It's been a couple of weeks since I bought some new shoes so I bought some more and the two are at opposite ends of the shoe spectrum. The last pair that I bought were some mid-top, stiff, UnderArmour, softball cleats.
The pair that I got on Thursday are supposed to be the next best thing since going barefoot, maybe better in today's world and definitely better if you live in the high desert of the Rocky Mountains. They are called Vibram Five Fingers (shortened as VFFs or V5Fs).
Here's the ones that I wanted:
All the toes are separated to allow them to spread out and move independantly for balance and strength as opposed to being smashed together, unmoving, inside of shoes. This, in turn, should help a person walk in a manner that humans were meant to walk, improving strength, balance, and posture.
They were out of this color in my size so I went with basic black.
Here's mine:
The shoes come with a warning not to wear them for than an hour or two a day for the first few days so that your feet can get used to the barefoot feeling. Seriously?
Do people sleep with their shoes on. I'm barefoot unless it's absolutely necessary to not be barefoot. How much practice does a person need to walk barefoot?
Anyway, that said, I am going to limit my wear a little bit because it has become apparent that in my case, there's going to be a bit of breaking in. There are a couple of points around the top elastic that are rubbing my feet wrong. I wore them for about 3 hours yesterday and 4 hours today. Now that I'm not wearing them, I just plain ole barefoot.
I gave them the ultimate test right out of the box. I grabbed the dog and we went for a walk. Here's what the ground looks like off my driveway to the south:
And here's our walking area as soon from my driveway:
The surface required a bit more concentration on where I placed my feet. Sharp rocks won't penetrate the sole but they don't feel good. Other than that, and a little bit of rubbing above my right big toe, things went pretty good.
These shoes weren't really made for this kind of walking because of how open they are at the top. Sand and small rocks can make their way easily into the shoe. Vibram does make a pair that is covered to the ankle (KSO) to keep stuff out. I thought I'd try it anyway and I wasn't bothered by the little bits of sand that got into the shoe.
Some of the reviews that I have read onthe Vibrams, the authors report having a more grounded feeling from wearing the shoes. I haven't had any such sensation as of yet but I can tell you that once the rubbing sensation is gone, these are going to be my favorite shoes.
In the past, I've worn (out) watersocks and moccasins to get through the summer because I don't like wearing shoes but it's necessary either because of sharp stuff on the ground or by rule (no shirt, no shoes, no service). I can slip these on in the morning and have the comfort of being nearly barefoot with enough protection for my foot and not get kicked out of the grocery store.
Vibram also makes a winter shoe out of neoprene and there is a high probably that I will be getting those as well and maybe another pair of classics. You obviously don't wear socks with these shoes so they will have to be thrown in the washing machine often. They are supposed to air dry so it would be nice to have a fresh pair waiting in the wings and maybe they'll have the other color when I'm ready to order.
A couple of the reviews said that it was probably a good idea to try these on to get the size right. As you can see by the last picture above, there aren't too many shoe stores in the area that carry weird stuff. I stopped in a couple of weeks ago in Salt Lake at a running store that is supposed to carry them. They were out. They can't keep them in stock, they said.
Tia called another store that was about 50 miles away in a small resort town where people might not bother to go to. They did in fact have some in stock but they were closed because the owner was on the lake boating. Lovely.
So I risked it and ordered them online. I followed the directions on measuring my feet and placed the order. Happily, they fit perfectly. Sometimes it takes me a bit of work getting my pinky toe in place. For you parents out there, imagine putting gloves on a kid for the first time. Sometimes you get two fingers trying to jam into the same finger of the glove. I think it will get easier with time. The toe that gives me the most problems is the one that I have broken a couple of times in karate but I'm hoping that it can be trained to slide easily into place.
So far, for me, these are looking to be the answer to getting as close to barefoot while dealing with some of the issues of being barefoot.
To read more about what I think about Vibram Five Finger Classic and Flow shoes, check out this post.
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