Same here. I tried a pair of these on in the Vibram shop in London. _Not_ comfortable. Why would anyone make an otherwise barefoot shoe that falls down on this key feature?
Yes, the narrow toe box annoyed me too. Especially if you are used to walking barefoot or five fingers shoes,your toes will need more space. I’ve always wondered why normal shoes are always shaping your foot in an unnatural way, cramming your toes. The only reason i can think of is esthetics and fashion. Although these shoes are not as restrictive as regular shoes, i think bc they are not regular shoes they should favor an natural footshape over cultural factors. Ppl who choose barefoot shoes mostly care more about how their shoes feel than how they look.
100% Cramming your toes dates way back to past Egyptian times, where it was a status symbol, and for sex appeal. If your feet were clean, came to point, and had a heel making you taller than others, you were clearly a noble, as opposed to the dirty feet of the peasants (who ironically would have had much healthier feet [not including the possible harsh elements that shoes can also protect from]). Then there was also scenarios in history like Chinese Foot Binding done for a very similar reason: changing the shape and size of young girls feet was considered a “mark of beauty”. Real shame. Today, “normal” shoes are worn for the same reason unfortunately. Wearing the new Nikes proves to others you can afford them. But luckily you are absolutely right that there are many people out there however that would prefer function over fashion (thank goodness).
What about durability? My original vibram toe shoes (when they first released) lasted three years of ridiculous abuse through rivers, sand, hikes, and running. My second pair lasted less than a year and I noticed they were made differently. The look of all these folds and edges make it seem like it'd fall apart or fray within months
I don't have those yet but I'm definitely getting those for my camp shoes. Narrow toebox is no problem for me since I'm used to wearing old style leather combat boots as my everyday shoes and alpine style treking boots on my hikes. I do however enjoy taking them off and go barefoot around the house or the campsite. The capmsites do tend to have a lot of small pebbels, sticks, pinecones and pine needles so it would be nice to be able to walk rather than creep through them ;)
Some people also have very narrow feet naturally. For example my right foot is 30.1cm long and 11.4cm wide. I measured the dimensions the same way you did and used the lower width that you measured. I've walked barefoot for a lot of my life because I don't like how shoes feel. On my mom's side of the family there are a lot of narrow feet, and it's been a problem for some of us to find good performance shoes.
We have almost the exact same footdimensions it seems, I have a couple of vibrams, never needed 45s though, feels even 46's might be in order, is this oddly small shoedimensions specific to the Furoshiki's?
I would say fantastic as an everyday shoe based on a couple conditions: 1) You are okay with the tapered toe box (the more you wear natural footwear, the more your toes are going to want to splay overtime, and you may want something wider) 2) You either wear socks with them, or throw them in the wash occasionally to help with smell if you wear them THAT often (because you can almost slip around more in the shoe while wearing socks [as shown in the video] this is another reason they are almost better for everyday use as opposed to active/sports use arguably) Hope this helped, feel free to reach out with other possible questions!
You can totally wear them for running on pavement! Of course it depends on quite a lot, if you haven’t worn other minimalist shoes while running before, make sure you really take your time when you first start out due to a entirely different running gait. As well as depending on the size and shape of your foot, the taper my start to irritate your feet after awhile. But you should definitely give them a try if you’re curious@@leavroc3491
i just bought another pair today and see the furoshiki sneaker being advertised on amazon, it’s nowhere on the vibram store though. maybe old new stock? or possibly the amazon listing is simply mislabelled, i’d give it a look
When those first came out, I thought those were really neat but the more I thought of it for me. Five fingers have done so much corrective work and spread it out my toes and I’m almost afraid when I put on something else my regular trainers I use this for races in five fingers everything else, so I was curious what those would do without buying them
How do they fair during long distance walks on cement? I'm talking 5 or more miles at a time. I can't find any info or reviews answering that. Great review, thanks!
