Hoka's

[rocketsocks]

All that means is that the heel and forefoot are at the same level. Same as if you are standing on a bare floor.
The thickness of a shoe is called the stack height, most shoes have a heel of some sort. A typical tennis shoe has a 12 mm heel, which means the stack at the heel is 12 mm thicker than the stack at the forefoot area.
A dress shoe is easiest to see this in, especially a men's. The basic sole of the shoe would be a zero. Adding the heel block creates the heel.
Oddly, many women are turned off by minimalist shoes but regularly tout the comfort of "flats" which are simply zero drop shoes.
These hoka's show a 26mm heel and 21 mm forefoot- which means a 5mm heel (or drop) http://www.hokaoneone.com/mens-trail...gid=mens-trail

This page is one of the best to show all the features of minimalist shoes- http://www.altrarunning.com/webapp/w...952#FootShaped
Most of the shoes we are talking about feature a low drop or zero drop design. In addition though these shoes all have high stack heights, meaning a thick, or thicker than normal cush (EVA FOAM) layer.
A true minimalist shoe generally doesn't have much cush, but many backpackers find that a minimalist design, with the high stack height is an excellent choice.
Here is a good example of a true minimalist shoe; zero drop, wide forefoot, taller toe box, only 4mm cush, and 9.5 mm total stack height.
http://www.merrell.com/US/en-US/Prod...-Trail-Glove-2

Pretty much every shoe has
outsole- rubber- 3-6 mm (plus lug depth on some shoes)
midsole- cush- zero to 36mm (like the Altra Olympus)
Insole- not every shoe has one, but if it does it is removable.

The merrell above- no insole, 4mm cush, 5.5mm outsole.
An Altra Lone Peak (very good backpacking shoe)- has 23mm total stack, made up of 5 layers (good pic in their photos)- http://www.altrarunning.com/fitness/...e-peak-15-mens

Insoles help with orthopedic issues, but if you are looking for more cush- a high stack shoe and a thick sock will do more for you (and be more stable) than an aftermarket insole.

I'd give you a short answer but we both know I'm not good at that. Hugz!

I am down with the word smiths rotflmao.gif

well I just learned so much from that post, thanks for the tutorial. I think the thing that always threw me was the term "Drop" which is really raise, or am I just being lysdexic again?