Merrell Vapor Glove - the shoe has arrived!

The first set of shoes have arrived. After reading a few blogs and reviews (like this one at derbyshirebarefootrunner) I found that everybody seems to love this shoe. So I've gone for it. I ordered it in a 9.5 and 10 - I'm usually a 9.5 but my feet are quite wide, so I may well have to go up a size. The first pair arrived this morning.

  

These are the Merrell Vapor Gloves 9.5 just out of the box.

The shoes are so light and flimsy that they come with a moulded cardboard filler and a bent cardboard straw to hold them in a shoe shape.

You have to say, they don't look much like a running shoe.A bit more like the plimsols I used to wear for PE at primary school. When you hold them they really do weight next to nothing, and they feel small because they don't have bulky padding and cushioned soles etc. 

Here's the sole. Again, it looks a bit different from your average running shoe. A very low and fine tread. The sole is actually made by Vibram who appear to have perfected thin, strong, grippy rubber. The shapes and curves are designed to flex in the normal directions of your foot.

View from the top. If you'd showed me these before, I'd have guessed they were for climbing. I'm not sure if I like the all black look - the other pair I've got coming are vibrant green.

Now I'm wearing the shoe. It's pretty comfortable. Not a lot to it, so it's difficult to be uncomfortable I suppose. I'm quite aware that the bone to the outside my foot (at the bottom of my little toe) is protruding quite a lot. Because the usual strappingisn't there I don't feel it as much as a normal pair of shoes. But I'm keen to try the larger size and see if they feel better.

In case you're wondering why I opted for mail order, rather than going to try some in a shop, I'll tell you! a) I researched local shops and none particularly advertised barefoot shoes, b) I tried a few pairs on in a Blacks recently and realised that as minimalist with very flimsy uppers, fit is not so difficult to achieve, c) a couple of pairs by mail order, posting one back (they're very light) is probably cheaper than driving an parking. Having put them on, I think I'm vindicated in thinking point b). There is not really anything squeezing your foot, so the idea of 'fit' is quite different to a traditional running shoe.