Thru Hike w/ Vibram Five Fingers?

Last year there was one guy in his 20's that was at the ADZPCTKO and was doing a thru. He was already at Big Bear by the time of the Kickoff. This was the end of April, so he had done a significant amount of snow by Big Bear in his Five Fingers.I am not sure if he finished or not. He said that it took him some time to get used to them, because it changed his foot fall. He said he really loved them, no hot spots or blisters.

I LOVE my kso's I have done 40mile a day jog/ hike trips in them for up to three days I don't see why you couldn't use them on a thru hike my feet are less sore after a day with my kso's then my trail runners camp shoes are nice if you use 5fingers so you can put on your clean pair of sleeping socks and wear them around camp wearing a medium weight wool toe sock I was comfortable goinf thru 5ft snow drifts rivers and swamps this weekend my toes did get chilly in camp though

Last year there was one guy in his 20's that was at the ADZPCTKO and was doing a thru. He was already at Big Bear by the time of the Kickoff. This was the end of April, so he had done a significant amount of snow by Big Bear in his Five Fingers.I am not sure if he finished or not. He said that it took him some time to get used to them, because it changed his foot fall. He said he really loved them, no hot spots or blisters.

I'm pretty sure I know who you're talking about. He had a seam near the big toe come apart that he tried fixing. I believe that was the last pair of KSO's he used on the trail. He left the trail a little early because of school.

There was a girl/woman who was going to try it. She has the VFF with the laces and she also had some dirty girl gaiters attached to them. pretty sweet

I'm a big fan of running in VFF's and have completed a 10k in them. However, my experience hiking with them was not so stellar. The entire sole of my foot became sore after a while and I slid around in mud with them. I went back to trail runners.

I'm a huge fan of my KSO's – I've done some 10-20 mile hikes and runs on trail and road, bushwacking, river canyon hikes, and trail running in Hawaii, and some hiking in snow with them. However, I've switched back to trail runners (Trail Gloves) for the most part. Some of these problems might have to do with the fact I have the leather KSO's though.

Here were my main problems with them, and why I wouldn't use them for a thru hike:

– When they get wet, the leather gets loose and the fit is sloppy. I had trouble adjusting them with only the one strap on the top and you get all sorts of sloppiness in the shoe. Also, the traction once the sole got wet was horrible.

– Mud. Even with the sole on the trek, I had trouble getting decent traction on trails when the ground was wet.

– Toe protection. It's nice to have them all separated, but it's also easy to hit your small toe. I had several occasions where vines or ground cover would get caught between the toes and painfully jar the little toe. That, and accidentally hitting things with it. Also, grass and things like that get stuck between the toes and it's pretty uncomfortable and I've heard stories of that wearing out that area.

– Cold. If you are in snow with them, the leather gets heavy/wet/sloppy and doesn't protect your feet from the cold.

That being said, I love them and still use them, but not nearly as much as my Trail Gloves now.

I recently saw a pair of Hobbits wearing Five Fingers footwear. When I went to speak to them they scurried off into the woods. Strange folks…

"I'm pretty sure I know who you're talking about. He had a seam near the big toe come apart that he tried fixing. I believe that was the last pair of KSO's he used on the trail. He left the trail a little early because of school."

I second that actually, a seam near MY big toe came apart and I had to sew them.

I've done Mt. Baldy and half dome in them and stuff. Honestly with rough trails I'm just not a happy camper in them, but if the trails aren't too rocky I enjoy them. Also hate them on the downhills. Hiking in them was like month 3 of use for me though, so maybe I was doing it wrong.

Not too long ago a 2-inch thorn pieced through the bottom sole of my kso's like they were butter. The darn thing broke off level with the sole after becoming embedded a good inch deep in the side of my foot, the situation was so that I could not pull it out with my hands (nothing to grasp) nor remove the shoe (attempts to do so caused the thorn to painfully wriggle in my flesh). Luckily a nearby friend had a small multi-tool with pliers and saved my day.

But I've been reluctant to use them hiking through the woods ever since, a poor choice if you frequently go off trail or on trails that are not frequented very often. As others have mentioned, they quickly get cold when wet and continued walking in them when wet can lead to discomfort/ blisters in my experience. Traction on mud is similar to walking in boots on ice, except ice is usually level (I expect the treksports do a bit better).