Vivo forest tracker esc durability

Formidilosus

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Shoot2HuntU
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Aaand I’m back wanting to try a pair. Haha

I’ll bite the bullet at some point and take them on a few scouting trips before committing to a full 10 day trip. Been wearing minimalist shoes for a while now and running finally feels better.

I would take it very cautiously. I have worn minimalist or no shoes for 20 years.
 
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I dont come on here much anymore but wanted to see if anyone used these for hunting. My last few hunts I was using some Lems, but wanted to see if anyone had tried these before, and happy to find this thread at the very top of the forum! Anyone compare these to Lems waterproof boulder boots? Mine have a tear in the stitch so they arent waterproof anymore, I like my workout Vivos but man the price tag hurts.
 
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I dont come on here much anymore but wanted to see if anyone used these for hunting. My last few hunts I was using some Lems, but wanted to see if anyone had tried these before, and happy to find this thread at the very top of the forum! Anyone compare these to Lems waterproof boulder boots? Mine have a tear in the stitch so they arent waterproof anymore, I like my workout Vivos but man the price tag hurts.
Just make sure to buy them from vivo, whether from their online store or Amazon. If you get them from a third party vendor they won't honor their warranty and you'll find multiple people in this thread have had premature outsole separation above the stitching which leads to zero water resistance.

It seems it can be rectified with cement glue and kgs boot guard. I haven't tried it on mine yet.

I'm fairly certain I'll be testing out the Baer shoes Bergkomfort on a backpacking trip through some really wet areas over a week starting July 5. I was going to sell them if possible to get another size, but since I've got no bites on my listing I might give them a go. I think they'd be a great more durable alternative to the vivo, although with a distinctly less barefoot feel. They're somewhat of a more substantial/slightly stiffer tracker esc in my opinion. I think the outsole and water resistance will blow the tracker's away.
 

twall13

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They have a site where you can buy returns for a discount.
Those aren't simply "returns", they are rebuilt. Still some good deals at times but just wanted to clarify for people so they don't get surprised when they receive a used but refurbished shoe.

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BBob

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Some are rebuilt/repaired but some are also brand new returns. You have to look at how they are labeled as to the condition that you might get. I bought a pair of "Good" that had new soles but obviously needed some stitching repairs that were not done. I would not have called them "Good" since they needed further repairs. I paid a cobbler to fix them rather than deal with a return. I bought a pair of "Excellent" and they looked brand new. Personally I'd probably never buy anything but Excellent or Never Worn.
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fwafwow

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Some are rebuilt/repaired but some are also brand new returns. You have to look at how they are labeled as to the condition that you might get. I bought a pair of "Good" that had new soles but obviously needed some stitching repairs that were not done. I would not have called them "Good" since they needed further repairs. I paid a cobbler to fix them rather than deal with a return. I bought a pair of "Excellent" and they looked brand new. Personally I'd probably never buy anything but Excellent or Never Worn.
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I wish I had scrolled past the last few posts... Now I'm looking at a "Great" pair in my size. $100 off of retail seems very tempting. I wish they had a system to alert buyers to when various combinations are in stock, and to be very picky - to be able filter by condition.
 

Dobermann

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BBob

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Now I'm looking at a "Great" pair in my size.
I'm just a little gun shy after my "Good" pair. In theory by their description "Great" should be fine. My "Good" should have been fine but a very obvious seam on top of the shoe had separated and a thread was hanging out. Not sure how they missed that. Maybe someone was supposed to fix it after the resole but it got shoved along?
 

Yoder

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Those aren't simply "returns", they are rebuilt. Still some good deals at times but just wanted to clarify for people so they don't get surprised when they receive a used but refurbished shoe.