Hey Matthew! Vibram arguably has some of the best outsoles on the market. From personal use, the number one thing that would most likely wear out first, is the velcro (depending on how often you wash it, and/or take the shoe on and off.) - keep in mind, if you intend to wear this for longer time periods such as several mile long walks, especially if you chose to not wear socks and excessively perspire, you may want to be washing them more often due to smell, which may in turn ruin the Velcro quicker (I have personally read a few reviews saying that smell can become a problem while wearing furoshikis, so keep that in mind, and in consideration.) Other than that, durability wise has been just fine. This specific outsole, (while still somewhat grippy) I wouldn’t say grip is it’s strongest feature. But as far as cement goes, you’re probably fine. As for comfort; if that’s what you’re more specifically asking about (I can’t quite tell, sorry!) it has been fine so far personally for me. Apart from considering how long it would take for you to walk the further distances. Due to the width of my foot, the narrowing of my toes in the sharp toe box would drive me nuts after a longer period of time before anything else, but this would of course vary person to person. Only other thing I should point out, is minimalist shoes in general may not be best suited right away for long distances if you aren’t used to them. I apologize ahead of time if I’m assuming you aren’t used to minimalist footwear: if you are, fantastic! It shouldn’t be an issue. If you aren’t, from transferring your current walking style in “normal shoes” to these types of shoes, and jumping straight to long distance walking/running, can greatly increase your chance for injury. At this point, most people would discontinue walking in them as they think it causes them pain, as opposed to realizing they just rushed into a completely different style of walking too quickly. Sorry for the long comment Matthew 😅 I can get quite passionate on this subject. I hope things came across clearly enough. Hope this helps! Happy to try my best at answering any other questions you may have.
Interesting shoe but it seems very strange to make something like that and then give it such a narrow pointed end shape. Hopefully they will eventually make a version that is anatomically correct.
Could you do me a huge favor and tell me how much the pair you own weigh? I am considering these as a camp shoe while backpacking. Thanks for the video!
Hey Eric, For my pair, on a slightly old scale (I hope it’s accurate!) I got: • Both shoes in the travel bag it comes with ≈ 15.1oz (429grams) • Both shoes NO travel bag ≈ 13.5oz (387grams) • One shoe ≈ 6.7oz (190grams) Hope this helps, have a blast backpacking!
Man that sucks that they don't make these shoes for wide feet. I am a barefooted 👣 person because i have very very extremely wide feet and these shoes look like they will be cool for the winter time. I have the five finger toe shoes a whole bunch of them every last one of them I can barely and I mean barely can fit my toes in the pocket because I have very very fat wide toes that are straight across. On each foot you can see all five of my toes bulging out of the pocket I am surprised the pocket have not ripped because of how very fat my toes are. Question? Do you do anything or walk barefooted 👣. Good video man thank you for sharing.
Based on my foot size, I'd be somewhere between a Furoshiki men's size 44 or 45, or somewhere between 11 and 11.5. What would you recommend going with based on your choice? I've seen reviews where people recommend having a tighter fit to prevent the shoe from slipping around your foot.
Hey Jay! I would probably go with the same size I did. As you can see in the video, my feet are approximately 27.5cm long (10.85in) and they list my size as 28cm (EU:45, US:11.5-12) and I would say there is about 1.5cm of space from the very pointy tip of the shoe to the tip of my toes. So the size guide is pretty accurate! Depending on the length measurement of your foot, I would possibly downsize if your foot is about a centimetre shorter than mine, cause if it is, it may fall short of the firmer plastic lip that’s supposed to go over your toes when wearing the shoe. I would say those reviews are correct in saying that much extra space in these shoes will definitely increase the slippage of your foot in them. Hope this helps! Let me know if I can try to answer any further questions for you.
thanks for the needed info -for now i decided to go with a pair of SKINNERS = the new sock-with-a-shoe-bottom-thingy -i hope Vibram developes this idea a little more -they are definitely on to something but it needs a tad more work
These look great, except that narrow toe box looks awfully uncomfortable. I personally value toe box width over anything else (zero drop, thin sole, light weight, etc.) so these are not for me.
Amazing video. I am buying a pair right now. I have a 7 year old pair of spyridons that I love that still work amazingly, but I wear them into rivers and lakes so much I think these might dry a bit better but still offer protection from rocks etc.
