Luna Trail Sandals
L-R – Original Leadville, Leadville w/ATS, Oso
Reading Born to Run years ago for the first time I was pretty shocked to hear that the Tarahumara people ran in sandals, and ran in them for dozens if not hundreds of miles. I was intrigued but figured I’d never be a guy who ran in sandals. When I got back into running after a stress fractured foot I decided though to take up minimalist running and transitioned from regular running shoes to Nike Frees to Merrell Trail Gloves. I made this transition with the help of the Born to Run store in Bellevue where I would run with the owner, Dan Fairbanks, at least once a week. One day Dan was running in a pair of sandals made by Barefoot Ted. I thought he was kind of nuts at the time but he told me how Barefoot Ted had set up Luna Sandals in Seattle and that they would soon be carrying their sandals in the store.
It wasn’t long before I ordered a pair of the original Leadville sandals. I figured I’d use these in place of flip-flops for outdoors and maybe try running in them some. The original Leadvilles were nothing but an 10mm Vibram sole and a strap made out of an elastic leather material knotted on the bottom that sort of kept the sandal snug on your foot. According to Scott, one of the Luna Monkeys, my Leadvilles were about the third or fourth pair actually made for sale at the Luna factory. I did end up running in them and actually liked them in dry conditions on fairly easy trails. They sucked in the rain, the upper was slippery and the elastic straps would let your foot slide all over the place. They obviously needed some work though for light weight they couldn’t be beat at just less than 5oz. per sandal. I still use these as my flip-flop sandal for around the yard but no longer run in them.
Within a year Luna announced a Leadville upgrade – a new lacing system that they called ATS for All Terrain Strapping. These laces are much more secure and use an elasticized heel strap but a non-stretching nylon strap everywhere else and can be adjusted by simple pull buckle. They new strap also had a flat plug in the bottom of the sandal instead of a knot which the original Leadvilles had. Otherwise the 10mm Vibram sole was the same and the Leadville came in at 5 oz. per sandal. This 2nd generation Leadville is a great running sandal and I’ve put many miles on them running and hiking and have completed one full marathon with them. The top was still slippery when wet as I found out in a downpour on Grand Ridge one day but the better stopping minimized foot slippage. Luna actually had a final upgrade to the Leadville adding the non-slip MGT (Monkey Grip Technology) upper to the sandal but I never did the upgrade to that version because of rumors an even better sandal was in the works.
Enter the Oso. The Oso is now my favorite Luna to hike and run in far and away. The Oso uses a new Vibram sole that is 11mm thick and has much better traction on the bottom as well as a protective mid-sole. They come standard with the MGT footbed which is very secure. Add to that the ATS lacing system that has a non-elastic padded ankle strap and an additional strap that goes over the top of the ankle which they dub the Tech Strap. This extra strap holds the sandal very securely on the foot and there is no slipping around in the rain. They are a pretty rugged sandal and seem capable of handling any terrain. They are the heaviest of the Lunas at 7 oz. per sandal but still light compared to all but the lightest weight shoes. Since I’ve been dealing with the hamstring injury I haven’t run more than 10k at a time with these yet but have hiked several Rattlesnake traverses and the Sun Mountain 25k in them and was very pleased. Add Injinji Wool socks or Polar Feet Tabis and they make a pretty good all-weather ‘shoe’.