Showing posts with label feet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label feet. Show all posts
Monday, March 8, 2010
Vibram FiveFingers Performa Sizing Note: Go UP
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This is a wee note on sizing Vibram's newish 
Women's Performa. This is the all-leather rather slipper like VFF that's like driving gloves for one's feet. Indeed, they only have the rubbery sole bits on the toes, forefoot and heel - hence making them designed "for indoor use only."
Suggested uses are pilates, yoga and "fitness" - whacking a heavy bag is pretty cool too: no straps on top of the foot to get in the way of a good smack. For me, it's wearing indoors when i HATE wearing shoes but the floors are too cold.
The thing is, Vibram suggests that the sizing is the same for the Performa (the guy's version is the Moc) as it is for its Classic and Sprint (for reference, here's a very long post on sizing/fitting VFF's).
Personally, after trying a pair the same size as the classics/sprints - which are generous on me - i've had to go up a size from that. By the numbers, these are the largest fit VFF's i've put on.
I thought trying these that the left foot was fine, and the right foot, the big toe, was giving me the same feeling of tightness that i was experiencing in my initial KSO's - the experience that after months of wear caused me to go for a bigger size when it seemed that my feet got bigger after months and months of wearing vff's (discussed here). It's just one of those things that i KNOW if i say oh it will stretch oh it's just me will mean i end up not wearing the shoes - so back they go to see if the bigger size is better. It was.
Sole News. Not only did they fit - they were a bit snug even so to get on - but in a good way. Another fit plus that surprised is that these slightly larger foot gloves feel better on the bottoms of the shoe than the smaller, more closely fitted ones. it's hard to describe but these are different shoes than the regular VFF's. Regular VFF's have a one piece rubber sole running from heal to toe, and around the arch. In the Performa/Moc, as shown in the image above, the rubbery stuff is separately covering toes, forefoot, heal
In the intial (smaller) pair, i really seemed to *feel* the rubbery stuff on the heels. It wasn't particularly nice - it actually felt a wee bit unevent. When i put the larger size on and did up the elastic a bit, everything felt immediately more familiar and normal. Happily the same size Performa was working both bare foot and with Injinji sox. the one down side is the bit of slack in the heal i've grown accustomed to in the classic is back. sigh. still not the best fitting models of the line. The KSO's -for me anyway - still rock as the best fitting vff's
Stores. This experience surprised me since it had been the kso/flow that needed the size change - not the sprint/classic. Oh well. This kind of try it out and swap as needed is something that makes dealing with a store a Nice Thing and for me, that's what makes city sports in boston a fave vff test spot (i get nothing from city sports to say that - it's just been a good store experience - if you have a shop you like for vff's give it a go; if you're in Oregon, kayak shed is where to head - again, no recompense for saying they just do good service).
If you have a fave VFF shop, please post a comment.
Trying One On. As i said in the previous post about my ill fated efforts with fitting a men's Trek in the current absence of a women's Trek, the leather of these Performa's is delightfully one might say buttery soft - and reputedly highly durable. My road bike shoes are made from kangaroo leather and they have ruled resiliant for a decade (yes sad but i like to buy things that are good enough to only need to buy once, whenever possible). But despite how delightful they are, it's worth perhaps considering trying on a couple sizes rather than assuming that the Classic size will fit you.
Idiosnycratic or General? I can't give you rock solid advice here because it seems my feet no longer follow Vibram's recommendation which says that the flow/kso would be a size smaller than one's classic/sprint. WHile that's exactly how i started, i now take the same size in a Flow and KSO that i do in a Classic and Sprint. And to top that all off it seems the performa's need to be one size up from those. So *IF* you find yourself in the same boat, and would like some lovely loungers or actually want to skip the matt for yoga (like yoga in a hotel room), then travelling with a pair of Performas/Mocs is going to be far more condusive to packing than having to bring a mat as well.
I downward dogged on the hotel carpet quite a bit and was pleased that yup, one really could go without a mat: these things stick in a way that barefeet don't - they slide - and they slide more on carpet when sweaty and sheesh hotel carpets/gyms can be kinda grotty, no? So functional? yes.