Yes, disappointing. Part of VFF's early marketing focused on the toe box, with the metatarsal bones and toes having room to spread. Movement of my metatarsal bones and toes cannot be restricted without aggravating and inflaming the nerves, and it takes several days for the pain to subside after the insult.
As much as I want to love them, I can also see that the wraps pull on the toe box and cinch it in, exacerbating the problem. It would be really nice if the wraps snugged in under the arches instead of squeezing the toes.
Thanks for the review. I had never seen, or even heard of them before. I can’t get over when moving your foot to the side your foot comes off the shoe which is injurious, or simply annoying. The way it folds unto itself in order to fit into a bulbous bag is not appealing. As there are shoes that are flat enough that they could fit into your pockets better than having to carry them together in an unnecessary added non minimalist chore. They look like genie shoes which is a bit funny, but it would not matter whatsoever if they did not have those issues along with the downgrade in the second version ironically enough in not having a “natural” front part of the foot to allow if you wanted to easily splay your toes.
I REALLY wish they made a WIDER TOE BOX VERSION for some of us who NEED it...
Vibram, hey are you listening pleez?!?!?
GREAT REVIEW AS USUAL!
thanks so much for this review. the smushed toebox is a dealbreaker for me :(
Same here. I tried a pair of these on in the Vibram shop in London. _Not_ comfortable. Why would anyone make an otherwise barefoot shoe that falls down on this key feature?
Yes, the narrow toe box annoyed me too. Especially if you are used to walking barefoot or five fingers shoes,your toes will need more space. I’ve always wondered why normal shoes are always shaping your foot in an unnatural way, cramming your toes. The only reason i can think of is esthetics and fashion.
Although these shoes are not as restrictive as regular shoes, i think bc they are not regular shoes they should favor an natural footshape over cultural factors.
Ppl who choose barefoot shoes mostly care more about how their shoes feel than how they look.
100%
Cramming your toes dates way back to past Egyptian times, where it was a status symbol, and for sex appeal. If your feet were clean, came to point, and had a heel making you taller than others, you were clearly a noble, as opposed to the dirty feet of the peasants (who ironically would have had much healthier feet [not including the possible harsh elements that shoes can also protect from]).
Then there was also scenarios in history like Chinese Foot Binding done for a very similar reason: changing the shape and size of young girls feet was considered a “mark of beauty”. Real shame.
Today, “normal” shoes are worn for the same reason unfortunately. Wearing the new Nikes proves to others you can afford them.
But luckily you are absolutely right that there are many people out there however that would prefer function over fashion (thank goodness).
😊
Good video. Thanks.
I have two furos.
It' s very very uncomfortable down the hill.
and it makes foot great sweaty.
video was exactly what I was looking for. thanks!
What about durability? My original vibram toe shoes (when they first released) lasted three years of ridiculous abuse through rivers, sand, hikes, and running. My second pair lasted less than a year and I noticed they were made differently. The look of all these folds and edges make it seem like it'd fall apart or fray within months
I don't have those yet but I'm definitely getting those for my camp shoes. Narrow toebox is no problem for me since I'm used to wearing old style leather combat boots as my everyday shoes and alpine style treking boots on my hikes. I do however enjoy taking them off and go barefoot around the house or the campsite. The capmsites do tend to have a lot of small pebbels, sticks, pinecones and pine needles so it would be nice to be able to walk rather than creep through them ;)
Thanks for this review - as a certified WideFoot, I'm glad I didn't spend several day's wage buying them!
Thanks. I was about to buy them but knowing they're narrow ive decided otherwise
Hey man, have you tried the Furoshiki Evo's? I was curious how those differ from these if anyone knows. Thanks!
That BEG is a cool addition! Especially with the vibram sole on it 😂
Some people also have very narrow feet naturally. For example my right foot is 30.1cm long and 11.4cm wide. I measured the dimensions the same way you did and used the lower width that you measured. I've walked barefoot for a lot of my life because I don't like how shoes feel. On my mom's side of the family there are a lot of narrow feet, and it's been a problem for some of us to find good performance shoes.
