The trouble that I have with most product reviews is that people write them early in the ownership period. I know I have done this, and I’m not saying it doesn’t have some value. Initial impressions and advantages are important to capture, but a lot of times the information does not go beyond a few weeks. This time period can hardly cover the life of the minimalist shoe or a lot of seasonal situations (unless the wearer does some impressive traveling!). It would be much more informative if a review was a long term research project. At least a full year’s worth of data collection. Even minimalist shoes can get expensive and it could save the reader a lot of unnecessary purchases.
One way around this problem is to have a Well-Worn Shoe Party. Everyone can bring the minimalist shoes that they have been wearing for a while. Prepare to get your hands dirty, because you will want to touch them. You need to feel the soles for traction and flexibility. You need to get a sense of how much the shoes weigh and how the fabric of any straps or coverings will feel against the skin. You’ll want to see which spots show wear and tear or signs of friction on the foot. Hopefully, there will be people with common sizes so that there can be trying them on.
But, alas, it can be hard to find other barefoot runners living close to you. The next best thing is to have a list of key questions when reading a review.
- How long has the person been a runner?
- How long have they run barefoot or
- Do they truly run barefoot much at all?
- What are the reasons given for wearing a minimalist shoe or sandal?
- What sort of conditions do/did they consistently use the minimalist shoe or sandal in?
- How many other types of minimalist footwear have they tried?
- How much time have they spent in each type of footwear?
- What has lead them to try the various options?
- Do they mention weak points in the design?
- How did the shoe or sandal affect their running form and perception?
- What injuries did they tend to get while wearing it?
A person can hardly spend enough time in very many different pairs of minimalist running shoes to adequately review very many in one year. From my experience, I can see using about 4 types of minimalist shoe or sandal regularly: one for extreme wet cold, one for extreme dry cold, one for very rough terrain, and one for hot surfaces. Even then, the runner who is really running barefoot will not use these shoes very much. They will spend most of the time enjoying getting accustomed to various conditions as best they can, then resorting to the footwear only a few weeks total in the year.
I was recently talking with a friend about his minimalist footwear, which he was kind enough to bring over to my house. He had tried at least four different types of footwear that looked well used. He explained what modifications he had made to make the sandals stay on. He was able to tell me about switching from one kind of shoe to another during a technically challenging trail run. It was so helpful to be able to see the actual shoes AND see the marks on his feet from various choices. One sandal had seemed to not protect his foot enough, so he switched to a shoe with a little thicker sole and and an upper fabric, much like a basic flat running shoe. He was able to run faster, but ended up with gouging the top of his foot badly with a tree root. The shoe did not protect him from that. He may have been better off being barefoot and watching his step more carefully. This type of personal story is worth more than a shoe review from someone I don’t know.
It is always good to remember that products are generally marketed toward what people think they want. You can’t blame the companies for that, but you need to try to find information to test your theories of what you think you want, and whether or not your ideas work in real life. To do that in a way that is more likely to make good use of you money, you need to hear from those people with real, long term experience in similar situations. The Barefoot Runners Society (BRS) forum (see link in sidebar) is one good place to start helpful conversations about minimalist footwear if you don’t have anyone close or want to hear from a larger sample group. Or read a LOT of reviews making sure to sift for the correct information. Reviews are most helpful if you read them with a checklist. What would you add to the checklist?
Coming soon: a recap of my minimalist footwear use and plans.
