Barefooting Bulletin Board

about "shortcuts"....

I would definitely use a shortcut. I don't consider it cheating since the main reason my feet (and other folks', I'm sure) aren't as tough as they can be is because I can't barefoot as often as I would like. It's a paradox. You can't toughen your feet without exposing them to aggressive surfaces, but you can't expose them to aggressive surfaces until they're fairly tough. I spend most of my day behind the wheel, not exactly the fastest way to build thick soles. When I'm out of the truck I'm frequently required to wear steel-toed boots. Soaking in the hot, sweaty boots softens my soles quite a bit, making it hard to maintain any toughness. If I could rub in some ointment each day to keep the soles conditioned it would help a great deal.