What does PrepHole think about barefoot shoes?
Overpriced hype or a natural way?
Share your experience if you have tried any.
> Barefoot shoes usually have thin soles, zero drop and a wide toebox for your toes to spread, since this is the widest part of the shoe.
There are some fancy looking ones and ones that look like they come from the middle ages.
Barefoot shoes these days usually don't have seperate toes shown, but instead a large toebox for full natural spread.
Hiking in these shoes helps you actually feed your underground and strengthen your feet muscles naturally.
I have several pairs of vibrams and can give you my honest opinion. They make several different kinds - comfy ones, jogging ones, indoor, hiking ones, etc. I've only really tried the jogging ones and they are awesome. Definitely weight reductions for your feet so you can run easier. Jogging feels weird for the first week or two but you get use to it and I haven't gone back to sneakers for jogging since. On the downside, you wear em out quicker than sneakers since they are so lightweight. Probably last 1-2 years tops. I probably wouldn't try the hiking ones unless you have expendable income since the wear and tear would be higher.
I've tried two factory-made pairs, calling them "barefoot" is of course marketing, at least for mine. They are much less restrictive but with neither pair I can spread my toes fully.
Still significantly better than normal shoes which I can't stand.
I speculate making a simple custom pair by hand would be very doable.
I've been thinking about barefoot shoes for innacity but I'd be worried about the lack of a shank/shitty ankle support when carrying a heavy load. I feel like it's good if you're on relatively flat surfaces but not going over rough terrain.
With that being said these are supposed to be pretty good.
https://jimgreenfootwear.com/store/african-ranger-brown/
Opposite is true. Pavement kills your MTP joint. Barefoot shoes allow for proper proprioception and foot function. You will need to ease into it slowly, though. Years of walking in "supportive" footwear has weakened your feet, ankles and calves.
For me one of the toughest things was (re)training myself to walk on my midfoot or forefoot instead of my heel. The worst part is that I always did walk on my mid- and forefoot as a child but it got beaten out of me because people kept telling me I was walking wrong and that I need to step on my heel. It's actually really fricked up how normalized it is to force kids to abandon their instincts with things like this and make them do completely unnatural movements instead.
There are zero drop minimalist shoes with shanks.
>shanks
You mean rock plates, or have you found an actual zero-drop with a shank? I'm interested, post a link. I'm tired of wearing narrow-toed high-heeled boots every time I go innamountains.
Nah, shanks. Not sure if there are trail runners with shanks, but there are definitely zero drop runners with them. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQV1JSHC?%3Fth=1&psc=1&tag=buoy999-20
I have Trackers and haven't had a problem with ankle support when hiking, I think you do adjust and strengthen your accessory muscles but that's just a guess.
This is true, I had to buy thick socks for this reason going through winter with them.
???
>gatekeeping about walking around
I like hiking too, settle down
I will say I run in barefoot shoes and I have some reservations. It feels great, especially on soft surfaces, but I get shin splints more often than I used to whenever I run more than 20k a week.
>???
What do you mean “???”? It’s a well known, scientifically established fact: when you get any amount of mud into non-leather shoes, they harden and are ruined forever. Where have you been? Everyone on PrepHole knows this. If you think that’s wrong then you’re a larper and should go back.
It's okay to not be a sarcastic memelord autist for a single second of your life.
I’m being sincere: mud will cause your super mega ultralight gayrunners to harden and they’ll be ruined. I have a lot of experience.
Stop it. It's not a good troll, it's shite.
I don’t follow. It’s well known among us experienced people on PrepHole that gayrunners can’t stand up to mud. One exposure to a small amount of mud causes them to harden. This isn’t a “troll,” it’s just a basic fact.
You're a tiresome homosexual and probably underage.
I'm a park ranger in Washington and I wear these for work everyday. The sole is a little soft and wears quick on asphalt, but in dirt you get great traction. my feet have never gotten wet in them either.
Do they give any significant ankle support or are they paper? Would you say they are usable on more demanding terrain?
Your tendons are stronger than any footwear except ski and motocross boots. They'll handle it. The problem though is that when your feet do get tired there isn't a lot of leeway to push on through it, you've got to rest. But they recover nice and fast because they are getting good blood flow and synovial fluid flow.
LMFAO, a park ranger where? The fricking city park? At a campground? LMFAO
I spend about 50% of my time in the day use area and campground with a lot of paved area the rest is spent hiking or doing trail maintenance.
