A subject near and dear to my heart. I am one of the lucky ones who does manage near constant barefooting outside for half the year (In Maine, you can imagine that the other half of the year, not so much.)And I don't mean in public places so much. I mean working on garden projects, pruning (everything except rose beds) site restoration projects, where I try to return a place to be very much like the Acadian environments I so love to hike thru (boreal forest and related.) Thus I always have the conditioning that most people in this culture can never have, at least not without some extra effort, along with the health benefits.

When conditions are too rough even for me (long expanses of pointy rocks) it's my Chacos with the vibram treads. These also extend the season at both ends. What we also need is open air and sun, the great enemies of fungi and bacteria which love to breed in that closed up sweaty environment of shoes. Of course, I AM in Maine, and at some point in November I have to give this up for several months for obvious reasons.

I received a bit of support in the most recent edition of "The Complete Walker" by Colin Fletcher and Chip Rawlins. Lots of evidence on my side. But I realize this isn't a forum about barefoot hiking, so I usually avoid the subject and focus on the gear and experiences of all the rest of the members.