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80skeys
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PostTue Jul 21, 2020 10:37 am 
Does anyone know of a hiking boot with zero arch - completely flat sole?

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Jaberwock
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PostTue Jul 21, 2020 1:49 pm 
Maybe Vivobarefoot? or Xero shoes? Or Lems?

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Randito
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PostTue Jul 21, 2020 5:05 pm 
Jaberwock wrote:
Maybe Vivobarefoot? or Xero shoes? Or Lems?
The Vivobarefoots are super light and stay on the foot well. Very good as a fording/wading shoe. One complain is that that once very small rocks get in through perforations they can only be removed by removing the shoes. If you are thinking of walking more than short distances in them -- work up to it -- I brought them as secondary shoes on a long bike tour and wore them on what I thought would be a short outing lead by some friends in the city we flew into -- our friend used our presence to visit many famous spots in the city and ended walking most of the day and covering considerable milelage -- I got some blisters on the balls of my feet. xero shoes -- I got a pair of their sandles when they were just getting started, I'm now on my 3rd pair -- this time a pair of their Z sandals -- I like them a lot -- so much lighter than Tevas Xero now make "boots" perhaps that's is something like what you are looking for. xeroshoes.com

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Anne Elk
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PostTue Jul 21, 2020 5:48 pm 
NWH member Ski hikes in Converse Chuck Taylors. It's true - I seen pitchurs! Probably not what you had in mind, though. lol.gif

"There are yahoos out there. It’s why we can’t have nice things." - Tom Mahood
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texasbb
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PostTue Jul 21, 2020 6:30 pm 
Anne Elk wrote:
NWH member Ski hikes in Converse Chuck Taylors.
I bagged about 10 peaks around Crested Butte, CO, wearing my years-old Chucks one summer. I was 21, broke, and stupid at the time.

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Chief Joseph
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PostTue Jul 21, 2020 8:32 pm 
Anne Elk wrote:
NWH member Ski hikes in Converse Chuck Taylors. It's true - I seen pitchurs! Probably not what you had in mind, though. lol.gif
Yea, but he is a bit "eccentric" I would say...Iron used to hike in Crocs. I have hiked in my super heavy duty Crocs and they actually worked pretty well for me, Tevas too. It depends upon the conditions, I don't like heavy boots, but I do wear them in wet, muddy, rocky and or steep terrain, especially when carrying a heavy pack. A friend just bought some of those Xero sandals, flat and stiff bottom, not sure about using them to hike, he bought them for camp shoes and stream crossings.

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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80skeys
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PostTue Jul 21, 2020 9:31 pm 
Jaberwock wrote:
Maybe Vivobarefoot? or Xero shoes? Or Lems?
Lems doesn't offer a hiking boot that covers the ankle. Nor do they offer a shoe or boot that has good traction. In fact on my trip last week I was wearing the Lems Trailrunner. i'll look into vivobarefoot and see what they offer.

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80skeys
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PostTue Jul 21, 2020 9:43 pm 
Looks like both the vivobarefoot Tracker FG, and the Xero Excursion might be reasonable options. The latter is substantially less cost, so i'll give that a try first. Thanks for the suggestions on both these brands, i hadn't heard of either one of them before.

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Washakie
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PostFri Jul 24, 2020 10:58 pm 
Old chrome tanned raichles.

"What is the color when black is burned?" - Neil Young "We're all normal when we want our freedom" - Arthur Lee "The internet can make almost anyone seem intelligent" - Washakie
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Ski
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PostSat Jul 25, 2020 1:35 am 
Anne wrote:
NWH member Ski hikes in Converse Chuck Taylors. It's true - I seen pitchurs!
Yes. The inimitable Chuck Taylor All-Stars. Best thing yet for hiking muddy west-slope Olympic trails, like that slop pit that member meck just waded through a couple days ago. (Also worked just fine hauling a pack up a few dozen peaks in the Cascades.) But then, I've been wearing those on trails and in rivers for decades, so my feet are used to them. You might try a "flat" type of lightweight running shoe - the pair of "ultralight" New Balance runners I got a few years ago have very little, if any, arch support. The Vivobarefoot Ultra Pure (mentioned above) has virtually no sole at all - only about a quarter-inch of foam between you and the planet. I didn't find them suitable for carrying a pack any distance at all, but they worked fairly well for wading. (I carry a pretty heavy pack and was travelling along gravel bars at the time - YMMV.)

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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80skeys
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PostMon Jul 27, 2020 2:17 pm 
Ski wrote:
You might try a "flat" type of lightweight running shoe - the pair of "ultralight" New Balance runners I got a few years ago have very little, if any, arch support.
This type of shoe likely does not have the traction/grip for backpacking, and they don't extend up above the ankle. I've already got a pair of Lems Trailrunners, which is what I used on my last backpacking trip. It's a great shoe for daily use, but not so much for backpacking.

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80skeys
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PostSun Aug 02, 2020 8:59 am 
I tried out my new Xero Xcursion boots on a hike a couple days ago. Whoever had recommended the Xero brand - thank you, this is exactly what I was looking for. Now let me say - the "typical" customer that goes for these type of zero-drop shoes, I'm definitely not that person. I don't follow trends. The only reason I look for flat shoes is that my feet have problems with anything that has an arch. I've got slightly flat feet and despite online "advice" that someone with flat feet needs *more* arch support, this is certainly the opposite of what my feet need. I've always known my feet preferred a flat shoe - both the inner sole and the bottom of the shoe. This was made clear several years ago when I pulled the muscles in my foot hiking in a tennis shoe that had a more than normal arch. Up to that point, I knew my feet preferred flat but I hadn't gone out of my way to purchase those shoes. After that incident, I've been more careful. My previous set of hiking boots which I used for several years were a model of Keen's that they don't make anymore. They were flat and my feet loved them. The bottoms wore out a couple years ago. Lost their traction. I tried getting them resoled but it would have been more expensive than the boot. Since then I've been on a search. It looks like this Xero Xcursion fits the bill. Comfortable, no fatigue, feels natural. Plenty of traction, I went to my usual spot near my home which has a lot of loose pebbles and sand and it provided a lot more traction than my Lem Trailrunners (another flat shoe that's an awesome shoe but doesn't have enough grip on the trail.) So, once again thanks a million for that suggestion on the Xero's.

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