Bare Feet

[jbeegoode]

To answer some of the questions, I will give a bit of my barefoot story.

A number of years ago, I had a problem with one of my feet, exacerbated when on long walks. A sports podiatrist diagnosed ‘collapsed metatarsal arch’ and suggested I needed orthotics, and that I first try Green Superfeet, expecting me to go back for more expensive bespoke orthotics. He couldn’t explain why anyone would develop this condition and I was not entirely convinced but thought I would try the Superfeet. In practice, I noticed no benefit and actually made my feet less comfortable....

 ....One reason to carry backup shoes, either Sockwas (very thin and will roll up and go in pocket) or huaraches, very hardwearing and simple.

I have rambled on far too much, but should say that barefooting is necessarily a very mindful way of walking and running. Running barefoot and naked on a beautiful fine early morning through the woods I can only describe as a spiritual experience.

I've had consistent disappointing experiences with podiatrists over the years. I've gotten better information from a boot maker. It seems like most just don't really understand the complexity and prescribe an insert, or hastily want to cut a foot up.

Oh how I hear you and it encourages me. I'll put a barefoot running walking path in my new yard with a variety of surfaces and uneven. It should do wonders to condition my body and mindfully exercise my spirit barefoot all over. It is, however, only one of a few spots to roam barefoot without potential peril anywhere near here. Maybe the San Pedro riverbed, but my feet are not well conditioned...today.
Jbee

[nuduke]

Really interesting post, MartinM.
Interesting that you don't have to do much foot maintenance other than pumice and that your feet can endure any surface it seems!  My feet are prone to callusing around the heel mostly and I take care to ensure it doesn't build up because if it does the skin easily cracks.  It's just a matter of regularly scraping it off - I use an artificial pumice and sandpaper.  I get the excess skin carved off by a podiatrist 3 times a year.  I got the sandpaper tip from a previous colleague on TSNS (Graham) and I recently acquired a foot smoothing thing which is simply  12V motor with a flat disc and self adhesive abrasive discs.  Only used it once so far and it took a fair time (20 mins?) but the result was excellent in sanding down to reduce any tendency to cracking.  Needs a bit of flexibility and bodily contortion to get the disc and the sole in sufficiently good contact though!


It's also fascinating and inspiring that you can barefoot in most public places without people objecting except in the sort of cases you talk about.  I would tend not to want to walk about british town centres and high streets with bare feet as they are often so dirty.  The countryside sward is much nicer to walk on and I can't say I've tackled gravel or thick mud (yet) but as I seem o be barefooting more and more, this spring may see the liberation of my feet in more places!


John

[BlueTrain]

If you went barefoot constantly, wouldn't your feet get callused over the entire bottom? I realize that may depend on where you walk but let's say you confined your bare-footing to the woods and grasslands and squishy bottomland, not rocky roads and of course the carefully maintained dirt floor of your cabin. On reflection, though, perhaps not, since, in theory, those places are all nice and soft. Well, soft, anyway.

But theory sometimes doesn't make it past reality and besides, you may not want to confine your perambulations. The trails I use or have used have been all over the place, though I suppose most could be managed well enough at the cost of reduced speed, allowing for tolerable weather. If worse came to worse, a pair of sandals might save the day and there are other options. There are sandals, sort of, called, I think, surf shoes, which are sandals intended for the wet and have toe protection, something I care about. And there are shoes intended to be worn in swimming pools to protect the feet from a sandpaper-like concrete surface, although they're more sock-like than shoe-like. And you can do what primitive and poor people all through the tropics do: wear flip-flops.

[Greenbare Woods]

If you went barefoot constantly, wouldn't your feet get callused over the entire bottom? I realize that may depend on where you walk but let's say you confined your bare-footing to the woods and grasslands and squishy bottomland, not rocky roads and of course the carefully maintained dirt floor of your cabin. On reflection, though, perhaps not, since, in theory, those places are all nice and soft. Well, soft, anyway.

The soles of bare feet become leathery, not calloused.   

