No I don't wear minshoes TJ, but I do wear normal training shoes still (albeit I run in them now with more of a Barefoot style gait). I wear New Balance largely as i have wide feet and as a brand they seem to cater best for my foot shape (i also have Mortons Toe so i tend to get a size or two too big). I use them on trails and to cross train with (so up to about half of my running), mostly if I have any inflammation or i feel like I need to give certain muscles/tendons etc a break whilst keeping my training up. I also do Bikram yoga and PT both barefoot (I have an understanding PT instructor who lets me on all the equipment without shoes!) I particularly like skipping without shoes on, although boy does it get the heart rate up when you mistime and whack the hard plastic rope across your toes! Anyway I find it pretty natural to switch between them (its got to be easier than ladies switching between high heels and flats!) I look at shoes now as a "sometimes only" treat, like eating deep fried food or drinking alcohol - comforting in moderation but do it all the time and it will cost you.
I'm not sure what to think about minshoes, I mean I personally valued the discomfort (not to be confused with injurious pain) of having nothing on my feet to aid improving my form. In the same vane I found running longer distances earlier on in the transition to barefoot (as opposed to building up slowly) useful in amplifying deficiencies in my form. Of course big mileage (just like gnarly terrain) has the potential to cause injury if you don't get it right, but in my case i took some some precautions and it didnt. Rather, IMO it accelerated my transition. I kept a GPS log of every barefoot (and non barefoot) run I did from starting barefoot to running 166km so I can pull this into a spreadsheet if interested.
As for feeling exposed, I think I know what you mean. I don't personally get it in shoes but I do get it running barefoot on grass. It encourages you to land a bit too heavily and then... BAM! You step on something hurty... I prefer to run on hard stuff, at least you know where you are with it!
