I've been into barefoot and minimal shoes for several years by now. One could probaply call me a 100% convert as it's THE way for me and I can't imagine going cushioned ever again. Even most of my friends are going more and more minimal (or even bare) probaply thanks to me.
As an avid backpacker and general outdoors guy I started working in an outdoor store a while ago. Selling clothing, backpacks, sleeping bags and... shoes!
We don't have any minimal shoes (the most "minimal" model we stock still has a 6mm heel drop!) but fokus on mountaineering boots and classic hiking shoes.
You probaply see the dilemma building up in my head. From my experience a trained person doesn't need any of these shoes. Most of these shoes may even harm the user over long time as they have a lot of build in "support" that may weaken their feet even more.
We get a lot of unexperienced customers when it comes to backpacking footwear. Most of them got their knowledge out of magazines or advertising. That means even for dayhikes in quite flat areas with established trails they are looking for the most sturdy footwear we offer. When they ask me for advice I usually do "the talk". Means I try to explain the benefits of a natural gait and how less is more. Most of the times I manage to convince them to give trailrunning shoes a try. Of course trailrunning shoes (especially the kind we sell) are still far from going minimal or even barefoot. But for most of our customers they are far less than what they were looking for in the first place.
A lot of these customers come back to our store to thank for the good advice and how surprised they are how well their new shoes perform compared to traditional backpacking boots.
From my point of view I'd prefer if more people would see the benefits of going minimal or bare. But from my experience in this store it's already a huge step for a lot of people to forget about all this advertising and mantras about "good shoes with build in support". I consider it a first step into the right direction if people start questiong these dogmas and are willing to give something less a try. Even if it's still far from minimal.
As an avid backpacker and general outdoors guy I started working in an outdoor store a while ago. Selling clothing, backpacks, sleeping bags and... shoes!
We don't have any minimal shoes (the most "minimal" model we stock still has a 6mm heel drop!) but fokus on mountaineering boots and classic hiking shoes.
You probaply see the dilemma building up in my head. From my experience a trained person doesn't need any of these shoes. Most of these shoes may even harm the user over long time as they have a lot of build in "support" that may weaken their feet even more.
We get a lot of unexperienced customers when it comes to backpacking footwear. Most of them got their knowledge out of magazines or advertising. That means even for dayhikes in quite flat areas with established trails they are looking for the most sturdy footwear we offer. When they ask me for advice I usually do "the talk". Means I try to explain the benefits of a natural gait and how less is more. Most of the times I manage to convince them to give trailrunning shoes a try. Of course trailrunning shoes (especially the kind we sell) are still far from going minimal or even barefoot. But for most of our customers they are far less than what they were looking for in the first place.
A lot of these customers come back to our store to thank for the good advice and how surprised they are how well their new shoes perform compared to traditional backpacking boots.
From my point of view I'd prefer if more people would see the benefits of going minimal or bare. But from my experience in this store it's already a huge step for a lot of people to forget about all this advertising and mantras about "good shoes with build in support". I consider it a first step into the right direction if people start questiong these dogmas and are willing to give something less a try. Even if it's still far from minimal.