Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Fivefingers From Vibram

By Mark Edwards

Vibram Fivefingers are unique. They're the only shoes I've ever seen that have individual toe spaces - and they are definitely a talking point. Whenever I'm wearing them, children stop in the street to stare, and they make fantastic footprints.

While wearing my Vibram Fivefingers through Scotland one week, I left all sorts of amazing footprints behind me which became the talk of the trail. I was hiking the West Highland Way and my long feet finished off with five distinct toe-marks left their mark in the Scottish mud. Somebody managed a jump of intuition and stories of Big Foot started to replace those of Nessie, until people started to notice what was covering my feet.

Many of those hikers wondered how comfortable my Vibram Fivefingers were, and it's true that I didn't hike in them every day. Hard surfaces like concrete and gravel paths are quite uncomfortable until you build up the muscles in your feet and legs that padded shoes make your body forget about. I was wearing black Vibram Fivefingers Classics, which leave most of your upper foot visible; it looks like I was walking through treacle or tar.

One thing that I didn't expect is that you really can't use Vibram Fivefingers Classics in water. The water pulls the shoe right off your foot, as the material only covers your toes and heel. The Vibram Fivefingers Surge has a strap to hold it on your foot, while the Vibram Fivefingers KSO completely covers the foot in an elastic kind of way.

Lots of barefoot runners like to use Vibram Five Fingers for running. They like them because it's like running barefoot, except that you don't run the risk of getting your feet cut up on broken glass or other hazards. You can still feel the shape of the ground beneath your feet, so walking on grass feels particularly nice.

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