What Justin said.

Gravel – Indeed like a foot massage. Try running on sand in them. Again like a foot massage.

Asphalt – Surprisingly, it isn’t bad. It warms up after a while, but it doesn’t scald your feet.

Broken glass, other sharp objects – I’ve stepped on my share of glass, nails and such and it really hasn’t done much to my feet. Like walking over glass in normal shoes, it doesn’t usually pierce the rubber on the soles of the feet. The rubber has enough “give” to flow over it.

Running – Yes, but if you normally jog in jogging shoes and then try these, you’ll be feeling muscles you didn’t know you could exercise during a jog.

Stubbing/being stepped on – Been stepped on a few times, stubbed a few times. If you look at the toe, the rubber comes up and forms a lip over the front and tip of the toe. I would compare stubbing your toe to when you’re walking barefoot and you get careless. Being stepped on… imagine that you’re wearing canvas shoes. There is still protection, so you’re still unlikely to get your toes broken because you’ll move your foot away before that can happen.

I was concerned about this stuff when I first bought these shoes, but after a while you realize you’re really unlikely to hurt yourself any more than you would be with thick-soled shoes. Plus, these things really are quite comfortable.

People ask me about arch support, and unless you have foot problems to begin with and need orthopedic shoes, you really don’t need it. You walk differently barefoot and with these on than you do with regular shoes on, so it works out. I just wouldn’t wear them on a rainy day unless you like getting your feet wet.

these things do not make me stuck up.

rather they make me very disturbed that there exists a fivefingerfan site.

you people scare me.
keep your fivefingers away from me.

i think i’m going to start an
anti-fivefingerfan site.
or wait! maybe one already exists
here: http://www.manoloblahnik.com/start.html

rebekah’s comment is not so much stuck up as it is a stark confession of her preference of form over function. She’d rather shoes be aesthetically pleasing than comfortable and complimentary to feet. But this preference for form doesn’t stop at fivefingers. Perhaps even more telling: she had a conversation with someone for “over an hour” but immediately “ran away” once she observed his footwear. Said differently, she had an engaging conversation with a guy only to write him off upon discovering his unacceptable (to rebekah, anyway) footwear.

Talk about a bizarro fetish.

@Pam,

Let me see if I can tackle your questions:

>How are they on gravel?

Bumpy. Sort of like a foot massage. However, it’s manageable (though a bit alarming the first time you try it). You can run on gravel with them, too, surprisingly enough.

>Hot asphalt?

Probably depends on how hot the asphalt is, but I’ve not experienced much, if any, discomfort wearing mine on hot asphalt in the summer.

>Broken glass, thorny weeds, etc.

No problem.

>Can you run in them?

Yeah — people even run ultramarathons (50 to 100 miles) in them.

>How many times have you stubbed your toes, or had your toes stepped on while wearing them?

I’ve stubbed my pinky toe once while trail running. I think I’ve had my toes stepped on once in over a year of wearing VFFs.

See, the thing is: when you’re down to being effectively barefoot, you are much more foot-aware, so stubbing toes and being stepped on (or stepping on painful stuff) is much less likely. VFFs promote foot awareness (and outright barefootedness even moreso).

Hope that helps.