Getting a Grip

[Florence Fennel]

Newton's thread about loving/hating winter has prompted me to think about my inability to walk confidently when the weather gets icy. Has anyone tried those grip things that you clip on to your shoes, or do you rely on boots with good soles?

[FionaH]

I know Sarz had some really good ones for the last couple of years, ebay I think. We sell some with small spikes on, might get some if it gets yukky

[rustylady]

I hate walking when it's icy, but if I have to go out I wear my leather walking boots. They have good soles.

[Aberdeenplotter]

Newton's thread about loving/hating winter has prompted me to think about my inability to walk confidently when the weather gets icy. Has anyone tried those grip things that you clip on to your shoes, or do you rely on boots with good soles?

A customer of mine who is over 80 has a set of these things with spikes that clip onto your shoes and he says they are great.

[Aberdeenplotter]

Serious point here, part of the trick of walking on ice is to get your weight directly over your feet so that when you apply weight, the pressure goes down fixing your foot to the ground and doesn't push your foot from underneath you. Concentrating on the technique reduces calamities.

[singleseeder]

I have seriously considered buying the spikey, grippy things to go on the soles of boots.

However; what happens in an urban situation where there are patches of tarmac showing; gritted roads, underpasses, sections of pavement cleared by enthusiastic neighbours etc? I presume that you can't walk on the spikes then.

[Florence Fennel]

I have seriously considered buying the spikey, grippy things to go on the soles of boots.

However; what happens in an urban situation where there are patches of tarmac showing; gritted roads, underpasses, sections of pavement cleared by enthusiastic neighbours etc? I presume that you can't walk on the spikes then.

That worries me too. A colleague of mine had the spiky things on her boots, stepped inside the tiled corridor of work to take them off, slipped and broke her arm.

[HeyWayne]

I remember as a kid, my nan used to have these "spring" things that clipped over her shoes.

[singleseeder]

I remember as a kid, my nan used to have these "spring" things that clipped over her shoes.

Blimey, so did my mum. I had completely forgotten. I wonder if they are still available?

Memories eh? I remember her asking my ex husband to walk her around the corner to work, and he refused, saying he could slip over too so what was the point. Note, I said ex husband.

[scarey55]

We have yaktrax (other products are available ) and they are brilliant! We use them in snow, ice and partial snow and ice and they have been great. I think that, with anything related to snow and ice, you need to take a bit more care but they have certainly made me more confident in bad weather. They just slip on and off your boots (wellies in my case) but I would suggest that the pro ones are better because the ordinary ones do have a tendency to fall of if they are not put on correctly. I have the bog standard ones and have tied them on with old shoelaces a bit of Heath Robinson stylee

ETA: You can buy them for about £15

[Bren In Pots]

I wear these leather walking shoes Grisport Modena Hiking shoe and up to yet fingers crossed I've not slipped.

[bearded bloke]

Ere yer go Flo .............. Women's Snow Boots, Unisex Snow Boots items in winter essentials 2011 store on eBay! ...... c/w hinge out ice spikes & fleece lined for toatie toes

[Two_Sheds]

I've got an old pair of walking boots that I screwed some screws into: work brilliantly in snow & ice, I can even run in them, no slips at all

http://www.ultrunr.com/shoesnow.html

or

http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_6944513_ho...-crampons.html

fyi: do NOT wear them indoors on expensive flooring

[Potstubsdustbins]

My old fashioned Royal Hunters have segs in the sole so I have no problem.

SWMBO and her friends all carry a pair of wooley socks in their pockets to slip over their shoes/boots and she swears by them.

Colin.

[Jeanied]

I got a pair of ice grippers to go on the soles of my shoes - and tramped round the outskirts of Newcastle doing the Christmas shopping two winters ago when the weather was really bad. The side roads were too slippery to drive so I walked instead. The ice under the snow was pretty thick as it thawed and re-froze.
They clattered a bit when I walked into the supermarkets but did not do any damage to the floor and I didn't slip either. It was the one example I can think of when I was well prepared!