Whether i use these as i hope - as a general purpose indoor vff - more than i do the classics right now remains to be seen. But they look and feel pretty durn nice.
Notes to b2d. Please let me know if you've tried Performa's what you use 'em for and what your sizing experience as been.
Related Posts
Women's Performa. This is the all-leather rather slipper like VFF that's like driving gloves for one's feet. Indeed, they only have the rubbery sole bits on the toes, forefoot and heel - hence making them designed "for indoor use only."Suggested uses are pilates, yoga and "fitness" - whacking a heavy bag is pretty cool too: no straps on top of the foot to get in the way of a good smack. For me, it's wearing indoors when i HATE wearing shoes but the floors are too cold.
The thing is, Vibram suggests that the sizing is the same for the Performa (the guy's version is the Moc) as it is for its Classic and Sprint (for reference, here's a very long post on sizing/fitting VFF's).
Personally, after trying a pair the same size as the classics/sprints - which are generous on me - i've had to go up a size from that. By the numbers, these are the largest fit VFF's i've put on.
I thought trying these that the left foot was fine, and the right foot, the big toe, was giving me the same feeling of tightness that i was experiencing in my initial KSO's - the experience that after months of wear caused me to go for a bigger size when it seemed that my feet got bigger after months and months of wearing vff's (discussed here). It's just one of those things that i KNOW if i say oh it will stretch oh it's just me will mean i end up not wearing the shoes - so back they go to see if the bigger size is better. It was.
Sole News. Not only did they fit - they were a bit snug even so to get on - but in a good way. Another fit plus that surprised is that these slightly larger foot gloves feel better on the bottoms of the shoe than the smaller, more closely fitted ones. it's hard to describe but these are different shoes than the regular VFF's. Regular VFF's have a one piece rubber sole running from heal to toe, and around the arch. In the Performa/Moc, as shown in the image above, the rubbery stuff is separately covering toes, forefoot, heal
In the intial (smaller) pair, i really seemed to *feel* the rubbery stuff on the heels. It wasn't particularly nice - it actually felt a wee bit unevent. When i put the larger size on and did up the elastic a bit, everything felt immediately more familiar and normal. Happily the same size Performa was working both bare foot and with Injinji sox. the one down side is the bit of slack in the heal i've grown accustomed to in the classic is back. sigh. still not the best fitting models of the line. The KSO's -for me anyway - still rock as the best fitting vff's
Stores. This experience surprised me since it had been the kso/flow that needed the size change - not the sprint/classic. Oh well. This kind of try it out and swap as needed is something that makes dealing with a store a Nice Thing and for me, that's what makes city sports in boston a fave vff test spot (i get nothing from city sports to say that - it's just been a good store experience - if you have a shop you like for vff's give it a go; if you're in Oregon, kayak shed is where to head - again, no recompense for saying they just do good service).
If you have a fave VFF shop, please post a comment.
Trying One On. As i said in the previous post about my ill fated efforts with fitting a men's Trek in the current absence of a women's Trek, the leather of these Performa's is delightfully one might say buttery soft - and reputedly highly durable. My road bike shoes are made from kangaroo leather and they have ruled resiliant for a decade (yes sad but i like to buy things that are good enough to only need to buy once, whenever possible). But despite how delightful they are, it's worth perhaps considering trying on a couple sizes rather than assuming that the Classic size will fit you.
Idiosnycratic or General? I can't give you rock solid advice here because it seems my feet no longer follow Vibram's recommendation which says that the flow/kso would be a size smaller than one's classic/sprint. WHile that's exactly how i started, i now take the same size in a Flow and KSO that i do in a Classic and Sprint. And to top that all off it seems the performa's need to be one size up from those. So *IF* you find yourself in the same boat, and would like some lovely loungers or actually want to skip the matt for yoga (like yoga in a hotel room), then travelling with a pair of Performas/Mocs is going to be far more condusive to packing than having to bring a mat as well.
I downward dogged on the hotel carpet quite a bit and was pleased that yup, one really could go without a mat: these things stick in a way that barefeet don't - they slide - and they slide more on carpet when sweaty and sheesh hotel carpets/gyms can be kinda grotty, no? So functional? yes.
Whether i use these as i hope - as a general purpose indoor vff - more than i do the classics right now remains to be seen. But they look and feel pretty durn nice.
