Regarding Footwear

[Sprints]

Ahoy slackers!

I've been slacklining for a couple months now, and the majority of the people I see slacking wear some kind of shoewear. I've always slacked barefoot; wearing shoes always seems to throw my balance off and isn't nearly as comfortable.

Any other barefoot slackers here? Am I the minority?

[Toad]

Walking barefoot is the best way to learn how to slackline. It's the way I started and I reckon just about everyone on the forums too. There are pros and cons about wearing shoes. The pros are that it doesn't hurt your feet when you land jumps, since it doesn't hurt, you will be able to jump higher. You can also stand on the line sideways and the arches of your feet won't be killing you the next day. Shoes are pretty much there just so you don't hurt your feet. The cons are that you lose a little bit of feel for the line, but after you start getting use to the feel of the shoes theres not that much of difference. If I'm longlining or doing tricks that I really need to be able to feel the line, then I'll go barefoot. So I'd say keep on slackling with barefeet untill you start doing tricks that start hurting your feet, then try shoes out. There is nothing wrong with going baerfoot!

[Frankie]

Barefoot is definitely the best way to go for starting out and if you really want to get a feel for the line. It is how I started but eventually as I started doing tricks I started wearing shoes. Given the option of shoes or no shoes for me now though, I would choose shoes. I wear them whenever I slackline, except on the beach. No one likes sand in their shoes.

As for shoes go, I would say my favorite slackline shoes have been my 5.10 Basic shoes. I have gotten them broken in and I can feel the line just fine and they aren't totally thrashed. I slacklined in Vans Slipon for a long time but by the time the really got broken it they were falling apart.

My next pair of shoes though are going to be the 5.10 Line Kings. I had a chance to wear a pair of them for 3 days at the Winter OR in Salt Lake City, UT back in January and they were just awesome. I was put off by the hightop at 1st but I quickly got over it and fell in love with the shoes.

Take home message would be just find what you like and go with it. I still like to slackline barefooted but I enjoy wearing shoes as well.

[Sprints]

Awesome, I'm not alone! I think I'll practice with shoes as well as barefoot this summer. I have a pair of Converse Chuck Taylors; I can imagine those would provide enough protection while not eliminating all of the "feel" for the line.

[Frankie]

So just an update, I got my Line Kings the other day and had a chance to run them through a gauntlet of moves and lines. Definitely my #1 shoe.

[scotty]

Those line kings look pretty sick. I prefer barefoot or 5-fingers for most walking though. Not much of a jump specialist.

[Sprints]

Those 5-fingers look super slick. I've been thinking about buying a pair of Sprints (hah!) this summer. I imagine they would be a happy medium between barefoot and shoes, especially for slacking.

[Frankie]

5-Fingers are good for slacklining although my toes would always get caught up on the line with turning...

[cavincosters]

It depends on the footwear that they slack or not. It differs from footwear to footwear and depend on the quality of material used for making it.