As Della observed in the last post it has been very wet around her lately. We have ad 4″ of rain this week alone! Going around the lambs or trying to spray thistles on our steep hills has been fraught with difficulty on account of how slippery it has been.
I have had a number of falls and am still suffering from a sore (almost dislocated) shoulder and similarly sprained wrist but there is still much work to do. So recently I bought (from a local Bolt shop) some 15mm hex-headed self-tapping screws. These only came in stainless steel so were fairly dear at $20 per 100, but for this purpose you only need perhaps 20, so it will not break the bank. You can screw them directly into the soles of your boots (i used an electric drill) in suitable spots to create quasi ‘hob-nailed boots’. I placed them on the outside edges so there would be no risk they could go through to my feet. This proved perfectly adequate for traction.
The boots I used were some Mongrel zip-up work boots I bought when I had my knee operation (as I could not pull on my normal elastic sided Redbacks. They are one of the few boots which come standard in 4E width. They have slightly thicker soles. I suspect 12mm would be a better length for the Redbacks or for ‘normal’ hiking boots (such as Keens).
I chose the hex-headed screws because I reasoned that their profile would give the boots better grip than ‘normal’ round headed Phillips type screws which are available in most hardware stores, but I’m sure they would work too. I would not use the ubiquitous ‘tech’ screws because the thread doesn’t extend far enough along the shank to ensure purchase in such a short length.
The improvement in grip was just spectacular. I was suddenly slipping so little I could really feel the stress on my ankles! I went from slipping all the time (well, barely able to stand on our wet slippery hillsides) to not slipping at all! It is unfortunate that the boots are so heavy but they will make completing the thistle spraying and other hillside jobs safer it it ever stops raining!
The photo shows rather dirty boots (as you would expect after some use in the paddock). ‘Good clean dirt’ -as my grandfather used to say. We used to demean folks who refused to get their hands dirty as no capable of doing ‘real work’ – a view to which I still subscribe actually. I don’t hold much with the other sort of ‘fake’ work. Meetings and such.
You could screw them into your hiking shoes at home, then take them out again and carry them in your pack. They could be reinserted into the holes on the trail with a simple hand tool if you encountered ice or very slippery conditions and would likely weigh less (and definitely cost less) than ‘proper’ crampons.
This is exactly what fly anglers have been doing with their boots, especially when felt soles were permitted in NZ
Simms make an ultra special (Ti) ultra expensive bolt for their wading boots
We’ve always used cheaper hex head short roofing bolts that are the equivalent to the commercial ones and you can buy in bulk . Sure they eventually rust as we scrape them on rocks, but you just replace them.
The placing is important – the 3 in the end of the heel stop many slips!
Sure, I didn’t invent this. Just publicising it. I recommend the stainless steel screws though that are not self-drilling because they have a longer thread (ie more purchase) and they do not rust. Cheers, Steve.