flexagon | Why are they not called Vibram Fivetoes?

Feeling bored and discontent lately, probably because of the large number of semi-finished, drab, grown-up and possibly frumpy projects I'm in the middle of. This weekend I broke up the tedium by buying a pair of these:

Much as I don't like the term "consumer" and don't want my life to be all about buying stuff, there's no denying that new possessions are exciting. :) These shoes were apparently invented in 2007 and have slowly been spreading since then, now available in CitySports which has made it possible for my friends to get them (and let them get me into them, and now my friends want them too).

Interestingly, they're mentioned on page 3 of an article I've linked to before: You Walk Wrong.

(I also made the perfect luxury purchase... a really nice box of spiral paper clips, better than anything I can find a picture of online. For less than $10 those things are going to make me happy 100+ times over the course of, probably, years. I win.)

So, life. Drab for the most part. New shoes, new paperclips and doing 36 chin-ups today before lunch are the high points.

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The shoes look kind of cool. I wonder about the proportions of the toes.

I bought a sewing machine. Hopefully I will be able to thread the damned thing without having to invent new ways to swear.

36 chin ups? Damn. Nice job.

And you know I thought of completely different stuff when I saw the title of this post, right? ;-)

My husband's been running in those for a month and they are miraculous. He's been a runner all his life but always had miscellaneous undiagnosed joint pain. When you run properly in these (and it's worth practicing technique, he says) it changes how you use your body in a good way. Since he's had them, no joint pain, only a few blisters from getting used to them. He calls them his flippers. :)

Wow, that's fantastic for him! I haven't tried running in these, and if I did so I'd ramp up very slowly -- I just got them for walking around in, after at least one friend told me they'd really changed her gait and she felt lighter and better now. *grin*

Nifty. I was wondering if you could run in them.

how do you feel in the shoes so far??

I think it's taking me less time to break them in than most people. On Sunday I got some discomfort in my pinkies after 2+ miles of walking and changed out of them. Yesterday, none of that, but after I got sweaty in a stressful meeting my toes started feeling clammy.

I think I will like these very much, though! I love being more aware of the textures under my feet... it makes me feel grounded and awake. Also, I'll like them even better in the fall when it's not so hot. :)

A coworker wears these, so I tried them out last year. But they don't fit right on my feet at all, alas.

same here. my toes are so different from theirs, I can't even get them on all the way.
no matter. I walk barefoot as much as I can get away with anyway.

The Roommate and I saw a girl wearing those at the climbing gym last week. She saw us gawking and rattled off answers to our questions before we'd even asked them, since apparently she'd been getting the same set of inquiries pretty much constantly. :p Neat shoes! They look like fun, how barefoot-like are they really in your experience?

In short, more barefooty than I expected they would feel. As well as having the thin sole, they also force your toes to be very slightly spread, so they encourage toes not to curl under one another.

Upside: much more awareness of what I'm walking on, how my gait is, different textures underfoot. Downside: it's possible to stub just one toe, which obviously can really hurt.

Are they comfy? Can you run in them?

I, personally, have no intention of running in them, but people do! It involves a big change in gait for most folks.

Why are they not called Vibram Fivetoes?

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