Thread: barefooting

+1 for Vibram Five Fingers; I run in them every day, they are the closest thing to running correctly barefoot on the balls of one's feet.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Maybe I'm just a weak, devolved human, but I like shoes. What I don't like is socks only. I also don't like sandals. For me it's shoes outside, barefoot inside. Oh, I like slippers too.

I hear ya holli. All except for the slipper thing. I have this issue with feet though that i hate them. I think they are all ugly, including mine. I also will not wear socks twice without them being washed first, no matter how long they were on my feet (yes even for a second). Figure that one out.

Ive seen the 5 fingers and thought that a pretty cool idea. Pros sometimes i'll wear socks for 3 days; how's that make you feel on the inside. With wool they dont get stinky or stiff- well if i get really really sweaty i wont.

I have never liked any slippers i have been gifted and never considered buying any for myself. just wearing socks alone wears them out so i am bare foot inside

+2 to fivefingers.


I can't wear sandals or "thong" style ones either. They bug the hell outta me. I love running around barefoot because its comfortable. So all my life I looked for a "second skin" type footwear. I used moccasins till they fell apart and bought indoor soccer shoes because of the flat sole. I bought mine fivefingers through REI divended and they have lasted me for close to 4 years of constant wear and tear through the summer spring and fall. Took me about a week to get used the walking part and another week for skin above my main tendon running to my big toe to thicken up enough to wear the elastic band didn't bother me. One thing I would recommend is to buy the "sprint" version. I bought the "classic" to try them out and I wish I had that top strap to hold them on when I go swimming or work on Grandpa's boat. (They make great boat shoes.) Another thing I have noticed is that they start to reek after 2 weeks of wearing them. My solution to that is soak them in a water and oxyclean solution for 24 hours then give em' a good hand scrub followed by a run through a wash.

Just my 2 cents...

_Will

I've heard that going barefoot will help your posture and such but I almost always wear leather work boots. I wear slippers in the house and gym shoes to the gym but I have to have something on my feet. I don't know why but I can't stand walking barefoot.

I spent four summers on a hot beach as a lifeguard when I was young. I hardly wore anything but a bathing suit. By the end of the summer, my feet would be so tough I actually found myself walking on broken beer bottles one day and breaking the pieces without cutting myself. I loved the freedom of the uncovered soles.

I went barefoot a lot before I moved here. Here, we have clover and thus bees, and an abundance of gnats in the grass that will make your life itchy misery if you wear shorts and/or go barefoot.

Except when the back is acting up I tend to walk toe-heel, and have a pair of Arrow moccasins that have lasted through frequent wear on all surfaces for around ten years - all because I don't drag or scuff my feet. I've worn braintan deerskin mocs in the woods a lot (because of broken off little pine stubs hiding under the leaves which eat up my ankles and insteps), and I often go barefoot there. I avoid being barefoot where the general public travels, simply because they break bottles and throw all kinds of similarly damaging man-made rubbish around.

I don't care for flip-flops/thong sandals, but in my state you must be wearing shoes when you drive (I suppose that harkens back to the days before rubber covered pedals and power assist). I'll wear them out to the garden in case I fail to see a bee, but once I get to garden's edge I leave them behind for the trip back.

Originally Posted by red96ta

Lol...I hear ya. When I was a kid, I was barefoot EVERYWHERE. My parents had a gravel driveway and by the end of the summers it wasn't a problem to go running through the gravel drive. Now the goatsheads were something all together different and would drop me to the ground fast to fish them out.

Don't quote me on the spelling, but tribulus terrestris if I recall only inhabit about 10% of the US in a crescent shaped area lining the west coast states. So it may not be vital for many, but those who know it; know it with a passion for hatred. (I worked at a bicycle shop)
The rest of the world I do not know its distribution, but I know it is in Africa, southern Asia, Australia and southern Europe.

Back to the OP's original video- that guy is well, um, er, eh, let's call that unique. No shoes, ever? That's carrying it too far. But imagine how tough his feet are. They're probably shoes themselves. Now me, I am embarassed(sp?) by my feet so I don't go barefoot. Sometimes I wish I could. Just for the fun and freedom of it. Do I have a problem?? Don't answer that. But it's shoes or sandals and very often sandals with socks for me.

As kids we used to walk barefooted everywhere, and kids today still do it. I admire their ability to walk and run no matter what ground it is.

I've read that walking barefoot is healthy for circulatory system and equilibrioception (?, sense of balance), so i do it every now and then in our garden as we have only little risk of getting snake bite.