VJ Shoes Ice Hero

So first off, I won the December contest at weeviews so that's why I have these shoes in the first place. So thank you for that. 
Review:
I wanted to like these, they reminded me of my nubby spikes I wore in cross country in highschool for races. The problem is I just don't know what these shoes are for.
Ive put about 30 miles on them now and I really like how the fit is around my foot and heel. Toe wise the shoes run small so for a trail shoe I would honestly go a full size up. I'm worried about losing toe nails for picking my normal running shoe size.
Also they are just water resistant, so a shoe built for ice and nasty conditions being not waterproof seems a bit off. They did fine on ice, but after a couple creek crossings the rest of the run was cold and wet.
The cushioning is fine, I would call it moderate, but I've grown accustomed to more stack and more foam. Because of the less foam I feel every rock, stick, ice chunk that I run on. A flexible Rick plate would improve these shoes enormously.
Now for the sole itself. It is great. The little metal stubs are like glue on the PNW's rocky mountain trails. They gripped on mud and pine needle covered trails with ease 
The problem for me is all these items don't work together for me. Maybe in a rocky dryish climate where they will grip, but I won't have to worry about being wet. Somewhere farther north where the only water is frozen so the spikes can do there thing and you won't fall on your runs. 
It's another quiver in my arsenal of shoes, but I'm just not sure when I'll use it.