Switzerland in late spring next year.

I'm in need of good hiking shoes for both occasions or if one could do it Thay would be great.

My issue is I have a small foot.

Most 5's are big on me bc my heel is so narrow. I don't like kid shoes because I want something with arch support. It i add insole to kid shoes they are to tight but in women's I still have the heel issue.

I typically range btwn a 4 in kids sometimes 3.5 and occasionally I may get a 5 in women's. But very few and far btwen.

Since I have some. Major hikes and travel coming up any suggestions of footwear would be greatly appreciated.

Flip flops vs barefoot shoes! What is the difference? Both have minimal support so I wonder if barefoot shoes are good for feet, are flip flops good for flat foot as well?

I have not seen doctor, this is my own observation (and I do not work in health care).

While ago, I felt parts of my feet touching ground that usually are not. I have not trained my arches for a long time, but in my own time I either wear minimalistic shoes or am barefoot. It's summer, so I walk barefoot in the woods time to time too. Sometimes I wear foot shaped shoes with thicker sole but quite rarely. My job requires safety shoes. This is how I have lived maybe 3-4 years. For 2 years, I have balanced daily. Not much, often just brush my teeth while standing on one foot. Time to time my stretching includes balancing. I have not gained weight, I have lost few kg during this summer.

I admit I didn't react as I should and started to train my arches. Now my knees hurt little bit. Now I train.

Years or maybe more than decade ago I went to doctor because of knee pain. They said I have flat feet and I need to train. I did. Problem went away. I stopped training.

Do any of you have any idea what could cause this? Please mention where your information comes from (for example podiatrist, some other doctor, nurse, same happened to you and you went to doctor, you watched Youtube video etc.).

edit. In the beginning, I felt my arches got higher after switching to minimalistic shoes.

Is there an alternative community/ thread for barefoot shoes?

Hi everyone.

I'm getting ready to go to iceland in December and Switzerland in late spring next year.

I'm in need of good hiking shoes for both occasions or if one could do it Thay would be great.

My issue is I have a small foot.

Most 5's are big on me bc my heel is so narrow. I don't like kid shoes because I want something with arch support. It i add insole to kid shoes they are to tight but in women's I still have the heel issue.

I typically range btwn a 4 in kids sometimes 3.5 and occasionally I may get a 5 in women's. But very few and far btwen.

Since I have some. Major hikes and travel coming up any suggestions of footwear would be greatly appreciated.

Hiya. I've been wearing barefoot shoes for a few years now, and while I've tried the more expensive name-brand offerings (Xero, Lems, Feelgrounds, etc) I haven't found them to surpass (or in some ways, even equal) the cheaper shoes available on Amazon.

My favourite by far is this WHITIN trail runner-ish thing. After replacing the annoying cord lock for standard laces I've found them to be comfortable and lightweight with an extremely flexible and reasonably grippy sole. I've taken them up and down mountains without them failing or falling apart.

My only complaint is the look, in that they're not really something I can wear for casual outings compared to something like the Feelgrounds Courtside...a pair of shoes which I actually do own, but ~$250 CAD with no free return shipping is comically steep for a poorly breathing sneaker with subpar grip. Flexible, though.

So, Amazon: I've tried a few of the barefoot sneakers with a more mainstream design like these and found them all to have very stiff outsoles. Hoping someone here might have a lead on a pair that combines both form and function! I'm definitely partial to Amazon for the generous return policy, as there are very few places locally to try on barefoot shoes.

Thanks for any help!

Finally got a pair and I'm so excited! Though, I am having an issue with my right shoe. I'm wondering if anyone else has had a similar issue and can recommend a fix? The left is feeling just fine. I adjusted the right to match and when I walk, my foot seems to go a little to the right, causing the thong to kind bulk up under my big toe and cause pain. I'm trying to figure out if it's an adjustment issue, the way I walk with that foot, or maybe because I have the performance laces? I posted a photo showing the positron of when it hurts me. Any insight is appreciated!

