It’s Vacation Time

Since the Seventh of May 2023 I have walked more than 360 kilometres in the Merrel Trail Glove 7 and the experience has been good. For a long time I enjoyed wearing normal shoes but recently they started either to rub the front of my feet, or the heel would get worn away to bare plastic and I’d consider protecting the heel from friction damage when walking.

[caption id="attachment_9338" align="alignnone" width="300"] global wear on trail glove 7 after 60km[/caption]

Not Goldie Locks

The first Merrel Barefoot shoes I tried were the Merrel vapor glove 6 but they felt too thin. I could feel too much of the road’s surface, especially on weather worn former tarmacked roads that were breaking apart to become mud paths once again. Stepping on stones would be painful so I chose to experiment with the Trail Gloves. The soles are just a little thicker but I found them very comfortable to walk in. So comfortable that they became my every day shoes. I thought that the soles would wear out because of the thin indentations that had little material, and they have.

The Wear

[caption id="attachment_9386" align="alignnone" width="225"] 137 kilomètres later[/caption]

The wear and tear has occurred under the heels and under the front of the shoe, where the most pressure is applied when walking. The center of the shoes are still fine, with little to no sign of wear and tear. The inside and sides of the shoes are also still fine. I think that I can get them to five hundred or more kilometres, despite most of the walking being road walking.

[caption id="attachment_10581" align="alignnone" width="225"] Three hundred and sixty kilometres later[/caption]

Experimenting with Trail Glove 6 and Meindl Pure Vision

Trail Glove 6

Because I was so happy with the Trail Glove 7 I decided to try the Trail Glove six shoes and Meindl Pure Vision shoes. With the Trail Glove 6 I found that they are very tight around the part of the foot that gater straps would hook under. I was worried that they would give me cramps as a result. So far this hasn’t been the case. They felt okay on ten kilometre walks, although they’re annoying to put on.

I also get the impression that with these shoes I tend to hit the ground too hard, with my heel strikes, so the heel begins to hurt very slightly near the end of walks.

Meindl Pure Vision

The Meindl Pure Vision shoes use a system similar to Boa for lacing. You tighten and loosen the shoes by sliding something on thin cables. These are marketed as secondary shoes for hiking, cycling and more. I believe that they are meant to be used as an alternative to wearing hiking boots during hiking breaks, for example to catch trains, buses or go shopping and to restaurants. I don’t think that they’re intended for long distance walking.

We often read about people taking crocs on long hikes for camps or town days. I believe that barefoot shoes are both lighter, and more versatile, so more interesting to carry as spares. The pure vision shoes come folded in a bag that you can attach to your bag with a carabiner, for when you are tired of wearing hiking boots.

One Hundred Days Later

Yesterday I checked my feet and they seem better than they were when I started the experiment. The damage that other shoes seemed to have started to do to my feet is gone and they now feel good. These shoes are extremely comfortable to wear, light, and compatible with the style of walking that I am used to. I do feel that the way I put my feet down has changed a little. Rather than heel strike I now tend to put the side of my feet down first, before rolling the entire foot to the ground. Near the ends of walks my legs do get tired and I sometimes heel strike.

I don’t know whether the slight pain I feel in my heels is because the Trail Glove 7s have worn so much that the base no longer provides the heel with adequate protection or if it’s because I played with the Trail Glove six shoes. The Trail Glove six feel less forgiving of my walking style, as do the pure vision. That’s why I wear those two shoes when I walk with people, rather than alone. People walk slower than me, so I can afford to wear less forgiving shoes as my strides are shorter.

I recently read First Steps while walking with various shoes and it’s interesting to learn about how the human body has had to evolve to enable walking upright/bipedally. Since beginning this experiment with “barefoot” shoes I have worn normal shoes for walking just once. I have tried one run, and felt fine.

More Tiring

I alluded to it before but I want to make it clear. I think that these shoes make walking more tiring because they require a different technique. I like to walk fast, and fast walking requires striding., but striding, with barefoot shoes results in violent heel strikes. If I am not careful I will damage my heel bone. That’s why I think that three pairs of barefoot shoes are fine when I’m walking with others, and the last is better suited to me walking alone.

And Finally

I tried barefoot shoes out of curiousity. I didn’t want to get back to basics, and I didn’t want to resolve any theoretical problems. I was inquisitve and spontaneously decided to try such shoes. I consider the experiment as a success. I like the Trail Glove 7 best. They forgive me for my walking style.