Table of contents
Background
I have been looking into barefoot (minimalism) sandals for running and came across Xero DIY sandals. I browsed on Reddit, and some other brands mentioned include Shamma, Bedrock, Earth Runners, Luna. Xero offers some less expensive options. I have tried one pair of Xero shoes in REI before, and the shoe was narrow and did not have a wide toe box. Reviews for Xero sandals such as Genesis, Z-Trek, and Z-Trail EV were great. Xero Genesis uses the same sole material (Xero exclusive FeelTrue® rubber) so I thought I would give it a try.
Review
DIY
Making the sandal and adjusting the laces took a few hours. With the quick modern life pace, I personally would rather spend the time somewhere else. Perhaps it would be a great experience to make this DIY sandal as a cub scout adventure together would be fun, and each scout can get a pair of sandals at the end.
Here is what the sandals look like.
I picked moca earth color sole and red laces. The sandals look great.
Sole
The Xero rubber sole is pretty rigid and can shield the feet very well from small sharp rocks. The total thickness is 4 mm with 1 mm lug. Traction is good, and I don’t feel the sandals are slippery.
But the sole is too rigid for running. I ran in the sandals and then compared them with Shamma Elite Warrior sandals. Please check the comparison pictures below.
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.
The difference resulted in the front of the sole being harder to follow the toes and could easily trip or even flipped down where the toes can touch the ground. That is annoying and could be dangerous.
Lace
The lace looks good. However it is too thin to feel comfortable. Especially the lace between the toes.
Summary
For running, the key drawback for the sandals is the sole. It is too rigid/hard and causes tripping/flapping very easily.
If I adjust the laces to very tight, it becomes harder to put on, very uncomfortable because of the thin lace, and still trips and flaps.
For walking, you could consider replacing the lace with wider leather laces or use laces from other brands.
Xero has another DIY kit that uses Vibram 4 mm cherry sole. According to this webpage, density: Morflex < Cherry < Woodstock < Gumlite < Newflex. Shamma Elite Warrors uses Newflex and feels a bit softer than the Xero FeelTrue sole. So Cherry might be good for running if it is not too soft.