The thing you have to consider is not just short term injury, but the possibility of discarded drug needles, etc. that could harbor life threatening diseases. As terrible as it sounds, such things have been found before in parks in the larger towns not far from here.

I went hiking just today at a state park. I wore flip flops. Good thing I did. Another person in my group saw a 3-hooked fishing lure in the grass along the path. They made sure to not leave it there too. That was out through the woods not even by the river or on a path to it.

Anytime you’re in public, I think you’re better off to wear something on your feet. I mean, who would think of a fishing lure being in the middle of a woods? I go barefoot here at home and at friends’ and family members’ homes, but if I’m on public property I don’t feel safe enough. You are the only one who will look out for you.

So, how do you guys manage to walk around in the city? The bottom of my feet are all soft- I’ve never had any damage done to them so anything can pierce through pretty easy. Now I’m wearing these home-made sandals made out of thin rope and Feiyues (martial art shoes).

Check out MovNat too, lots of good philosophy and training stuff there, in my opinion, the right way to live/train. Check it out.

Unfortunately my father got a much higher paying job 2 years ago and now I live in suburb, and I can’t even walk at all now! Because no sane consumerwhore would dare think of walking any farther than from their front door to their car, the place is designed to make it impossible to walk and force people to be as reliant on SUVs as possible. There are no sidewalks and I have to walk inside a ditch on the side of a country road or along a highway, and the nearest thing that isn’t a massive house is a gas station about 1 hour away. Just the sight of the never ending prosesion of SUVs down the road makes it difficult to look out the window.

I do find foxwalking is very comfortable, not in shoes though, they’re to bulking and numb your sense of touch, and therefore don’t facilitate a fox walk. Foxwalking comes natural when I walk barefooted, I’ve only today even heard of it. I can fox-run for much longer than I can run heal->toe without running out of breath, or hurting my knees. It’s amazing how humans have become so atrophied from living in civilization that we can’t even walk properly anymore.

I’m not sure about tabi boots, I’ve always wanted to try some myself, but they all look cheaply built and are made of cotton I’d like some well made moccasins like from the movie “The Hunted”, but they’re pretty dang expensive.

My grandmother had terrible feet. Growing up, her family couldn’t afford new shoes. So she and her siblings were stuck wearing shoes that were too small. I can still remember her feet. Her toes actually crossed over each other.

I’m active too and have often thought that parkour looked like fun, but this rural area lacks the architectural necessities for it. It’s all flat land here and the trees are all pretty much high branched.

I can understand the need for the use of your toes in that sport. I however do not understand how anyone can balance on their heels.

Question of curiosity to anyone who may know, would shoes made in the style of the tabi like practitioners of ninjutsu wear be any better for the human foot than traditional western shoes?