It's (at least was when I was still working) common to use heel straps as part
of ESD protection in industry. These were of similar material to wrist straps
and contacted the sweat layer inside the shoe on one end and the floor on the
other. The floor had to be treated with an ESD safe coating, however.
Likewise, ESD mats were only cleaned with an approved cleaner and smocks that
didn't generate static charges were worn over street clothing.
Modern linoleum (the real stuff) often has a coating on the surface which is
likely to be some kind of plastic and if you're using "linoleum" generically,
then you might have vinyl that is also plastic and potentially an ESD
generator, albeit probably not as bad as carpet.
You will no doubt get an argument from some saying being connected to the floor
is an unsafe thing while working on things electrical. This is true if you
stand a chance of coming in contact with the A/C mains.
That said, I use the bare foot technique sometimes, although the floors in my
house are brick and not plastic.
Wes N7WS
--- On Sun, 3/28/10, Sam Scripter <moscow...@verizon.net> wrote:
>
> I'm writing in search of technical opinions. Am I in
> the right place? ; )
>
> I am _not_ writing about running a rig "barefoot", without
> an amplifier.
>
> I am writing about building my K2 and add-on kits _with one
> foot bare_ --
> bare foot skin in direct contact with a linoleum-tile
> floor, and _never
> while on a carpet_. I do this in addition to having an
> anti-static mat
> and a wristband attached thereto.
>
> My questions are the following:
>
> Does the bare foot on the bare floor provide any
> protection
> at all?
>
> Does it provide protection without a mat?
>
> Does a bare foot on a non-carpeted floor add to the
> protection
> provided by an anti-static mat.
>
> I first began employing this practice in the 1980's, when I
> was
> building and frequently working on my own desktop PC
> "clones".
>
> 73 Sam KN7C
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