Any tips for barefooting?

Hi,
I really want to go barefoot, but I've never done it outside of my garden before. It's not people seeing my feet that bother me (they're just feet...most people have got them!), its just that it's quite cold and rainy most of the time here in England, and there's always crap and broken glass and chewing gum and stuff all over the floor.

So does anybody have any tips as to how to get started? Any personal experiences you'd like to share? Anything you'd like to ask but I didn't bring up?

Thanks in advance
Richard

 

I dont really know how you can solve the cold part. As for there being stuff all over I would just watch where you are going. It's not hard to keep an eye on the ground and an eye on where you are going. It might be hard at first but once you get comfortable with it you wont even notice. I dont really have much advice other then just do it and get the feel of it. It will get easier the more you do it. Dont give up when you get huge blisters on your feet and you think you will never be able to walk again without it hurting. They will heal and make your feet tougher. That's the way it happened with me anyways. Good luck!!!

 

Hi Richard,

I live in the UK as well and I quite agree that our crappy climate is not conducive to enjoyable all year round barefooting.

I do go barefoot pretty much all the time from around mid/late April to late September/October (Weather dependant of course) without a problem.

As Pomunus says, the best advice is probably 'just do it'. Over the course of the first two or three days you can practically feel your soles getting adjusted. Within a week or two you are practically walking on 'living leather' and nothing is going to get through & hurt you.

Watching where you are going is obviously a good idea too. Especially in the early days. But people do that anyway don't they ? Even while wearing shoes nobody like stepping in dog crap for example. Avoiding hazards is really pretty easy. And there are nowhere near as many 'hazards' out there as the average 'shoddy' would have you believe.

Go for it big time, You won't be sorry you did.

Good luck,
Rick

 

Went out barefoot for the first time today this year J did some walking and then some running around the tarmac paths and on a disused service road at my local park. Got a few odd looks but oh well ! very comfortable at the time but the pads on my forefoot are a little sore now ! also went for a walk around the nature reserve, excellent mix of dry mud and stones and some really wet areas which I left some trails of prints in along side all the trainer prints and dogs – if only my pads were as thick and tough as some of the dogs now … … found a picture from last year – the blisters are from walking on the tarmac at the beach in the middle of summer – hurt a day later but once they went they left a well callused patch of sole that seemed to be impervious to anything J I wont embarrass myself my putting a current pic up since my soles are too soft at the moment compared to the photos on the board ! from the descriptions I would be interested to see Nikko or BVA soles since they sound awesome and pretty well indestructible ! I’ve been trying some Tuff-Foot which is designed to toughen dogs pads which seems to help get started – luckily my pads are pretty thick and toughen easily – I start a bit at time on tarmac and try to start on gravel after a week or two and that seems to give goods results.

 

Hi,
I didn't have the time to read all the answers that have already been posted, so forgive me if what I write has already been said:

Start on a sunny day!! I started barefooting last summer, stopped over winter and now started again and from my experience this year I can tell you it's deadly if you walk barefoot on a cold, grey, rainy day before you have discovered the joy of walking barefoot. Start on a warm day, when the streets are warm, everything looks bright and the sun carresses your feet... Wonderful...hm...!

 

me and my guy like to go barefoot when possible but its so disgusting in my current area! i live in south london and last time we went barefoot i got glass in my toe and my feet were balck...and im not just talkin dirty im talking, black black black and sticky hehe! but was worth it tho! got a few rudes comments aswell fromthe gereal public but hey. barefoot rocks, espcially on grass, sand or when the pavements warm...lovely . makes me know the summers here


love luchi xxxx

 

Barefootedness is very common all over the place in New Zealand, and we have all that crap... Just build up those lovely calluses and you'll be groovy!
After all, shoes are merely prisons for otherwise free soles...
(Possibly the worst pun I ever came up with... Hehehe...)

 

start on a good day and walk on some roughfer stuff to harden your feet up...aut watch out for glass and stuff...then by the time there is bad weather and glass and stuff u will be able to walk right through it

 

Thats a great idea. Tougher feet are less likely to get cut. And you dont wanna get cut deep in the woods. Dam that would suck.

 

One very important one; don't drag your feet. When you drag or shuffle your feet, you make a sliding, cutting move along the ground and even a pointy but not very sharp rock could cut your skin. On the other hand, your skin can stand a lot of straight pressure, even from freshly cut glass! To see what I mean, take a piece of scrap leather or something, put a sharp knife down on it and just push... then lift it up again. You can take a quite sharp knife and you'll just leave an impression that will veer up again. On the other hand, as soon as you slice with the knife, it'll start to cut, even with far less pressure. The worst are pointy things but nails and even most pointy shards tend to lay flat on the ground, only entire bottles of bottles lay with all the points up, or nails in boards, and those are all big items easy to spot. Or in grassy areas the ground will likely be softer than your foot so you'll push the item down in the dirt instead! A nail laying flat on the ground is not particularly dangerous.