opinions on vibrams

I think the laspe that vibrams have in safety are in that they have a soft top and no ankle support. It would be easy to be your foot stomped in them I suppose, and of course they aren't as supportive as boots.

Though, I think the point is that they are magnitudes safer than going actually barefoot while still pretty much giving the appearance of being barefoot.
 
Undrask said:
I think the laspe that vibrams have in safety are in that they have a soft top and no ankle support. It would be easy to be your foot stomped in them I suppose, and of course they aren't as supportive as boots.

Though, I think the point is that they are magnitudes safer than going actually barefoot while still pretty much giving the appearance of being barefoot.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

The boots that I wear as my primary have no ankle or arch support, are soft suede-like cloth, and have a sole thin enough that my toes can grip the ground. They do prevent me from cutting my feet up on rocks or sticks, stubbing my toes too badly (the toe portion is more structured than the mid-foot), and getting wet if I walk on muddy ground. If someone stomps down on my foot, it hurts like crazy. There isn't much difference between them and 5-fingers except they look like modern boots. If we were so worried about period shoes, we'd all have basically leather bags on our feet, or Sandlar or Native Earth type boots.

I've seen people wear 5 Fingers at game as "barefoot" shoes, no one wver had an issue with it, as they were appropriately colored.
 
Honestly, if you're that worried about it, boot/shoe covers are ridiculously easy to make.

The 5 fingers are a little weird to me, but I just don't care enough as long as I'm not seeing a reebok symbol.

Also, Vibram is a brand folks. My boot soles are Vibrams, and they're the standard fantasy-esque knee-high moccasins.
 
Wraith said:
Are you using 'standard footwear' to mean 'tightly laced above-the-ankle boots'?
Click to expand...

Yes. I apologize for lacking clarity.
 
While we are on the subject of "barefoot characters" I can't find anywhere in any of the nationally available materials, that any player race has extra hardy feet (like hobbits in Tolkein's universe). Barbarians can resist a single elemental attack but they don't have "resist stick through foot". If we are talking about the "realism" of vibrams, I think this should be addressed.

Unless there is particular local clarifications on the subject, no character should realistically be barefoot in the conditions that we LARP in. It just isn't feasible for people in the long term.

I know we are a fantasy game but if you are trying to achieve the realism of the barefoot with stock vibrams, you can't. As I have maintained, with modification, they could look like barefeet (and I would love to see pics). Since this is a high fantasy game, I can even buy the wandering shoeless warrior but it's another level of suspension of disbelief.
 
As far as a national race packet is concerned I do believe you're right, after all you don't want to encourage real barefoot people in a LARP, too much potential for real life injury. Again though, modified vibrams could make for an interesting "barely civilized" character. As is though, the method of construction of vibrams uses too much modern fabric/materials to be anything other than sneaker levels of immersion.

However something like these:

http://www.coachkeats.com/wp/wp-content ... shoes1.bmp
http://a.yfrog.com/img706/5252/v0ul.jpg
 
Ron: evolutionarily speaking, shoes as we know them are a recent human invention; there are still places on earth where a significant portion of the population doesn't use them. And wilderkyn and sarr are based on animals, which havent hit the shoe point (except some pets on youtube). If someone wants to have a "barefoot" character, there isn't anything that says they can't.

If there is a too-modern look to it, because there's obvious logos or neon colors or what have you, it's something to go to your local rules staff about. If they've purchased grey 5 fingers as part of their grey mousekyn or black for a panther sarr, and covered logos and accents colors to look appropriate, what's the real difference?

I'd actually find it more realistic, those character types, being "barefoot" than having shoes on.
 
Phedre,

Considering that pretty much every character has had boots/shoes up to now, I'm not certain "realism" would be preserved in a broken continuity.
 
Amber walks around actually barefoot most of the time as her gypsy Yasme. I know someone else who wears flip-flop type sandals as an Asian based elf. If Zehnyu had been intro'ed when Vibrams were available, Ali probably would have rocked them. John Quigley as Parduc, a black panther sarr since permed, was in all black all the time as "just fur" and Vibrams would have worked just as well. Bill Hawkins as an NPC big-bad sarr wore grey Vbrams that matched his costuming color and no one even mentioned it. I was planning on getting a pair for my forthcoming high Orc, because of the pain that most structured boots cause my feet.

I know many, many kin and savage races that matched shoe color to costume color to be "barefoot." What's the difference between wearing brown Merrill's slip-on boots and wearing brown Vibrams, if you're a brown sarr or kin? The continuity you're talking about is entirely OOG, because its something you're not used to seeing as a certain thing (seeing black underarmor as dark elf skin, for example.)

This seems really similar to the discussion that was had when the most recent edition of the rulebook came out and in a picture someone's Transitions lenses were tinted because of the glaring sunlight. No, sunglasses aren't and never should be an acceptable thing, but the player needed to wear his glasses and not need to buy new ones. Some people got all up in arms about it, some people went "whatever, they're his OOG glasses." This is a YOMV (your opinion may vary) issue, and shouldn't need to be codified on a national level.
 
+1 well put lauren
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top