Notes to b2d. Please let me know if you've tried Performa's what you use 'em for and what your sizing experience as been.
Related Posts
- Do your shoes pass the twist test?
- b2dVibram FiveFingers Article Index
- Why freeing your feet is so important athletically
PDF
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Barefoot Running - even more vid analysis sources
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In case you were curious, here's some nice fine comparison work of barefoot and not foot striking. B2D readers know there have been many of us here for awhile, celebrating foot freedom with minimal footwear, or goodness, naked feet, (see the entire index of articles on same).
Some of us have been just waiting for the moment when barefooting or vff'ing would make it through to the mainstream. THis seems to have happened recently on the cover of nature, with DE Lieberman's research in praise of the unshod. The formal article title is "Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitually barefoot versus shod runners" The abstract reads:
Related Posts
CITATION
Lieberman, D., Venkadesan, M., Werbel, W., Daoud, A., D’Andrea, S., Davis, I., Mang’Eni, R., & Pitsiladis, Y. (2010). Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitually barefoot versus shod runners Nature, 463 (7280), 531-535 DOI: 10.1038/nature08723 Tweet Follow @begin2dig
In case you were curious, here's some nice fine comparison work of barefoot and not foot striking. B2D readers know there have been many of us here for awhile, celebrating foot freedom with minimal footwear, or goodness, naked feet, (see the entire index of articles on same).Some of us have been just waiting for the moment when barefooting or vff'ing would make it through to the mainstream. THis seems to have happened recently on the cover of nature, with DE Lieberman's research in praise of the unshod. The formal article title is "Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitually barefoot versus shod runners" The abstract reads:
Humans have engaged in endurance running for millions of years1, but the modern running shoe was not invented until the 1970s. For most of human evolutionary history, runners were either barefoot or wore minimal footwear such as sandals or moccasins with smaller heels and little cushioning relative to modern running shoes. We wondered how runners coped with the impact caused by the foot colliding with the ground before the invention of the modern shoe. Here we show that habitually barefoot endurance runners often land on the fore-foot (fore-foot strike) before bringing down the heel, but they sometimes land with a flat foot (mid-foot strike) or, less often, on the heel (rear-foot strike). In contrast, habitually shod runners mostly rear-foot strike, facilitated by the elevated and cushioned heel of the modern running shoe. Kinematic and kinetic analyses show that even on hard surfaces, barefoot runners who fore-foot strike generate smaller collision forces than shod rear-foot strikers. This difference results primarily from a more plantarflexed foot at landing and more ankle compliance during impact, decreasing the effective mass of the body that collides with the ground. Fore-foot- and mid-foot-strike gaits were probably more common when humans ran barefoot or in minimal shoes, and may protect the feet and lower limbs from some of the impact-related injuries now experienced by a high percentage of runners.As this work was covered broadly by the media, i haven't jumped in (just quietly celebrating ahead of the curveness), but wanted to foreground an associated resource that b2d reader Robert Cowham forwarded today, followed by one that's on the main vibram fivefingers page now. Enjoy.
Related Posts
- Running Shoes as Single Factor Thinking
- The neurological benefit of the thinly shod
- Review of wearing vff's five months on (it's been 15 months now)
- do YOUR shoes pass the twist test?
CITATION
Lieberman, D., Venkadesan, M., Werbel, W., Daoud, A., D’Andrea, S., Davis, I., Mang’Eni, R., & Pitsiladis, Y. (2010). Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitually barefoot versus shod runners Nature, 463 (7280), 531-535 DOI: 10.1038/nature08723 Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Do your Shoes Pass the Twist Test? How to tell if your Shoes are Good for you (not just your feet)
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With all the debate about footwear of late, one may wonder what's healthy for shodding one's feet when shod they must be? Allow me to (re)present the Twist Test: does the shoe in question twist laterally, a la ringing out a towel? Alternatively or 
complementarily, does it bend at all places OTHER than just at the ball of the foot? Simple check: but the better they twist and bend, the better they're following the mechanics of our feet, and hence the movements of our body.
I'm not sure if it originated with him, but Eric Cobb at the Z-Health (what's that?) R-phase certifications presents the twist test as a way to check the responsiveness of footwear to our feet's actual mechanics.
