Vivobarefoot - Primus Trail II FG

Yup, barefoot shoes. Personally, I love the Vivo Primus Trail Knit. The SG model is not being made right now but a few can still be had online. The FG is widely available, often lightly used for good deals. If narrow feet (probably, as you come from Merrell, the Hydra are nice for mud).

For me its the vivo barefoot Primus Trail II FG in black. My only sneakers while traveling for two years and I have zero complaints. I was walking around 10 miles per day. I just caught two NIB pairs for 50% off on Sierra! Was checking their website daily, they seem to get all the different vivos in once per year and they sell out within two days unless they are some wacky neon color. Hoping these should last me the next 5 years. I put one pair in storage.

One way to make them last is to only wear them on trails. Wear a different pair of shoes getting to/from the trail. Never wear them walking around the city. The Xero Scrambler Low which are a bit thicker than you mentioned but have the nice Michelin sole. I'm a big fan and do my long runs in these. The Vivo Primus FG don't have good traction in the wet. They're also oddly stiff for the thickness and overall I just don't like running in them. VFF are thinner than you requested, but have awesome Vibram soles. Being able to push down with your toes (like a claw) gives you an amazing grip option other shoes don't. For shorter runs, they feel the best. You can easily find VFF on sale or on ebay for well under $100.

I wear some old Primus SG and FG shoes depending on the terrain I am running and they are still going strong after many kms. Longest I have done is a trail half marathon but not sure if I would want to do much further. My volume has increased past that now so have bought some altra lone peaks for longer distance runs, but still really enjoy swapping back for the shorter runs

Plus one for the Primus Trail FG - best low-profile trail running shoe by far and a great all-rounder for travel adventures - may be too sporty/rugged for nice dinners but meets everything else. Anything barefoot style will keep it low profile. I'd pair vivo's and whitin's canvas shoes for my offroad/hiking needs vs my city walking/more dressy occassions.

Primus Trail for Summer. Tracker Leather for winter. Love both. I can put 4 rounds on my feet and my feet will be the least sore part of me walking off the course.

I used their primus trails, from like 2019/20. They were fine but mostly used them for hiking. But post-pandemic prices are so not worth it for the quality. I end up blowing out the uppers on the outside toe after a few months of casual wear.

I run in Vivo Barefoot Shoes, Primus and Primus trail. I’ve exclusively worn minimalist shoes for 7-8 years and I cannot run in conventional shoes because it changes my gait and hurts. In fact, I can’t really run on the school track near my house because it’s so squishy. That said, as someone new to running this year, my form is naturally awesome and I’ve made great gains. Before I started running earlier this year I bought Altra Escalantes thinking they’d be ok. Absolutely not - felt like marshmallows and squeezed my mid-foot terribly. Also caused heel striking I could not force to change. There is a barefoot running subreddit; you’ll find people there who run both shod and unshod.

Vivobarefoot are pretty wide. If you can get used to the really low stack height and lack of cushioning, it's a great shoe.

I alternate between them and Lonepeaks. Pretty happy with the balance. I avoid wearing them for trails exceeding 10km, or ones I expect to have pointy rocks. I also don't like them on stairs.