The leaves are changing. There have been a couple of cold fronts that have passed through with attendant rain. We even had frost one night. But the temperatures are still getting up into the 50s (10C).
I hear of barefooters in warmer climes for whom 50° is too cold. OK. But for around here (central Ohio), it’s nothing. Or at least, it can be nothing if you acclimate yourself.
[This is a partial repost with a bit of new material, mostly at the beginning and end.]
If you go barefoot, now is not the time to stop. Now is the time to start acclimating your feet and your body to the cooler temperatures. If you do so, you will stay more comfortable all winter long, and you will also be able to remain barefooted for much, much longer.
I just happen to right now be reading 98.6 Degrees — The art of keeping your ass alive! by Cody Lundin of Dual Survival (and barefooting) fame. In it he talks quite a bit about hypothermia, but he also talks about conditioning himself and how he acclimatizes to the weather.
From page 89 (paperback edition, 2003):
Most of us “modern” folks have robbed ourselves of the experience of acclimatization for whatever reason. Instead, we put on extra clothing early in the season and take it off late when the season’s passed. We saunter from climate-controlled shelters to climate-controlled vehicles to climate-controlled work areas to climate-controlled shopping centers, worshiping the almighty god called “room temperature.” The body never has a chance to acclimate to temperature variation because it never needs to. But to each his or her own. There’s nothing wrong with living a climate-controlled life; I’m simply explaining how and why I do what I do. I choose to acclimate as much as possible to the heat and cold for several reasons. I use myself as a human guinea pig to push the envelope of my own personal limits. There is a big difference between being uncomfortable and being dangerous when it comes to training in temperature extremes. Acclimation is like weight training; you either use it or lose it. Unfortunately, the “losing it” part can happen fast.
He also talks about the wonders of wool, and cold feet. He says pretty much what I’ve been saying a long time: it is shoes that can often make your feet cold by cutting off circulation and by reducing the nature motion of the foot that helps pump in warm blood.
I found it interesting that he talked about using wool socks in the cold for a long time. From an early Dual Survival episode (in Montana), I thought that was a new experiment. But it wasn’t — he’s been doing that for a long time:
While I’ll never write a book about footwear, I do have a fair amount of experience with socks. I have worn two to three pairs of “new” (holey socks don’t cut it) wool socks, sans shoes or boots, for years in cold, dry snowy conditions with great results.
* * *
Donning loose and layered new wool socks allows for excess foot perspiration to freely evaporate while minimally compressing insulation and impeding circulation. Wool socks work best in cold, dry conditions (dry snow actually sucks the moisture from a water-logged sock) but I’ve worn them in slush as well.
On a side note, he’s also had difficult Wal-Mart situations, mentioning them twice (when discussing where to get some of his survival gear):
It [tincture of iodine] can be purchased at most discount pharmacies except Wal-Mart; the “Greeting Gestapo” will kick you out if you are barefoot.
and
Magnesium tools are cheap and compact. They’re available at most camping and discount stores except Wal-Mart (you’ll never get past the “greeters” with bare feet).
(Actually, while I don’t go to Wal-Mart a lot, when I have gone, I’ve never been kicked out.)
Anyways, back to acclimatization, as the weather cools, don’t automatically start bundling up (or worse yet, putting on footwear). Experiment to see what you can tolerate. Even a little chilliness will not hurt you.
If you have yardwork to do to prepare your yard for winter (hint: leaves), try doing it barefoot. Just the fact that you are working means that you are helping to push plenty of warm blood down to your feet to keep them warm.
You might find that they get just a little bit pink. That’s the extra warm blood. That’s good, and you are training your body to do that.
Over the weekend I started blowing some of the leaves that were accumulating in our front yard. It was 50° with a bit of sun. It was perfect for going barefoot (though of course that would totally shock usually shod people).
Fall Chores
Start acclimating now and you’ll find that you can survive, yes, actually be comfortable in much cooler temperatures than you ever imagined.
