waterproof minimalist winter boots

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jiminnybohibby

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over the summer i got into wearing minimalist footwear, and now i cant stand wearing my regular boots that have a one inch thick heel on them. im looking for some waterproof and preferably insulated boots that are zero drop [no heel rise] and have a thin sole. if anyone knows of anything even close please tell me, or if you know of any minimalist summer boots those are nice too. the closest thing ive seen are mukluks but theyre not really boots, synthetic mukluks with a thin rubber sole would be perfect.
 
Somewhere i saw people using Neos overshoes with pack boot liners. Or you could just wear wool socks and train your mitochondria!
 
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of course inov8

to me these are very much like wearing mocs only none of the short falls

i can wear them summer w/o overheating and in winter loosen the laces and fit two pairs or liner and "mountaineer" thick socks. good enough for 0F

not good with micro spikes as the sole is too bendy, gaiters for the deep
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I've dappled in minimalist footwear but never got serious. Loving the look of inov8 though Briar.

Jiminny, I've tried the FiveFinger Trekking Shoes and wouldn't recommend them. I ended up switching back to a regular hiking boot, but searched for the lightest ones I could find. Also, why don't you pop on over to the intro section and tell us a bit about yourself?
 
thanks everyone for your replies. i have considered the ino8's but couldnt find a zero drop heel boot. and ive also looked at that thread, but re-reading i see i missed some things. im now considering getting the neos overshoes and just using them with an insulated liner. the air force mukluks look good too, but ive read that they are not good in wet environments. similar to these:

http://www.empirecanvasworks.com/truenorthboots.htm
 
Such a thing does not exist, to my knowledge. The only minimalist high top shoes/boots I know of are the vivobarefoot aqueos and the feelmax kuuva. Neither are waterproof or much insulated.
You are better off having a non insulated minimalist shoe and throwing a waterproof sock over with wool socks. I think you could wear high top converse, ripp out the insoles so they have the barefoot feel, and use those with waterproof socks. Depends what you mean by "minimalist" do you mean trail runners or shoes with 3mm soles?
Toe shoes lose their heat a lot colder the ground. Not sure why, but I think it's like how finger gloves lose their heat to the air faster than mittens.
 
i think im going to get the neos overshoe or something similar, and wear it with a felt liner and these goretex socks i have. the neos villager seems to have the thinnest sole, and would pretty much be perfect if it wasnt made to be an overshoe. by minimalist i mean something any shoe that has either small or no heel and a thin sole. i have modifyed a pair of my own shoes and put on a 3mm sole and they felt great. i got the idea from this page:

http://naturallyengineered.com/blog/how-to-turn-your-thick-hiking-boots-into-minimalist-snow-shoes/#axzz1jstX26ZF

i tried to do this with a pair of winter boots from walmart but the way they were designed made it impossible

btw thank you billybass for suggesting neos boots
 
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Awesome! Now I know what to do with my merrils minimus when the tops are gone. I'll put the vibrams sole on my burks lol
 
You might try some neoprene booties. They are waterproof and warm. I wear mine instead of boots even at 10 degrees and have no problems. I do wear a pair of wool socks to add some padding.
 
I was trying on a pair of vivo dharmas today.

where i tree knock the thin sole made me think of the thorn armor that russell moc uses on some of their boots.

i have a newish pair russell's from ebay, as well as old gokey snake boots. there is little comparison with the gokey's being much higher quality. i also had a pair of leather soled russells found in a thrift store that i gave to my nephew. Those too were better looking, better leather(=better made) than the new ones.

so i'm not really recommending them. and maybe they are better than some brands
but look: http://www.russellminimalistfootwear.com/

the thorn armor/turtle skin is interesting.(click on their custom options to read about it) I'd like to find some so if anybody knows where to get it please let me know.

on topic it would be nice to find 0 rise thin soled boots and maybe vivo could do it. They make a womans boot that looks cool to me. I dont like the look of their trail boots much.

I'd be willing to give up a little traction but the mesh and such of trail runners ...if you didnt get poked they surely shred soon bushwacking.

what winter?
 
I would love to see some high top, truly thin soled boots. There is the feelmax kuvva, but something about that doesn't seem right.
 
I think the Feelmax Kuuva is discontinued in the US, or I'd have a pair by now. They look great to me.

I'd also have a pair of Russell Moccasin boots, but I can't afford that right now.