Consider the joints of the feet - and a reminder that a full one quarter of the joints in the body are in the feet. These joints do allow all kinds of movement in the foot. Do our shoes support or impede this?
More recently i've also been giving shoes a squish. Are the super padded? or just sufficientlty to protect the foot from the ground? Even the largely twisty Nike Free's are still pretty squishy shoes (the 7's - or cross trainers being the least squishy of the bunch). What's the role of the squish? Does that impair signal or provide a good transition platform to more environmentally true conditions? What's the least amount of padding one can get away with?
I've written before about the relationship of speed and position information sent from joints to the brain to process where we are and how we are moving in space, and what happens when those information points are compromised or cut off. Suffice it to say here, that more accurate information from more joints is better. Imagine if we're mo
ving but because of the stiffness of the shoe our joints are saying in our feet well, we're not really moving, what kind of information the brain is getting? Ankle spraining information or just poor function for maybe setting up a back ache information? Is that cuff in that hiking boot really helping or hindering good body movement?
So, next time you're with someone you love and they're contemplating shoes, you might want to subtley give the shoe a twist - and maybe a squish.
Related posts
complementarily, does it bend at all places OTHER than just at the ball of the foot? Simple check: but the better they twist and bend, the better they're following the mechanics of our feet, and hence the movements of our body.Consider the joints of the feet - and a reminder that a full one quarter of the joints in the body are in the feet. These joints do allow all kinds of movement in the foot. Do our shoes support or impede this?
I've written before about the relationship of speed and position information sent from joints to the brain to process where we are and how we are moving in space, and what happens when those information points are compromised or cut off. Suffice it to say here, that more accurate information from more joints is better. Imagine if we're mo
ving but because of the stiffness of the shoe our joints are saying in our feet well, we're not really moving, what kind of information the brain is getting? Ankle spraining information or just poor function for maybe setting up a back ache information? Is that cuff in that hiking boot really helping or hindering good body movement?So, next time you're with someone you love and they're contemplating shoes, you might want to subtley give the shoe a twist - and maybe a squish.
Related posts
- Kick off your shoes and Free Your Feet
- four part series on bare footing with Dr. Mick Wilkinson starts here.
- Fast Review of Terra Plana Dopie Sandles
- Running Shoes as Single Factor Thinking
- Fitting Vibram FiveFingers
- Vibram Five Fingers Article Index
Sunday, November 8, 2009
The Changing Foot of the Vibram FiveFingeres Wearer: Review of feet size change over time
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I've been wearing Vibram 
FiveFingers (VFF's) for about a year now. Yup, a year. While the challenge of what to do out doors when either sub zero or wet wintery are still a mystery, wearing these shoes for this length of time has let me observe/experience an intriguing phenomena about which i've seen little (ok no) comment: feet changing size.
I'll say right now that i measure my feet by my second toe - happens to be the longest (tips on fitting VFF's here). Thus i have room in my VFF's in the big toe pocket. So much so that wearing the same size VFF's with or without socks was no problem. Initially. Something happened in mid may after wearing VFF's indoors from nov - march, and then just all the time from march - may. My vff's with sox started to feel small. On the right foot only and mainly pulling on the big toe. Where i'd had room.
I didn't know how to make sense of this. At a z-heath s-phase cert talking with DC Eric Cobb, i asked if one's foot size could change in shifting shoe types. Oh yes, he laughed. Great. Fortunately summer weather was coming and the sox could be dispensed with and the shoes were ok again.
Now it's getting cold, sox are coming back on and funny thing, the vff's (mainly the kso's) do not seem to be as tight now. Have they stretched out?
I asked z-health master trainer Zachariah Salazar at another recent z-health ho down - and a guy who's almost as footwear fanatical as i am - and he said that he's watched his feet change in both directions: as his shoes got flatter and more open, the feet got longer/bigger. But now, he says, as his muscles seem to be readapting in the feet again, they're pulling back in as his shoe size has come back down again. Perhaps that's what's happening with my feet - a re, re-adjustment.
