VIBRAM FIVEFINGERS

Run, Walk, Swim(Barefoot) in the Park

The typical human foot has 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than100muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Ask anyone who can spell proprioception (the sense of orientation of one’s limbs in space) and they’ll tell you that stimulating the muscles in your feet and lower legs improves your balance, agility, and overall health. To keep feet healthy, they need to be stimulated and exercised. In other words, barefoot is best—until you step on a rock, broken glass, or, well, natural fertilizer. With Vibram’s FiveFingers footwear you get that earth-beneath-your feet feeling, only with better traction and more protection. These stretchy slip-on sandals provide total freedom of movement. There are three FiveFingers styles, and all are suitable for hiking, climbing, walking, and running as well as for martial arts, yoga, and Pilates. But where they really shine is in canoes and kayaks, filling a need for footwear that fits into the tight spaces of a boat, provides traction on slick rocks, and dries quickly. Named by Time magazine as one of the Best Inventions of 2007, they’re also so light that you can carry them in a daypack for river crossings.