Vibram Five Fingers

[Danny H]

Where did you order them from in the states?

[Worm]

Sorry Danny, missed your post. I purchased them from Kayak shed in Canada. A google search will come up with the web address.

I received them a couple of days ago. Have been wearing them around the yard. First impressions, they seem very fragile. That could be because they are small/light/thin, time will tell. They are fantastic to wear, if you dont mind things between your toes. You have alot of feel without the pain of sharp objects.

I will give them a good run in this weekend in the mountains. If they hold up well I will get another pair (the cheaper style) to wear around the garden/shops/dog walks etc and keep these for camping trips.

[Guest Dafink]

Lol I was expecting a totaly different and more "adult" type product when i read the title. Thats what ya get when ya minds in the gutter .

They look like an interesting bit of kit. But for a lite/quiet/cheap shoe the old dunlop volleys cant be beat. Spend $20 on the volleys take the remaing $80 to the adult shop and get a vibram five fingers that will have the missus making you breakfast in bed for a week

[Worm]

You can get copies of these off dealextreme now for $32! Im getting a pair to see how the quality compares... in army green of course haha

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/unique-stylish-outdoor-shoes-army-green-size-43-pair-52956

Mine are holding up good so will be interesting to see how they go.

I would recommend these if you do abit of jogging, traveling and at $30 whats to complain about

[cameronpatrol]

would be good for bare foot water skiing take the razor blade feeling out and the odd stick.

[ASheep]

I've had a pair of the KSO's in black for 5 months now, I haven't worn any other shoes in that time. I'm not kidding guys, once you get used to wearing them (your feet and calves will hurt badly for a bit) normal shoes feel so strange and constrictive. I go bushwalking and trail running with my girlfriend, you feel EVERY rock, stick, gumnut or small insect you run over, but the feeling is great! When bushwalking you can dig your toes in, grip over logs with toes and all kinds of stuff you cant do in boots. When on a bike you can grip the pedals with your toes, same thing on staircases.

I ride about 10km every day on my bike in them, and walk a further 5km or so around uni and work, plus trail running on the weekends. They have actually helped my knees, I used to get all kinds of running injuries, now 5-10km trails are a breeze!

I'm considering getting a pair of KSO treks, for hunting/camping purposes, as with the thin mesh on top of the normal KSO you are very vulnerable to scratches from sticks/rocks.

You do get an awful lot of weird looks though... But I'm used to that!

Cheers,

Alex

[Worm]

I ended up in a bunch of blackberries with them a while ago.... that wasn't fun haha

Im going outdoor rock climbing with them tomorrow. They will be perfect for that. Then going fishing/hunting mid week. Ill let you know how the copies go once I get them (hope I got the right size)

[adzym]

Hi Worm,

I work in the outdoor recreation(indoor rock climbing, outdoor rock climbing, bushwalking, canyoning etc)game. I haven't tried these but I see and know a lot of guys that wear them. They come in to the shop thinking they can go anywhere with them! Bragging that they are meant to be better for your feet, awesome in the water great for rock climbing great friction bla bla bla...Now Im sure they are if you stick to pathways, the occasional dirt trail, easy climbing(they will wear out real quick) and maybe a tad of fly fishing on sand flats. I also dont disagree with the whole better for you feet knees thing either. BUT

I will tell a brief story of a customer of mine. Let’s call him Dave. Dave is into everything. Fitness and outdoors being his main thing and of cause Dave had a pair of five fingers, they were the ones that did it all. He wore them everywhere. Dave went on a canyoning trip for the day. It was a intermediate canyon..not to hard for any fit person. About 10km round trip. Up and down steep trails, water, climbing, abseiling, walking on wet rocks, waterfalls imp sure you get the picture...About 2 weeks later Dave came in for a climb. I asked him how he went.. Not much of a reply only a few muttered words...just before he left he told me of his trip. His words were..quote "should of worn my f###### volleys!! I thought I was going to die!" He meant it dying in canyons is pretty easy. He explained to me that they had no grip on wet rock, were horrible to walk in as the terrain was so rough and apart from being bashed and bruised to the #### house from slipping over his feet were rooted!

