If I can trust my smartwatch, I should have walked a little more than a million steps in those boots now.
Some background:
I recently started dancing, and I had a problem with pain in the arch of the foot. Someone told me that it could be because I for years walk in extremely supporting modern military boots, and my foot was simply weak because of that. So I got those boots in an effort to build strength in my feet.
So, what do I think of the boots?
I really think they are great. Like to a surprising degree. The build quality from what I could tell is great, they are quite simple but rugged and with good materials. The only damage I have seen on them was to one of the lacing hooks, and that is because of my own dumb self.
The soles are a bit more stiff than I expected, but still you can feel the ground. I step on stones sometimes, just to feel it, and it is balanced where you can feel the ground, without being worried it will hurt.
The material are are quite thin with no lining, so I have no problem using them in the current warm weather. In fact, the roominess for the toes makes my feet feel less damp than most other shoes.
The leather in the shoes has different textures, which I thought would be a problem, but gives them a more handmade look, and is also not really anything you notice unless you stare at them several times a day. I have not treated them in any way since I gotten them, and I gotten some stains on them, but all of them have come of with just washing them, so I guess I will not risk changing the look of them if I do not need to.
And aesthetically I though in the beginning they make it look like you have tiny feet, because they are so wide, but people said that it isn't something they noticed at all. I have gotten used to the look now.
The size I ordered was perfect using the charts. My feet were about 1 mm longer than the recommended size, but they fit perfectly.
Another factor my research told me is that they are very repairable, as the are not glued, so hopefully they can be kept alive for a long time.
And how are they to walk in?
When doing research many said you have to slowly ease into barefoot shoes, but I have not had any problems at all. These are my primary shoes these days, and I only use other shoes when the boots are not appropriate.
When walking for a whole days I do feel it in my feet, like a sort of soreness but not the kind that something is wrong, but rather the kind you feel after you been to the gym. That sort of gives credit to the theory that my feet was untrained. I can not say that I noticed any difference with my original foot arch problem, but it is too soon to say.
So I have no problem walking with them all days, every day. This summer I am going to do the real test and take them on a hike.
Final thoughts:
I would highly recommend those boots, I think they really did comvince me on the whole barefoot shoe thing. I am not sure that it would solve all problems, but it does feel nice to walk in them. I am probably even going to get another pair later.
