Info on gear, conditioning, and preparation for hiking/climbing.
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polar wrote:the steep hiking on grass, dirt, and loose rock in between is where I would have problems with either sandals/flip flops or climbing shoes
That's the sort of stuff I would have been miserable on with my sandals a year before; after more conditioning I was good to go. Definitely not for everybody. And maybe if I find some approach shoes that suit me better I'll go back to them someday, but I actually did the same trip in my approach shoes a couple weeks earlier and hated them (:
My only fuss is that yes, it is possible to wear minimalist shoes / sandals or even go barefoot for portions of a climb, without disregarding personal safety
nunns wrote:highpilgrim: you always know exactly what he is thinking about any issue
Subtlety on an internet forum is wasted effort, 99.9% of the time.
JaredJohnson wrote:Maybe a mountain goat could have dislodged a huge boulder from 200ft above me and crushed my foot? But then maybe my foot would have been crushed inside of a shoe too, or maybe the boulder would have crushed my unprotected hand instead.
Shocking as it may seem, on a mountain some large rocks are not secure, and are nothing more than see-saws. And sometimes they tip unexpectedly. If one tips on your smelly-ass Five Fingers, you gotcha a screwed up hoof and a quick end to a day in the hillz.
Btw: once broken, those little foot bones heal slowly unless you stay off of them completely.
Call on God, but row away from the rocks.
Hunter S Thompson
Walk away from the droning and leave the hive behind.
Dick Derkase
highpilgrim wrote:If one tips on your smelly-ass Five Fingers, you gotcha a screwed up hoof and a quick end to a day in the hillz.
It's true, but if one tips on my my smelly approach shoes I'm likely in the same position, since it's a big rock and the approach shoes aren't made of metal. Or if it tips on my hand or arm or leg, I'm even more screwed, as I don't usually wear shoes on those parts of my body at all (:
JaredJohnson wrote:hand or arm or leg, I'm even more screwed, as I don't usually wear shoes on those parts of my body at all (:
Try to follow along: I know I'm covering a lot of ground here, but you only walk on your feet.
I had a rock roll across the top of my smelly 5-fingers resulting in some serious bruising that would not have occurred if I were wearing boots and probably would not have occurred if I had my runners either (the lace area is much more padded than the 5-fingers). Kept me out of action for 2 weeks.
I had a rock give way and drop on top of my 2nd toe. Its now a hammer toe. I thought it was broken, but ligament/tendon is messed or torn. Surgery the only option to fix it. I can manage without surgery for now. This injury would not have happened with boots or my runners. Both have toe protection on top.
There were also other near misses and minor injuries along the way, mostly to the top side of feet. And all this during the less than 2 seasons I wore them. The injuries wearing other footwear for the decade-plus prior includes a stubbed toenail caused by not trimming when I should have. Otherwise, nothing. And my foot injuries since I stopped wearing the 5-fingers a few years ago, nothing.
The first-hand verdict: The smelly 5-fingers are a liability. To each his/her own. Don't cry when it happens to you.
- I didn't say it was your fault. I said I was blaming you.
I guess I will cry privately if it ever happens to me. In all my hiking career I've never had anything like that happen to me in an area where I would now choose to wear sandals. Maybe I just haven't been doing it long enough
JaredJohnson wrote:I guess I will cry privately if it ever happens to me.
I recall a story where a guy had a rock fall on his arm. He basically chewed it off to escape from said rock. Because the rock fell on is arm, once he chewed it off he was able to walk out, even rapping down with the remaining one.
He made a career off his foolish mistake. Maybe you can too.
Call on God, but row away from the rocks.
Hunter S Thompson
Walk away from the droning and leave the hive behind.
Dick Derkase
Some of you may have guessed that my inspiration for starting this discussion is Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. He convincingly shows that our feet work best when they are barefoot, or very thinly clad. This is not his mere opinion, but is supported by numerous medical studies.
Our feet are a high-tensile web of 26 bones, 33 joints, 12 rubbery tendons, and 18 muscles, all stretching and flexing according to the steam of data they receive from the surface. The more feedback our feet get from the surface, the stronger they are and the better they perform. Isolate our feet, like in expensive, highly padded running shoes or in boots, and they will weaken and become very prone to injuries. For example, I have large bunions on each foot from wearing traditional leather dress shoes.
I've just ordered a pair of zero-drop FiveFingers Treksports, and will be joining the ranks of Caballo Blanco and Barefoot Ted. I'll probably wear them or something like them on the lower approaches, which are just dirt hiking trails.
However, when the approach gets rocky and turns from hiking to climbing, I don't think ultra-minimalist will do. I'll swap them out for more substantial trekking or rock shoes. And I'm sure you can't attach microspikes to FiveFingers (for scree). Several of you have made good points about the risks of not protecting your feet on this terrain. Nor would they be any good in snow.
And if you haven't read Born to Run, pick it up. Your library has it. Great read about feet.
Altitude High wrote:Some of you may have guessed that my inspiration for starting this discussion is Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. He convincingly shows that our feet work best when they are barefoot, or very thinly clad. This is not his mere opinion, but is supported by numerous medical studies.
Altitude High wrote:Some of you may have guessed that my inspiration for starting this discussion is Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. He convincingly shows that our feet work best when they are barefoot, or very thinly clad. This is not his mere opinion, but is supported by numerous medical studies.
I got a different moral from that book, especially given the only one who actually ran barefoot in that entire book was the nutter from California. I think McDougall's point was more about adopting a running form that avoids heel striking and that running barefoot is conducive to such a stride because heel striking would hurt like hell in those goofy ass Five Fingers.
Tarahumara wear thick tire treads.
Caballo blanco (Micah True) has always worn running shoes which is funny because in the documentary about him he talks about getting called a phony for it from barefoot runners he supposedly inspired
Scott Jurek wears running shoes
Bro and bro-ette wear running shoes