Awesome thorough review! I gotta get somewhere and try these on now. Thank you.
We have almost the exact same footdimensions it seems, I have a couple of vibrams, never needed 45s though, feels even 46's might be in order, is this oddly small shoedimensions specific to the Furoshiki's?
Quick question.. would this be good as an everyday shoe? Or is it more ot an active/ sports shoe
I would say fantastic as an everyday shoe based on a couple conditions:
1) You are okay with the tapered toe box (the more you wear natural footwear, the more your toes are going to want to splay overtime, and you may want something wider)
2) You either wear socks with them, or throw them in the wash occasionally to help with smell if you wear them THAT often (because you can almost slip around more in the shoe while wearing socks [as shown in the video] this is another reason they are almost better for everyday use as opposed to active/sports use arguably)
Hope this helped, feel free to reach out with other possible questions!
@@GuyettsGuide Can I use this shoes for running on pavement or road because I'm planning on buying them
You can totally wear them for running on pavement! Of course it depends on quite a lot, if you haven’t worn other minimalist shoes while running before, make sure you really take your time when you first start out due to a entirely different running gait. As well as depending on the size and shape of your foot, the taper my start to irritate your feet after awhile. But you should definitely give them a try if you’re curious@@leavroc3491
@@GuyettsGuide ok , thanks for the information , have a good day :).
i just bought another pair today and see the furoshiki sneaker being advertised on amazon, it’s nowhere on the vibram store though. maybe old new stock? or possibly the amazon listing is simply mislabelled, i’d give it a look
For example, in a US size, is it the same size as in regular shoes, or should a size be increased or decreased?
When those first came out, I thought those were really neat but the more I thought of it for me. Five fingers have done so much corrective work and spread it out my toes and I’m almost afraid when I put on something else my regular trainers I use this for races in five fingers everything else, so I was curious what those would do without buying them
How do they fair during long distance walks on cement? I'm talking 5 or more miles at a time. I can't find any info or reviews answering that. Great review, thanks!
Hey Matthew!
Vibram arguably has some of the best outsoles on the market. From personal use, the number one thing that would most likely wear out first, is the velcro (depending on how often you wash it, and/or take the shoe on and off.) - keep in mind, if you intend to wear this for longer time periods such as several mile long walks, especially if you chose to not wear socks and excessively perspire, you may want to be washing them more often due to smell, which may in turn ruin the Velcro quicker (I have personally read a few reviews saying that smell can become a problem while wearing furoshikis, so keep that in mind, and in consideration.)
Other than that, durability wise has been just fine. This specific outsole, (while still somewhat grippy) I wouldn’t say grip is it’s strongest feature. But as far as cement goes, you’re probably fine.
As for comfort; if that’s what you’re more specifically asking about (I can’t quite tell, sorry!) it has been fine so far personally for me. Apart from considering how long it would take for you to walk the further distances. Due to the width of my foot, the narrowing of my toes in the sharp toe box would drive me nuts after a longer period of time before anything else, but this would of course vary person to person.
Only other thing I should point out, is minimalist shoes in general may not be best suited right away for long distances if you aren’t used to them. I apologize ahead of time if I’m assuming you aren’t used to minimalist footwear: if you are, fantastic! It shouldn’t be an issue. If you aren’t, from transferring your current walking style in “normal shoes” to these types of shoes, and jumping straight to long distance walking/running, can greatly increase your chance for injury. At this point, most people would discontinue walking in them as they think it causes them pain, as opposed to realizing they just rushed into a completely different style of walking too quickly.
Sorry for the long comment Matthew 😅 I can get quite passionate on this subject. I hope things came across clearly enough.
Hope this helps! Happy to try my best at answering any other questions you may have.
Interesting shoe but it seems very strange to make something like that and then give it such a narrow pointed end shape. Hopefully they will eventually make a version that is anatomically correct.
Super helpful and thorough, thanks
Could you do me a huge favor and tell me how much the pair you own weigh? I am considering these as a camp shoe while backpacking. Thanks for the video!
