I know a bunch of runners who wear them and like them.
[quote]Aragorn wrote:
Renton wrote:
£70 pounds UK - Having had a bit of a google and a read about them I’m getting quite tempted. They look great for bouldering.
Wonder if I could attach crampons …
Kinda what I was thinking. But seriously, crampons? LNT man. why would you want to scratch up and chip a great boulder problem or route? Unless you’re thinking of going alpine climbing…[/quote]
Winter is on it’s way bro - the snow is coming and the Alps are calling. I’ve just put a new rack of ice tools together, got a couple of Black Diamond axe’s that didn’t see nearly enough ice last year and my crampons have been sharpened.
First trip of the season in a couple of weeks - Just a break in walk on the Snowdon Horseshoe. Cairngorms in Scotland planned for January and who knows where else through the winter. I want another bash at Mt Blanc too next year maybe from the Italian side this time.
Winter rocks!
Got my Vibram Five Fingers shoes and I’m loving em! I’ve always had trouble finding shoes that fit and work for me, my feet are wide (I wear a 4E). The design seems to accommodate various foot widths well.
These shoes are for people who enjoy the barefoot experience, they’re like a second skin to protect your feet. Went for a 50 min walk today on blacktop and concrete. I had to change my gait with these shoes, no mindless heel striking like with conventional shoes.
Five Finger shoes don’t offer much in the way of padding, which is a good thing. The individual toe pockets are like nothing I’ve experienced.
When you walk you can actually grip the ground and feel the surface you’re moving over. You become more aware of the act of walking- you can feel pebbles, twigs, and textures like sand/dirt.
It takes more effort to walk this way, I was sweating early on. I could feel my foot and leg muscles working the entire time. The only drawback is that they slow you down a bit, I felt like I was making contact with a larger surface area of my foot on each step.
My joints don’t feel jarred and my old shin splints are not aching like they usually do after a long walk. Same for lifting, they rock for deal lifting and squatting. I highly recommend them!
In terms of size accuracy, how’d you rate them?
I’m interested to get them to replace my broken sandals but i’m afraid they’re too big or small…
The sizing is accurate. I wear a size 10.5, got my VFFs size 43- they’re all sized with the Euro system. After I made my post I worked calves and had one of the best calf sessions ever.
I love these shoes. Sprinting in these is SO much better than in basketball/tennis type shoes. Maybe track spikes would be better, but that’s the only thing that could beat these for sprinting.
Do they plan on making bigger sizes? Sucks taller people or people with big feet can’t try these out.
These are my pair, I have the sprints. I think they’re fantastic. They’re great to deadlift/squat in.
I wear them all the time. I don’t know where people got the price tag of $550, they start at $70 and got to $90.
I highly recommend getting them for the summer.
LR
[quote]AlteredState wrote:
Dude, those look cool as f*ck!
I’m getting a pair just like that 
Mine are plain black.
[/quote]
I don’t think the plane black ones are available in the classics or sprints, otherwise I would have got a pair, I think it’ll be the ones that cover the whole foot, I think they’re called KSG’s or something.
My ones look kind of battered at the moment, I need to stick them in the washing machine.
Over the last three weeks, they’ve been on Safari, in the middle of the jungle, walking along the East African beaches, and even on the London Underground.
You get looks from everyone, loads of people ask questions about them.
I want to get a few other pairs in different colours as well.
How’s everything with you Altered State? Keeping well?
LR
Here’s me chilling with a Cheetah during feeding time! Wearing the Vibrams and the t-shirt everyone knows.
[quote]London Runner wrote:
AlteredState wrote:
Dude, those look cool as f*ck!
I’m getting a pair just like that Mine are plain black.
I don’t think the plane black ones are available in the classics or sprints, otherwise I would have got a pair, I think it’ll be the ones that cover the whole foot, I think they’re called KSG’s or something.
My ones look kind of battered at the moment, I need to stick them in the washing machine.
Over the last three weeks, they’ve been on Safari, in the middle of the jungle, walking along the East African beaches, and even on the London Underground.
You get looks from everyone, loads of people ask questions about them.