Dunno. But it's interesting. I recently got to try on a pair one size up in the kso with socks. i'm sure this is what the current size *used* to feel like. time to think upping the size for winter wear - but they don't even feel that big without the sox. yup there's been a change in me, as the song goes.
Any other VFF wearers out there had any similar experiences?
Please post your foot size changing experiences.
Related Posts:
FiveFingers (VFF's) for about a year now. Yup, a year. While the challenge of what to do out doors when either sub zero or wet wintery are still a mystery, wearing these shoes for this length of time has let me observe/experience an intriguing phenomena about which i've seen little (ok no) comment: feet changing size.I'll say right now that i measure my feet by my second toe - happens to be the longest (tips on fitting VFF's here). Thus i have room in my VFF's in the big toe pocket. So much so that wearing the same size VFF's with or without socks was no problem. Initially. Something happened in mid may after wearing VFF's indoors from nov - march, and then just all the time from march - may. My vff's with sox started to feel small. On the right foot only and mainly pulling on the big toe. Where i'd had room.
I didn't know how to make sense of this. At a z-heath s-phase cert talking with DC Eric Cobb, i asked if one's foot size could change in shifting shoe types. Oh yes, he laughed. Great. Fortunately summer weather was coming and the sox could be dispensed with and the shoes were ok again.Now it's getting cold, sox are coming back on and funny thing, the vff's (mainly the kso's) do not seem to be as tight now. Have they stretched out?
I asked z-health master trainer Zachariah Salazar at another recent z-health ho down - and a guy who's almost as footwear fanatical as i am - and he said that he's watched his feet change in both directions: as his shoes got flatter and more open, the feet got longer/bigger. But now, he says, as his muscles seem to be readapting in the feet again, they're pulling back in as his shoe size has come back down again. Perhaps that's what's happening with my feet - a re, re-adjustment.
Dunno. But it's interesting. I recently got to try on a pair one size up in the kso with socks. i'm sure this is what the current size *used* to feel like. time to think upping the size for winter wear - but they don't even feel that big without the sox. yup there's been a change in me, as the song goes.
Any other VFF wearers out there had any similar experiences?
Please post your foot size changing experiences.
Related Posts:
- a year's worth of VFF articles at begin2dig
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Bare Feet with Sole(s) - Quick Review of Dopie Sandals by Terra Plana
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Recently i wrote about the benefit to our nervous systems and therefore general well being in freeing our feet and going barefoot as often as possible. I've learne
d the philosophy of the Twist Test: if you can't grab your shoe and the heel and toe and twist it around the middle, it's too stiff for decent foot bone mobility. Another test is: can you bend them just behind where the ball of the foot is, and are they heel-less? It's incredible how high tech trainers do not pass the twist or bend tests, and many shoes that pass the twist/bend test, ruin it by having heels. So since going through these multiple lessons on footwear failure, i've been looking for shoes that pass the Heel-less Twist Test and support barefootedness as much as possilbe.
So far, i've been disappointed in the mixed up sizing of the otherwise brilliant Vivo Barefoot boots for women (scroll down this article to "vivo" for why), and have been keenly waiting my next trip to the states to try out the much celebrated Vibram Five Fingers - ask RKCs Doug Nepodal (aka the kilted one) and Ronaldo Garcia (aka the elvis one) what they think of these flexible wonders (update nov08: see article on experience with how to fit FiveFingers).
Sandals Special Additional Factor: toe clutch One of the biggest challenges has been to find sandals to replace the venerable, but untwistable/unbendable birkenstocks, or even Reef flipflops. Two problems: don't twist, and many many flip flops require toes to remain pretty much in flexion (clenching or bending the toes) to hold the shoe on while moving. Guess what? that constant flexion, well that's not natural: when walking the toes should be able to do many other things than hold on a sandal.
The solution for now seems to be another product from the Terra Plana shop: the oddly named Dopies. The Dopies are, yes, flip flops BUT the toe clawing effect induced by the raw flip flop is both reduced by the weird toe holder that rather hooks over two toes; the clawing is even further mitigated by using the optional strap - even if that strap is really loose.
The cool thing about this sandal is that the sole is very thin. in this way, the shoe is effectively very close to being barefoot - with a wee protective sole on the foot.
