Shoe Review

I have a lot of shoes. Here are my thoughts on some of them:

Terra Plana Aqua

I was a little hesitant to purchase these as they seem overly expensive at $150.00. With a little googling, I was able to find 1/2 off coupons that places them at a more palatable $85 price point. I put these on this year’s birthday list with the caveat that I only wanted them at $85.

My wife was successful finding a coupon – she got me the white ones.

Overall, I am impressed with the materials and quality – these are well made shoes. They aren’t overly snug which means I can wear them with some of my heavier socks. I noticed that the red dye is bleeding so watch out with white socks – I don’t want that on my feet so I will be using socks with these for the foreseeable future.

From a feel perspective, there is little to no cushioning so walking on cement with these is a bit jarring. They don’t really feel like gym shoes though they could be used for that I suppose – I’d skip pylos and stuff like that unless you were outside on the grass.

I’ve decided to use these as sneakers I wear to work. They are fine for walks at lunch time (asphalt).

The sound these make when walking around at the office – well, it makes me think of ballerina shoes. No, I never worn those, but that is what I think it would be like.

UPDATE: One other note on these: it is nearly impossible to walk quietly in them. I leave for work very early and these things really make a racket on our hardwood floors (they slap the surface). Compare that to the Nike Free’s which are absolutely silent on hardwood floors.

Vibram FiveFingers KSO

These have become almost cliché in the paleosphere but they still evoke stares from everyone else. I call them my “freak” shoes to friends around town. Yeah, I get plenty of light-hearted jokes about them which is fine by me. Any attention is good attention, right?

For the most part, these have become my defacto beach shoes. We spend a lot of time in Maine and these get a real workout. They are great for long beach walks, sprints, and wading into the ocean. I also use them for sprinting at the field where my kids go to school.

I’ve got the blue camo ones seen above – they are way to loud to wear to work or out and about town (for me anyways).

My first pair developed a rip in the toe after a few uses – the store took them back (despite it being several months after the purchase). My second pair have been solid. I read somewhere that you might want to get them one size larger – they seem to hold up better. I did this and while I don’t know if that contributed to the durability, I can’t say it hurt it.

For the most part, the individual toes don’t bother me, but they do become noticeable after a while. You have to decide for yourself if you can deal with that or not. 

 

Vibram FiveFingers KSO Trek

 

I got these for Christmas this year. They feel so nice – the leather is wonderful. I bought these a bit smaller than my other KSOs – I haven’t worn them for extended periods yet so the jury is out if the individual toes of the smaller size will bother me over the long haul.

 

The soles on these are much thicker than the normal KSOs so they feel a bit different. These are pretty subdued  - I plan to wear them to work at some point. I see me using these as trail hiking shoes and for working around the house ( I wore them last weekend to turn over my compost bin). I can also see me wearing them out and about town (though not if I keep walking around my compost!).

 

I did notice one oddity with these – it feels like there is fine beach sand in them (I noticed the first time I tried them on). Of course, this is unlikely because they haven’t been out of Wellesley.

Nike Free 5.0 v4

Of all the shoes I’ve bought over the last year, these are my absolute favorites. I just bought a second pair and convinced my wife to buy some as well (hers are the green swoosh ones above). I can’t say I am done buying more of them either. My love of these shoes is bordering on unnatural.

 

These are like “wearing socks with a sole” as one of my facebook friends said (yeah I posted a picture of my new ones to facebook like they were my kids or something…yikes). They are very light, extremely flexible, and provide some very basic cushioning. They also fit snugly so I either need to avoid socks (leads to sweaty feet) or buy really thin socks. I chose the thin sock root.

 

I wear these to the gym, on walks around the neighborhood (walking on asphalt in Vibrams is not a great experience in my book), jogging (when I do that on occasion), and to play racquetball. I shouldn’t wear them to work but I find myself doing that too. I like them that much.

 

I hurt my foot last summer and while it is much better, it still bothers me when I walk barefoot or with my Vibrams on hard surfaces. Not so with these shoes – my foot rarely bothers me when I wear these (unless I am doing suicides at the gym – then it might bother me a little).

 

At first, these were very snug on my feet - almost too snug. But after some use, they loosened up just a bit and now they just feel like an extension of my foot. One oddity is that the laces always seem to come undone unless you double knot them.