[jbeegoode]

I developed a callus and cracks on my toe particularly and more of this elsewhere. I mentioned it here a time back. The nurse practitioner suggested coconut oil. I picked up some pure organic. I use coconut oil for many purposes. I slush the stuff around in my mouth for cleaning, cook, eat, massage, sex, even take it out on the trail. The stuff is wonderfully versatile.

I applied it liberally, rubbed it in a bit. In a few days the foot eating caked stuff scrapped off (with a tool created for this), for the most part, but the cracks were deep. Two weeks and it's the cure.

There is another component of the problem. She said that the dry air contributes. I've always made a point to allow my feet all the air that I can. They apparently need some moister some of the time. Because any oil screws up my flooring, I put thick athletic socks on after applying the coconut oil, which traps air. My dear feet like it a few hours here and there.
Jbee

The Utterbalm works okay. This solution worked quickly and very well.
Jbee

[jbeegoode]

I got a promotional email from Our Colorado friend who makes those rubberized huaraches. He has several products out, now. He is also doing info videos and podcast.

The one today was about going barefoot in the winter. He is up there in that Colorado winter cold and snow. He acclimated his feet incrementally. He would go our barefoot and shovel snow until his feet got cold and then go back in the house and heat them up. He started with about 2 minutes out. He noticed that he kept out there maybe thirty seconds extra and his feet too less time to warm. This increased as he kept getting out there. His face and hands were eventually cold but his feet felt warm, blood flowed, healthy normal.

He eventually spends the entire winter barefoot.

It makes sense. It may be a cure for some of the winter blues. incremental forays into the cold nude, or just barefoot. This must be how our fellows get out in the cold early mornings everyday, or whisk across Scottish mores nude. Just fortitude and practice, until their bodies get it.

https://jointhemovementmovement.com/?utm_campaign=Women%27s%20Speed%20Force%20%28LYD2mj%29&utm_medium=email&utm_source=klaviyo&_ke=eyJrbF9lbWFpbCI6ICJsYXN0aG91c2VvYjFAeWFob28uY29tIiwgImtsX2NvbXBhbnlfaWQiOiAiZWFaTEt3In0%3D

Jbee

[Greenbare Woods]

I go barefoot all winter in the snow, but only if I'm out for a few minutes.   Maybe I could go longer if I worked at it but that "work" thing comes up.  In summer I have done much the same with hot conditions.  I'm happy for a while when its hot.

[nuduke]

Stephen Sashen (Xero Shoes) is great!  His output did a lot to help me develop the extent and duration of my barefootedness. 
 
My feet tend to callus.  My podiatrist says that it all comes from the weight distribution across your feet where the pressure areas grow more skin.  Nothing to do about it other than to keep the callus down for cosmetic reasons and to avoid cracks that get sore or infected.  Recently from the great interweb I learned that a great way to remove hard skin is to soak the feet in something skin softening (e.g. Bicarb, Epsom salts, Salt etc) in warm water for 15 minutes at least.  Then gently scrape away the hard skin with a mens single blade disposable razor.  Works great and you don't need to press hard.  In fact, if you do press hard you can get unpleasant cuts.  A thing to know is that you aren't scraping off a totally even thickness of callus - it grows at different depths around the foot (or heel in my case).  I've only done this three times so far about 4-6 weeks apart and the results are great.  Between soaks I use a pumice stone substitute or sandpaper in the shower to sandpaper the feet lightly.  Twin blade razors and above don't work so well as the skin coming off blocks the blades far more easily than a single blade razor.  I got a pack of 10 el cheapo ones for £2 from the supermarket and they work great.  I throw the razor away after one use.
John

[jbeegoode]

Nuduke, did you ever have occasion to try out those stick on barefoot, but for the sole pads?

Jbee

[John P]

Martin among the Alps!

[jbeegoode]

Looks like Braveheart lost his kilt. I AM impressed!
Jbee

[John P]

Well, not a kilt exactly, but he does have a sarong. Same footwear, though. Three very colourful people in this picture! ("Colourful" because they're all Brits.)


