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Background
I want to spend some time to review how I started going barefoot and how I got to barefoot sandals.
The journey to minimalist shoes and barefoot (unshod) started when I bought a pair of Vibrams out of curiosity when it was on sale.
I wore them for walking, gym training, and some water use. They are really light and dry relatively fast. I have been mostly wearing Nike shoes for running in the last decade. I liked 2015 Nike free run. Its sole has a unique design that collects small rocks on the trails. It was really light and felt zero-drop.
I started running more than once a week this year and bought a Garmin 955 to help track the activities. I ran with Nike zoom which had quite a bit of foam.
I went to Road Runner Sports to get some new shoes and measured my feet with their machine. I had minor over pronation on my right foot but was told that it was not serious. I was recommended a pair of Brooks Ghost 17, Saucony, and Ascics. I liked the cushioning feel of the Brooks and bought that.
However, I was a bit concerned with the slight over pronation. I started paying attention to how I was standing. I noticed that I did tend to put higher pressure on the big toe side of the right foot. When I tried to balance it and put pressure on the pinky toe side, I felt a bit of pain under the metatarsal on the pinky side. So probably I was over pronating to unconsciously relieve that pain. There might be legacy injuries around the location, so I over pronated to avoid the pain. The habit went on and that part remained weakened.
I started wearing my Vibrams again and just walked barefoot at home. The pain under the pinky side continued. Sometimes when I stepped on certain terrain, the pain was worse. The area did recover after the pain and felt stronger afterward. I tried running with the Vibram V-Run retro and felt pain around the pinky side on my left foot as well.
With years in the cushioned shoes, it seemed like both feet may have over pronated slightly and the pinky side got weak. The first few times, I felt quite some pain after the run (interestingly not much during the run) on the bottom of the feet, lower shin, and lower calf areas. Icing helped a bit. Consistent running and recover helped more. Within one to two months, my legs and feet got used to the Vibrams.
I bought more Vibrams (V-Run and V-Trek) and started looking into trail running shoes and barefoot running more seriously. I bought a pair of Merrel Nova 3 because I thought the plate was helpful to shield my foot from the rocks and tough terrain on the trail.
On one of the trail runs, I stepped on one weird spot and almost rolled my ankle but did not. After that run, I started feeling pain on the right side of my right knee. Perhaps the tendon or IT band got overstretched. The hard plate does shield off sharp rocks but also reduced the flexibility of the sole and the foot. I returned the Nova 3 and bought a pair of Merrel trail glove shoes.
The Merrel trail glove has 14 mm stack height and is zero drop. I tried it on the trails, and I definitely felt more of the ground and had better control. After a couple of the runs, I felt I might be able to handle even less cushioning. I tried running on the trails with V-Trek and V-Run and felt mostly ok. At certain sections with more sharp gravels, I had to slow down.
At this point, I have read posts on reddit where people were recommending minimalist sandals and where people were recommending going completely barefoot (unshod). Previously, I thought it was too dangerous and I might get hurt. Walking barefoot on hardwood and concrete felt comfortable at this point. I decided to try walking barefoot outside. The asphalt roads were old and not very smooth. It was much more challenging. Also, I feel little gain. Risk might be higher than reward for barefoot on old asphalt. However, I wanted to try minimalist sandals for a couple of considerations.
- to allow the toes to move more freely.
- to save the socks and let the feet breathe more. I felt hot wearing socks with Vibrams during the Summer but do not like barefoot in Vibrams.
I looked at some posts recommending barefoot sandals and saw some recommending the Shamma Elite Warriors. I checked out some reviews on youtube. I bought a pair of Xero DIY Sandals and did not like the fact that the front of the sandals would flop. One post mentioned that comparing to the Xero DIY sandals, the Shamma Elite lacing system just works.
That is how I got to Shamma Elite Warriors.
Review
Lacing System
I did not like flip-flops since they have a strap or separator between the toes. I guess it is human nature to be lazy so it is more convenient to wear them barefoot but not with regular socks. I got some toe socks to go with the Vibram Five Fingers since I don’t like to wear them barefoot. A little sweat makes it very uncomfortable except when it is in water.
The straps shamma uses are of appropriate widths. Unlike the ~ 3 mm diameter paracord that Xero DIY sandals come with, wider straps are much more comfortable because they do not put excessive pressure on the feet. Shamma clearly has put a lot of thought into the design. It is a variant of Tarahumara Huarache style. The strap between the toes is curled at the bottom to attach to the holding plastic piece and relaxed to be flat coming up to become the lateral side (outside) strap. This strap is nylon material. It is the classic material used for straps such as on backpacks. Probably the material makes it easier to attach to the bottom of the shoe and also easier to adjust the fit. There is a square buckle to connect the medial side (outside) velcro strap. The square buckle makes it possible to adjust the medial and lateral side separately and does not put too much pressure unless it is tightened too much. The medial side strap and the heel strap are both velcro suede straps and very comfortable on the feet. Shamma also makes optional power strap with the same material and velcro design to go in front of the ankle to make the sandal more secure on the feet during sprinting.
I wanted the strap between the toes to go straight down between the toes, so it puts roughly equal amount of pressure on the big toe and the second toe. That has been comfortable so far. I have seen earth runners medial side strap puts more pressure on the second toe side and it is of a different design. I wonder if the second toe would not feel comfortable in that design.
It took me a while to find the right fit/tightness. Initially I wanted it fairly loose because I liked the low pressure from the staps on my feet. During everyday walking, I don’t worry about the sandals flying-loose and thought I would prefer a pretty loose fit. However, I found that my feet would swing left and right, and either the big toe or the second toe may step on the strap between the toes. If I tighten it too much, it actually can feel hot and sweaty even with the minimal strapping materials. And the pressure of the straps on the feet is also too much. After a while I was able to find the right tightness
Sole
From the picture above, one could see the sizes of the sandals are similar.
From the side-view picture above, one could see that the Shamma sole is softer and curved up. The Xero sole is more rigid/hard and stays flat after use.
Walking
Running
Summary
So far, I really liked the sandals for everyday use and running. I bought a pair of Shamma Numa Warriors although some people preferred the elite lacing system. I thought the Numa would self adjust to a comfortable position in terms of left and right. Then I would not have to constantly tweak the lacing system to make the big toe and second toe both happy. I hope it will work as expected.