5 fingers

[Vadim Fedorovsky]

I am sure this is not the first time this question has been asked: what are the pros and cons of hiking in vibram 5 fingers?

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

I have not hiked in them myself but I have been following a journal of someone hiking the PCT southbound. She says she misses having shoes with more cushioning.

[Jonathan Ryan]

Pro's:
– Super comfortable on your feet
– Super light and no need for socks

Con's
– Zero cushion
– Requires you to break your feet in to new style of shoe (ie. lots of meta stress fractures with these badboys including myself)
– Easy to stub your toe.
– Requires you to walk with full concentration of what is below your feet.

All in all I have owned mine for 3 years or so now and I enjoy them for treadmill running, mowing the lawn and as camp shoes for longer hikes. I am a footwear minimalist convert but these push the extreme too much for my tastes.

[Tohru Ohnuki]

"- Requires you to walk with full concentration of what is below your feet."

Absolutely. This can be seen as either a pro or con, but for me it takes away from the hiking if my head is down all the time looking at what i'm stepping on.

I use them on training hikes now, but not for anything really long. I would have to toughen my feet a lot more by using them all the time which is not an option.

[ben wood]

i have to agree with the concentration point. i run in fivefingers and the mental power it takes to concentrate on foot placement on a rocky trail while running is pretty surprising.

[Thomas Burns]

Just finished a week this summer on the AT in Virginia using VFF KSO's, which were remarkably comfortable with just enough padding on the bottom to protect my feet from both gravel on the bottom and toe stubs. The one problem: catching my little toes against rocks to the left and right.

Just got a pair of KSO Treks with a bit more toe and bottom-of-foot protection. Two hard walking days at Dolly Sods convinced me that they are the perfect hiking shoe — no problems whatsoever and just as light as the KSO's. I danced on those boulders!

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