{"id":318,"date":"2011-04-16T16:47:00","date_gmt":"2011-04-16T23:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.engrevo.com\/blog\/?p=318"},"modified":"2011-04-16T16:56:16","modified_gmt":"2011-04-16T23:56:16","slug":"diy-barefoot-shoes-vans-slip-ons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.engrevo.com\/blog\/diy-barefoot-shoes-vans-slip-ons\/","title":{"rendered":"DIY Barefoot Shoes – Vans Slip-Ons"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love me some Vans Slip-Ons<\/a>. Especially clean ones. As a result, I have quite a few pairs that aren’t dead, but aren’t quite fresh enough for first-line duty.<\/p>\n

Of course, there are tons of good reasons to go barefoot. It improves running form<\/a>, and a whole host of other good stuff<\/a>. That’s all the time I’ll spend convincing you to ditch the standard shoes, because most of you are probably already on board here.<\/em><\/p>\n

For my barefooting, I love Vibram Five-Fingers. As a result, I get funny looks from everyone<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The solution? Make an old pair of slip-ons feel like VFFs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Click ahead for pics.<\/p>\n

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I simply took a box cutter and cut around the perimeter of the waffle-board sole, then peeled it off. The above picture shows one with half the sole removed. All that’s remaining is the footbed and a thin layer of black rubber. This leaves the shoe quite flexible.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The result is not an ideal solution, but it works pretty darn well. They feel a whole heckuva lot like being barefoot<\/strong> (most importantly allowing for full plantarflexion and dorsiflexion while walking), and they certainly look way more normal than VFFs. Next time, I’ll shoot for a cleaner cut, and maybe run a small bead of shoe-goo<\/a> around the black rubber to keep it from coming off.<\/p>\n

If you’ve got an old pair of shoes worth sacrificing, give it a shot! Let me know how it goes in the comments, and as always, play safe with sharp tools.<\/p>\n