Over 20,000 downloads and counting (Over 100/day)! The Over 20,000 downloads and counting (Over 100/day)! The Beginner’s Guide to Vibram Five Fingers is a truly free PDF — requires no email sign-up and is a totally anonymous download. The only “cost” is in clicking the link, which will start the PDF download.

It’s been a long-time coming, and with ever more interest in Vibram Five Fingers barefoot shoes with each passing week (and Lieberman’s research on impact forces in heel-striking vs forefoot-striking continues to make the rounds in the press), I decided it was high-time a simple guide was put together to help would-be VFFers learn about the “barefoot alternative” — Vibram Five Fingers.

I present the [beginner’s guide] to Five Fingers [it’s a PDF] .

The [beginner’s guide] is a twenty-one page how-to document aimed at Vibram Five Fingers “newbies.” Why would you need a guide to a pair of shoes? Well, a couple reasons. For one, foot gloves aren’t your typical footwear, and two, any shoe that requires measuring the length of your foot from heel to longest-toe on your longest foot and then using that measurement to determine your shoe size by matching it on a grid by model and gender — well yeah, VFFs kinda need a guide!

The beginner’s guide to Vibram Five Fingers covers some of the basics regarding the barefoot movement, generally, and VFFs, specifically. It includes background info, advice on which styles/Vibram Five Fingers models you should consider first (including user photos and links to user stories), tips and how-to on determining your VFF size, where to buy a pair, and what to do once you’ve finally gotten them on your feet!

The beginner’s guide to Five Fingers is completely free to download and share.

As the document is electronic, it will be updated and edited based on feedback received, so if you want to make sure you’ve got the most updated version, just use this link, which will always point to the most current version.

If you already have a pair of VFFs and are way past the beginner’s point, I encourage you to download this guide, anyway. My hope is you’ll find it a useful tool to pass on to friends and family who are interested in your quirky five-toed footwear.

If you have any feedback on this guide, please let me know!