Bare Access Flex Shield

These shoes are fantastic. I have mostly used them for walking so far, with just a little bit of running. I did a 15 mile walk in them on mixed off-road terrain as their first adventure (after very little walking in recent weeks) and I finished without a single ache in my feet or legs. I'm sure that this is mostly due to the "bare foot" design where the natural movement of the foot is accommodated. (I have since realised, on a much longer walk, that the zero heel rise allows a very economical walking movement where the foot does not have to be raised excessively to allow the high-heel to clear the ground. They are also very light weight.) I would therefore thoroughly recommend them to anyone for lighter-duty off-road walking or running, with my only caveat being that the "shield" aspect of the shoe is not totally effective, being defeated by around 5 minutes of wet grass. However, I would still give them 5 out of 5, as the basic purpose of the shoes been so effectively demonstrated to me.

As stated

They did not fit like my other Merrell shoes of the same size. Definitely one size larger than expected and more narrow and stiff than I was hoping for

These shoes have been working great so far. I wear them for training and work (business casual: black sneakers are fine). I stand a little taller in them, my feet are warmer and dryer than the non-shield version, and they're still zero drop! No complaints. The reflective pieces nearly glow.

This shoe is a minimal support shoe. There isn't much arch support (barefoot style), there isn't much structure to the shoe so it feels much different than a traditional running shoe, and there isn't much lateral support so don't try using this as a cross trainer. The toe box is rather large compared to the rest of the shoe outline. With the low rise in the heel and poor structure the shoe material can pucker near the toe because of the tension needed to get a secure fit and lightweight materials. As for the weight, it's perfect. The material used is amazing. I used these in tall grass that was still slightly wet and my feet stayed dry the entire time. The "shield" fabric feature is really nice. Compared to waterproof/GTX material, this material breathes a lot better. Bottom line, if you need weather protection and not a lot of support, this is your shoe!