u/ourobo-ros

Hi all, I just wanted to explain about half sizes. Vivobarefoot don't make half sizes. But what they do is make full EU sizes. This is important because whilst US/UK sizes are sized every 8.47 mm, EU shoes are sized every 6.67mm.

This means 2 things:

1. the conversion between EU to US/UK is somewhat erratic, and explains why it looks as though they make some half sizes. They don't, it's just a rounding / conversion issue. Also your normal US/UK shoe size may not correspond exactly to a vivo shoe size.

2. True US/UK half sizes would be every 4.23mm, EU shoes in most brands typically don't do half sizes since their full sizes are every 6.67mm and this is generally good enough. So Vivobarefoot is actually doing what most European shoe brands do.

It wouldn't make sense for them to make "half sizes" unless they switched their entire system to true US/UK sizes. I personally think using EU sizes is a good compromise and allows them to not hold too much stock (remember barefoot shoes are still pretty niche).

I know my vivobarefoot size (EU 42 = UK 8), but I'm always guessing in other shoes whether I'm a UK 8 or a UK 8.5 and always flipping between the two. If a vivo UK 8 doesn't fit me, I know right away it's purely a volume / last issue, not a length issue, because I've found their length to be pretty consistent. I mean they even use the same insoles.

So measure your foot length in the socks you normally wear (preferably in the afternoon, and both feet). And consult the foot chart. I'm amazed at how many people completely ignore the foot chart.

https://www.vivobarefoot.com/us/size-guide#size-chart

Finally once you get the shoe, take the insole out and put your foot on it. There should be a fingers-width extra room beyond the end of your toes. Any more and it's too long. Any less and it's too short. If the length is correct then you know any remaining sizing issues are to do with width / last / foot shape / volume.

This is a bit of a PSA. So I got into floor sleeping about 9 months ago (having tried it in Uni 25 years ago and loving it back then). I went for what I thought was a good setup - a Latex mattress a la Mike Chang, who seems to be the influence behind many floor-sleepers adopting this habit. I've hated it. Maybe "hate" is a strong term, but it certainly didn't seem to benefit me as much as I hoped (if at all). I bought a low tatami bed to go along with my mattress but never got around to building it. Well I finally tried sleeping on the tatami a couple of days ago since it was just laying in the other room taking up space and boy-oh-boy - game changer!

I can't fully explain this, but despite having a wooden floor (herring parquet, glued down), the latex mattress feels way way harder on the tatami than the wood floor. Crazy right? It's gone from a mushy mess (think soft bed), to what feels like a firm mattress (think firm bed). I'm finally feeling some relaxation in my back muscles at night. To be honest I wish it was even harder, but this is fine for now. The only explanation I can come up with is that the silicone glue used to glue the wood down might be the culprit.

The other nice thing is even raising the mattress by the 1-2 inch thickness of the tatami makes sitting on the bed (e.g. to put my socks on) way way more comfortable. It feels like sitting on a normal bed, even though it's only 1-2 inches higher!

Finally the tatami takes care of air-flow (even more when I hopefully add the bed frame). I think this has lowered the temp slightly. My biggest gripe with the latex is that it's too warm for me.

Consider this post a warning that because this is still a relatively niche thing, there isn't enough info out there on the exact variables that can make or break floor sleeping. Mike Chang has a cement / concrete hard floor. He almost certainly has air-con too. 2 things which my setup lacks, and which means I can't just translate his setup to mine.

I needed the tatami. And I probably need to switch out the latex for cotton at some stage to solve the heat issue. Hope my experiences are of some use to someone out there!