Sole Armor

Line Kolbe

Barefooters
Jul 23, 2013
375
818
93
45
Sweden
Review of Sole Armor http://steepcanyonrunning.myshopify.com

I won a pair of Sole Armor and I had a great mail correspondence with the company. They gave me very good service. I have vff and was a little unsure what size I should get, but we mailed back and forth about it and the pair I got fits my vff perfectly. I won them just before Christmas and they had to send them from USA to Sweden, but I got them very fast. I chose the Pro Protection. They have two different protections and the Pro is the thicker version. I thought that if I should have protection I want it as good as it gets.

I read everything about the soles on their homepage and the expectations were very high.
The first impression of them when I got them was that they are very stiff and the feeling of them in the vff was that I couldn't bend and use the feet like I use to. The vff had a tighter fit, of course since the soles took up some of the space in them, but that wasn't a problem. I was very excited to go for the first run. The feeling against the skin was good. I have a trail route where there are a lot of sharp pointy stones that usually hurts when I run there and I have used this route when testing and using the soles. I have run with the soles bare feet in the vff, in dry weather and in rainy weather where the feet got very wet, and with socks in the vff also.

The first run was bare feet in the vff in dry weather.
I must say that in the beginning when I was still just walking I thought to myself that this was no good. Too stiff and felt the soles too much. But then when I started running I seemed to not be able to feel the soles anymore. I got a very positive surprise. The feeling I had when I ran was the same as when I didn't have the soles in the vff. I had the same ground feel and I didn't feet limited. I could use my feet like I use to. So what they promise on their page is true. You have the same feeling as when you don't use them. Then the stones… I literally tried to run so the stones would hurt as much as they could, so I could feel the protection working. It works. I was very pleased to feel that I could still feel the stones, they just didn't stick and hurt my feet through the vff like they usually can do. My expectations were met and I was very happy with the soles.

The next runs I did was also bare feet in the vff and the soles got a bit thinner where I land. Since they are formed so they fit into the vff the soles stops right where the toes start. There's a part of the sole where it gets thinner so the feeling of the soles stopping will be felt as little as possible but that also means that on the outer part of my feet where I land, I pressed the soles thinner from the running and I land partly on the thinner part. That is a bit irritating. I seemed to feel the sole's edge mostly when I walked but also a little when I ran. I haven't run a very long run with them, but I fear that this could be a problem. It's only on one of me feet, so it could be my one foot that is a little different. I don't know if any other would feel this or if it's just me.

I also tried them when it was raining a lot so my feet got really wet in the vff. No difference at all. The feeling against the skin is still great and the feeling is the same. So that's a very good thing.
And then I tried them with socks too. Then the feeling of the edge is gone. The vff has a much more tighter fit and that's not so good. When I have the soles in them plus wear socks they get a bit too tight.

Overall I would recommend the soles if you run a lot of sharp pointy stones or easily get sore feet from uneven ground. They do the job and they do it very well. The vff loses a bit of the flexibility but when running it's not something you feel. The edge of the soles can be a little irritating when you have the vff but I'm sure that if you have another minimalist shoe where you don't land of the edge, they will be perfect.
 

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