Category: Bits and pieces (Page 8 of 28)

Today I took one step further in my transition to barefoot walking. I went to Fotkultur in Malmö and bought a pair of black Vivo Barefoot Ra.

The Ra is one of the most classic VIVOBAREFOOT styles to date. The sumptuous vegetable tanned leather upper sits on the original VIVOBAREFOOT sole. It’s a truly versatile shoe; smart enough for the office and stylish enough for a night out, offering barefoot health benefits from day-to-night.

I wanted real barefoot shoes which means no heal, no built in support and a thin flexible protective sole. The VivoBarefoot concept gives me that.

No heel, no midsole, no arch support, no gimmicks! VIVOBAREFOOT encourages us to move as million years of evolution intended – barefoot.

Ra features (from Terra Plana):
– Flexible.
– Ultra thin 3mm TPU sole.
– Puncture resistant.
– Vegetable tanned minimum chrome leather upper.

The lining is Naturetex 50 which is made from 50% recycled plastic bottles. I like the slogan, At Cosmo we strive to make the world we live in a better place.

Now I have barefoot or almost barefoot shoes for all occasions:
– Vivo Barefoot Ra is a more “dressed” shoe.
– Keen Sayulita Lace is a leisure shoe.
– Nike Free 3.0 V2 is for walking and running (when/if I want to run).
– Keen Sun Valley Slipper is my indoor shoe, I’m usually barefoot at home.

Read more in the Tag Archives: barefoot.

I bought Keen Sun Valley Slipper in September and I really like them. Today I got my Keen Sayulita Lace. These are, just like the slipper, “barefoot” in style with almost no heal and a fairly flexible sole. The shoes are wide and really comfortable.

Perfect for your transition from work to play, week to weekend, Keen’s Sayulita lace-up shoes are made of soft, flexible suede and styled with a laid-back look.

I have been posting some about barefoot running and walking.

The big shoe companies are clearly paying attention to the (minimalist approach) trend. Nike was first to market with the Nike Free, a flexible shoe for “barefoot like running” with less padding than the company’s typical offerings.

The Nike Free line of footwear features a segmented sole which provides greater flexibility while still having an amount of cushioning. The Free line is based on a scale from 1-10, where 1 is barefoot and 10 is a typical athletic shoe sole.

That scale makes the 3.0 closest to being barefoot. Today I bought a pair of Nike Free 3.0 V2 which are “semi-barefoot” shoes. The soles are very flexible, walking in these shoes are very different to using an ordinary pair of shoes. Less padding in the Free shoes means you need to walk and run differently. No landing on your heel, it hurts too much.

It’s said that you shall take it slow and get used to minimalist shoes. I’m glad that I walk barefoot at home, it seems to make a big difference since I walked more than usual today yet still have no aching feet or legs.

Either the shoes are small in size or you need larger barefoot-shoes. I normally wear size 9, in these I needed size 10.5.