Choosing a well-fitting barefoot shoe

Outdoor activities, Running, Trekking, How to choose -guides by Varuste.net / Toimisto-Jorma, 23.3.2021

You can recognize a good shoe by the fact that it feels comfortable right away without breaking in.

The shoe should remain stable by heel and instep, and your toes should be able to move freely. The heel can move a little bit in the shoe, but not too much, because that is when the shoe will rub against your skin. You can finetune and reduce the movement a little bit with the laces.

Do not think about the number of the shoe size when you are looking for a well-fitting shoe. There can be great sizing differences between different manufacturers.

If you are not sure if the shoes fit perfectly, wear them at home in clean places to test them properly and not to lose your right of return.

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REMEMBER FREEDOM OF TOES
There should be a lot of space for your toes, especially laterally. Your toes should be entirely free, like there were no shoe at all.

Approximately 1 cm of empty space in front of the toes is usually an optimal amount for an adult. In practice, the amount of space varies between 0.5 and 2 cm in good shoes for different reasons. If there is too much empty space in front, the shoe is too long. You can recognize a shoe too long by the fact that you must lift your foot when you are walking. The shoe is a little bit clumsy, which affects the walking. Too much length can also cause tripping in nature. That is why you should not take a greater size when you actually need a larger last. If you can walk normally also on an uneven surface, the length is probably good. But if you need to lift your foot more than normally, it is possible that the shoe is too long. If the width is however good in this case, the last is too narrow.

The width of the shoe means the width of the toe section. The shoe is too narrow if it touches your big or little toe on the side.

A little bit of free space makes the shoe warmer. In a winter and an autumn shoe, it is good to have some extra space also for a woollen sock and/or a heated insole.

WHY USE SHOES WITH LASTS WIDE ENOUGH?
It is important that there is enough space laterally for your toes. If you give your toes an opportunity to be free, they will gradually start to return to their natural, wider position. This improves the balance and can reduce problems and pain caused by a too narrow position of the toes. If you could ask the opinion of the feet, they would say that most people use too narrow shoes.

Normal shoes have forced people’s toes into a wrong position. The main problem is that normal shoes push the big toe into a twisted position. This causes bunions that may even have to be operated. The strength of the strong big toe is also wasted in this case, which makes the movement slower. When choosing barefoot shoes, it is good to check that they do not have a so called symmetric last. Even though this kind of “crime” is rare among the barefoot manufacturers.

Remember that it is good to give space also for the little toe in order to fix “the shy little toe syndrome” (the little toe is partly under the next toe).

In addition to shoes wide enough (e.g. Freet), you can actively support the recovery of your toes by using toe separators, toe socks, and Vibram Five Fingers shoes. You can use toe separators also inside shoes if they are wide enough. When your toes find their natural position, you may have to buy shoes from another brand or model with a wider last at some point. This is however a positive thing.