Five Fingers of Pure Delight

I am reveling in my latest “try-it you might like it” Five Finger Vibram’s. However, this recommendation comes with a warning: you must keep a very open mind and have a willingness to try that which your mother would not approve of (or possibly your spouse) walking in the woods in your bare feet.

What are Five Finger Vibrams? They are a clever little pair of shoes that you can wear anytime and anywhere. They are defined by the company as “barefooting: the exhilarating joy of going barefoot without leaving yourself exposed; 2. any activity requiring unconventional foot wear offering the protection of a thin flexible Vibram skin; 3. an intelligent way to deepen your connection with your natural surroundings. …Our customers report an increased sense of balance, an expanded range of motion, and visibly improved posture.” I have to say that at times I found myself thinking this is deliciously naughty because I would never walk this trail in my bare feet yet it felt as if I were doing just that.

My test for my FFV shoes included shopping this morning for about 2 hours with the Injinji socks on my feet as well as it is 45 degrees here in Minnesota today. Since that worked just fine for me, I donned them again and took them out on rougher terrain for a 45 minute hike. They not only went through mud and over rocks they handled holes, pine needles and even the hard surface of my paved driveway. I am more pleased than I can say because taking this same walk on Wednesday in conventional walking shoes (Merril trail shoes) I actually turned my ankle more than once due to the uneveness of the walking path. Today my feet gripped the earth and other than the slippery feel of the occasional muddy patch they came through everything with flying colors. I can feel a little stress in my calves  but otherwise my feet don’t hurt and better than that the one toe that always screams after a long hike has no comment today other than “ahhhh!!”

I must be complete in my review of my FFVs and mention the cons. They were not the best in mud as it felt slightly slick underfoot. However, that said, I never fell or even slipped it was just the feeling of mud on your “barefeet” that was off putting. I occasionally looked down to see little flowers between my toes or a piece of straw but I never actually felt the flowers. The straw was poking me in the leg thus caught my attention but even that made me smile, so not much of a “con”.  Another possible negative is they are a bit hard to put on the first few times as you must assist each toe in to its finger but that is getting much easier and I have only put them on three times now.

Sizing was pretty true to your shoe size but you need to know what size you would wear if you bought a shoe that was made in Europe. For instance if you wear a woman’s 10-10 1/2 you need to order a 41 and the socks will fit if you buy a medium.

All in all, the shoes get a “thumbs up” from this nascent FVV wearer. It felt so good to exercise “barefoot” that I almost felt like dancing, only a certain amount of modesty held me back.