It's true. Barefooting saved my life. I was on a hiking trail behind my house, which was beside a creek. One spot, there was a bunch of rocks about the sixe of a human head all the way down to the creek (down a hill). I walked down to the creek, easy enough. But then I wanted to get back up to the trail... but I had stepped in mud... with my shoes this slippery, there was no way I could go up the rocks without killing myself. So naturally, I pulled them off, and climbed right up. And I forgot to put them back on again all the way home... dang.