Chainmail running shoes

For reasons I'm not entirely clear on, Paleos sells a chainmail "barefoot" running shoe:

Delinda is not a shoe, it's a piece of jewelry! Suitable for strolling, hiking and walking on natural surfaces in, around and in waters. Order your PaleoBarefoots Delinda, the lightest among our Barefoot. A minimalist running shoe for grounding and light activities on natural grown grounds. Get undivided attention of friends and people around you - and have fun!

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I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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Eurovision 2013: An American in London

The technology that links taxonomy and Star Trek

http://sethdickens.myopenid.com/ Seth

At a guess, I’d say it’s so that you can stand on coral without it cutting your feet (coral is sharp as hell, and cuts get infected really quickly.)
- http://www.youtube.com/user/Freethinkersanon Christopher
  
  That would make sense. I forget the names, but I know some divers have tested chainmail suits to protect them from shark bites. This would be a small scale application of the same principle to solve a problem people just walking in the water or on the beach are more likely to encounter.
  - timquinn
    
    exactly, to protect from ground shark and the like.
    - kupsu
      
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TShf6gp7N4
    - ocker3
      
      Don’t you mean the Land Shark?
      - Jon
        
        Apparently, land sharks sound an awful lot like a young Chevy Chase.
        
        http://www.spike.com/video-clips/gytf2i/land-shark
      - legsmalone
        
        That movie looks amazing. Like worse than Tremors 2 amazing.
      - timquinn
        
        If I meant land shark I woulda said land shark. I know my dry water fauna.
  - Antinous / Moderator
    
    some divers have tested chainmail suits to protect them from shark bites.
    
    Did it work?
    Yes! His ribcage is broken and all his internal organs are ruptured, but it didn’t break the skin.
    - http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns
      
      I remember hearing that sharks bit metal things (like divecages) because it attracted their bio-electrical sense.
      
      /edit: well what’dya know, I did learn something as a kid
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroreception
      - Donald Petersen
        
        Is that why I can’t resist chewing on tinfoil?
      - http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns
        
        I think you need to get a wrap on your diet.
    - http://www.youtube.com/user/Freethinkersanon Christopher
      
      Funny enough I wondered the same thing. But as I recall the diver’s biggest problem was that a shark bit her air hose, which wasn’t covered in chainmail.
      
      And then of course there’s Robert Schimmel’s line: “If a shark is bothering you just punch it in the nose. And if that doesn’t work you can poke it in the eye with your bloody stump.”
      - Ito Kagehisa
        
        I think her biggest problem was a husband who used her for a shark suit test subject. Or her willingness to comply, anyway.
        
        Do you remember that Far Side cartoon where the dog is looking in his sandwich and thinking “another chicken bone – I wonder if she’s trying to kill me?”
- http://twitter.com/incarnedine_v Dan Hibiki
  
  Also Barnacles. Those are like razor blades.
- Jon
  
  Or oyster beds.
http://doran.pacifist.net/ Doran

Looks like they would be a bit rough on the tootsies.
- http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns
  
  And getting sand in it seems like an ever grinding nightmare.
- voiceinthedistance
  
  Dr. Scholl’s Corn Removal Slippers.
http://profiles.google.com/dscassel Darcy Casselman

Grounding. It’s a bit woo, though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XumPQLTzPWI
- Petzl
  
  A bit woo? This is as woo as you can get!
http://www.youtube.com/user/Freethinkersanon Christopher

I had an insomniac college roommate who’d stay up all night making chain mail shirts from bed springs. I wonder if he’s now put his skills toward making these shoes.
- http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
  
  Sounds like more than just insomnia was troubling him.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=799262347 Brian Gilliland

There goes my toe hair!
Hegelian

Just what I need! A pair of shoes that will protect me from a medieval sword attack but not from ordinary things I might step on like nails. Chainmail is not so effective against sharp and narrow pointy things.
iamlegion

Maybe for walking in ankle-high shark-infested waters? With very, very small sharks?
kartwaffles

At least they’re not those glove/shoes with individual toes. Walking around with 2 feet of maille toe-wedgies cannot possibly feel good.
Jen Onymous

Not good against the crap one gets in the sand at Coney Island, like broken glass and discarded needles.
Westfakia

They would also be excellent at concentrating the intense heat coming off the hot sand.
http://www.zachstronaut.com/ zachstronaut

Those things would do nothing to protect your feet from kiawe thorns. Nothing! Call me when they have the full plate running shoes.
- C.J. Hayes
  
  You mean full plate walking shoes?
  - http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns
    
    Well, you could have plates be layered in the shoe rubber…
- Ito Kagehisa
  
  Magnesium sabatons! I’m sure I know people that can do that for you.
  
  In fact screw magnesium, get Peter over at North Star Armory to make you some articulated spring steel sabots with rolled edges. They’d be like ultralight, nearly invulnerable little ovens for your feet! Except in winter, then they’d be little iceboxes.
http://www.chickenunderwear.com Chicken Underwear

why is it called a running shoe? More like a leftover prop from Mad Max
- cdh1971
  
  IIRC,these really bear an uncanny resemblance to Mel’s prophylactic in a kinda gross scene in the way over-priced ”Platinum Edition” of the director’s cut, only way, way too big assuming the lady model has an average sized foot.
millie fink

Geez, everyone here is so practical.

As the ad says, you should buy these so you can “Get undivided attention of friends and people around you.” Weeeeeee!

Sensible shoes, don’tcha know, are for dweebs who realize that these chainmail slipper things would be probably more trouble than getting all that undivided attention is worth.
Tarliman

Speaking as a maillemaker, these are badly designed and poorly implemented. Wearing them without socks is going to result in chafing from the lacing points as well as the potential for burns from heat transmission. If you want chausses, let me know. These slippers aren’t meant to be taken seriously.
- cdh1971
  
  You mailled it, chausses, or going unshod is likely better, more practical, than these, likely overpriced, things.
Antinous / Moderator

An unshoe specifically designed to allow used needles to poke through. Brilliant!
beafdog

my choice of beach footwear is primarily influenced by fear of needles in the sand. one star!
ujin

maybe stingrays?
rattypilgrim

“If you find yourself in the middle of a sudden thunder storm remove your PaleoBarefootsDelinda running shoes as quickly as possible. PaleoBarefoots is not responsible for any lightening strikes incurred by the wearer”.
Richard Lord

Now my feet will be safe from Zombie bites.
http://twitter.com/stuck411 David

People here seem to skip the part where it say’s “these are not shoes; they’re jewelry.” They’re for getting ooohs and aaawws.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=599171544 Rufus Sanders

The rep: OMFG you will not bur-lieve what I’ve sourced. Behold…tada!
The retailer: [skeptical] are you…sure?
The rep: Totally! Its like, totally natural, barefoot and good for your feet.
The retailer: whats the catch?
The rep: machine-linked metal is waaay cheaper than hand made leather. Unit cost? 20 bucks. Retail? Anything.You.Want.
The retailer: Ok, stick me for a case of twenty, diamond-spread.
RedShirt77

Metal footwear sounds like a recipe for bad traction.