There's quite the design development discussion on the sandal's web site. I'm not that persuaded by footware designed by artists rather than people who know foot mechanics, but in this case i have a simple test: does it twist? yes. does it cause toe flexion? not when the strap is attached. After that, is it comfy? yes. Is it fun? oh very.
COST Is Dopie cheap. oh no - or that depends. If you visit the Dopie site at Terra Plana, you'll see that the sandals sell
for thirty quid in the UK. That's more or less 60 USD - granted that includes 17.5% vat. That's 24.75 without VAT, so 50 USD. 50USD for foam rubber molded sandals. According to Terra Plana they sell quite alot at that price, so they were not interested in price matching with other online dealers. If you look around, you can find them for less - at least right now before new stock comes in in February. In the UK, i've found them from 10 quid to 19, pending on availability of size. In the US, amazon has 'em from 19 to yes 49 bucks. And sadly now, for us in the EU where this company is founded, in looking at the US version of terraplana.com, they're 30USD. Please explain how a product that comes from china is double the cost in the EU from what it is in the US.
Value: i only have my feet to go by, but they look interesting and feel fine. Walking on sidewalks and grass has been equally zippy. The thing between the toes is less noticeable, it seems, the more one walks. I've only tried them briefly without the strap, and as suspected they really do flip/flop - rather loudly.
I may experiment with that further, but was less inclined to do so due to the toe flexion thing. Without the strap - they really do look naked. The one disadvantage compared with birks for instance is that they're going to require ninja tabby toed sox if they'll be worn in the winter. That aside, unlike birks, these have the advantage of being highly wash and wearable.
Overall: Freeing Your Feet The tag line of the Dopie is "naked shoes for naked people." When naked footed people need a little sole protection, Dopies pass the twist test, and seem to pass the sandle toe flexion test. They're comfy and fun. While it's warm enough not to wear gloves, it may well be likely warm enough to go as barefoot as these Dopies afford
. 
Update, a month later
I've been wearing these sandals pretty much daily for the past month, both in the UK, and in the US. The longest walk has been about 3km. The average daily extended walk is 1km up and down hill, all on pavement, plus walking around in an office environ at work. I've worn them on 11hour flights and in the rain.
I like 'em. I like being able to kick them off to stretch my toes (even more), or put my feet up on a chair. My downhill heel strike seems to be softening in the gait too.
What i don't like: two things about fit
One Bug: On both feet the strap across the top of the foot has worn away the skin in a way that looks like a stigmata pattern on both feet. While one foot has recovered i'm still bandaiting the other. Another solution perhaps would be to put some moleskin on the strap that rubs.
Another Bug: The other issue, and one that others have noticed who have tried these on is that the toe peice can make a toe feel like it's suffering from an ingrown toe nail a bit when you put the shoe on. this feeling sort of goes away when you're walking, but i don't quite understand what's up with this. It's only happened to me on one side.
In each case, my feet have adapted, but can ya reasonably expect people to stick with a product that wounds them in the first moment of putting them on?
The pluses are such with the shoe that i'm going to experiment with these further until the weather turns colder: i figure when i start needing mitts, i'll start needing sox again.
What's been weird is that putting on sox and shoes the other night for a doo felt utterly horrible, even in nike frees. Perhaps this is something beech dwellers go through annually? But here's to foot freeing.
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d the philosophy of the Twist Test: if you can't grab your shoe and the heel and toe and twist it around the middle, it's too stiff for decent foot bone mobility. Another test is: can you bend them just behind where the ball of the foot is, and are they heel-less? It's incredible how high tech trainers do not pass the twist or bend tests, and many shoes that pass the twist/bend test, ruin it by having heels. So since going through these multiple lessons on footwear failure, i've been looking for shoes that pass the Heel-less Twist Test and support barefootedness as much as possilbe.So far, i've been disappointed in the mixed up sizing of the otherwise brilliant Vivo Barefoot boots for women (scroll down this article to "vivo" for why), and have been keenly waiting my next trip to the states to try out the much celebrated Vibram Five Fingers - ask RKCs Doug Nepodal (aka the kilted one) and Ronaldo Garcia (aka the elvis one) what they think of these flexible wonders (update nov08: see article on experience with how to fit FiveFingers).
