Could the Best ‘Shoe’ for Barefoot Running for Men and Women NOT be a Shoe?

What if the best shoes you could have for running are not shoes but instead are sandals? Why do I say that? I’m going to answer in a kind of roundabout way. Let’s think about human history. People have been running happily, successfully, enjoyably, pain-free, injury-free in sandals for thousands of years, as far as […]

Why Hike in Sandals?

One word: FREEDOM The feeling you get when hiking in a sandal can be way more fun and comfortable than in a shoe or boot. Usually, sandals are lighter (though not always, as you’ll see below). Without something covering your whole foot, the airy feeling can not only keep your feet cool, but let’s you […]

Three of the best hiking sandals

So, what are the top three hiking or travel sandals? I’m going to rely on a review that was done by ActiveJunky.com to tell you that. They took a collection of sandals out on a bunch of trips. They went to South America, they went to Central America, and they came back with three products […]

How do you make hiking sandals?

For Xero Shoes, we have a relatively high-tech manufacturing process, especially for our Z-Trail sandals, which have a three-layer FeelLite sole. The high-tech materials let us make something ultra-ultra-lightweight, incredibly, incredibly flexible so it lets you have natural foot movement, but is still really protective, really durable, really comfortable. We bond three layers together. Our […]

Are these safe for toddlers?

Are hiking sandals or Xero Shoes safe for toddlers? The answer is both yes and no-ish. The Yes is based on looking at how toddlers walk and run. They’re using their feet naturally. They run with amazingly perfect form almost all the time, until you start putting them in shoes. So to let them continue […]

What if I have wide feet?

If you have wide feet, I have good news for you. Xero Shoes are designed to work for the way human feet are shaped. They’re designed based on the shape of feet. A foot doesn’t get pointy near the toes, which what most shoes are designed to do. Xero Shoes let your toes spread and […]

What if I have flat feet?

Flat feet are not the problem people like to think they are. When I was in high school, I was a gymnast. I became an all-American gymnast. And I’ll never forget going to one of the first sports medicine physicians in the world, who looked at my really flat feet and said, “You can’t be […]

How do they do in water or when wet?

First of all, think about the comparison between hiking sandals and, say, hiking boots or trail-running shoes or shoes that you would wear for going on a hike. If you’re in boots or shoes and you get those things wet, it’s going to take forever for them to dry out. In fact, it can really, […]

Which Xero Shoe is the best type of hiking sandal?

This is not a simple question because people use all of our products for everything from taking a walk to going shopping, to hanging out in an urban jungle like New York City, to climbing mountain trails, to running a 256K race across Madagascar over dirt and mud and streams and rocks and everything in […]

Who makes the best hiking sandals?

If you’re looking for the best sports sandal or hiking sandal, you’ve got to think about the history of this type of sandal. It was 1982 when Teva was invented and 1989 when was Chaco was invented, and in the 25-30 years since those two things happened, those products have become synonymous with the hiking […]