You've Made the Switch to 0 Drop - Did you go back

[Hnthrdr]

I use both, my merrel 0 drops feel like dang moccasins, but I wouldn’t want to pack heavy loads in them, I prefer a more traditional hiking boot for that.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

I had Hallux Rigidus. Surgery bilateral great toes. I went with shoes as flat as possible plus a wide toe box. Great for my feet. Toes aren't meant to be in continuous extension at the MTP joints as happens with shoes with heel lift nor are toes meant to be squeezed in a narrow tapering toe box. Most shoes are designed with aesthetics in mind not proper biomechanics and long-term foot health.

I have a pair of Merrell shoes that I like. Altra shoes work really well with my feet (flat with wide toe box). Meindl hunting boots are fairly flat and have a wider toe box so I use those.

If I'm in the house I wear flat stiff flip flops or barefoot.

Personally, I believe my footwear choices caused my Hallux Rigidus. But you don't know what you don't know. FWIW.

 

[ElPollo]

I wore wildland fire boots and mountain boots daily for 35 years until I couldn’t wear them anymore due to my feet being a mess. I’m about 2.5 years into the zero drop world and have been wearing Vivo Tracker Forest ESCs for about a year now. I can’t imagine wanting to go back to stiff boots with narrow toe boxes and high soles. My ankles and feet are way healthier and stronger, and they hurt way less. I’m not the smartest person in the world, as evidenced by the fact that it took me 35 years to realize that the boots I was wearing to protect my feet were actually causing problems that don’t go away. My wife refers to my tendency to do things until I hurt myself as Y-chromosome poisoning. But I can learn. No way I’m going back.

 

[dgfavor]

I have a pair of zero drop work boots and hate them. I feel like I'm leaning backwards all the time, or walking up hill on flat ground. I like having a heel on my boots.

Dang, that's sad...you're too far gone man, shoe and boot companies got ya' right where they want ya'. [Moment of silence]

Do you tip over walking around barefoot or like in the shower? JK! I'd be surprised if that degree of dependence and posterior chain dysfunction didn't cause upstream effects...because, well, that ain't normal - hips? back?

 

[5MilesBack]

Dang, that's sad...you're too far gone man, shoe and boot companies got ya' right where they want ya'. [Moment of silence]

Do you tip over walking around barefoot or like in the shower? JK! I'd be surprised if that degree of dependence and posterior chain dysfunction didn't cause upstream effects...because, well, that ain't normal - hips? back?

View attachment 921923

Why can't the guy on the left stand up straight with a heel?? It's not like were hiking around in stiletto's. On the other hand, I've known many women that wear very high heels and have great posture in them.

 

[dgfavor]

Why can't the guy on the left stand up straight with a heel?? It's not like were hiking around in stiletto's. On the other hand, I've known many women that wear very high heels and have great posture in them.

I think the long term postural and associated musculoskeletal problems from wearing elevated heel footwear is their long term use on the flat surfaces where most of us live, work, etc the majority of our lives...IMO there is zero reason we need elevated heels in those settings.

As I mentioned, out in the hills/side hills heel to toe drop is, IMO, likely much less relevant, not to mention, for most of us, that environment makes up only a fraction of our lifetime on our feet. That said I see no reason to have elevated heels in that environment either.

 

[ianpadron]

My ultrarunner wife got me on board the zero drop train about 4 years ago. I still wear traditional boots when hunting, but only because a true zero drop boot with adequate sole protection doesn't exist to my knowledge.

Make sure you ease into them if you're a runner or you could potentially do some serious damage to your lower legs/feet.

I started walking/hiking in Altras and then progressed to running in them. they're all i wear now aside from backcountry hunts like I mentioned. Your calves will absolutely blow up in size and strength with the added ROM, its awesome

 

[Lawnboi]

I very much enjoy my vivo trackers for hunting, scouting and shed hunting and for work. (New work plumbing) And the vivo magna knit shoe for training and work, everyday wear.
But in November, chasing mule deer in the high country here in nasty bear grass n chunk rock slides with snow, etc, they just don't cut it. You just can NOT edge in in super sketchy terrain.
In fact I often wear K10 crampons with my crispi Nevada and feet feel great. I do have to make sure I have a wider boot now tho.
My theory is , if you train and live in minimal type footwear, the occasions that a heavy, traditional boot is basically required, your foot is stronger and I have less issues.
Also, I just can't live with soaked feet all day hunting in snow in November. The vivos aren't even close to waterproof compared to my pairs of crispis.
So to answer your question OP, I bounce back and forth at this point.

