Well … maybe not, but they do make you feel incredibly light on your feet. Above photoed is Jesse atop North Fortuna Mountain in San Diego. Jesse is wearing his Vibram Five Fingers KSO Treks. I asked Jesse to share his VFF story with birthdayshoes and here is what he had to say:
I first heard about VFF’s when I was talking with my brother about hiking and he sent me a link saying “these are the best hiking shoes ever.” I quickly got interested and researched them like crazy. I went to REI to try some on but they only had the Sprints and not in my size. I went to another outdoor store who carried them and tried on KSO’s in my size. Once I tried them on I knew I had to have some. I ordered the KSO Trek, Size 44 in Black so I could wear them at work too (black shoes required).
I knew when I ordered them that I wanted to use them for some trekking but probably mostly flat stuff. My initial reaction was that they felt very different and hurt after the first use. You really do use muscles that aren’t normally used. My first time ever using them was just a walk around the block. The first time on a trail was a night hike on relatively flat packed dirt for about 5 miles. Getting them wet is no big deal, I was wading through foot high water. My feet definitely hurt afterwards but I knew after a few more hikes they would feel great. Putting shoes on after your first hike in them feels soooo wierd.
I wanted to be able to wear them at work too so I purchased some Injinji Wool socks. The socks definitely make them more comfortable but put a lot of fabric between your toes. After a while you get used to it.
I have now done 3 or 4 hikes in them and have done a full 10 hour day at work. I can comfortably say that I am very happy with them and am very interested in the rumored Flow Treks. Everyone at work couldn’t stop staring at them and asking questions.
Although I have much good to say about them I have some negatives too. My main issue is that the name is KSO: Keep Stuff Out, but I get dirt in my shoes all the time, when worn with no socks (my normal hiking way).
Hope this helps … Thank you
Jesse
Thank you Jesse for sharing your FiveFingers user story with the community!
Great to hear you’ve having success on the trails hiking in your KSO Treks! As for the Flow Treks, you may be out of luck unless you want to ship some over from Europe!
As for the “KSO” aspect of KSOs, it’s definitely not perfect — perhaps we need to see a VFF KSO that goes up past the ankle like a boot like the discontinued Surge.
2 replies on “Amazing! KSO Trek Vibrams enable you to levitate off the ground!”
Great to see another person hitting the trails in FF. I know the feeling of your legs hurting after the first few times of wearing them, but the muscle strength gained is awesome. The help so much with control and balance. Keep up the FF love.
I edited the second picture in this post here: http://mistercow-pnoy.deviantart.com/art/Vibram-Fivefingers-159224997
That’s my brother btw.