Hey Eric,
For my pair, on a slightly old scale (I hope it’s accurate!) I got:
• Both shoes in the travel bag it comes with ≈ 15.1oz (429grams)
• Both shoes NO travel bag ≈ 13.5oz (387grams)
• One shoe ≈ 6.7oz (190grams)
Hope this helps, have a blast backpacking!
Guyett's Guide, thanks for taking the time to weigh them!
Man that sucks that they don't make these shoes for wide feet. I am a barefooted 👣 person because i have very very extremely wide feet and these shoes look like they will be cool for the winter time. I have the five finger toe shoes a whole bunch of them every last one of them I can barely and I mean barely can fit my toes in the pocket because I have very very fat wide toes that are straight across. On each foot you can see all five of my toes bulging out of the pocket I am surprised the pocket have not ripped because of how very fat my toes are. Question? Do you do anything or walk barefooted 👣. Good video man thank you for sharing.
I don't like that the toe box is so narrow.
Based on my foot size, I'd be somewhere between a Furoshiki men's size 44 or 45, or somewhere between 11 and 11.5. What would you recommend going with based on your choice? I've seen reviews where people recommend having a tighter fit to prevent the shoe from slipping around your foot.
Hey Jay!
I would probably go with the same size I did. As you can see in the video, my feet are approximately 27.5cm long (10.85in) and they list my size as 28cm (EU:45, US:11.5-12) and I would say there is about 1.5cm of space from the very pointy tip of the shoe to the tip of my toes. So the size guide is pretty accurate! Depending on the length measurement of your foot, I would possibly downsize if your foot is about a centimetre shorter than mine, cause if it is, it may fall short of the firmer plastic lip that’s supposed to go over your toes when wearing the shoe.
I would say those reviews are correct in saying that much extra space in these shoes will definitely increase the slippage of your foot in them.
Hope this helps! Let me know if I can try to answer any further questions for you.
really cool shoes and good review! nice stuff
Nice review! thanks. Wish the toe box was bigger tbh
thanks for the needed info -for now i decided to go with a pair of SKINNERS = the new sock-with-a-shoe-bottom-thingy -i hope Vibram developes this idea a little more -they are definitely on to something but it needs a tad more work
great review! thanks man
These look great, except that narrow toe box looks awfully uncomfortable.
I personally value toe box width over anything else (zero drop, thin sole, light weight, etc.) so these are not for me.
If only they made it with a wide toe box style i’ll buy all models tomorrow
Baffling why they made this so narrow at the toe?!
Amazing video. I am buying a pair right now. I have a 7 year old pair of spyridons that I love that still work amazingly, but I wear them into rivers and lakes so much I think these might dry a bit better but still offer protection from rocks etc.
strange that the company famouse for proper toe spread, makes these shoes with that kind of cramped toe box
No video of you walking in them
Bruh, your feet are too wide for most barefoot shoes.
high knit is the solution
Yes, disappointing. Part of VFF's early marketing focused on the toe box, with the metatarsal bones and toes having room to spread. Movement of my metatarsal bones and toes cannot be restricted without aggravating and inflaming the nerves, and it takes several days for the pain to subside after the insult.
As much as I want to love them, I can also see that the wraps pull on the toe box and cinch it in, exacerbating the problem. It would be really nice if the wraps snugged in under the arches instead of squeezing the toes.
Meh, Vibram discriminates against the big feet...
Thanks for the review. I had never seen, or even heard of them before. I can’t get over when moving your foot to the side your foot comes off the shoe which is injurious, or simply annoying. The way it folds unto itself in order to fit into a bulbous bag is not appealing. As there are shoes that are flat enough that they could fit into your pockets better than having to carry them together in an unnecessary added non minimalist chore. They look like genie shoes which is a bit funny, but it would not matter whatsoever if they did not have those issues along with the downgrade in the second version ironically enough in not having a “natural” front part of the foot to allow if you wanted to easily splay your toes.
These look like my aqua shoes I bought for 5€
Not taken to any business work by me...
interesting concept but not my cup of tea
Imagine working at office wearing those