Footwear

[Allu]

Picked up some vibram five fingers today.

Heres a link if you want to check it out(http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/products/Five-Fingers-SpyridonLS-Mens.htm)

Going to test them out tomorrow and see how they hold up to the wear and tear.

Now here's my hypothesis. I believe that this style of footwear has the following advantages

- It strengthens your foot

- It encourages a style of movement that isn't as taxing on your joints (I'm overweight and tend to have problems with my knees when I run allot), take a look at barefoot running if your interested in the theory behind the health benefits.

- The added feel for the terrain gives you a more quiet style of movement

- The changed style of your step also makes you quieter.

The disadvantages could be the lack of support for your ankles and the thinner sole gives less protection.

However the lack of support is also part of the process that strengthens the foot.

I'v also used some feel-max shoes which were thinner but they could not keep up with the wear and tear.

So what do you guys use and think.

[Lt.Col.Vortex]

I actually like the concept of this type of foot wear, but they do have their place in life though. You wouldn't take these to a construction site, would you? You need foot wear to match your life style...and these dont match mine ( I work for a general contractor ). Yes they do improve your walking habits, your stealth, and your muscles, but what applications can these "shoes" be used in without harming your foot??

So far they look great for runners and athletic training people. But take your run of the pavement and onto a trail, how will they hold?? I'd like to know because these have peaked my interest quite a bit.

Right now I have to wear boots...hard sole, leather uppers and semi aggressive tread, and thats to protect my feet. I'd like to wear a strong version of these five finger things...maybe some d3o in them for protection...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4uMTZWh0Rc

I'd like to know how they do on the field and in the woods.

[Allu]

At this point i can only say that thee feel-max were a lot thinner and if it weren't for the wear they would have worked out nicely, ofc to step on a nail wouldent be a good idea... I'll let you know how theese work out

[Wolfen]

Well the simple truth is this. If you want to move silently, then you can't wear heavy boots with thick soles. as for the vibrams i do think the soles look nice on them and the added freedom for your ankles will definitely help with a more silent stride. I myself use very light shoes with thins soles when i play paintball. I've played in both boots and heavier running shoes as well and i can tell you that the difference is huge. so i say again IF YOU WANT TO MOVE SILENTLY DO NOT WEAR BOOTS (ofcourse you can move fairly silent with boots too, BUT you'd be alot more silent if you used light shoes instead)

[Allu]

Ok, so reflections after today. The vibrams where surprisingly robust,
the sole was thicker than the feelmax and i could definitely tell the difference when stepping on rocks and what not's. I'm not sure if i think its a good or a bad thing. I knew it would be a compromise from the start, and if the thicker sole will, as I suspect, keep up to the wear and tear, I think I'll be happy with it. And i just love how it changes the feeling of moving. I simply feel more free and silent or more fluid in my movement, and I for one think that anything that makes you feel more in control, also makes you play better.

The leg and foot muscles could keep up whit the changed walking style well, so on that point it was a positive surprise.

Some drawbacks. I was using "fingered" ankle socks , witch in combination with the slightly short ghillie suit legs, made my ankles show in certain body positions. This however was fixed with some cammopaint. Furthermore it can't really bee seen as a fault in the shoe design.
There were also some bright colors and some reflex details on the shoes, witch met the same cammopaint treatment. I'll have to come up with a more working solution for those points.

Also when walking in longer grass, some might stick between the toes... Don't know if its a drawback but i guess it could be a nuisance.

Well that's about what I can come up with this time, I'll post some more when I come up with some more info.

[Allu]

Oh and ye, the d3o is indeed interesting I just wonder if it would go stiff on every step... I also work construction sites so "work" shoes are a must, and my daily footwear is in fact such shoes... however on the paintball field I like to go with some lighter stuff.

If i could incorporate them into my everyday life it would be great, since i would get the "right step" training whenever i walk but at the moment its just not practical for me. Vibram also has some more everyday looking shoes.
www.vibramfivefingers.com/products/Five-Fingers-Bormio-Mens.htm
and
www.vibramfivefingers.com/products/Five-Fingers-Trek-LS-Mens.htm

[Lt.Col.Vortex]

Just walking bare foot as oppose to wearing boots, there is 1000% difference no doubt. I'd feel a bit uncomfortable wearing those things out on the field though.

You said you where in your suit wearing the shoes...so you where sniping...i.e you weren't moving around much. Have you tried running through an obstetrical coarse or speedball type runs yet?

[Wolfen]

since when does playing sniper mean you don't move? you just move in a different way (he did move quite abit )

[Allu]

Generally most of our games are played on a relatively small field and the basic tactic involves a full out sprint to get into position and then set up an ambush, however yesterdays game also involved more of team dynamics training (thx to some new coms solutions)so as wolfen said we moved around quite allot.
As to speedball type runs, i figure the breaks where on the same intensity level, and the outlaw field where we play can hardly be classified as a park type forest. (Witch gave me an idea for another topic, how does your typical playing environment look... I'll see if wolfen will bite, and try to put together some kind of video that would illustrate it)

But yes in the beginning it might feel a bit uncomfortable, however that might be a good thing, since after almost a lifetime of relatively hard soled boots the muscles in ones foot are not quite developed to a level where it would bee a good idea to run full out. But the change takes place surprisingly fast.

Well long story short, I dare say I was close to as comfortable on the field as if I would have played in sneakers.

[Wolfen]

well our field will be visible when we make our camo video also it's not quite outlaw since our city has actually put aside it for recreational hobbies (paintball included) and it's only really used by airsoft and paintball players. very good idea for a thread though, the part about "hows the environment where you play paintball" i mean.

[Allu]

Ah, I wasn't referring to to legality bit of it, I was under the impression that the term outlaw field was a field not run by a commercial establishment, when our friends overseas where concerned. (funny thing that btw. to us Finns you guys in america are the ones over seas, only goes to accentuate the concept of perspective I guess)

Anywho, ye i think there would be a topic for that.. we'll have to take a look at that at some point... I'm out of town tomorrow to.. maybe the weekend I guess... ghaa, why cant the day contain more than 24 hours, or why the f*ck do i have to sleep... :S

[Lt.Col.Vortex]

I always thought outlaw meant "outlaw"...plain as that. I play on a chink of land that is not designated paintball field nor is it commercially ran.....wait, should i have said that

[majorghost]

Just one word of advice when choosing to wear shoes instead of boots ... you have little to know ankle support. I know first hand how boots have saved me countless times. If you are looking for boots but want to wear shoes try a hybrid. They have shoe lowers with supportive uppers.

[Wolfen]

while that's true, there's also alot of boots out there that actually increases the chance of ankle injuries because they don't support the right way (this is true for more then ½ the boots i've encountered). If your used to play with low light shoes however, then your ankles are both strong and flexible enough to avoid almost all injuries (played paintball for 10 years now and NEVER injured my feet or ankles the slightest).

[Allu]

I'll have to agree with both of you.

However the more flexible ankle is part of the freedom of movement. But I agree that you have to be aware of it. Injured ankles sometimes don't heal completely.

I also agree with Wolfen.
I suffer from injured ankles but I have surprisingly little problems on the field.
(I even trip over my own feet when walking on flat surfaces, but I guess it's because I concentrate more where I put my feet when playing)

[DJmatt123]

Here's my footwear after killing 5 rattlers in 6 weeks on our field....plus they match my suit.

[Allu]

Yes with rattlers, slithering around by would be careful to.