I am usually the type to go backpacking 1-2 times a year, generally in the Eastern Sierra. I have been trying new boots and recently found I liked solomons. However, in the past year I tried the barefoot shoe thing, picking up 3 pairs of xeroes for gym use, regular use, and now backpacking… I can’t put my solomons on without feeling pinching and lasting pain, pretty sure they’ve always done that for me but now it’s highlighted why I’ve been avoiding wearing them. I simply believed that enduring that pain was part of the backpacking experience.

These boots are not “pain free” but I have never had better recovery day after day of a backpacking trip. I bought these shoes and immediately took them on a trip (dumb I know but they don’t need to be worn in… they’re already flexible) We climbed from Convict lake to mildred lake, the trail was extremely rocky, often loose sharp stones piled up as a walk way. The day afterwards we climbed up to Edith lake, which is up a large scree hill and through overgrown forest dirt roads. Every night my calves were sore but in the good gym sense of that word… After sleeping I felt refreshed and ready to walk further in the morning. For context I usually have awful blisters and foot soreness that lasts for days. Notably the knee pain that would make me have to slow down was gone.

Take this for what it’s worth. Barefoot shoes are a lifestyle that takes time to acclimate to. I have spent the past 6-12 months weaning off from traditional shoes and I have found it to be immensely rewarding. If you’ve never worn a barefoot shoe, it’s very unlikely to be comfortable in the beginning. You need to know how to step to reduce impact and you need the muscle and dexterity to balance in most directions to avoid rolling ankles… these skills and capabilities cascade into a much more comfortable walking and hiking experience. For me this is a lifechanging boot, your mileage may vary!

TLDR: these are fine if you're on trail and wont be in much water. These are terrible in grassy areas (pokey seeds get stuck in the mesh) and the mesh area around the toe box retains water and wet sediment, so I walked miles feeling like I had wet sandbags putting pressure on my toes...and the water retention causes the goretex to soak through and end up with wet feet.
If you're only hiking on trail and not crossing a lot of water...these are fine. I work in the backcountry a lot and really noticed the difference between being on trail and off. Working in CA mostly on trail, I had no issues...then I moved to the southwest and work primarily off trail in the backcountry. The mesh outer gets cheat grass and other seeds stuck in it like crazy. That mesh outer layer also creates a pocket that catches water and silt/sand. So yes these are goretex and waterproof...to a point. All goretex eventually soaks through, but the pocket by the toes collects wet sand and allows the wet to soak through once it catches lots of wet sand. I finished a hike with soaking feet both days. My feet shouldn't have been wet since we were only sporadically in water, not constantly submerged. Once the mesh around the toe box collects sediment, it started putting pressure on my toes. And because that fine, wet sediment is stuck in the mesh layer, you can't just shake it out. I had to finish my hike with that mesh full of wet sediment putting pressure on my toes. Hosing it out seemed to force all the sediment out. On a side note some of the plastic details on the upper is also starting to peel off after about 6 months of heavy use.

Second pair.
The first time I bought the Xcursion fusion, I got the black color from the official site and they did pretty decent except that at the bend point(one of xero's selling points) started to wear out due to daily crouching and squating. Within a couple months I was noticing the socks getting wet while walking in the morning dew-ed grass. The second pair I couldn't find my size so I went to see if they were available elsewhere. I found a pair on Amazon and proceeded to purchase there. This time I got the blue Xcursion fusion. These did worse.. Within a couple weeks the little grey accent pieces(upside down 'V' and 'L'?)started to peel on both boots. Eventually I just ripped them off and kept using them because, honestly they didn't look bad that way and the integrity of the boot was not lost yet. I got these in June 10th-ish and I'm starting to get those early morning damp sock syndrome again..

Over all the shoe is great except for those issues. It has strengthened my feet and I can see the difference in the shape as well. Sure there are other boots out there that probably don't have these problems, but they are traditional boots.. They don't have the zero drop, the flexibility nor the wideness of Xero Shoes. I will soon be looking into another pair. Please look into these issues.

Other notes: They recommend getting a half size bigger on boots, which I did on the first pair. I found that getting the regular size and just taking off the insert was a better fit, rather than getting a half size up, which made them feel a little big.

I have two pairs of Xero shoes. I have the Hana and the Xcursion Fusion. They both cause me severe knee pain.

I have been wearing Vibram five fingers since 2009. This has nothing to do with adjusting to barefoot shoes. My vibrams don’t give me any pain at all.

I’ve spent the last year, since buying my Xero shoes, trying to figure this out. I didn’t even think the Xero shoes were causing the pain at first (because why would they??). But I’ve narrowed it down by taking a month off of wearing barefoot shoes altogether, a month wearing just Xero shoes, a month wearing just vibrams, a month wearing one Xero shoe, then the other, so on and so forth. I can say with confidence now that if I wear either pair Xero shoes for more than a day I’ll be in pain for two weeks.

The last time I wore the Xero Xcursion, as a last ditch effort to make it work, I hiked seven miles of the AT near my house. I had to take the shoes off after two miles and walked the last five barefoot. The pain was unbearable after the first two miles and gone by the end of the hike.

My best guess is that xero shoes (or these two models at least) are exactly the wrong amount of sole thickness. Thicker than FiveFingers, thinner than conventional shoes. They're too thick and too stiff to really walk toe first, but too thin to walk heel first.

Also, the waterproofing is not very breathable. I get very hot and very sweaty in these shoes.