Yes, I take a lot of pictures, so I have one for any topic that comes up.

[jbeegoode]

I try to get all of my gear camouflage, or dull greens for stealth and stashing and just a sense of blending in with nature...

...I always tend to end up with turquoise on the major elements, somehow. Perseverance over years has helped to replace some of it.

It is like shoes. Why such bright colors?

I can use a sarong to blend in, hide under, cover my stash, sit on without getting bees excited, protect my body from sun, and pass through less clothing optional sections of the world. When I'm naked on a trail, I don't want to attract attention to myself, I want to be undisturbed.

I don't want to glow in the dark for a flashlight. I look for black, brown shoes to hike in.

I have stood naked and had people ask me about my fivetoes shoes.

The terrain reminds me of some in the movie, "Braveheart." The bare feet fit that. Still, I'm not up to walking on sharp rocks, let alone for miles, at this point. I figure that it took some effort and passion to accomplish barefoot Alps. I respect that. I know people do that out here in the west, but....
Jbee

[MartinM]

Thanks for that, John. Notice I don’t need the shoes but have recently developed need for a hat in strong sun. Hair has just got to thin.....

Today I completed my first fully barefoot fell race over the hill at the back of my house, a short race of just 6miles and about 1000 ft ascent, by going over it and back down before heading up to the top. Over the last few years I have done the race twice in Vibram 5 fingers, two years ago I did two-thirds of it barefoot but used my Sockwas for the steep descent on broken limestone path. This year I was going to wear them all the way as my feet were rather sore after my last run over it, but couldn’t bring myself to put them on and they seemed in good condition.  So I completed my first fully barefoot race over the Knott.. I have done it many times on my own but racing on a different route with the steepish downhill section was more of a challenge. It was a good race and the lack of shoes didn’t slow me down too much.

I am lying in bed now and have to dangle my feet outside of the covers because they are glowing so much!

[nuduke]

Nuduke, did you ever have occasion to try out those stick on barefoot, but for the sole pads?
Jbee

Yes I did.  I tried 1 pair of the pack of 3.  I didn't find them particularly useful or liberating.  They went on fine and were comfortable but they were very thin so in terms of walking on hard and uneven surfaces they were pretty ineffective.  They are advertised as being good for walking on hot sand and I think that is probably their best use.  However, again they stick to the soles and mould round the contours of your heel and arches etc. This means there is a margin at the side of your feet that is unprotected.  So on hot sand they may not be that good!  I didn't have any hot sand to test out on!!
So they don't provide much difference from being barefoot.  Whereas Xero shoes, huaraches, give you a protective sole enabling you to walk over stony terrain or more or less any surface for long distances (and I have hiked in them), I didn't feel the stick-on soles gave sufficient protection from pavement concrete or asphalt to be able to walk freely in them.  What they did do was reduce the sensitivity of the sole to potential danger underfoot.  I felt vulnerable to injury on anything other than grass, sand, soft ground and domestic floors.
A few years ago there was a different type of barefoot shoe available that had gel adhesive spread on the surface of a rigid and quite solid sole.  So the feet just stood on the soles.  I repeat purchased 2 or 3 pairs of those as for home, garden and short walks they definitely allowed you to walk anywhere with the top of the foot unencumbered by any clothing. However, they were a standard sole size and some of the adhesive surface was always exposed.  So walking on grass or sand or dusty surfaces, the unused, exposed adhesive collected crap which you couldn't then get off because it got embedded in the sticky gel layer.  These shoes were multi use (unlike the stick on soles) but every time you peeled them off some of the adhesive detached or would stick to your foot and was extremely difficult to remove.  The instructions told you to wash the shoes in water and the dirt would come off and the adhesive would regenerate...it did not do what it said on the tin.  With repeated (3 or 4 times) usage, the adhesive would not stick in parts.  Imagine the difficulty in walking whan one shoe has the toe end flopping about and the other has the heel end partially not sticking to your foot.

Both types were a novelty and a bit of fun but neither worthy of being called proper footwear.

John