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Comment by kemayo | Hacker News Reader

I bought some Vibram Five Fingers recently, and I have to admit that they are ridiculously comfortable, despite being essentially toe-socks with a thin-but-strong sole. I've been walking around inner-city Saint Louis in them, over broken glass and gravel, and my feet hurt less than when I was wearing my previous lightweight walking shoes.

It's honestly a little weird, getting rid of all those things like arches and padding that seem so necessary, and discovering that they're actually doing nothing for you.

Edit: Of course, in a few weeks I'll have to switch back to big waterproof boots for the winter. Alas.

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Have you ever considered how necessary the "toe" aspect of them are? If the problem is the sole, well fine wear something with a thinner sole. But then you'd really feel like you're just wearing flip-flops or ballerina flats for men. The genius of the Vibram Five Fingers in particular over all other alternatives that meet the same end of improving your gait is that they look ridiculous (read: distinctive). That's why they get all the press mentions (possibly in addition to having a good PR firm) and that's why people wear them: they start conversations. I'm not discounting the value you see in them, but I'm curious if there were other similar products that you considered, and if you find any particular value in the toe-sock nature.

Quite important, actually, I'd bet. They keep your toes from toeing-in like essentially every shoe does. Just look at how many people have bunions - they're almost exclusively caused by shoes, plus some genetic causes which typically start much later in life.

There's also a very big difference in toe strength from having them be able to move separately, and I've had a noticeable improvement in balance from wearing them. And I'm pretty stable anyway. When your toes are stuck moving together, they don't develop any ability to do so, and toes are pretty important to walking / balancing.

(edited for toes instead of bunions, as I think it makes a better case)

I can feel a difference while I walk, as most of my foot lands and then my toes touch. I can't speak for whether that actually represents any measurable benefit to it, gait-wise.

I suspect that it'd make you more stable just because your toes can settle on slightly different levels on uneven ground, but that's just guessing.

Mainly I like that it's letting my toes spread out as much as they feel like. My toes are less lumped together now after a day in shoes. (And my old shoes weren't overly narrow or anything like that.)

Same here. I switched to Vibrams 4-5 weeks ago and I'm enjoying some pleasing results.

For example, prior to using Vibrams, I could only run for 10 minutes or so before my ankles and hips started to hurt. (This was almost certainly due to poor technique as much as the "hard strike" cushioned by my trainers.) Now though, I'm actually enjoying running again. I can do 30-40 minutes, and it's my fitness - or lack, thereof - that makes me stop rather than joint pain.

I can only think that having so little cushioning on the foot forces better technique (I'm certainly aware that my running stride is now much shorter and that I'm lighter on my feet, too).

It took a couple of weeks to really get used to them and adjust both my walking and running strides accordingly, but now I feel as though I can run like a kid again rather than a puffing middle-aged bloke.

I've been wearing VFFs on and off for the last two years and a bit (on my third pair now), and I agree, they still feel much better than "normal" shoes.

My wife and I started running in them, starting with walking only, then running only a bit at a time (1/2 mile run, then walk another 1 or 2 miles). Now, about 3 weeks on, we run about 2 miles straight at a time (we've never run at all before, which is supposedly ALOT harder with VFFs than if you had started out with cushioned running shoes).

At first, we had pains in places we'd not had before being on elliptical machines or my wife doing aerobics, especially in the shins and forefoot and midfoot. I got some slight blistering on the big toe the first week as well, but it's all gone away over the subsequent weeks.

The verdict? It's about as fun as running as a kid barefoot on a summer's day. We actually look forward to doing 5k in them. Then, we go trail running, which I'm sure will be a blast. It seems to feel alot better underfoot on soft dirt than paved surfaces, anyway.

Trail running in Vibrams is awesome. As it is trail running provides an uneven surface, which means every step will use a different combination of leg muscles. This prevents any one muscle from getting too tired, and balances out your leg. With Vibrams the effect is amplified even more; add in the fact that you're constantly aware of every step you take, rather than just plonking down your foot on whatever is there, and you end up with a form of running that can feel simply amazing.

Good for you guys, especially starting out not running at all and already looking to do a 5k. I just did a 5k in them last week and it felt great - I picked the shoes up in august and I've been able to run ~3 miles every other day with them since.

I'd recommend trying, if you haven't already, a bit of actual barefoot running - only for a short distance to just get a feel for how it changes your stride. The reason I say this even though you're starting "barefoot" is I notice that the vibrams have enough padding to have a slightly different feel for me than actually going barefoot, so it might be worth testing it out and seeing if you notice a difference (if so, try to maintain the barefoot stride while wearing the shoes).

Good luck on the 5k, I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

Hmmm, waterproof "toe-socks with a thin-but-strong sole" and a flexible bit that goes halfway up your calves. Sounds like an idea.

The real problem would be the cold, I'd think. I'm not sure how easy it would be to insulate them sufficiently to let you walk in the snow, while keeping the form-fitting flexibility that's their appeal.

Cold is typically manageable. Cold and wet on the other hand is a totally different story. Was a complete pain when we got rained on while camping.

Being from Canada, and having spent a winter on the prairies, all I can say is - it depends. There's cold and then there's COLD.

It depends on the model you`re wearing. The Flow is waterproof, and the KSO Trek is made of leather. I wore the latter every day while running in the snow last winter in Southern Ontario.

The Flow is as far from waterproof as it gets. It's Neoprene, which means you won't mind getting wet, in fact you'll probably enjoy it. But you'll definitely get wet.

If you really want to keep wearing something similar to the five fingers over the winter take a look at some wetsuit boots. They come up your calf a bit, have a flat decent sole on them and will keep your feet quite warm. Keep in mind that your feel will probably sweat a bit in them, but that thin layer of water is what will end up keeping them warm.

Example: http://www.billabong.com/eu/product-cat/225/booties#_

Yep. Running in snow with Vibram's is quite cold. I made it about a mile before my feet started feeling numb.

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