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I didn't realize they repaired shoes and sold them. I bought a pair off the classifieds here and the seller had bought them from Revivo. They are brand new.
 

fwafwow

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I'm just a little gun shy after my "Good" pair. In theory by their description "Great" should be fine. My "Good" should have been fine but a very obvious seam on top of the shoe had separated and a thread was hanging out. Not sure how they missed that. Maybe someone was supposed to fix it after the resole but it got shoved along?
I hear you. I'm also gun shy about "Great". And while they are $175 down from $275, I paid $210 for my first new pair. But that was 11/22, so maybe I will just wait for the next 20% or 30% sale.
 

ElPollo

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I just got a pair of these in the mail and put them on this afternoon. Normally, I would not ever have taken something like this seriously and would have openly mocked it. But after a year of struggling with a nerve injury in my left foot that made all my doctors think I had a torn Achilles tendon that wouldn’t heal, I am willing to try some different approaches.

First thoughts, they are really comfortable. Effectively, they are similar to a Navajo or Apache hardsole moccasin made out of modern materials. Now I just need to see if they make my nerve angry and if they will stand up to cactus and mesquite spines.
 

BBob

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if they will stand up to cactus and mesquite spines.
Don’t go wandering around in the dark kicking those prickly pears hiding in the tall grass. They do fairly well but a spine directly into the toe just might not make you happy.
 

fwafwow

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I just got a pair of these in the mail and put them on this afternoon. Normally, I would not ever have taken something like this seriously and would have openly mocked it. But after a year of struggling with a nerve injury in my left foot that made all my doctors think I had a torn Achilles tendon that wouldn’t heal, I am willing to try some different approaches.

First thoughts, they are really comfortable. Effectively, they are similar to a Navajo or Apache hardsole moccasin made out of modern materials. Now I just need to see if they make my nerve angry and if they will stand up to cactus and mesquite spines.
Glad they feel good so far. If you have worn minimalist shoes before, I apologize for sounds preachy - go easy at first, and for longer than you think you need to. I heard but didn’t heed that advice. While all is good, it could have been easier if I had listened.
 

ElPollo

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Don’t go wandering around in the dark kicking those prickly pears hiding in the tall grass. They do fairly well but a spine directly into the toe just might not make you happy.
It’s the agave that will really get you if you kick them in the dark. Knew a guy once who drove one of those points through the toe box of a pair of Whites Smokejumpers and directly into the end of his big toe. Prickly pear isn’t nearly that level of concern. But yeah, my line of work has resulted in a lot of years of wandering around the mountains and deserts in the dark. It’s probably why the nerve in my foot seems to hate me so much.
 

ElPollo

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Glad they feel good so far. If you have worn minimalist shoes before, I apologize for sounds preachy - go easy at first, and for longer than you think you need to. I heard but didn’t heed that advice. While all is good, it could have been easier if I had listened.
Hear you. Not taking it as preachy. Appreciate the warning. I’ve been wearing nothing but Walmart croc nock-offs for a year due to my nerve issue. A pair of sandals that my wife bought me now have enough drop that I feel like I’m wearing logger heels again when I put them on. So I’m probably already comfy with the zero drop. The issue about heel bruising isn’t likely to get me at this point either. The sole on these has more heel protection than my cheap Chinese crocs that I was off-trail mountain hiking in last weekend. But hey, so far these are comfy around the house and yard. I have a hundred days to see if they wake the nerve beast or if they cripple me in some other way. Hoping to be able to get back to hunting scaled quail in the desert this winter.
 

Yoder

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The pair I have are just a little bit too big, so I bought a pair of insoles from Xero shoes. They are the right shape and just add a small amount of padding. If you haven't worn barefoot shoes before, it might be a good option to get used to them. I had arch reconstruction surgery in my left foot. While rehabbing that, I read the book Born to run. Part of the book goes through the history of how Nike's invention of Jogging shoes has pretty much destroyed our feet and knees. When I first started wearing barefoot shoes, I had to bring other shoes to work and swap them out halfway through the day. Now I've gotten to where I can run in them. Here's the link for the insoles if you're interested:

 

dtrkyman

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The insoles in my training shoe were sliding up the heel, I tried the insole out of a pair of Keens I have and they fit right in, sz 10 vivo, 9.5 keen.


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