Bare Soles At 90 Degrees

Discussion in 'Barefoot' started by Deleted member 159087, Aug 17, 2015.

  1. OK! Man (wo-Man) up!
    Who barefoots blacktop at 90 degrees?
    Feel the burn!
    Truly!
     
  2. r0llinstoned

    r0llinstoned Gute Nacht, süßer Prinz

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    lmao. I barefoot in 110+ degree heat in august and september. Was a 105 yesterday but that aint shit.
     
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  3. Barefoot Man of the Year!
    Voting is now closed!
     
  4. Mattekat

    Mattekat Ice Queen of The North

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    I was barefooting when it was over 100°. It burned a bit definitely, but no permanent damage done.
     
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  5. hotasphaltblisteredsoles

    hotasphaltblisteredsoles  

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    Inland valley barefoot in 100 to 102 degrees F weather from 1:30pm to 2:50pm is a great challenge!

    North San Diego County residents will be familiar with how hot Escondido gets during peak heat. Starting close to North Escondido: Five minutes of hot preheat burning of the soles starting at 1:30pm, went to shade and put on flip flops for about five minutes more to avoid any overburning too soon. Then, once the preheat burning stopped, removed flip flops for a 1.1 miles on finer gravel asphalt, only going to sidewalk twice to avoid oncoming traffic, and only putting on flip flops to cross that busy street to the light rail. That walk therefore lasted from 1:40pm to 2:10pm. Quite hot and a bit prickly from the finer gravel, but not as hot as the blacktop I walked on for preheating the soles.

    Shoes were removed before boarding the light rail at 2:10pm. Stood on the unshaded light rail platform until boarding close to 2:15pm, hot enough to feel it when standing on it but still no need to roll on the soles or hold onto the handrail and lift soles in the air.

    Arrived at the ending destination transit station just after 2:25pm and that end of light rail is near Downtown Escondido. That area is hotter than North Escondido (although not as hot as San Pasqual Valley or Valley Center) so it's an excellent heat training area when it's 100 degrees F weather. Long sidewalk walks with grayer and browner sidewalk in many locations, long walk signal waits at busy intersection pedestrian crossings, and several business parking lots in between blocks are much longer and blacktop asphalt. Still not a risk of instant blisters from walking, but the burn builds quickly even if it does still equalize when continuing to walk. Burn on the sidewalk (but not on the red bricks, only the browner and grayer concrete). Needing to roll on the soles when standing on sidewalk although that made it tolerable. Wincing and teeth gritting burn on asphalt for several tenths of a mile (not all at once like the walk to the light rail station, but totaling all the deliberate crossings of asphalt streets and parking lots in that area is several tenths of a mile) that did actually equalize but still burned a lot, even moreso on blacktop than on finer gravel asphalt. Not even rolling on the soles allowed for standing for more than a couple of seconds on asphalt. No blisters, although next time I might try standing until it's about blistering hot before walking and see if it still equalizes or if I do get blisters, just for that much extra standing heat training before walking. Calluses burned very white looking for a very impressive tough soles look on every toe pad. Asphalt dirt stained soles too, from literally being baked into the soles. Almost perfect for developing sole heat tolerance, although being able to stand for longer on that hot asphalt, even with rolling on the soles, would have been absolutely perfect. Either way, excellent exercise for the feet. Five minutes of pre-heating and then barefoot for almost an entire hour in the middle of the hottest afternoon peak heat hours in close to 102 degrees F weather.

    My soles passed the test for normal barefooting, except for deliberately crossing hot parking lots the walk was just the same as if I was wearing shoes: same sidewalks, same pedestrian crossings, same crossing the asphalt streets.

    Put on flip flops to briefly cool the soles at 2:50pm and because I would have to board the bus soon. I caught another bus to the downtown San Diego area just after 3:00pm. Sadly, only rougher pebble sidewalk along the Marina, but nothing even close to as hot as I was burning my feet in Escondido. I did also ride light rail trolleys barefoot unless a transit officer was on the platform.
     
  6. r0llinstoned

    r0llinstoned Gute Nacht, süßer Prinz

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  7. Did I mention that it feels awesome and blackens the soles promptly? I see that I did not. Auto-correct!
     
  8. Karen_J

    Karen_J Visitor

    Air temperature? Where I live, dark pavement gets above 140F on sunny summer afternoons. Last summer in Raleigh, my flip flops partially melted. I think anybody who touches that with bare flesh is totally insane.

    I can walk out to my car after work without shoes because the sidewalk is white and the pavement beside my car is shaded by another car.
     
  9. hotasphaltblisteredsoles

    hotasphaltblisteredsoles  

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    What about socks as an alternative to wearing even minimal shoes? I knew that was common for barefoot girls in their high school years when getting used longer walks on hot asphalt in weather near the 100 degrees F range, but not at or above 100 degrees F (at least when I went to high school), because their soles weren't quite ready for direct sole to asphalt contact just yet. Yeah, I know that's not truly barefoot. I've either just toughed it out or wore flip flops, but if I'm in a desert area I'll at least have to try the socks approach.

