Arriving on the market in 1937 Vibram revolutionised grip providing a rubber which is both highly durable and gives amazing traction. It was developed in Italy following the death of six of creator Vitale Bramani’s friends on an alpine climb. The tragic accident was due to inadequate footwear. His personal mission saw him join forces with Pirelli tyres which helped fund his dream. Vibram rubber was the result and it made all the difference. It was Vibram rubber which separated the first successful ascent of K2 from a similar fate. The highly durable rubber soles have become legendary, and feature on the outsoles of most of the top performance shoe manufacturers.
In the meantime the design team at Vibram had been doing a little thinking. Evolution had been working for millions of year’s fine tuning the perfect shock absorber, which was ideally suited for highly beneficial barefoot walking. Then along came shoe manufacturers who decided to all but wrap up the feet in cotton wool. They decided to strip away the fluff and created what look rather like spray on shoes.
It has to be said, that as much as you admire the feet for their perfect design for walking, evolution has yet to add Michelin style grip to the soles, razor sipping and protection from thorns and little critters which too have been evolving ways to deal with feet. We are also pretty inept when it comes to under water grip, and hopeless on slippery rocks. Vibram five fingers change this and give evolution a helping hand.
The idea is simple; to return to beneficial barefoot walking. Barefoot walking stimulates more muscles and gives a much better workout and makes for a much healthier walking style. Vibram five fingers just add a layer of protective rubber to fully retain the benefits and add a little more comfort. When so many shoe manufacturers are changing their designs to simulate barefoot walking, it makes sense to go the whole hog. These wonder shoes are what led TIME Magazine to vote them the “Best Invention of 2007”. According to Managing Editor Richard Stengel the finalists “represent the coolest stuff from the most innovative minds in the world”.
Vibram Five Fingers gets you back in touch with Mother Earth and give more feel to walking and running. They offer excellent grip in the wet, and make your toes more, well, ‘grippy’. They help to achieve perfect balance, and also will change your walking and running style. Rather than taking the full weight of the body on the heel strike and having the associated strain on the joints, the foot lands in a more horizontal position, spreading the weight between ball and heel. Medical scientists and biomechanical studies have demonstrated the health benefits of walking barefoot, and it seems that evolution was right all along. Many foot complaints are the direct cause of footwear. If we all changed to the Vibram way, many a chiropodist would find themselves twiddling their thumbs all day.
Whilst they undoubtedly take some getting used to, and your body a little while to adjusts to a natural way of walking, they will help to breathe new life into your feet quickly. They offer much more value in exercise, and help to tone the legs more than any other shoe. You can mimic barefoot walking but with Vibram Five Fingers it IS barefoot walking.