Lems - Trail Blazer

Very disappointing to find out you're correct. Was trying Lems as a transitional option since they're a bit thicker, but they're narrower than my Keens and Oboz. Also they've never heard of speed hooks I guess.

Not the Primals. These Trail Blazers are built on a narrower last.

Lems are hilariously narrow for being a barefoot shoe. There ever so slightly wider than xero and vivo, which are already pretty narrow. I'd recommend Softstar, Realfoot, and Bohempia for shoes that are actually wide

I can second the Trail Blazer. I've been using them for a few months and they're some of the most comfortable shoes I've worn. I have a pair of the Outlander waterproof boots for the wetter months.

If you use an outside shoe a lot, it will last only a year. You should expect to replace once per year. It depends on if your feet require wide or if you have a slimmer foot. Nike has great shoe lineup for trail but are expensive and more narrow. Adidas seem to be the standard and what the GOAT uses, as well as Simon. I have been using Lems Trail Blazer and really like it. The only thing I don't like about them is the colorway options.

yeah the trailblazers were narrow for me and my foot is pretty low volume

I'm absolutely loving the Lems Trail Blazer, wide toe box, durable af, waterproof, and actually comfortable. Going on half a season with them now and they are still looking brand new. Highly recommend.

They said these were wide. I got a women’s 9 and normally wear an 8.5, I don’t know if I should just return them.

Yes, return them. They're too narrow to you. Okay, maybe they wouldn't be if you would size up like two sizes or something, but you shouldn't get shoes longer than those either. I though Lems to be unisex. Some brands have women's shoes as more narrow, so if there is men's sizes for you that could be better. You could ask them.

I've tried on the new Trail Blazer, and they are indeed narrow in the toe box for a "minimal" shoe. I compared them to several other Lems shoes with the "Wide" last, and the Trail Blazers were the most narrow of the bunch. This is pretty disappointing, but my observation was that sizing in length so that you have about a thumb's width of room in front of your big toe, the toe box is wide enough for my "D" width foot. Generally speaking, I think Lems makes fantastic shoes, but if you are looking for durability you gotta choose a model with a leather upper. All of the models with synthetic or canvas uppers just won't last very long. Same goes for Xero shoes, which I find to be inferior to Lems in quality, but they offer way more models that are actually low stack height and "minimal".