hi, new here. i found the forum while searching for fake sandals (people get so confused when they see bare feet!) i've only been trying to go barefoot for a few weeks now so there are a couple of things i was never too bothered about before but have come to my attention the main question i wanted to ask was about my big toes, which seem to curl up a bit: is that anything to worry about? when i'm walking it feels like i'm pressing on the joint of the toe rather than the fleshy part. it's not painful, but i think it may be the cause of little blisters on them: if i scrunch my toes a little my foot looks like this: which seems a bit more like everyone else's and stepping toe first seems to come naturally so i don't have to think it about any more, but when I walk like that the joint of my little toe starts getting a lot more pressure directly on it for some reason, which is quite painful. i think that's related to the fact my little toes are sideways: i haven't noticed pain there before today, which is the first day i attempted walking with the scrunched toes but also the first day i was probably paying attention to that specific area so, is there a proper posture for my foot that i shuold try to adhere to? or should i not bother concentrating and let the toes do as they please as long as there's no pain? another question i have is about going part time. does anyone know how it affects the toughening process if you wear shoes a lot of the time? i have quite bad anxiety around people and i live in a pretty closed minded/conformist area with a largish number of verbally aggressive people, and i suspect being barefoot makes me more of a target than (paranoia tells me) i already was... i know i shouldn't care what random people shout at me, and i consciously don't, but it still bothers me a lot. so i like to wear shoes when i know there'll be a lot of people around or i'm not feeling confident enough to draw extra attention. i'm just worried that it's a waste of time even trying to do any hiking or watnot barefoot if i can't practice all the time... i'm sure i had other questions, but i've forgotten them so for now i'd be grateful for any insight on these points (insert smiley face here (4 image limit!)) oh yeah, i just wanted to mention something that's always stuck with me as being incredibly stupid. around puberty, my mum's boyfriend at the time used to say you should always wear shoes (not trainers either) otherwise your feet can spread out! i can't remember if i questioned it at the time, but since then i've often been concered that my feet are deformed as a result. (sad face)
Welcome to barefooting! I would recommend you let your toes do their own thing for now, and see what happens. Wearing shoes part time won't stop your feet from toughening up nicely, i have to wear shoes for work, but i can still walk for miles across country without any trouble.
I would go barefoot as much as you possibly can. It is not possible for all of us to go barefoot 100% of the time. The toughening process will just take a little more time. I think the pain you are getting is due to you trying to walkin a different way to that you have walked in the past and using different muscles and pressure points. I would just try to walk as naturally as you can and see how you go. My little toes bend inwards too and were sore when i started to barefoot but they are much more comfortable and painless out of shoes now. Hope this helps.
Thanks guys! Simply asking the questions put my mind a little more at ease, so your responses are even better. I ran barefoot to the postbox today, that was fun. (It's only a couple of hundred meters but the path and roads here are pretty rough and it didn't hurt )
Don't go barefoot in public, EVER! Your feet and toes and nails are gross looking. No one wants to see that out........
No matter why you're doing it, some clipping and cleaning never hurts. I think that's what barefootbob1 meant.
Well they were dirty because I just got back from a hike, and unfortunately I have a history of ingrown toenails so I have to leave the big ones longish and square. I was hoping going barefoot would help solve that problem actually. Still, to me gross looking doesn't mean dirty. It came across as akin to walking up to an "ugly" person in the street that you'd overheard saying they were very insecure and telling them to "go home and never leave the house again - nobody wants to see a face like that!" "Don't go barefoot in public, EVER! Your feet and toes and nails are gross looking" has a very different tone and connotations to "some clipping and cleaning never hurts." Are people really so superficial on the hip forums?!
Please Don't Be Offended By That Post, Takes All Types To Make A World. From Personal Experiance I Have Found Barefooting All But Totally Eliminates Ingrown Nails.. And Let Me Assure You The Post That Has Upset You Is The "Exception" On This Forum, And I Think The Most Offensive I Have Read Here.. Barefooters Are Some Of The Nicest People I Know On The Interwebs. Please Stay And Join Our Group.. Cheers Glen.
I agree. Barefooting is wonderful, and too few people know that. Because of the sensuality of it, some people let the emotion surrounding the activity cloud their thinking about it. It all gets WAY too intense. It's just walking barefoot. It's not Anarchy. It's taken me a while to find this forum, too, and it's exceptionally tolerant of the variety of responses to barefooting. Anyway, people frequently are out of control in their expression---they don't accurately express what they mean. Or they do. In that case, screw 'em. Going barefoot is great fun. Nobody gets hurt. It isn't illegal. No downside at all.
Sorry, but methinks you have trouble knowing sarcasm. I'm referring to the response I gave you here: http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?p=5750197#post5750197 But I can always be wrong :-D
Well I did ask if it was irony! I enjoy being sarcastic myself, but I'm somewhere on the autism spectrum and do sometimes (often) have a hard time detecting it. Kneejerk reaction on my part.
ANYWAY...back to the OP...I think that going barefoot *more* will solve all those problems. The blisters will heal and eventually become tougher skin. Providing the feet more room to spread out will help the sort of curling problems described. Though cleaning and clipping is always nice, I don't think it's necessarily mandatory for barefooting. After all, going barefoot is not about being aesthetically pleasing (since wearing shoes, or at least flip flops, seems to be required for that), but about comfort, freedom, and better foot health.
Barefooting is pointless. Its illegal to drive barefoot, you can't ride a bike without it hurting, you can't do anything fun. God gave us shoes for a reason.
Huh?? None of the above is true. It's been documented that it's legal to drive without shoes in all 50 states (see Society for Barefoot Living, www.barefooters.org). Also please google the topic; there are no restrictions except for motorcycle drivers in just a few states. Riding a bicycle comfortably while barefoot is totally dependent on the pedal design. A pedal designed for cleated bike shoes would probably not be comfortable. The old "rat trap" pedals with toe clips would dig into your soles. A rubber pedal works fine. I have the classic rubber pedals on an exercise bike and ride it regularly. The same would apply to a street bicycle. I do most everything barefoot and find it not only fun, but the most comfortable way to live. If God gave us shoes for a reason, why was Jesus barefoot most of the time? (Please feel free to substitute appropriately depending on your faith. I'm the product of 12 years of Catholic schooling. I'm recovering quite nicely, but it's taken 30+ years!)
Well i know for a fact that its illegal to drive barefoot in my state CA. I think mabey its illegal here because more people try to do it since theres so many beaches. And yeah mountain biking and snowboarding are my favorite activities which would be torture without shoes.
I was hoping to find something definitive that would put this question to rest. The referenced website in my previous post has a letter from the State of California stating that it's legal to drive without footwear. Unfortunately, that letter's 15 years old (1994), so it's a bit dated. Doing a google search, I found numerous sites stating that driving barefoot in California is legal. Unfortunately, none of these references was a government regulatory agency. Sources such as Wikipedia are often accurate, but being subject to public editing, I wouldn't want to stake a legal case on its claims. I found the California Drivers Manual on-line, but I couldn't find any reference to footwear, positive or negative. You seem very certain that driving barefoot is illegal in California. Is this based on personal experience? I'm open to correction, but I haven't found anything definitive either way. The best source is the letter on the Society for Barefoot Living's web page, but being dated, that has its own issues.