Plan B Forum

On another board I frequent there has been talk about Vibram FiveFinger shoes. Ugly shoes. Foot gloves, really. What caught me was the comment that they're shoes for people who hate shoes, which I do. I'm barefoot most of the time. In shoes, I have sprained my ankles at least two dozen times. Never sprained an ankle barefooted.

I now own a pair of the FiveFinger Classics and love them. I bought them yesterday afternoon, took them off only when I went to bed. Harder than hell to find, most stores in the Twin Cities were sold out. They are a pain in the ass to put on (I got it down to 2 minutes per shoe - w00t!), but once on they rock. Wore them mowing the lawn, climbing a ladder to clean the gutters, going on a long walk. My back and legs felt great.

On the plus side, I now have shoes TheKid will not steal, AND she refuses to be seen with me in public if I am wearing them.

Do they have one with a furry outside?

I wore z-coils for a while. I won't wear any shoes now that draw attention because it is absolutely draining answering the same question 2 dozen times a day. I wear MBT's now. $250 a pop but completely inconspicuous.

tyro wrote:Do they have one with a furry outside?

No, but that's nothing fake fur and a glue gun can't fix.

I dunno, has it any kind of arch support?

If your foot is formed normally, I suppose they're great, but I have fallen arches and spend most of my time on hard (concrete) surfaces.

Want! Want! Want!

With my incredibly screwed up ankles and knees these coould be a blessing!

At present I wear these;



day in, day out, morning noon and night.

And I am sorely dischuffed to find you can buy them for $60 in the USA, when I pay $180 here for them

Footwear is basically bad for your feet. Avoid it whenever possible.

Loca: try a Red Wing store. They have work boots and can fit anyone. I love my RW boots...not cheap, but they last a LONG time.

loCA -There isn't much in the line of arch support, but they do cup your feet very well, including your instep.

My dad used to wear Red Wing - they were the only company that would accomodate his weird feet (very wide and very flat). Mom and he would go down to the factory once a year and he'd buy two pairs of work shoes. However, the quality of RW shoes has declined. They're still better than a lot of work shoes, but the quality isn't there like it used to be.

So far, mine have outlasted two pairs of replacements & are still comfortable. I'm pretty hard on work boots.

Gimcrack wrote:loCA -There isn't much in the line of arch support, but they do cup your feet very well, including your instep.

My dad used to wear Red Wing - they were the only company that would accomodate his weird feet (very wide and very flat). Mom and he would go down to the factory once a year and he'd buy two pairs of work shoes. However, the quality of RW shoes has declined. They're still better than a lot of work shoes, but the quality isn't there like it used to be.

I wonder if that has anything to do with them being outsourced

I've run power mowers and hauled rocks off of quarry piles and climbed scree and power-trimmed ten-foot-high hedges and dug ditches and done a host of other things barefoot. All it takes (unless you're just naturally clumsy) is paying attention to what you're doing.

(But if you're going to sabotage a dishwasher, wear heavy-duty rubber soles and heavy-duty rubber gloves.)

Gob wrote:

Want! Want! Want!

You can't have!

You will wear them with socks and I will NOT put up with that.

Jarlaxle wrote:Loca: try a Red Wing store. They have work boots and can fit anyone. I love my RW boots...not cheap, but they last a LONG time.

I still have and wear a pair of Red Wing Steel Toed Dress boots I bought when I first joined the Navy. The used to be my 'overseas' travel boots: look nice but carry a fierce kick! The store I bought them at is long gone, but you're right, I should look them up online.

As i have said in a previous thread i have shoe fetish and I have to apologise to those of you that are offended but fuck me swinging..

THOSE ARE THE MOST FUCKIN UGLY SHOES I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE


These are a fine lookin pair of shoes of which I covet....I could wear them all day everyday and life could never be bad wearing Manolo Blahniks!

SisterMaryFellatio wrote:As i have said in a previous thread i have shoe fetish and I have to apologise to those of you that are offended but fuck me swinging..

THOSE ARE THE MOST FUCKIN UGLY SHOES I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE


These are a fine lookin pair of shoes of which I covet....I could wear them all day everyday and life could never be bad wearing Manolo Blahniks!

Now to me those shoes are just examples of how fucked up and misogynistic the shoe industry is.

Andrew D wrote:I've run power mowers and hauled rocks off of quarry piles and climbed scree and power-trimmed ten-foot-high hedges and dug ditches and done a host of other things barefoot. All it takes (unless you're just naturally clumsy) is paying attention to what you're doing.

(But if you're going to sabotage a dishwasher, wear heavy-duty rubber soles and heavy-duty rubber gloves.)

I have also mowed the lawn, &c barefooted, but after stepping on nails, trying to walk over hot roads, stepping in unknown stuff - it's nice to have some foot protection while still feeling barefoot.

SisterMary - those are indeed gorgeous shoes. I used to wear shoes like that. Then my ankle would roll. Or my size 11 hooves in shoes like that would catch on a stair and down I would go (foot being the same size as the riser). After years of looking good in beautiful shoes, but hurting miserably, I decided I would rather wear ugly assed shoes, be comfortable, and be agile.

Gob wrote:

Want! Want! Want!

With my incredibly screwed up ankles and knees these coould be a blessing!

At present I wear these;



day in, day out, morning noon and night.

And I am sorely dischuffed to find you can buy them for $60 in the USA, when I pay $180 here for them

If you can find 'em for $60 in the US -- more like $100, but occasionally on sale for less -- let me know. I will happily pick up and ship you a pair. I love my Keens. Looking at the pair for cycling for my new bike

That's ever so kind of you Guin, watch this space!

The Hen wrote:

Gob wrote:

Want! Want! Want!

You can't have!

You will wear them with socks and I will NOT put up with that.

Of course I'd wear socks with them, I wear them with my sandals, I'd wear them with these, socks is nice!

After all, I wouldn't object to you wearing a pair of black fishnet / lacy hold ups, (and nothing else) if you were wearing these..

Being the height I am with the position I hold, I find it necessary in this world to wear a shoe that removes me from the ground.

I never go in for wearing "fuck me shoe" at work. Some women do and I have little time for them.

I do own a number of court shoes with heels ranging between 2 to around 3 1/2 inches in order not to disappear in men's armpits when standing around at events.