Fourteen years (and a few days) ago, I published my first Soft Star Shoes review (here) — that of the Soft Star “Grippy¹” Roo Moccasins. Nearly 12 years ago, I published a review of my Soft Star Roos (and Ramblers). Today, I’m going to share some long-term thoughts about the Soft Star Roo, a special, […]
Author: Justin
Justin Owings is a deadlifting dad of three, working from Atlanta. When he's not chasing his three kids around, you'll find him trying to understand systems, risk, and human behavior.
Hello, World?
Hey, y’all. It’s Justin. If you don’t know me, that’s my fault. You see, over the last several years, I’ve fallen off the edge of the earth—at least when it comes to BirthdayShoes. I haven’t posted a thing since April 2019. Had it not been for the faithful and regular work of Jarvis Chen, who […]
I Missed It
It’s been on my mind recently—a big anniversary of sorts coming up. Only, as these things go, I thought about it and forgot it. What’s the big deal? Well, yesterday marked the 10 year anniversary of BirthdayShoes.com. I launched BirthdayShoes on April…
It is 2019, and 2019 marks the 10th year of BirthdayShoes’ existence. Hard to believe, I know. Where does the time go? Long-time readers may have lamented BirthdayShoes isn’t as fresh as it used to be (Perhaps never was! I’m no designer.). The site…
What’s the deal with minimalist, barefoot-minded hiking boots? Is a “barefoot hiking boot” even possible? If you’re like me, when you think about hiking boots, you probably think of those stiff-soled shoes you can pick up at REI—like these. Traditional…
A BirthdayShoes reader named Justin recently reached out about a Kickstarter campaign for MyMayu waterproof, minimalist boots. Justin shared: I was wondering if you’ve noticed the MyMayu (www.mymayu.com) kickstarter for their adult-sized, waterproof,…
PSA: Vibram has a handful of the “OG” FiveFingers on sale on their website. Sure, a couple of them weren’t “1st gen.” However, even the Seeyas are “classics” since they came out some six years ago. Here’s what they’ve got: KSOs! — Available in 3…
Are you a long-time fan of Lems and love minimalist shoes? Well, I’ve got some good news and bad news. The good news: Lems has a new shoe called the Trailhead and it looks great! The bad news: it’s a fairly significant departure from Lems previous shoes…
For seasoned BirthdayShoes veterans, you might recall discussion about Martin Berkhan’s “Leangains,” the original 16:8 (16 hours fasting, 8 hours eating) diet and training protocol. For example, Hugh Jackman, who we’ve seen photoed deadlifting in Speed…
If you have kids (And yikes! I have three!), you know the struggle that is finding shoes for your kids that fit, are comfortable, and well, good for them. And this last criteria is near impossible to find—at least not at a pricepoint that is reasonable.…