I want to get a few other pairs in different colours as well.
How’s everything with you Altered State? Keeping well?
LR
[/quote]
The kind that gives full foot coverage is KSO (keep stuff out), I bought these. The all black kind are slick, I’ll buy them when I’m ready for another pair!
Downward Dog from over on the Muscle Sorority has a pair and a pic of her climbing the LiveFromThe781, I mean Rocky statue in Philly wearing them.
Sen say is killing it with the Livefrom781 jokes -
In serious reply I myself have three pairs (2 of the Sprint model) & just recently got a pair of the KSOs while in Hawaii…
Great shoe overall for DLs & squats. I don’t get that many looks when I rock them in the gym. Grip is really good and overall it truly is a glove for your foot.
Funny how there are at least 3-4 posts about Vibram Five Fingers floating around right now.
Try them on before you buy them - sizing is tricky and if your index toe is longer than your big toe they will not fit well.
[quote]Hog Ear wrote:
you can feel pebbles, twigs, and textures like sand/dirt.
[/quote]
I thought the purpose of shoes was to protect your feet from those things. It seems to me that you would also expose the individual toes to more accidents, like stubbed toes, etc. I’ll stick with my Nike Free 5.0s.
DB
[quote]dollarbill44 wrote:
Hog Ear wrote:
you can feel pebbles, twigs, and textures like sand/dirt.
I thought the purpose of shoes was to protect your feet from those things. It seems to me that you would also expose the individual toes to more accidents, like stubbed toes, etc. I’ll stick with my Nike Free 5.0s.
DB[/quote]
I have a co-worker who is into barefoot running and he tells me that once you get use to it, your foot naturally rolls over objects like that. He says he really doesn’t feel them. I would imagine that your foot would do almost the same thing in these.
I’ve been wanting a pair of these for quite some time, I think I’m just going to have to pull the trigger on these soon.
I have owned a pair since May 2007. I started out with the intention of getting some moccasins simply because I wanted to “feel the earth” when I hiked. I figured that the people who were here before white people showed up probably had already figured out the best way of getting around, and that I’d be wise to emulate it.
Finding moccasins made the old way proved more difficult (and more expensive) than I anticipated. Luckily, I found Vibram Five Fingers instead. For the first couple of weeks I thought I had made a mistake because my feet hurt after wearing them for short times. I had weird cramps and pains in my feet, similar to how my feet feel when I go roller skating or when I went snowboarding for the first time.
But just like when you start a new kind of exercise, the pain went away quickly and now I can hardly stand to wear anything else.
Your feet have a lot of nerve endings, especially for pressure, and when you strap a mattress on the bottom of your foot (some people call them running shoes), you have to strike the ground a lot harder for your nerves to fire and give your brain the feedback it’s looking for. When you get rid of the padding, your foot doesn’t have to strike the ground as hard to get the feedback your brain is looking for.
I used to have a bad habit of being a heel striker when I ran. My steps were too long and I landed heel first. That only lasted for about three steps after putting on the Five Fingers. Then my body had to re-learn how to walk and how to run. Now that it has, my mile time has dropped significantly (dropped 1:10 off my mile time within two months of getting the shoes) and my posture continues to improve.
One caveat: I have been stopped at the door of more than one Globo-Gym and I have been barred entry while wearing my Vibrams. Apparently you need to wear “real shoes” that “protect your feet” when you go to a globo-gym to use their elliptical machines. Cool. That just gives me more reasons to avoid those places like I avoid nuclear waste dumps.
I wear mine while kettlebelling, deadlifting, squatting, fishing, swimming sometimes even while having sex. They are great for all of the above.
Your feet are finely tuned instruments that are the products of one million years of evolution. Don’t go fucking it up by wearing Sertas on your feet. Get some Vibrams.
It would not surprise me to see that these would not only be comfortable, but also improve performance. I spoke to a foot doctor when going through rehab for a foot injury and he mentioned how being barefoot is more natural and is how the foot was meant to function. Other than possibly cutting your feet , hygeine, and weakness of the ankle muscles, there isnt much reason not to go barefoot. Never tried it though.