A little more support than hi top converse, so not much. I like the hi-top mainly because it stops dirt, sand, mud, and debris from getting inside the shoe. It also prevents my ankle from getting scraped by blackberries or sticks when I'm off trail.
>I spend about 50% of my time in the day use area and campground with a lot of paved area the rest is spent hiking or doing trail maintenance
At this point, who gives a frick what you wear as a shoe? You could wear flip flops and be fine
Use these in the Alps, they are nice and provide good grip. Note that the thin soles of all the barefoot shoes mean less insulation from the cold, so the snow or colder ground at high altitudes will cool your feet faster than you may be used to.
What ever you do, for the love of God DO NOT get them muddy! A small amount of mud on a non-leather shoe will cause it to harden and be absolutely ruined forever.
Bait or moronic? Wash the mud off
These are for hipster dayhikers who hike a real trail for 5 miles once a week. Real hikers like me are on trail 4+ days a week, stomping over the roots and rocks. You need padding to do that comfortably unless you're a masochist or stupid hippy.
I've seen experienced hikers travel through the dolomites in these, i don't think that is true. You never tried it.
Hmm, I am spending 12hrs+/week in the dolomites and have yet to see such shoes/people wearing them.
Funnily enough I've seen then on Ortler, but on a guy who walked barefood on everything but the glacier. Crazy, the gneiss is super rough!
You're in the "everything is fun and exciting" honeymoon phase of your barefoot shoe fad. Within 2 years you'll get tired of it and go back to padded shoes.
I mean, I don't see anybody wearing barefoot shoes in the dolomites.
>Real hikers like me
Lmfao, imagine thinking you're a real hiker because you hike more days on trails, LMFAO
>barefoot
>shoes
pick two
I got a pair of earth runners circadian sandals and I like them
I’ve worn barefoot style shoes running on asphalt and trail, hiking Rocky Mountain (sharp ass rocks) and Appalachia (soft but can be low traction), and not that it means much but I studied exercise science.
IMO a true barefoot style shoe with a minimal sole (I.e. xeros) is best reserved for controlled environments like around town or at the gym where you can gradually build foot strength. On the trail or running you just simply need some kind of sole. Foot shaped shoes like altra trail runners are the best compromise/ do it all in my opinion- zero drop, wide toe box, but still have some impact resistance and lugs. I haven’t figured out a good boot for heavier backpacking yet but I’m looking at danner tachyons pretty hard.
I have moronicly wide feet and barefoot shoes are the only thing wide enough to be comfortable. Discovering them changed my life, I spent most of my life going barefoot or wearing flip-flops even in the rain and snow because I couldn't bear my feet being squeezed into supposedly "extra-wide" shoes that still cramped my toes to the point of making them overlap (leading to insane blisters to boot). Barefoot shoes are actually a comfortable width, though, and I'll never turn back. I still tend to prefer sandals or being barefoot, but I don't dread wearing shoes like I did for the 30 years before I found these things.
tl;dr - barefoot shoes are legit, frick conventional shoes
I started running in them initially, took a while to start wearing them on hikes because the rocks hurt my widdle feetsies but eventually I got used to it.
I get about 300 miles out of the $30 chinkshit ones I buy off amazon, could use a pair with more tread for the appalachian mud but it's not a super high priority now that I carry trekking poles for my tarp.
I've always had a lot of joint problems because weak gene'd perma-dyel, switching to barefoot definitely didn't instantly cure all of that but also doesn't seem to aggravate it. No desire to wear even regular trail runners anymore, never mind boots
do you have a specific link or recommendation for amazon chinkshit barefoot shoes? I see lots of options with most of these WHITIN brand ones being the highest sold and reviewed option. Lots of cheap similar styles, so just want input if you would kindly! Thank you fren!
I buy picrel, though I haven't tried any others. They're probably all fairly similar if not from the same sweatshop
they are 50€ on amazon germany
Probably the comfiest boots ive had, but I just didnt like them. Didnt last long even with moderate use, pretty cold at times. I instead opted to find shoes/boots that have a wide toebox.
What do we think about jikatabi?
Picrel are rickshaw drivers.
My 210€ overpriced barefoot shoes from england should arrive next week, but they're mostly for summer time. Stay tuned.
i really hope they fit me