Sandals Special Additional Factor: toe clutch One of the biggest challenges has been to find sandals to replace the venerable, but untwistable/unbendable birkenstocks, or even Reef flipflops. Two problems: don't twist, and many many flip flops require toes to remain pretty much in flexion (clenching or bending the toes) to hold the shoe on while moving. Guess what? that constant flexion, well that's not natural: when walking the toes should be able to do many other things than hold on a sandal.The solution for now seems to be another product from the Terra Plana shop: the oddly named Dopies. The Dopies are, yes, flip flops BUT the toe clawing effect induced by the raw flip flop is both reduced by the weird toe holder that rather hooks over two toes; the clawing is even further mitigated by using the optional strap - even if that strap is really loose.
The cool thing about this sandal is that the sole is very thin. in this way, the shoe is effectively very close to being barefoot - with a wee protective sole on the foot.
There's quite the design development discussion on the sandal's web site. I'm not that persuaded by footware designed by artists rather than people who know foot mechanics, but in this case i have a simple test: does it twist? yes. does it cause toe flexion? not when the strap is attached. After that, is it comfy? yes. Is it fun? oh very.
COST Is Dopie cheap. oh no - or that depends. If you visit the Dopie site at Terra Plana, you'll see that the sandals sell
for thirty quid in the UK. That's more or less 60 USD - granted that includes 17.5% vat. That's 24.75 without VAT, so 50 USD. 50USD for foam rubber molded sandals. According to Terra Plana they sell quite alot at that price, so they were not interested in price matching with other online dealers. If you look around, you can find them for less - at least right now before new stock comes in in February. In the UK, i've found them from 10 quid to 19, pending on availability of size. In the US, amazon has 'em from 19 to yes 49 bucks. And sadly now, for us in the EU where this company is founded, in looking at the US version of terraplana.com, they're 30USD. Please explain how a product that comes from china is double the cost in the EU from what it is in the US.Value: i only have my feet to go by, but they look interesting and feel fine. Walking on sidewalks and grass has been equally zippy. The thing between the toes is less noticeable, it seems, the more one walks. I've only tried them briefly without the strap, and as suspected they really do flip/flop - rather loudly.
I may experiment with that further, but was less inclined to do so due to the toe flexion thing. Without the strap - they really do look naked. The one disadvantage compared with birks for instance is that they're going to require ninja tabby toed sox if they'll be worn in the winter. That aside, unlike birks, these have the advantage of being highly wash and wearable.
Overall: Freeing Your Feet The tag line of the Dopie is "naked shoes for naked people." When naked footed people need a little sole protection, Dopies pass the twist test, and seem to pass the sandle toe flexion test. They're comfy and fun. While it's warm enough not to wear gloves, it may well be likely warm enough to go as barefoot as these Dopies afford
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Update, a month later
I've been wearing these sandals pretty much daily for the past month, both in the UK, and in the US. The longest walk has been about 3km. The average daily extended walk is 1km up and down hill, all on pavement, plus walking around in an office environ at work. I've worn them on 11hour flights and in the rain.
I like 'em. I like being able to kick them off to stretch my toes (even more), or put my feet up on a chair. My downhill heel strike seems to be softening in the gait too.
What i don't like: two things about fit
One Bug: On both feet the strap across the top of the foot has worn away the skin in a way that looks like a stigmata pattern on both feet. While one foot has recovered i'm still bandaiting the other. Another solution perhaps would be to put some moleskin on the strap that rubs.
Another Bug: The other issue, and one that others have noticed who have tried these on is that the toe peice can make a toe feel like it's suffering from an ingrown toe nail a bit when you put the shoe on. this feeling sort of goes away when you're walking, but i don't quite understand what's up with this. It's only happened to me on one side.
In each case, my feet have adapted, but can ya reasonably expect people to stick with a product that wounds them in the first moment of putting them on?
The pluses are such with the shoe that i'm going to experiment with these further until the weather turns colder: i figure when i start needing mitts, i'll start needing sox again.
What's been weird is that putting on sox and shoes the other night for a doo felt utterly horrible, even in nike frees. Perhaps this is something beech dwellers go through annually? But here's to foot freeing.
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COACHING with dr. m.c. 