Unrelated maybe, but I also play hockey and have less issues with foot pain even tho modern skates are insanely stiff. Like a full carbon, rock solid cast on your foot. My feet feel stronger and more in control now than 5 years ago.

You make like a boot like the Jim green trooper. Same flat boot, with a little more structure and an outsole you can put spikes on and kick into a hillside if needed

 

[dgfavor]

You make like a boot like the Jim green trooper. Same flat boot, with a little more structure and an outsole you can put spikes on and kick into a hillside if needed

I've found if you have good ankle mobility, foot strength, etc. you really don't need to edge into a hillside - just sort of friction smear your way along with your "chassis" doing it's thing rocking and rolling as the terrain dictates. YMMV...and friction dependent.

This was a pretty steep sidehill packout we did last year...I had my low Topo Terraventures shoes on that just have moderately squishy foam soles. No probs or snapped extremities with two mule deer quarters on my back. My buddy in the photo has some ankle issues and wears more traditional Herman Munster hunting boots.

Like I've posted elsewhere, I do do alot of creepy old man at the gym stuff that I do think helps :

Going for a scout in the hills later...will probably break my freaking ankle!

 

[MuleyFever]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a shoe in this class with a safety toe?

 

[Poser]

I wear some 0 drops. I think I have 3 different pairs, but when it comes to mountains, rough terrain, off trail, heavy pack, scree slopes etc, I'm wearing a boot. Period.

 

[Seeknelk]

I've found if you have good ankle mobility, foot strength, etc. you really don't need to edge into a hillside - just sort of friction smear your way along with your "chassis" doing it's thing rocking and rolling as the terrain dictates. YMMV...and friction dependent.

This was a pretty steep sidehill packout we did last year...I had my low Topo Terraventures shoes on that just have moderately squishy foam soles. No probs or snapped extremities with two mule deer quarters on my back. My buddy in the photo has some ankle issues and wears more traditional Herman Munster hunting boots.
View attachment 922297

Like I've posted elsewhere, I do do alot of creepy old man at the gym stuff that I do think helps :

Going for a scout in the hills later...will probably break my freaking ankle!

Yeah I get all that about letting your foot conform to the terrain and not needing to edge in most of the time for sure. I'm quite used to it.
But I'm talking about extremely steep and hard gravelly chutes or greasy bear grass in same chutes with snow and chunk rock mixed in. Sometimes more boot is just flat out required. And I have them and have great luck with them cuz my feet/ankles/tibialis/calves are even stronger now. That's sort of my point I guess. That it isn't going to hurt you to go back to burly when required. Quite the opposite.
And feet being soaked all day sucks.

 

[dirtshooter]

I have vivo tracker ATs and while super comfortable man I've stepped on some small rocks and roots that nearly dropped me. Maybe my feet are weak but the soles are so thin you feel all things like rocks and roots. That's about my only complaint. Was walking in a gravel parking lot once and stepped on a rock and damn it hurt

 

[ElPollo]

I’ll reiterate one thing here and add another.

I used to be a stiff boot proponent and an “edger” on steep slopes. I started wearing the stupid rubber soled moccasins because I had to due to an injury, not because it was a cool thing to do. One of the things I found early on was that the low sole of the Forest ESCs is really stable and it sorta negates the need to edge when side hilling on steep slopes. My first off trail hike was pleasantly surprising in that regard. A couple of miles of side hilling on a steep rocky slope was not a problem. The lower stack height also meant I was significantly less likely to roll an ankle. Have not rolled an ankle since I got out of stiff mountain boots.

Second, while conditioning your feet and ankles is a thing, the Forest ESCs sole is surprisingly good at resisting stone bruises and heel strikes. The tracker AT soles are much thinner and you’re gonna feel a lot more in those. When I started wearing the Forest ESC, I definitely felt some rocks and my heels. I know this is contrary to a lot of what the barefoot purists think. But despite the fact that the Forest ESC sole is pretty resistant to heel and stone strike issues, adding an insole helps. I don’t find that it adds significantly to the stack height and turns them into a non-barefoot boot. It just makes them a bit more comfortable, especially for those of us with higher arches. That said, I do watch where my feet go more than I used to. Doing so also has a strange side effect in that I seem to eat less dirt and rocks than I used to.

