I have had my Fut Gloves for about a month now and have been wearing them out in our winter weather and just kicking around the house and I greatly enjoy them.
I'm always looking for new Barefoot running shoes to review, and I stumbled upon Fut Glove. I read up on this American Barefoot Running company and I was sold. I wanted to review a pair of Fut Gloves, and looking at all their styles I was interested in the Zum's. I got my Zum's and then I contacted Dan at Fut Glove and asked him what he'd like to pass along about Fut Gloves and this was his response.
Fut Glove (Dan) stated the following: A few differences of Fut Glove vs. others
- Fut Gloves are built for comfort while strengthening the foot with a five toe shoe design
- Fut Gloves are made with high impact rubber & EVA foam mid sole which runs from the heel through the toe areas.
- Fut Gloves are constructed more like a "regular" shoe with structure and support.
Fut Glove has many different styles, and the style I chose was the Zum, The Zum has flexible laces that makes it ideal for exercise and always your foot to stretch.
Here's all the Spec's for the Fut Glove Zum:
Fut Glove Zum in the real world:
The first thing you'll notice about the your Fut Glove's is that they are alittle beefier if you're comparing them to Vibram Five Fingers. Fut Glove states that their shoes are Barefoot running shoes but offer the feel of a regular shoe.
When you slip on a pair of Fut Gloves you'll notice that they have built up padding in the heel area and in the forefoot area. When walking around in Fut Gloves they do feel like a everyday shoes, but don't forget that people are staring at you because you have monkey feet. It's a great way to strike up a conversation about Barefoot running.
The feel of this shoe is very different from the Vibram Five Finger shoes as you may not have that barefoot feel in this shoe, the ground feedback is reduced. That's not to say there is no ground feedback, but whenever you add padding you'll lose feedback.
When looking for a Barefoot or minimalist running shoe you want it to be zero drop, which means there is not a raised heel, it looks and feels like Fut glove accomplished this.
The Fut Glove Zum's are very comfortable and are a great design. When running in my Zum's I had no hot spots and they seemed to hold up great.
When talking about Barefoot Running shoes you always hear people talk about the toe box, it's the space the shoe provides your toes to spread out. With Toe shoes there's no real toe box and your toes can move independently which is great.
The Zum is lightweight and made of breathable materials that make it a joy to wear.
Overall the Fut Glove Zum is a good shoe that offers some competition to Vibram and its Five Fingers.
If I was going to fault the Zum it would be for the extra padding that they added to the sole of the shoe, but it was their goal to make it feel more "regular"
I feel that the Fut Glove is a good transition shoe into the Barefoot Running world, but if you already own a pair of Barefoot shoes you may find this a little step backwards.
Kennyo