    As far as being insane, it depends on the distance. Also time of day determines how much full sun the asphalt absorbed. While not during the hottest afternoon hours yet, I can definitely walk hot-footing across an extra hot parking lot, with blacktop asphalt hot enough to blister bare feet when doing normal walking, in weather up to 105 degrees F and one hour before the hottest afternoon hours.

    All I need to do for hot-footing is to flick the sole up in the air behind me at the end of each step, just to cool off that sole enough before it touches the asphalt once again, but believe me it still does sting and tingle even when up in the air. Walking speed also increases if hot-footing it is still burning, as a normal response to faster buildup of intense burning. Planning ahead and locating any shade spots is a must, but that shade will still be plenty burning hot and probably require much faster rolling on the soles. Carrying minimal flip flops is an urgent requirement and prevents actual damage to the soles. But as a general rule of thumb I don't put them on unless I've actually blistered much later during my barefoot walks, or I feel it on my soles that I will blister too soon within minutes of starting the walk.

    So, if the goal is city barefooting on all surfaces, as long as they don't seriously damage the soles to larger blisters over more of the sole or especially third degree burns, there isn't any other way except for toughening by progressive burning on hotter surfaces over longer distances. The sole literally bakes into a more leathery sole, although it still won't get as tough as the minimal leather sole of a flip flop.
     
  10. Barefoot Guy

    Barefoot Guy Member

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    I have said this before: Every body reacts differently to its environment. I've met women with soles of uniform tough leather, rock hard callouses and soft skin. None had difficulties on hot pavement, gravel, small shards of glass etc. The worst thing one can do is remove footwear and go barefoot on hot pavement. The skin will protect itself by forming (painful) blisters and the person will swear never to go barefoot again. TAKE IT SLOW! Give your soles time to adapt to the different environment. Over time, and this varies from person to person the skin will adapt and become accustomed to more hostile surfaces. It does NOT happen overnight!
    We don't get many 100 plus days in NYC but back in the day one would easily spot 6 or more regular barefooters out and about in Greenwich Village. I dated a couple of barefoot girls who I met while we were shoeless on the streets. Grateful Dead shows, in the parking lot the day of the show brought out those who could really stand the heat!
     
  11. hotasphaltblisteredsoles

    hotasphaltblisteredsoles  

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    I don't want to be inflammatory, but this can still be done provided there is some preheating of the soles, and again that's just progressive burning for the same barefoot events that day. Burning too much during preheating is when burning is just to the start of where it would actually hurt... don't wear out the heat tolerance of the soles too soon!

    Remove the footwear and stand with the soles fully on the ground until the soles burn too much... find a cooler surface, shade, or put the footwear back on. Remove the footwear again (or leave the cooler surface or shade), stand again with the soles fully on the ground, and burn more for longer than that last time including some rolling on the soles... stop when either the rolling on the soles equalizes or it still burns too much. Remove the footwear again (or leave the cooler surface or shade), stand yet again with the soles fully on the ground, and burn even more for longer than that last time including some rolling on the soles, do not cool the soles yet walk a few steps until the soles just start to prickle when burning, find a cooler surface, shade, or put the footwear back on.

    This should be sufficient preheating. Extended barefooting is now more than doable. Unless the hottest surface, usually blacktop asphalt, is still hot enough to blister bare feet in tens of steps, the soles will be able to tolerate some longer standing that can be extended by rolling on the soles, and can tolerate a few tenths of a mile before needing a cooler surface or shade. Remove the footwear if it is still on, and go for it.

    This is exactly what I did for my hottest afternoon hours barefoot walk, except for I did five minutes of unshaded blacktop asphalt walking, including a couple of seconds of quick standing that was so hot even when rolling on the soles that a sharp electric shock feeling tingle was felt each time I started walking again.
     
  12. I'minmyunderwear

    I'minmyunderwear Newbie

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    well i don't just stand on it, but i'll quickly go across between shaded areas and painted white or yellow lines.

    of course, around here it's usually easy enough just to find some grass and bypass the blacktop entirely.
     
  13. quodlibet

    quodlibet Member

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    I'm not sure I fully understand the question, but I did once watch Two-Lane Blacktop while wearing a pair of NB barefoot shoes (the 'Minimus' in white, grey and with green fluorescent laces)! They were certainly the best option apparel-wise in to watch that intriguing movie (Art Garfunkel's partner-to-be! Jimmy Taylor with hair!! Dennis Wilson acting!!). Those BF shoes lasted a good while; I had a couple of pairs I rotated and still have a pair somewhere. Maybe I'll dig them out again and post a couple of snaps in the photo thread.
     
  14. quodlibet

    quodlibet Member

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    "in which."
     
  15. hotasphaltblisteredsoles

    hotasphaltblisteredsoles  

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    The question is just that: who goes barefoot, as in no barefoot shoes but actual direct bare sole to surface contact, when the hottest afternoon hours weather is 90 degrees or hotter? (It makes a difference, because 103 degrees air temperature at noon still isn't as hot on the asphalt as the same 103 degrees at 2pm.) If so, how do the soles tolerate it or not tolerate it?
     