[Note: if you live in Texas, now it not the time to acclimate. It is still too hot. Reread this entry in a couple months. 🙂 ]
Ahcuah 
You gave similar advice (though not so well organized) when I first joined SBL back in 2005 and it helped a lot. I’ve advised others of the same, but it’s never been heeded. Seems like most resort to shoes this time of year. Interesting that you’ve never been asked to leave Wal-Mart… I’ve been asked three times at two different stores. In our area, Wal-Mart has run everyone else out, so I have little choice than to put on sandals… for example, today I need to get tag board for post cards – but both office supply stores in the county have closed due to Wal-Mart and that’s where I need to go… oh well. This is a good post, though, Bob.
Ooooh. As I mentioned, that was a reworked older post. Since I first wrote it I was asked to leave Wal-Mart. (Guess I should have updated that part, too.) It happened the same day I was kicked out of Best Buy. I usually have no trouble anywhere, and then two splats within half an hour of each other.
Our Wal-Mart obviously had gotten a new manager . . . and he added a “greeter”. Or should I say “anti-greeter”. So the greeter radioed the manager who personally came to confront me. I told him about my doctor’s note and he kind of maybe said I still had to leave, but it wasn’t clear. And then he started walking away. So I chased him down and gave him hell.
In the end I really didn’t know if I was allowed to stay there barefoot or not, but I left anyways (they didn’t have what I was looking for—Wal-Marts have gotten really lousy for much of anything anymore). But at least he didn’t call the cops on me like Best Buy did.
Oh, and reinforcing your Wal-Mart problem with killing stores, they come in, kill the competing stores, and then quit providing selection, prices, and service. Because they don’t have to any more. Classic monopolistic practices.
I almost exclusively shop at Walmart because they are pretty much the only place in town that does not have a NSx3 policy. I got ran off by a cashier/manager tag team once. The manager actually took me to the front door to show me the NSx3 sign which they don’t have. Then he got on the radio to ask who took down the sign. 😛 I called corporate to complain and about a half hour later I got a call back from one of the managers to tell me that I was welcome to shop shoeless, and shirtless if I so desired.
I still have the occasional run in with … people who make flawed assumptions, but I send them to talk with management while I continue shopping.
One thing that truly worries me is how shoes will one day make us incapable of going barefoot because our feet will have evolved.
Thanks for these notes. Part of our acclimation this season is to keep the house extra cold too. I got some ‘chilblains’ last year I think from too quickly going from warm to cold. Awesome on the wool socks tip too. Now if only to find wool socks ….
That’s why I never trust stores that have “greeters” at the front. I always knew that “greeters” are the first line of defense in case a barefooter shows up in a store like Wal-Mart. I have been to only one Wal-Mart near the Jacksonville area to buy myself a jacket. I was going to go in there barefoot but changed my mind in the last minute. Lucky I did because there was a “greeter” when I went inside. I live in South Florida where the temperatures won’t dip until probably late November or early December. Even when they do, I wear a jacket, sweat shirt, jeans, and am totally barefoot. Also believe it or not, there aren’t too many Wal-Marts down here.
I’m doing without heating, dressing warmly from neck to ankles if needed, going out barefoot every day regardless of weather. Last winter was the first one I made “almost always barefoot” … this one will be the next.
A few days ago I was hiking in shorts and T-shirt. Next night a steep temperature drop and snowfall is announced, ending this “indian summer”. I’m already getting out my legwarmers … and i found that Sue Kenney’s “barebottoms amphibious” also help insulating the top of the feet in cold weather.
Leafblowers are annoying. They are noisy and polluting … and just move leaves from one place to another anyway. It is forbidden to use leafblowers in some Austrian cities, I’m glad about that.
Notice that the leafblower is electric, so it is not very noisy at all, and is less polluting. If the leaves are left there, they kill the grass, and my yard is way too big to rake.
Totally agree, hold out from bundling up as long as you can in the Fall. By the same logic I wait to dress down in the Spring due to the cold ground.
It was fine walking in the middle of the rain storm last night with wind and mud, temps in lower 50’s, with a waterproof jacket and pants. The chi of the earth is still neutral. It feels warmer than last year at the time.