Yes - these are a good mud shoe for a fair-weather barefooter, but they certainly do encase the foot. This might not be a bad thing in the mud around here... In the summer I run in Xeroshoes, but the mud in the Surrey Hills in winter causes lots of slip between sole and foot - it's really tiresome and spoils any run. I was running in inov-8 x-talon 190's for muddy runs and I did love them, but they didn't offer enough ground feel, despite being zero drop and fantastically grippy. They were also narrow across the front and didn't allow my toes to naturally spread so that I would get hotspots on big toes from time to time. Compared to the Primus Road, i think that ground feel on firmer surfaces in these Vivo trail SG shoes is more remote than expected, but the sole is thin, so it must be the lugs creating some extra ground stand-off. The grip on soft ground - sticky mud - is very good. They also have a very wide toe box which means no blisters and allow toes to spread (for me anyway). They clean up brilliantly and are well built. They are not waterproof and I find that my arches make a sucking noise in the shoe for a couple of minutes before the water is pushed out of the side mesh. Three other things which bother me: some slight rub on the heel when wet, due to the tight fit around the foot/ankle, but this probably just teething issues. I don't really like thin sports laces secured with a push button plastic pod, but that's just me. The shoes are rubbery and clammy when you first put them on, and you feel the inner rubber surfaces when they are wet - that's not very welcoming (primus road are more comfortable), but for the mud, these are my solution and they do run barefoot style! Roll on dry weather and the Xeroes...
