The same holds true with athletic shoes. In a 1997 study, researchers Steven Robbins and Edward Waked at McGill University in Montreal found that the more padding a running shoe has, the more force the runner hits the ground with: In effect, we instinctively plant our feet harder to cancel out the shock absorption of the padding. (The study found the same thing holds true when gymnasts land on soft mats"”they actually land harder.) We do this, apparently, because we need to feel the ground in order to feel balanced. And barefoot, we can feel the ground"”and we can naturally absorb the impact of each step with our bodies. "Whereas humans wearing shoes underestimate plantar loads," the study concluded, "when barefoot they sense it precisely."

Interesting this study should be brought up. I was wondering if any of you have experience in going the "barefoot way" for a period of time before returning back to normal running shoes.

I personally did that going from asics to frees to vibram, back to frees and then asics. I notice after the period of barefoot training that going back to my running shoes, I felt better and clocked better timing with no pain. Therefore, nowadays, I just mixed it all up and I simply refuse to take sides.

Just bought the KSO model from city sports NYC yesterday, can't wait to give them their test run later in the day just a question about the sizing... My foot fits pretty snug in the shoe (I bought a sz. 43 KSO), my heel fits nice no slippage, but the fingers of the shoe dont perfectly fit my toes in length My big toe fits perfectly but my other toes dont match up to the very tip of the fingers of the shoe is this how the fit is suppose to be? everything else feels spot on besides that but let me know what you guys think, whether i should sz down more or keep for reference I'm a : sz. 9 RW GT sz. 9 Clark's DB sz 10 in most Vans, Nikes, Adidas, and Converse JP

The toes are going to fit differently based on each length so there is no "right" way to have those fit. The measuring chart:

If you look at #4 and 5 it points out differences in foot size and toe length. If they fit your big toe I wouldn't worry about it. Mine are a bit tight on everything except my big toe, but that's just because of my lengths.

Yeah, that's usual for these.
Thanks for the assurance you to adversity, I didn't wanna bother with the measuring so i just went to a store and tried them on but I'm sure I got the sizing perfect

Originally Posted by Crane's

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I'm going to try these for hiking and climbing.
I'll be going next weekend camping with some buddies up in the adirondacks, will definitely be bringing these along for a hike and maybe a trail run early one day, I'll be sure to post my experience Tried my KSO's for their trial run the other night tho, I've fallen in love with them My feet felt fine, no soreness, I've always gone barefoot around my house, and when I play frisbee in the grass so I think my feet were already pretty strong, but I'll definitely be sure to slowly up the milage, I did a fairly slowly paced 3 mile my first run in them and my feet held up fine, walked another 1.5 afterwards as well My first inital steps were a bit rough as there was a rocky patch of ground and I could feel every little rock but after a a few minutes of running and a little more awareness to my footing, nothing much bothered me through the 5 fingers thin soles Also, I decided to sprint the last leg of the 3 mile, I felt like i was flying... it was an exhilarating experience and I look forward to more runs in my KSO 5 fingers

wow, went for another run last night with my KSO's on, only 2 miles then walked the last mile
the first run i went on with these, I was running as if I simply had shoes on, so i was striking with my heel mostly
last night tho I focused on striking with front/ balls of my feet... needless to say my legs feel real tight today... especially my calves, and the soles of my feet are a little sore too but a good kind of sore
it'll definitely take some time to transition from my asics to these... but I think the benefits will be worth it

finally got a chance to take them out for a spin. took some concentration to strike with the ball at first but i felt great the whole time. i was trail running and it felt completely different to my pumas and my nike frees. will probably use every other day until i get used to them and can start logging some real mileage...

How did they work out hiking? By any chance did you climb boulders or any other kind of rock?

I would not use VFFs on trails with significant numbers of exposed, sharp rocks. Many trails in my area of the Rockies are like this and I can't see them working too well. That said, if I was doing a multi-day trip, combining backpacking with hiking and scrambling, I would bring them along.