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MCvet
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« on: January 06, 2011, 12:12:07 PM » |
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I have: speed Bikila Flow (black) Kso Trek Treksport I live in south Louisiana. It is not uncommon to get 2 inches of rain in a day. We have had 6 this week. I have worn all of the shoes on wet concrete, grass and standing water. My only complaint is that on wet concrete, that you get seepage between the toes. Making my feet, and or socks damp. I have also worn the flows in the woods below freezing and the frost between the toes as you walk through grass, weeds and such would also get your toes and socks wet. It seems that as you walk, even slow and carefully, that the footbed allows water to stick and as your natural foot motion the water drains or runs to the toes and seeps between them. I have walked like a wooden puppet without a natural gait any picking up and placing my feet down horizontally to the surface I am on, and that does minimize water intrusion, at the expense of time, and aesthetics! So, I did a little research to waterproof both my brown treks, and my black flows. For the black flows I used NIKWAX Tent and Gear Solarproof, which is a spray. I started by removing all loose dirt and such. I sprayed them between the toes and the tops fairly well. I let them dry for several days. I wore them today, in wet gravel, dirt, rocks, concrete and standing water. My toes are dry, and so are the shoes, so I am reporting VERY good success. For my treks I used 'Liquid Aquaseal' (LA) that is put on with an enclosed dauber that is attached to the bottle. I tried it in an inconspicuous spot to see if it would darken the leather to an almost black appearance, which is undesirable as I find the brown treks look very different to me than black, and that is confirmed by the comments I get from people, including friends and family. The LA did darken the leather but it also lightened back up some after a few days. So I said the heck with it and did the whole shoes. I made sure to concentrat BETWEEN the toes, which in my experience is the entry point. I waited 4 days to allow them to be absolutely dry and uniform in color. They darkened overall, but IMHO not to an unattractive tone. I wore them yesterday in a wet muddy yard followIng my children around on a dirt bike. Surprisingly the waterproofing kept my feet dry! I will have to post more results as I try them out. I honestly would like a pair if goretex, or similar material waterproof ones, as I no longer wear conventional tennis, or running shoes, and only wear dress shoes and steel toe boots as necessary.  |
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Trek LS Brown 45... Speed black/white 46... Flow black 45... KSO REMIX 45... Bikila white/red 45... KSO trek brown 45... Komodo yellow 45... 1 Black and 1 Brown bormio's 45... Green Spyridon 45... Yellow/Blk SeeYa 45
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BirthdayShoes.com Vibram Five Fingers Forum
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« on: January 06, 2011, 12:12:07 PM » |
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jmijares
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« Reply #1 on: January 06, 2011, 03:40:17 PM » |
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Thanks for the posting! I was going to try some Aqua Armor this weekend on my Black KSOs. I'll still give it a shot, but if it doesn't work then I'll definitely go with your suggestions.
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1427 Miles in minimalist shoes since 17 April 2010
"Do you believe a man can change his destiny?"
"I believe a man does what he can, until his destiny is revealed."
- The Last Samurai
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jmijares
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« Reply #2 on: January 16, 2011, 02:57:33 PM » |
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It seems that my Aqua Armor experiment on my KSOs didn't work out as planned. I was out walking today and saw a puddle and decided to stick my KSO in the puddle. I felt a small amount of water seep through the toe area. So while Aqua Armor works quite well on my running jacket, it doesn't seem to be a good match for VFFs.
I'll give Liquid AquaSeal a shot.
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1427 Miles in minimalist shoes since 17 April 2010
"Do you believe a man can change his destiny?"
"I believe a man does what he can, until his destiny is revealed."
- The Last Samurai
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Zephyr
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« Reply #3 on: January 16, 2011, 04:18:18 PM » |
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I've been wearing my VFFs Trek everyday since last October with Injinji socks (before that I had been wearing VFFs Sprint w/o socks).
Here it rains a few days a year, but when it does it may pour (the northwest Mediterranean basin). One day it rained and my feet get dumped, almost soaked with water. I have an everyday 30 minute walk and then back, when I take short runs it may take some 20 minutes, as when it's raining and I don't have any umbrella, I don't like to carry my umbrella all day.
The thing is that the following day it rained even heavier. With my previous bad experience I decided I had to take some measure. We're after all supposed to be intelligent creatures, aren't we? I had at home an unused waterproof spray I bought some years ago to help waterproof a cheap tent. I applied a generous amount of it to soak the outer surface of the lower part of the vamps, specially insistent to cover the material between the toe pockets (both leather and textile). After some minutes I removed the watery product in excess. That day my feet remained almost dry even though it was even pouring and I had to sort out many puddles along the way, not always with the best of lucks. Running probably helped since the time your shoes are in contact with the ground is shorter.
Product details: Nikwax Texnik Tent & Gear Proof. It was made in 1999, so maybe it isn't in the market any longer, I guess it'll have been replaced by some other similar product.
At the time I bought it the prize was about $10. The content volume in the bottle is 300 mL (10 US fl. oz.). Even though I spread quite a lot I think it may last for other 30-40 times, and surely I won't be so generous once I've learned how to apply it to the shoe.
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« Last Edit: January 16, 2011, 04:30:21 PM by Zephyr »
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BirthdayShoes.com Vibram Five Fingers Forum
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« Reply #3 on: January 16, 2011, 04:18:18 PM » |
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MCvet
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« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2011, 12:25:13 AM » |
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Zephyr, I used the NIKWAX on my kso's as well.
