Many people interested in Barefoot Running or Hiking find it hard to transition into going 100% barefoot. It takes a long time for the feet to toughen up and the nerves to stop being so sensitive to sharp rocks.
Some people end up trying to transition with light-weight shoes with minimal support, like Vibram Five Fingers, old classic Vans, or Water/Surf shoes with minimal padding.
But what if you can skip the shoe completely and still protect the bottom of the feet?
I’ve noticed that when hiking around barefoot in the forest, tree sap will collect on the bottom of my feet and small leafs will stick to the bottom. This acts as extra protection. Works great!
Except it’s a bit of a pain to clean the sap off the bottom after you’re at home.
Perhaps we can find a coating that acts as protection. Also, perhaps we could use a pre-coating that makes it easy to clean the foot afterwards.
Any ideas?
I’m thinking of natural coatings. Something that sticks. Like maybe honey covered with oatmeal flakes.
The barefoot community will need to test out different things on the bottom of their feet to see what works ;)
Good post. Looking forward to seeing you write a lot more about this subject.