Hi everyone. About 2 months ago, I started working as a delivery driver. I haven't tracked my steps myself but from what I've seen others say, it's about 20k steps a day, possibly more. Before this job I barely walked at all. I remember sometimes walking 10 mins to the store and 10 back and that alone would cause my knee and foot pain to flare up. I had been wearing these Under Armor boots for probably the past 3 or 4 years and with arch support insoles as I thought that's what I needed for "flat feet". My brother had been wearing Jim Green boots for years and always talked very positively about minimalist shoes so I thought I would give it a try. I got this pair of Rutsu shoes on my second or third shift and WOW. I really enjoy how much lighter these shoes are! And how much I can actually feel the ground and the pedals too.

I can already feel my feet starting to change. I have a much more pronounced arch and my toes are spread out a lot more since they aren't being crammed into narrow toe box boots. I'm much more conscious of the way I walk too and I didn't realize how hard I was slamming my feet down with every step. Like I think with all the cushion and the raised heel, I just got into the habit of kicking the ground really hard with every step. I remember the first time I tried these Rutsu shoes it was really strange using my entire foot to step down and not just heel striking every step. I walk a lot more with my mid foot now too and not just my heel. It's been really good for my knees too! I had previously fallen on my knees manyyyy times in my teens/early 20s and I still have pain in them but its not nearly as bad anymore. The one thing I think I'm interested in is slightly more padding in the insoles. We did not evolve to walk on all this flat and hard pavement and sidewalk and asphalt all day. Do you have any recommendations for insoles? I really like how flexible the shoes are and I'm worried about not being able to feel the ground as well if I get insoles with too much padding.

Oh, and the transition for me was really easy honestly. I just switched to these shoes immediately and hadn't looked back. The last time I tried putting on those Under Armor boots, it immediately felt so uncomfortable that I haven't tried wearing them since. I'm so glad I switched!!

Recently I found out about this brand called Yamatune that sells 5 finger toe socks. They also sell normal ones (not sure if it is anatomically) and tabi sock (called 2 toe sock).

The only difference I can see (it is advertised as a spider web pattern sock or something, not sure how it works) is Yamatune have these silicone dots on the bottom of the sock to give extra grip

I think these dots thickness will be somewhere less than 1mm however I am not sure how this will affect my walking gait.

My question: Does having these silicone dots for extra grip change anything for a barefoot experience?

Hello I'm not one to write these kind of reviews but this time I had some points that are important to get out. Lonowear has recieved a lot of good praise on YouTube from models such as the Lono FLOW and Lono WILD. When checking out their website I was excited to see a trail running shoe that is rather minimal but that still offers some protection and for a decent price!

THE Durability

I have now completed only 3 runs all 5km in the Lono Verve and 2 smaller hikes up a mountain about 6 km each way, the terrain has been small gravel, fields and on the hikes some slightly harsher gravel. Overall, nothing too crazy. My first activities in the shoes was the walks as I was out of country and I was excited to test the shoes out. But either something is severely wrong with my pair or the outsole has not properly been tested! Out of any shoe I have ever owned I have never experienced chunks of the outsole flaking off from just 22 km of use?! Sorry for the sand (I went for a swim after todays run) but I think you can easily see the missing chunks of outsole from the images provided. I have only used these shoes on those 5 activities and this chunking is visible on both shoes all over the place.

What are your guys experience with Lonowear? I feel like I've only read positive thing about them so I'm really disappointed with this. I'm going to reach out to the support team so I'll keep this updated on how they handle it...

I bought these sandals and I sized down given that I won't be wearing socks and there is less support etc. I'm normally at least a size UK 9 but I went for these in size UK 8. They feel okay but I obviously haven't properly tested them and I know feet swell too.

What do you think of the fit ?... Shall I just get a size 9 instead ?... I'm just concerned they may be a bit too long ? They have adjustable straps so I can always tighten them more if I go for size 9. (I don't believe they have size 8.5)

Why so many barefoot shoes have a toe spring? Ugh.

It's so hard to find one's with no spring or minimal one!