I think I have to finally give up on VFF. The quality just isn't the same as when they first came out. My first pair from almost 10 years ago (KSO Trek) lasted nearly 3 years before I put a hole in the soles from wearing them so much. After that, no pair has lasted more than 6 months. This pair was the worst, though. 3 hours into wearing these, they started falling apart from the seams and developed holes at the big toes. Luckily Amazon took them back and refunded me. It's too bad, because they were incredibly comfortable and easy to put on. I didn't even do anything other than walk in them. Get it together, Vibram.