Has anyone returned back to more conventional shoes after five fingers?

[Dawg]

I wear Five Fingers as much as possible, and I really like my Altra Instincts for a more substantial shoe. Altra is a fairly new company, their shoes have zero drop and a unique foot shaped design. Nice and wide in the forefoot. Altra makes a trail runner called the Lone Peak, but I can't speak about it from experience.

[Shiraz-mataz]

My hiking buddy and I were both using VFF's but a losing battle of toe vs. rock caused my friend to swear off Vibrams forever. He didn't dislike the shoes in general but felt they forced a certain level of attention to the terrain that distracted from his enjoyment of the hike. I, on the other hand, am used to traipsing around without shoes a lot of the time and being mindful of obstacles is very innate so I stuck with the Vibrams. Differents strokes, you know?

[Aspen Glow]

My hiking buddy and I were both using VFF's but a losing battle of toe vs. rock caused my friend to swear off Vibrams forever. He didn't dislike the shoes in general but felt they forced a certain level of attention to the terrain that distracted from his enjoyment of the hike. I, on the other hand, am used to traipsing around without shoes a lot of the time and being mindful of obstacles is very innate so I stuck with the Vibrams. Differents strokes, you know?

your opinion carries extra weight (bad choice of words?) because I am in Hughesville, about 20 miles from leonardtown ha

[Shiraz-mataz]

your opinion carries extra weight (bad choice of words?) because I am in Hughesville, about 20 miles from leonardtown ha

Ha! I didn't notice your location in the original post... Yeah, I guess we are neighbors!

[Lint]

+1 on Altra footwear.

I've been wearing the Instinct around town and the Lone Peak on trail for a few months and am blown away by these shoes. They aren't "barefoot" shoes, but have zero-drop construction and a very wide toe-box. They're almost comically wide, but this allows the toes to splay in a very comfortable way. I've been experimenting with VFF, Merrell Trail Gloves and New Balance Minimus for awhile, but the Lone Peak will be my shoe of choice on my next thru hike.

[Zipper]

I trained in VFFs when they didn't have the ones with all the extra stuff on the soles - I had a basic pair of Sprints and wore them everywhere for months before my hike. I didn't end up having foot problems and maybe that's because I had strengthened my foot muscles ahead of time - who knows? Just before I left for the trip, I switched to low cut Montrails, and ended up wearing about four different pairs of trail shoes through my hike. I'm glad I made the switch - while the VFFs are fabulous in so many ways, they slowed me down, especially with extra weight. I did use my five fingers as my camp shoes for the first two thirds of my hike and hiked in them for maybe about 40 miles of the AT total, especially after stream crossings.
Best wishes with whatever you decide to do!