Unshoes Wokova Feather Minimalist Running Sandals

Bare Lee

Barefooters
Jul 25, 2011
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Well, I won these, so I'm supposed to give them a review after wearing them for 2-4 weeks.

Unfortunately, I just can't get them to fit right. To get them to stay directly under my soles, I have to tighten them to the point where the toe strap is really uncomfortable. If I loosen the toe strap somewhat, then the sandal begins to pull to the outside, and the inside of my foot starts touching the ground. There's only one adjustment possible, so I don't think there's much else I can try. My foot shape is pretty normal and I haven't had this problem with the Lunas. I really wanted to like this sandal, but I can't walk more than a few feet before they become uncomfortable.

If anyone wants a size 10, let me know and I'll send them to you.
 
Damn Lee, I was hoping you would really like them. I've contemplated ordering a pair. I really don't care for the strap between the toe getting tight, makes my toes/foot go numb, which is what usually causes me issues with Lunas ATS laces and is why I usually use a traditional tying method when wearing huaraches/sandals. Guess I won't be ordering any of these. I actually got on line after reading this and looked at images of it and I can see exactly what you mean that you can only adjust these at one point. What a bummer.
 
Do you suppose this one pair could be defective? Have you asked Unshoes to send you another pair? Have you contacted Unshoes to let them know about your problems with their sandal?
 
Damn Lee, I was hoping you would really like them. I've contemplated ordering a pair. I really don't care for the strap between the toe getting tight, makes my toes/foot go numb, which is what usually causes me issues with Lunas ATS laces and is why I usually use a traditional tying method when wearing huaraches/sandals. Guess I won't be ordering any of these. I actually got on line after reading this and looked at images of it and I can see exactly what you mean that you can only adjust these at one point. What a bummer.
Nick, you had good luck with the Pah Tempes, which also fit me funny. Terral offered to trim them down for me, but we both agreed that it would be best for me to try the Wokova Feathers first before I sent him back the Pah Tempes. So the jury's still out on those (the Pah Tempes). One thing you can do with the Wokova Feathers, is to unbuckle the strap and then lace the end of it through the rubber ring, which pulls the toe strap up more towards the top of the foot. This helps to keep the toe strap from pinching the base of the 'index' toe, but this also makes it a lot harder to put on and take off the sandals, and also seems to cause the sole to bunch up a bit under the arch or forefoot.

Stylistically, the sandals look and feel quite good when I'm sitting, but once I start walking, they either slip to one side or bunch up or both. The sole is a lot thinner than my Luna sandals' sole, so the groundfeel is better, but I think the ultra thin sole is the reason I can't get the sandal to be both comfortable and snug.

Do you suppose this one pair could be defective? Have you asked Unshoes to send you another pair? Have you contacted Unshoes to let them know about your problems with their sandal?
TJ, I didn't contact Terral first because I thought part of the spirit of the giveaway was to get a random sort of user to write an unbiased review. Still, I didn't feel comfortable writing this review, and thought about writing Terral first several times. However, I don't think the sandals are at all defective. They look just like the ones in the photos on Unshoes' web site. And I've tried monkeying with the straps on and off for over a month. I just can't get the sandal to fit my foot comfortably. So there really wasn't much point in contacting Terral. However, if I'm the only one with this problem, feel free to delete this review. Or if you think it's unfair to post this review before contacting Terral, again, feel free to delete it.

In the end, I feel bad about entering the contest. It would've been better if the winner were a real sandal runner. I mostly use sandals for getting into places that frown upon barefooting. My go-to sandals remain some cheap $5 dollar ones I got in Mozambique that have a single, wide strap that goes across the forefoot. They're so easy to slip on and off.
 
Lee, it's best that you wrote an honest review, like I've always said, and it's best the review stay on-line and not be deleted, or we would be providing a "dis"-service to our community. You were just as qualified as a candidate to receive these shoes as anyone else, no matter how you intended to use them. I still think you should contact them to let them know what happened in your instance.
 
Lee, I did not have good luck with the Pah Tempes. They would have been ok had it not been for the sheer amount of excess sole that stuck out in all directions from my foot. I liked the general idea, but the problems I encountered were too much for me and so I cut them down myself and made some other alterations to make them fit better.
 
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Unfortunately, the public didn't have easy access to the internet...or email. Bummer. :stinkyfeet:
 
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Don't give up on them yet, Bare Lee. As you know, I have all the versions of the Unshoes. They just take a little time to get used to and broken in. Once the sole starts to cup around the foot, they become very nice to wear.
Thanks for the feedback Rick. The problem for me is that in order to get the sandal to center on the foot, they have to be uncomfortably tight. When strap adjustment is looser, they're comfortable, but the sandal goes off-center after just a few steps, pulling towards the outside, so that the inside of my foot is on, or hangs over, the inner edge of the sandal. So I would imagine with prolonged use the cupping action you describe would be off-center too. I guess I could try walking for a while in them, but I rarely walk much these days besides on shopping trips. To be fair I should give running in them a shot, but I hate running shod if I don't have to . . . maybe just around the block.
 
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mine are the one of the only shoes i wear lately. I keep getting too lazy to relace my "zero" shoes.
pavement and sand is always hot lately. mine are comfortably loose. the first month i had them i hated them. funny.
 
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Well, I won these, so I'm supposed to give them a review after wearing them for 2-4 weeks.

Unfortunately, I just can't get them to fit right. To get them to stay directly under my soles, I have to tighten them to the point where the toe strap is really uncomfortable. If I loosen the toe strap somewhat, then the sandal begins to pull to the outside, and the inside of my foot starts touching the ground. There's only one adjustment possible, so I don't think there's much else I can try. My foot shape is pretty normal and I haven't had this problem with the Lunas. I really wanted to like this sandal, but I can't walk more than a few feet before they become uncomfortable.

If anyone wants a size 10, let me know and I'll send them to you.


Have you checked the location of the toe strap? There are two main points on the sandal that could push your foot inwards. The first is where the strap between your toes is located. The second is the strap with the loop on the very outside edge. If it was placed too far in, it would push your foot to the inside. It sounds like this is an issue that could be solved easily enough. I would certainly be happy to try to make them work. Take a look at the sandals and see if you think that maybe the toe strap location is set too far to the inside of the sandals. Let me know what you think!
 
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