Kickstart Bison Boots - BirthdayShoes

I just got word about a budding minimalist boot company called Bison Boots. Bison is being kickstarted here and Gwyn reached out to tell me about the vision she and her husband have for manufacturing handmade minimalist boots out of Bison leather and Vibram rubber. Just looking over their campaign, I was immediately intrigued and really warm to the natural look of these boots. I’m excited to share their campaign with Birthday Shoes readers—if you’ve been wanting minimalist boots, you might consider giving these serious consideration. To that end, below Gwyn shares the story behind the dream—why Bison is an exciting new project below.

The Bison Boots Kickstarter Campaign

First off, I want to thank birthdayshoes.com for helping us spread the word about Bison Boots and being speedy in doing so! We are currently running a Kickstarter campaign, so time is of the essence! So who is Bison Boots? Well, at the moment it’s my husband, Corey, and me, Gwyn. We are prepared to grow quickly and are patiently—ok not so patiently—waiting for our Kickstarter campaign to finish. How did we get here? We were tired of being disappointed in the barefoot shoe options available. My husband always dreamed of working with leather, and quickly came to love the idea of handcrafting boots. He taught himself the trade (as we both do in many aspects of our lives). Our initial goal was actually to make steel toe boots (barefoot of course), but after close consideration, we decided to begin with the basics and move to steel toe boots in the future. We design and make the boots in-house in our shop in Ohio. We see the project through start to finish, which adds much needed control over our product. If you are familiar with minimalist shoes and the criteria against which shoes are reviewed on Birthday Shoes, then you know the important requirements of a barefoot shoe. To put it simply, your shoes should be part of your foot, working with your foot, not against it. And yes, not to brag, but I think we have mastered this concept!

We currently are offering one style of Bison Boots in one color. We have a vision for a simpler life, resulting in fewer items with higher quality. The brown color we have chosen is much darker indoors than out. In the sunlight, the brown lightens and takes on beautiful hues of reds and oranges. In our photos, our boots are not oiled or waxed. You can darken the brown at home by oiling or waxing. The color and design were chosen because of their versatile nature- not only for the occasion but for the person (unisex). Additional boot specs:  

made of the softest leather we have ever felt, bison leather (left to keep it’s original features and markings) 
dense Vibram sole—zero drop of course 
offered in European sizes 38-46 (we have come to like this sizing system much better than the U.S. system)

Visit our Kickstarter page to learn more and receive $10 off plus free shipping when you pre-order your pair of Bison Boots.

We understand there might be a little bit of sticker shock at first. We ask that you take into consideration the materials being used and craftsmanship being put into our boots. We will also be offering shoe trees in the future (this aids in a method used to reshape your boots after wearing).

Justin here.

If you’re interested in reading more about the Bison Boots campaign, head over to their kickstarter page and give these two serious consideration. There aren’t many minimalist boot manufacturers out there and these seem like an exciting new entry in the industry.