Hiking shoes, level: German Engineering

So I treated myself to a pair of new hiking shoes, and they are absolutely great, even if they were unholy expensive. The name of these beasts is Paleos Urban Tuhron Silver, and there's quite some noticable details about them.
The toebox is comfortably wide. The upper is aluminum coated, so you can just hose them down for cleaning with a pressure washer. The lacing goes far to the front, and the lugs are well spaced, so that they keep the shoe snuggly on my feet over the whole length. The lacing even pulls tight around the rear of the shoe! The tongue flares out so that it envelopes the ankles, making chafing on the top of the shoe impossible - an issue I actually had.
They even have a unique serial number engraved on a little tag.

Turn that thing around... what's that? The sole is full of holes, and there's... chain mesh in there?
Yup, those are barefoot shoes, and one of the most innovative takes on them I know of. Let me explain there for a moment...

So, what's wrong about classic hillwalkers like these Hanwag Canyon 2? In so many words, nothing, they do what they are supposed to do. And these served me for some 1000km, so I should know.
But let me ask another question: What is right about your feet? (I won't treat you to a pic of my feet here. I might in private if you ask nicely.) The human foot is the result of a lot of evolution towards walking upright, and quite long distances. It's good for walking, running and sprinting, using heel strike and forefoot strike, depending on speed and ground. From the amount of nerve endings, it is one of the most sensitive areas of the human body. Classic hillwalkers do a good job at protection, using stiff soles and lots of dampening. But this narrows the variety of what a foot can do basically down to the most energy efficient heel strike, and completely blinds the foot from the ground. You don't feel much of what is going on down there, so there is greater risk of putting a foot wrong - which is why you need ankle support now. You don't actually need forefoot strike anymore, since there is no danger this could avert from the foot, and with the blinded foot, you don't even feel the need. This, though, underutilizes muscles up into the spine.
Apart from that, I always just wanted to get out of my boots and socks at the end of a hike, and have not heard from anyone who wouldn't. So I started looking at alternatives.

You could just throw shoes to the wind and go full hobbit. Which I'd do, if I only did shorter hikes on natural ground. Problem is, I do also longer hikes that contain road, pavement and other hard ground, that feet do not cope with well. Also there's the risk of injury.
The most logical approach now seems to take a thin sole, and attach it to the foot with some straps, like these Pies Sucios Simna Ultra.
On the positive side, you get a real good barefoot-feeling out of such sandals from above, and a good feeling for the ground from below. You'll have to vary now between the energy-efficient heel strike and the cautious forefoot strike, you'll have to judge your speed more carefully and pick your way better - but you get a lot of sensory feedback from your feet now, too! On the whole, at the end of such hikes I felt a lot more muscles utilized, and the hikes feel more fun - and I did not miss ankle-support.
On the negative side, those straps are not easily adjusted. They can be tuned very finely to your foot, which you have to do, but it takes a lot of time and some practice. That's an annoyance, but worse is that you now have some pressure points that are predestined for blisters and chafing. The really worst part of it is that inevitably, you will have bad traction between foot and sole. When things get dirty - and it's not a hike if things stay clean - you will slip around on the sole. Which forbids anything more adventorous. Bummer.

So you adapt. You go from straps to thin material all around. But now you have, basically, a shoe again, like this Merrell Vapor Glove 2 (with retrofitted speed laces). You don't slip anymore, the pressure points are gone, but so is a lot of the barefoot feeling. Bummer.

I also tried Vibram Fivefingers. They, too, are basically thin shoes, with a little bit better flexibility around the toes (obviously, isn't it), but I personally never could get used to the feeling of things stuffed between my toes.

So, back to this weirdness. The step in the wrong direction was to do nothing about the sole. Here, a lot of holes are poked into the sole, making things a) more flexible, and b) more airy. To offer protection from below, chain mesh is introduced that promises protection against anything >1,5mm.
The real fun thing is how this behaves differently on different ground: On hard ground, this works like your average sole. On soft ground, the sole sinks in, and you get protected ground contact - which the other minimal solutions do not offer.
The promise is that these shoes should work in wintery conditions, and a short spin in cold, dry conditions proves it a curious experience: I feel the cold *under* my feet, but the feet themselves are warm. As with all barefoot shoes, things will get wet, though, and I'll try that one out for the first time in slightly warmer conditions.
All in all, this is intrigueing!