 

[Jimbee]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a shoe in this class with a safety toe?

I am required to wear safety toe boots at work. I custom ordered Jim Green boots with zero drop and steel toe. No complaints, I really like the boots. They're very well made. Timeline was close to their estimate on the web page.
Edit to add: I wear ESCs when I'm not at work. I've gone zero drop for 3 years or so and have less aches and pains.

 

[rodney482]

Maybe I'm an outlier here. I own some altras, lone peaks, and wear them sometimes. But I also have mid height light hikers, 3 season mtneering boots with 3/4 shank, and classic mtneering boots with a full shank. For me they all have a place and there are lots of days the altras ain't it, most notably when lots of sidehilliing is expected, I just get too much motion and blister between my toes in the flexy ones.

I've definitely trended lighter and more flexible over the years and the shanked boots get less use than before.

Same… and for elk hunting w a heavy pack my goto is Lathrops

 

[Lawnboi]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a shoe in this class with a safety toe?

Jim green makes a safety toe barefoot ranger. I don’t own them but they are an option

 

[Lawnboi]

I've found if you have good ankle mobility, foot strength, etc. you really don't need to edge into a hillside - just sort of friction smear your way along with your "chassis" doing it's thing rocking and rolling as the terrain dictates. YMMV...and friction dependent.

This was a pretty steep sidehill packout we did last year...I had my low Topo Terraventures shoes on that just have moderately squishy foam soles. No probs or snapped extremities with two mule deer quarters on my back. My buddy in the photo has some ankle issues and wears more traditional Herman Munster hunting boots.
View attachment 922297

Like I've posted elsewhere, I do do alot of creepy old man at the gym stuff that I do think helps :

Going for a scout in the hills later...will probably break my freaking ankle!

Yea I’m talking hang onto the bushes or using an ice axe type terrain where I want to be able to edge in if needed. Like mentioned I can comfortably do that in Jim greens, not so much with a vivo. Most of the reason I have come to prefer the Jim greens in rougher terrain. I don’t do this nearly as much as I used but it’s nice to have a boot with the structure it make it an option. Plus the stitch down construction of the Jim greens makes micro spikes much more comfortable than vivos ime.

It’s a good time, we have some excellent options.

 

[mtwarden]

I've never tried a zero drop boot, but did try a couple of zero drop shoes back when I was running ultras. I heeded the advice to to slowly rotate the zero drops in with my other shoes, but after a couple of months—I still found the zero drop to give me trouble in my achilles & calves, so gave them up in favor of a low drop shoe (5-6mm).

I did try a lightweight mid height boot in lieu of a more traditional boot for hunting; that didn't go to well for me. It was pretty nice until I got into a lot of rock and/or sidehilling. With a load in that same terrain it was definitely a no bueno for me.

I like lightweight footwear; I'm in trail runners ~ 9 months of the year, but for backpack hunting I'm all in for a more traditional boot.

Sounds like for quite a few guys it's working, which is great!

 

[dirtshooter]

I’ll reiterate one thing here and add another.

I used to be a stiff boot proponent and an “edger” on steep slopes. I started wearing the stupid rubber soled moccasins because I had to due to an injury, not because it was a cool thing to do. One of the things I found early on was that the low sole of the Forest ESCs is really stable and it sorta negates the need to edge when side hilling on steep slopes. My first off trail hike was pleasantly surprising in that regard. A couple of miles of side hilling on a steep rocky slope was not a problem. The lower stack height also meant I was significantly less likely to roll an ankle. Have not rolled an ankle since I got out of stiff mountain boots.

Second, while conditioning your feet and ankles is a thing, the Forest ESCs sole is surprisingly good at resisting stone bruises and heel strikes. The tracker AT soles are much thinner and you’re gonna feel a lot more in those. When I started wearing the Forest ESC, I definitely felt some rocks and my heels. I know this is contrary to a lot of what the barefoot purists think. But despite the fact that the Forest ESC sole is pretty resistant to heel and stone strike issues, adding an insole helps. I don’t find that it adds significantly to the stack height and turns them into a non-barefoot boot. It just makes them a bit more comfortable, especially for those of us with higher arches. That said, I do watch where my feet go more than I used to. Doing so also has a strange side effect in that I seem to eat less dirt and rocks than I used to.

I was wondering I'd the esc soles were thicker and would help avoid the issues I had. Might need to try a pair