We had a good laugh at this and both agreed that if you’re doing anything more than easy flat dry dirt trails wear a half decent shoe.

All the other people that were wearing them have pretty much gone back to shoes. General conesus is there's nothing like a pair of shoes.

Worm, if you’re going climbing and don’t have some yet get yourself a pair of climbing shoes they will help you climb better because thats what they are designed to do. All pressure should be focused on your big toe. Not spread out on all five. In saying this you can wear them they just won’t work that well and will wear out very fast.

My advice to anyone thinking that a shoe designed for a specific purpose ie climbing, bushwalking, hiking, HUNTING! etc can be replaced by a light weight toe glove...Be WARNED you might find yourself in a precarious situation wishing that you had a nice solid pair of boots on.

[SambOz]

Cant see that theyll have much heel grip at the times you need to dig them in to stop sliding, steep downhill.

What about tread, we buy boots with a open lumpy tread and them jiggers look near enough to smooth.

And snake proof.....doubt it compared to leather boots.

Edited April 23, 2011 by SambOz

[Hairyhunter]

You can get copies of these off dealextreme now for $32! Im getting a pair to see how the quality compares... in army green of course haha

http://www.dealextre...e-43-pair-52956

Mine are holding up good so will be interesting to see how they go.

I would recommend these if you do abit of jogging, traveling and at $30 whats to complain about

Thanks worm, I couldn't resist, I ordered a pair too, in Army green of course

[goswasere']

Yer there is a reason there is a million types of specialty outdoor shoes from rock climbing shoes to hiking boots. There is even sub categories within each one eg rock climbing shoes could mean an aggressive edging shoe or a smearing shoe for slabbing even a crack climbing shoe.

Not one shoe can do everything, shoes aint shoes!

But then again anything is better than thongs

[Hairyhunter]

Yer there is a reason there is a million types of specialty outdoor shoes from rock climbing shoes to hiking boots. There is even sub categories within each one eg rock climbing shoes could mean an aggressive edging shoe or a smearing shoe for slabbing even a crack climbing shoe.

Not one shoe can do everything, shoes aint shoes!

But then again anything is better than thongs

Hey Gos, I it sounds like you're quoting Imelda Marcos "one shoe can't do everything"

[500Nitro]

Yer there is a reason there is a million types of specialty outdoor shoes from rock climbing shoes to hiking boots. There is even sub categories within each one eg rock climbing shoes could mean an aggressive edging shoe or a smearing shoe for slabbing even a crack climbing shoe.

Not one shoe can do everything, shoes aint shoes!

But then again anything is better than thongs

Gees, they have come a long way from the plain old stickies.

Do they use one particular shoe depending on what they are climbing that day ?

I can't imagine someone changing shoes half way up a climb but correct me if I am wrong.

[adzym]

Gees, they have come a long way from the plain old stickies.

Do they use one particular shoe depending on what they are climbing that day ?

I can't imagine someone changing shoes half way up a climb but correct me if I am wrong.

lol...wouldn't be the first time...not that I have done that of cause... Yes it is a well known fact that in the climbing fraternity the more shoes you have and the ones that are the most expensive will make you a hard core climber

There are shoes that are used for different styles of climbs and rock type. Say if you were to climb a 30' angled wall (steep) your better wearing a shoe that has a down turned toe area. This will allow you to apply a lot of pressure on a small hold, pull in with your feet and give you better friction. And if you were climbing a big wall route and it had a pitch that was steep it would give you an advantage to change shoes.. Yes there is a shoe for every style of climbing. You wouldn't go pig shooting with a .223 if you had a .308. It can be done but you choose the .308 because it will give you an advantage.

WOW! I never thought I would be talking rock climbing on aus hunt!

[500Nitro]

adzym

Yep, nor did I - Haven't talked climbing for years.

The Army only ever gave us a pair of stickies and that was it.

And what do you mean by "30' angled wall" - all we had to climb was vertical !!!

I must admit, one of my instructors was a superb climber, gave us a demo at Mt Arapeles

of free climbing a very smooth vertical wall.

I am not built for climbing and wasn't very good at it but thankfully running face first

off the top of cliffs (like Arapeles) was more important than climbing so I passed !!! LOL