  16. hotasphaltblisteredsoles

    hotasphaltblisteredsoles  

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    Another hot one is coming up later this week, but I'm not going to intentionally go out in the heat if I don't have to, since I already know my soles can pass a heat test when they have to.

    If I do end up going out for errands, that means inland, and with inland temperatures forecast for at least 101 to 102 degrees that means VERY HOT during those hottest afternoon hours! Hope the humidity is low... or the heat index in the air, and on the paved surfaces, and therefore the heat to the soles will be increased. I'll definitely have flip flops in a waistpack if I walked or took public transit; otherwise, I can leave them in the car unless a greeter or security guard enforces shoes required. Being that hot, I do have to have them in case I do get blisters when it's that hot and I'm out during peak heat hours.

    Now, if I go to the beach, that's obviously coastal. Same as running errands inland, I'll definitely have flip flops in a waistpack if I walked or took public transit; otherwise, I can leave them in the car. The beach sand still burns the soles plenty on the entire sole and in between the soles, even if extended standing on asphalt is doable by constant rolling on the soles without ever needing shade. I have actually gotten blisters in between the toes and just behind the toe pads from toughing it out.

    Obviously I won't want to overburn the soles too soon; however I do have to do some amount of deliberate but lesser intense burning as preheating so I'm not subjecting the soles to more heat before gradually heating them up. After that, same as if I was wearing flip flops. No special treatment from the heat because they are bare soles. Same surfaces, same distances. Maybe slower walking on rougher and sharper surfaces because of how they still poke and hurt my soles but that's it. That means walking when it's necessary to walk. Standing when it's necessary to stand, but of course on bare soles heat relief methods such as lifting soles in the air or rolling on the soles can be a must depending on how fast the heat builds up, especially on asphalt. None of the surfaces are going to be insta-blister (nothing like desert area 110+ degrees F weather), so if I absolutely need to save the urgently burning soles then I can hot-foot, walk faster, or even run to the nearest cooler surface or shade spot.

    Towards the very end of a barefoot day, and if it's still plenty hot enough, only then do I take the attitude that if the soles blister then they blister and seek out extended unshaded asphalt to walk normally or even slower than normal. In that case, I will tolerate as much burning as possible without cooling the soles. If the burning equalizes, then it will still hurt more than enough when continuing to walk, but that's the necessary heat tolerance training to increase the heat limit. It's still toughening by progressive burning. If I do get blisters, I already know that the most blisterable spot is just behind the ball of the foot in the middle of the sole, because I do have lower arches. That spot previously needed four times being blistered (when I still had my calluses) before it was as heat proof as the rest of the sole. Then the soles were good for almost three minutes of walking in 105 degrees F weather before needing to urgently cool the soles, as long as I also hot-foot walked each step on asphalt stretches.
     
  17. I love his barefooting love!
     
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  18. Karen_J

    Karen_J Visitor

    Sounds too fanatical, to me.
     
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  19. hotasphaltblisteredsoles

    hotasphaltblisteredsoles  

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    Some prefer snow, I prefer heat. Cold makes rougher and sharper asphalt hurt more. Heat makes them have some give to it. Blacktop is obviously the most challenging as far as being hot to walk on, but also has almost no friction to wear the soles down faster.

    Barefoot to me is going without shoes, but I don't compensate for the fact I am barefoot unless I'm going to seriously damage my soles (so something like Arizona summer peak heat is definitely out unless I want to have to run across parking lots and hot-foot on sidewalks, not something I want to have to do). Burned soles are normal, I don't care what others think including the news, because they are necessary for gradually getting used to hotter heat. Blisters are a genuine concern because they are a second degree burn, but they still aren't permanent damage to the soles as far as I am concerned as long as they are no larger than a US quarter coin size. Even barefoot runners go through a phase of blister training, so that reenforces that blistering is normal to some extent, it's just friction burning for their soles instead of overburning the soles.

    So again, bare feet burn on hot enough surfaces, they blister from too much friction or overburning, but even blisters are healable after a few days and the reattach. Normal. That's all that needs to be said.

    Otherwise, might as well just wear shoes; however, even rubber insole flip flops feel confining once the soles are conditioned to the heat. Enough so that my feet sweat after a while. But, when I absolutely must wear closed shoes, I also wear socks and end up with no foot odor since I also wear shoes that allow some air circulation.

    No more fanatical than anyone else on barefoot sites like the Facebook "barefoot society" pages that show off their barefoot running callused soles, or in some cases photos of them barefoot in the snow. Others may obviously have a different opinion.
     
  20. This is a barefooting forum, where people who enjoy going barefoot relate their experiences. Other people need not understand or accept it. Why o why do these others continually bombard the forum with pointless comments/queries. If you don't like it or understand it, OK. But this is a barefooters forum. Consequently.....
     
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