Tina's Epic Vibram Five Fingers Collection

Tina (Her blog) writes in about her enormous Vibram Five Fingers collection, which consists of two pairs of KSOs, two pairs of Classics, and a pair each of Flows and Surges (The Surges have been discontinued). No Sprints (yet!). Here's what Tina had to say about her collection:

I bought my first pair of VFFs in May of last year from Mountain Equipment Coop in Calgary. I’m fortunate to live in a place where VFFs are sold so close and easy to find to try on, which I think is really important for a good fit. I tried on the Sprints, KSOs and Flows, and ended up buying the grey/palm upper, grey bottom KSOs because they were the most comfortable for me (they’re still my favourite pair). I walked out of the store with them on and got a lot of funny looks from the staff and customers. I instantly noticed that the usual pain in my back while walking was nonexistent! Since then, I’ve been a VFF convert.

The next pair I got was the mauve/sand upper, grey bottom Classics, they were a gift during the summer. I like them for warmer weather. I find they are a little tighter on my toes than the KSOs but are a little better now that I’ve removed the elastic, which I was incredibly apprehensive to do, but glad I did because I find them more comfortable now.

I wanted a shoe that I could wear to work or school, so acquired the black KSOs next. People don’t seem to notice them as much as the grey ones and they’re just as comfortable.

When the weather turned colder in the fall, I found a pair of Surges online and was ecstatic because Vibram had stopped selling them on their site. I bought them in the same size as my KSOs thinking that they would feel similar but they are a little too tight on my toes to wear for long, however.

I wanted to compare the Flows to the Surges so I got a pair of grey upper, green camo bottom Flows. I think Vibram significantly improved the fit and comfort with the redesign/new model and I love the Flows for colder weather. I wear a pair of toe socks with the Flows usually and am comfortable to about 0C with them.

My last pair of the collection, the black Classics, was acquired late last year. I went to Edmonton (about a 3 hour drive from Calgary) to get them because there weren’t any around here. I got them to wear as more dressy shoes and I think they are perfect for that function (for women anyway).

And that’s the story of my VFF collection. I haven’t worn regular shoes for months now and dread when it becomes necessary again. Until then, I have very happy feet in my VFFs.

About the Author — I founded BirthdayShoes.com in April 2009 on realizing just how much I enjoyed having "free feet" - I mostly wanted to use them for weights, sprints, and plyometrics (I'm not much of a runner!). I'm a Googler by day and minimalist footwear aficionado by night; you can find me 'round Atlanta. If you want to catch up with what I'm doing outside of the site here, follow me on twitter @bdayshoes or @justinno or check out my personal site JustinOwings.com.
Justin Owings+ has written 848 articles and 381 comments.