Barefoot in winter and how you going

I cna plod around the yard fine enough even though there's snow. I have slightly dirty soles. They do get a clean on the grass though.

 

I generally find it too uncomfortable to go barefoot in winter, I’m guessing it’ll be another four months of shoes although last week I did go to the local shop in bare feet, it isn’t far but my soles got surprisingly dirty. The cashier looked gobsmacked but didn’t say anything. I’m aching for spring and proper barefooting

 

I'm always barefoot as long as it's not freezing. We don't get much snow around here. When it's too cold, I just wear cheapo plastic slippers, the only "shoes" I have.

 

I had a bath yesterday which kind of stripped the grit from my souls I guess. Until then I was kind of enjoying them getting slightly darker. I almost got a tattoo on my foot too, but the place was closed when I went to go.

 

There are two issues when walking barefoot in the cold:

- How long you can stay out before getting frostbite. On a dry day without wind, on tarmac, I can walk outside all day long down to 40 degrees. 20 to 30 min between 40 and 32. 1 to 5 minutes below 32. But if I stand on wood on my porch, I can stay longer because wood is a thermal insulator. Conversely, if the ground is wet or if it's windy, it cuts down the time I can stay out dramatically. That's why I have to wear shoes when I cycle for instance, even in relatively balmy weather, because my feet are constantly in the wind as I'm moving.

- Reduced feeling: we barefooters know how important it is to feel the ground for safety. Cold feet feel less. Very cold feet feel nothing. Feet in danger of getting frostbite hurt. Me, if I walk on safe ground, I call it quits when it starts hurting, and when I don't get enough tactile feedback on dodgy surfaces.

 

Sometimes I walk barefoot in the snow just for the fun of it ... but never for long. Just a few minutes.

When I go somewhere in cold/snowy weather I wear my flip flops like. Can be worn even with socks. That's enough for me, we never have much snow around here and streets and pavements are mostly cleaned after snowfall anyway.

 

Very cold snow is okay to tread on, because snow is an insulator and it doesn't melt easily. Snow that's close to freezing temperature isn't however, because it turns into water underfoot, and cold water wicks out heat in a hurry.

 

75 and sunny here today. Did a 2 hour hike, most of it barefoot.

 

Well, looks like my outdoors barefooting is done completely for a few weeks. Massive drop in temperatures, and we're now measuring temps as low as -26 Celcius (-14.8 Fah), and expected to get WORSE as the week progresses. Fucking January...