Bushwalk Australia

Some of you may have read this interesting arctic in Nature Magazine.
Not sure about for example, South Western Tas in Winter!
Phil
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01953-6

Dunno about that in the bogs and quagmires of SW Tassie. But I had to do it rough once-upon-a-time, a long time ago...
In 1988 I descended from Mount Bogong in thongs because I developed a pressure point on the ball of my right angle which made wearing boots absolute agony.
The thongs belonged to the leader, and were a size 8, where I am a size 5-and-a-bit! The were secured in place with tape from the 1st Aid kit! I put new meaning into flipppity-flop all the way down Staircase, with nowt to report but an accumulation of dirt (and luckily it was warm weather by the time we got to the treeline!!)

Aboriginal Tasmanians walked in 'the bogs and quagmires of SW Tassie' for thousands of years without footwear.
I recall when I was in the Army up in Darwin the Aboriginal members of Norforce hating wearing boots, they would prefer to patrol in bare feet. Yes carrying packs and rifles.
Inversion sprains o& the ankle are rare in populations that dont use footwear and the science points towards low firm soles for ankle injury prevention.

Personally I would last a km in the NT, or in Tassy, without footwear.

I believe the science that we have evolved over millennia with perfectly good instruments for locomotion at th3 ends of our legs, self lubricating, self repairing, flexible with a built in grippy leather sole, but if you have grown up wearing shoes I suppose you’re stuck wearing them. Last couple of times I descended the Staircase with a pack on was in 'minimalist' trail runners but I do miss the grip of trail shoes or boots in mud, even though you can’t use your toes over the rocks for extra purchase,

In a word - NO.

I hated wearing any sort of footwear as a child/adolescent. Even in my public service days, I'd be in sandals much of the time (because they wouldn't let me wander around with bare feet). But then in my thirties I started working in places where solid footwear was essential. You kind of get out of the habit of the barefoot thing when you have to be in shoes most of the day, and then usually spend your weekends in top-to-toe rubber.

north-north-west wrote: and then usually spend your weekends in top-to-toe rubber.

Umm, perhaps too much information?

Wet, often salty, top-to-toe rubber.

In other words, wetsuit. Or drysuit.

I grew up no shoes until highschool, we used to kick around the bush, aka rainforest barefoot. Feet became extremely tough with decent ridged callous on the heel and for the purpose of the article mentioned, yes the bottom of the feet become much less sensitive. I could walk on hot roads and run across loose gravel without discomfort. Never got to the level of being able to walk on prickles though, which in north Queensland would include the spines of 'goatheads' and 'sensitive weed'.

Boots? OK to climb mountains or ice-climbing. For the rest "La Sportiva" trail runners are my personal pick.

As a bare-foot bushwalker and bare-foot runner, I find the abstract of that article to be a bit slightly misleading:

Thick foot calluses ... preserve foot sensitivity while offering protection, thus avoiding the trade-off between the two that occurs with cushioned shoes.

Yes, some protection is offered, but only very limited protection against some elements and only to some parts of the sole of the foot. But in my experience bushwalking with very thick callussed soles, I still get serious cuts on my feet (even the callused parts) and even the slighted stubbing of the end of the toes on a rock (which would not even be noticed when wearing shoes) is very painful and can remain painful for days afterwards.

Thankfully, they clear this up a little themselves for readers willing to push through the details:

However, habitually barefoot walkers might be at a higher risk of traumatic injury, given that shoes can offer better protection than can calluses

Be that as it may, I still bushwalk bare-foot on some tracks, wear sneakers (trail runners) on other tracks, and prefer boots in some locations (or in winter - I don't have good thermo-regulation).

Any suggestion of one-size-fits-all would be a bit narrow (I don't think anybody here is suggesting any such thing... just saying...).

north-north-west wrote:Wet, often salty, top-to-toe rubber.

In other words, wetsuit. Or drysuit.

I can't, or prefer not to, imagine what ChrisJHC was thinking

takes a hell of a long time to build up your feet, and you can still shred them in the meantime,,, even then they arent immune to damage at all
had people trying that in nz and needing helicopter rescue because they destroyed their feet, one guy couldnt walk the 50m to the helicopter...
stubbing your toe on rocks is an issue. you still want reasonably smooth terrain..

wayno wrote:takes a hell of a long time to build up your feet, and you can still shred them in the meantime,,, even then they arent immune to damage at all
had people trying that in nz and needing helicopter rescue because they destroyed their feet, one guy couldnt walk the 50m to the helicopter...
stubbing your toe on rocks is an issue. you still want reasonably smooth terrain..

Even duck boards may be an issue when they're spaced a tad more than a toe-width apart. I'm always concerned that my toe may get jammed in there as I take a step. I have to work on my OCD and make sure I step on the cracks in the same way each time.

Even duck boards may be an issue when they're spaced a tad more than a toe-width apart

Done Cradle mt. summit to lodge barefoot 20 years ago or so. The hardest part was on the duckboard in fact. Got a fair amount of big and small splinters, a near miss bite from a black snake and a toe nail almost coming off from getting stuck between the slats. Also I walked back half way from Collins Cap wearing only one boot. Nice in the mud....

I used to go up kunanyi from the Glebe (via Waterworks, Radfords, Organ Pipes and Panorama tracks) and then jog back down via the Zig Zag and Lenah Valley tracks. All barefoot. Not in winter, mind.
I''m sure it has nothing to do with the current state of my knees and ankles...