STEM Footwear (soon to be released)

[Danjo]

I doubt I would buy a pair,

I doubt I would buy a pair, after making my huaraches from a kit I think I'm kinda hooked on making my own shoes, it seems to be a more natural and minimal approach, or at least more personal.

However I'm sure I'm not the only one who cares, so my question is, how breathable are the shoes? I'm kinda loathe to go back to anything closed toed, because my get really hot and sweaty whenever my foot is enclosed. And yes, I know there are powders and whatnot, but I'm really more concerned with my feet being uncomfortably hot all the time, the sweat is just a result of the main problem.

I think all of the barefooters out there would appreciate being able to put on a shoe that didn't feel like a 100 degree summer with 99% humidity. If I were to design a shoe that would be my main concern, especially since I almost never wear shoes when ground feel is even an issue (I don't really need to know what the carpets at school feel like). Natural foot movement is important, but as far as ground feel goes you can only get so close to barefoot with something attatched to your feet. If you really want more ground feel, just take your shoes of and FEEL THE GROUND! Sure improving ground feel is good, but I think there are other important things that minimal shoe companies should be focusing on as well, breathability being #1 on that list.

 

[Humboldt-explorer]

While I appreciate stem foot

While I appreciate stem foot wears response. I still believe toe spring is not a needed feture in a shoe. Our feet will complete the job on it's own. Your only real valid point is # 3 on your list. This also proves the flaw in any even min shoe. Based on your # 3 this is a design limitation, and toe spring is inherent in closed shoe design. So you have no choice, but to come up with power words to justify it's existence as being positive in nature. Hopefully your product keeps toe spring to a very minimum to benefit the folks determined to have a enclosed system shoe on their feet.

With that said I am very pro barefoot. I believe the foot is treated best with nothing on it. If I must wear a min shoe it is for very short time periods without a sock. As sock will greatly increasae foot temperature. Their are other issues I could raise as to why even stem is not healthy for the foot. However I realize my opinion will not be welcome here. So I'll just move on from this thread. I'll just finish off with responding to Dan's concerns.



Dan -Yes this is one of the other negative factors to wearing this type of shoe product. This is just another flaw to any shoe. You enclose the foot completely, and the temp will naturally rise. I suspect this stem product will have little cooling effect on the foot. This product also has the laces on top. Laces further constrict the top of foot, and that obviously also effects the temperature of the foot. As well as "strangles" the foot with laces. It is always best to wear a open sandal type footwear with thin of sole as possible, or go completely barefoot to allow the feet to completely breathe in open air. This enclosed sytem footwear can have many negative health effects to the feet. If you must wear a shoe like this product it is generally best to keep it on for as short a time period as possible. Feet will always be happier to breathe open air in a unobstructed manner.

Their will always be negative health risks associated with "enclosed shoe systems". That is the bottom line.

At the end of day a closed system shoe still meets aproval for even the most hardcore min shoe user. So this shoe will probably sell very well. The industry will never meet needs to the "purist" user. Our needs are already being met as we were born with our feet, and can get by easily with our simple needs. If a shoe must be put on the time period of wearing it is so small it is insigificant.

 

[StemFootwear Andrew]

 Take it from me, I

Take it from me, I understand the common frustration with shoes. I myself, gave up on shoes for about a year. During that time I read up on all the issues people have with shoes and how they prefer their barefeet, and I felt such a connection knowing that there were others out there sharing my pain and frustration. So I set out to do something about it, and after nearly two years of design, testing, and development STEM Footwear was born. Since we are new and independent company we were able to develop STEM in a way no other shoe has been developed before. There happens to be an explosion of minimalist shoes on the market, however unlike the other guys that are still making shoes like shoes we feel that we happen to have something truly different, not for the sake of having something different but because we saw the need to build something the right way. We understand no shoe is ever going to be a substitute for the natural foot, and no shoe will ever supplement its incredible function, so we can only design the shoe that least interferes with its natural function.

To answer your question about Breathability, we made this issue a priority in the design and materials selection. Each foot sweats up to 1/2 pint of perspiration per day. STEM mitigates perspiration by using air mesh on all inner surfaces of the shoe, particularly in the forefoot area and on the tongue. Most shoes use use a lot of leather, suede, or synthetic, which don't offer the breathability that air mesh does. And the bottom of the foot is an area of particularly high perspiration area especially for barefooters. For the bottom of the foot we use a waffled textile top sole and an open cell 1.5mm strobel.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

As Andrew and others know, I

As Andrew and others know, I cannot wear shoes with a closed toe box due to having Morton's Neuroma (a condition directly caused by wearing the wrong kinds of shoes in the past), nor do I ever want to put my foot in something that constricts it, so I understand the purist thinking from HE. At the same time, there are people who have jobs and other responsibilities where they are required to have footwear, and open toed footwear isn't always acceptable, sadly. In that case, it's good to have a healthy selection of minimalist closed-toed shoes to choose from; the more variety, the better, since one size does not fit all.

Andrew, have you thought about Stem making open toed shoes like huaraches or running sandals? That would satisfy the other geographic.

 

[Nyah]

I still want to know why the

I still want to know why the shoe is pulling the wearer's toes upward. We don't see that on the VFF Sprint and no one seems to have a problem with that shoe (in this regard) so, I don't want to hear about compromises having to be made. Please don't mention "toe spring". If there's no good reason for the shoe to be pulling the wearer's toes upward, you may want to consider changing that part of your design.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

And here I thought we lost

And here I thought we lost you, Nyah. Welcome back.

 

[Humboldt-explorer]

Nyah - With the shoe pointing

Nyah - With the shoe pointing upward in the toes. In the shoe industry this is referred to as toe spring. If you read Stems response more closely. With this type of enclosed shoe system this toe spring is a design limitation.

Your right the sprint is very, very minimal in toe spring. It does have a tiny bit, but very little. It is also a open style shoe. So I anticipate removing the toe spring is much easier in the sprint shoe style. I can assure you on a treksport for example does have much more toe spring then the sprint. However the treksport is a much different style VFF. With it's enclosed shoe style.

 

[Nyah]

Now, now, Humboldt-Explorer,

Now, now, Humboldt-Explorer, I'm not asking about "toe spring". I'm asking why the shoe is *pulling* the wearer's toes upward. The VFF Sprint doesn't do that at all. The VFF sole may curve upward but clearly the upper material is not the cause of it, since the upper in TJ's VFF photo is collapsed. Compare that to the Stem shoe concept design.