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Trek LS Brown 45... Speed black/white 46... Flow black 45... KSO REMIX 45... Bikila white/red 45... KSO trek brown 45... Komodo yellow 45... 1 Black and 1 Brown bormio's 45... Green Spyridon 45... Yellow/Blk SeeYa 45
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jmijares
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« Reply #5 on: January 17, 2011, 12:31:32 AM » |
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Zephyr, I used the NIKWAX on my kso's as well.
Did you use them on your regular KSOs? Have you tested them in puddles yet? |
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1427 Miles in minimalist shoes since 17 April 2010
"Do you believe a man can change his destiny?"
"I believe a man does what he can, until his destiny is revealed."
- The Last Samurai
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Zephyr
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« Reply #6 on: January 17, 2011, 06:58:20 AM » |
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Zephyr, I used the NIKWAX on my kso's as well.
Did you use them on your regular KSOs? Have you tested them in puddles yet? I was actually carrying my KSOs in my backpack as spare shoes that day together with a pair of dry socks but I didn't need them after all. I'm rather skeptical that it could work with the regular KSOs. Nikwax is a water-based solution and the KSO's fabric is rather absorbing. They will wet soaked by applying that product. In contrast I wouldn't hesitate to spray it on a pair of Flows since the Neoprene is less porous and could retain most water on the surface until it evaporated. Since that day it didn't rain again, at least not during the time I was outside, as I said here it doesn't rain quite much (gosh, that rain was a month ago!). On the other hand, I'm not quite sure I'd like to test in depth the waterproofing capabilities voluntarily. I'm going to keep walking in my FiveFingers everyday and sooner or later it will rain again, but then I will probably run like a cat. |
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Bigmantank
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« Reply #7 on: January 17, 2011, 09:43:37 AM » |
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Thx, for the idea to water proof my treks. I am thinking it will help with my winter running since the snow melting between my toes and the slush I sometimes step in is likely causeing my feet to get cold quicker.
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Easy, Light, Smooth and Fast is the way to run.
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MCvet
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« Reply #8 on: January 19, 2011, 09:03:19 AM » |
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Zephyr, I used the NIKWAX on my kso's as well.
Did you use them on your regular KSOs? Have you tested them in puddles yet? Got an inch of rain yeterday. Walked in standing water and got rained on. I looked down several times to see water beaded op on the top of the shoes and my feet and stocks stayed dry. |
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Trek LS Brown 45... Speed black/white 46... Flow black 45... KSO REMIX 45... Bikila white/red 45... KSO trek brown 45... Komodo yellow 45... 1 Black and 1 Brown bormio's 45... Green Spyridon 45... Yellow/Blk SeeYa 45
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Candymaker
Newbie
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Posts: 2
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« Reply #9 on: January 19, 2011, 10:36:38 AM » |
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I've gotten wet feet wearing my bikilas in cold weather (sub freezing) so I totally understand the urge to waterproof. However, if you are stopping water from coming in, are you not also stopping sweat from escaping? That would be my fear with waterproofing any VFF. On that note, I just got new Flows and am excited to go run in the snow after work today!  |
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MCvet
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« Reply #10 on: January 19, 2011, 11:29:19 AM » |
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My feet feel no warmer, and I do wear injinji socks
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Trek LS Brown 45... Speed black/white 46... Flow black 45... KSO REMIX 45... Bikila white/red 45... KSO trek brown 45... Komodo yellow 45... 1 Black and 1 Brown bormio's 45... Green Spyridon 45... Yellow/Blk SeeYa 45
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chrisnet
Newbie
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« Reply #11 on: February 16, 2011, 04:59:59 PM » |
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So I read this post a while back and wanted to follow up and see if everything worked ok and the waterproofing thing did not damage the shoes at all. I just bought a new pair of Flows and would like to waterproof them. I live in Canada and miss not being able to wear my shoes outside in the winter/spring when everything is melting.
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MCvet
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« Reply #12 on: April 26, 2011, 01:16:47 AM » |
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No problems and no changes. I have not washed my treks, but a buddy has. And no ill effects. My flows were washed after the warrior dash, so I have to re-apply.
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Trek LS Brown 45... Speed black/white 46... Flow black 45... KSO REMIX 45... Bikila white/red 45... KSO trek brown 45... Komodo yellow 45... 1 Black and 1 Brown bormio's 45... Green Spyridon 45... Yellow/Blk SeeYa 45
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drumminangoleiro
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« Reply #13 on: November 23, 2011, 06:01:54 PM » |
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has anyone else waterproofed their Flows? i've used my Flows for winter hiking for the past 2 years but once it gets below freezing I have to put on regular shoes because the combination of cold and wet makes my toes numb. I'm hoping that if waterproofing them works it will allow me to hike in colder temps without numb toes...anyone have any luck with that?
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TobyUK
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« Reply #14 on: February 24, 2012, 09:49:12 AM » |
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I know a bit about waterproofing, which might help! This kind is called applying a Durable Water Repellancy (DWR). It's a treatment that makes water bead and run off the surface of the fabric, and it's used as the first barrier to water in waterproof systems like gore-tex or event. It's not totally waterproof but can go quite a long way on shoes! It doesn't reduce the breathability of the fabric at all because it is just absorbed by the threads of the material. Nikwax and grangers etc will produce this kind of waterproofing. You can wash something that's been treated, but if you use normal detergent it can get rid of the DWR. You can get special detergents that won't do this like Nikwax tech wash. if you wash your waterproofed VFFs with this the DWR will last longer before you need to re-apply it. Hope that helps a bit  |
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