I DO wear these:

http://www.softstarshoes.com/adult-shoes/runamoc/original-runamoc-chocolate.html

Mine are black smooth leather.

I waterproofed them, but just to protect the leather. They're definitely NOT waterproof.

I wear them in all conditions, everyday (even to work... they're passable enough dress shoes for my line of work, if worn with pants) and just put on different socks for different weather conditions. Usually wool over synthetic for bad conditions. Cotton socks when it's hot. Between 50 and 70 degrees, they're awesome sockless, wet weather or not. When I get around to really hiking and spending a lot of time outside in the snow, I'll probably get the Neos overboots or some mukluks.

I saw this the other day, though:

http://birthdayshoes.com/oetzi3300-troop-boot-review

Seems expensive for what they are.

For the last couple of years, I've worn VFFs in the summer, but this summer I'm switching to these:

http://www.invisibleshoe.com/

Might use leather thongs for the laces, though.

I'm one of those nuts who really believes that minimalist shoes have done a lot of good for me. If you find something really ideal, please post it. I'd love to find something affordable and nice-looking and reasonably durable and waterproof (like you can do with traditional sneakers / hiking boots), but I'm really sick of Googling for it.
 
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most of them are urban. trail runners are for trails. I know if you're barefoot you need to watch out. I go barefoot some but not enough to get really tough. And Ive seen lundin bleeding scuffed and scratched et al on TV so watching out i not 100% reliable.
Those slip on Vivos felt nice. Looked like gucci kung fu shoes priced that way at least. But they were well made.

the oetzi doesn't look as good as vivo boxing boot for women, looks like it will last - kinda moot
vivo has one called dalton something like that. hard to find. looks like high top sneaker.
I didnt think I8 would last long everyday in the work i do. over a year is pretty good for that type of shoe; not that type of money so much. but now they smell really bad lol.

After hiking in Co with them; i couldnt take 'em off. I want another pair but they went up 40 bucks.
I looked when this thread started and they have 9mm rise. my foot falls are close to barefoot. plenty of feel but not 3mmish.

I wrote to turtle skin people to ask if they want to make socks-they do make gloves
 
Arrow Moccasins....and viking boots, that's the stuff I need to get 'hold of.
 
esker65 said:
LL Bean Maine Hunting Shoe
Click to expand...

I agree with esker65, IMHO the Maine Hunting Shoe is the best light weight winter boot. They come both insulated and non-insulated and as long as you keep the leather uppers treated with Sno-Seal they keep you pretty dry. I have used both kinds in the past, but the insulated ones have not been used over three or four times since I moved to Louisiana.
 
I'm no "barefoot" advocate at this point, but I really really do like simple thin soled boots. Any suggestions for summer boots as well? I am SICK of wearing boots with a huge block under my heel. Not good for hiking at all. Coming due for a new pair of boots soon and I'm sick of the thick-soled monstrosities I've been putting up with.
 
WestrnBushcrft said:
Will this thread help?

http://bushcraftusa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29640&highlight=minimalist+foot
Click to expand...

WestrnBushcrft pointed to a good thread if you need something for wet conditions. I live in 4mm huarches and can't stand shoes anymore; my solution for wet cold is now the tingley boots and Lacrosse Iceman liners which are 9mm wool felt. Don't let the molded heel fool you on the tingley boots as the natural rubber is so pliable with the liner you don't notice. Promise.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HHSBSE/?tag=bcusa-20

http://www.shoebuy.com/lacrosse-iceman-liner/124019
 
If looking for shoes try the old style Chuck Taylor Converse all-stars or wrestling shoes. I wrestled in high school and remember the miles of hallways we would run in wrestling shoes. They may be good for the mats, but the soles are super thin and beat the hell out of your feet when running on hard hall floors.
 
Converse are way too stiff, at least for me. I ripped out the massive insoles and replaced them with vivobarefoot insoles.
 
Yeah, but back then, there weren't entire creeks and woods full of rusty fishhooks, barbed wire, and broken bottles to worry about.

No thanks!

PMZ
 
Check out VIVOBAREFOOT's Off Road boot. They have both mid and hi models, and they are waterproof with zero rise and a super flexible sole. I have a pair on order but have not received them yet.

edit: I received them. The sole is not as flexible as I was led to believe, but they are zero rise and comfortable without the insoles. With the insoles in they felt restrictive, like the foot straightjackets I use to wear befor I discovered minimalist footwear.
 
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