Snow Chains For Shoes

[noggin]

I adore snow...can't get enough of it. However, in May last year I fell and broke my right wrist and was quite incapacitated for several months. Scans showed my bones to be old and ropey but I now take stuff to strengthen them up. BUT, I have been left with a fear of falling, as I would break rather than bounce if I fell again.

I alighted on the idea of some sort of grips for my shoes/wellies but I have found that there are several kinds available and each kind is being promoted as "the best" and the "one that the professionals choose".

The types available seem to be in 3 categories:

a) those with studs

B) those with razor edged chains

c) those with metal coils around a rubber core (Yaktrax)

Furthermore, some just fit over the front part/ball of the foot and some cover the entire underside of the foot.

Some of these are not exactly cheap and I want to spend my money wisely. I don't care if some people think I look like a plonker with them on.

So I thought I would ask if anyone has any experience of these things, such as what type may anyone have tried and how good were they etc.

So, has anybody tried them and how were they for you?

PS I'm getting prepared.....I bought 100kg of rocksalt yesterday. :lol:

[Terminal Moraine]

Unfortunately I've no experience of the products you mention but if you want a cheap alternative try putting a pair of seaboot socks over your boots/shoes.

These are very effective on ice and compacted snow. Not so good though if you're walking over small patches of ice or snow separated by lengthy stretches of tarmac as they wear out quite quickly.

Then again I'm not sure how well the 'professional' products would cope with patchy snow and ice and stretches of tarmac.

[sblog]

Hi,

I bought a pair of YaxTrax for when I went to Chamonix earlier this year.

They did fit well over my boots, but didn't get chance to use them in anger as most of the snow at lower levels had melted and didn't need them.

Hopefully, I can putthem to good use this year!!!

Rgds,

Simon

[blitzen]

I adore snow...can't get enough of it. However, in May last year I fell and broke my right wrist and was quite incapacitated for several months. Scans showed my bones to be old and ropey but I now take stuff to strengthen them up. BUT, I have been left with a fear of falling, as I would break rather than bounce if I fell again.

I alighted on the idea of some sort of grips for my shoes/wellies but I have found that there are several kinds available and each kind is being promoted as "the best" and the "one that the professionals choose".

The types available seem to be in 3 categories:

a) those with studs

B) those with razor edged chains

c) those with metal coils around a rubber core (Yaktrax)

Furthermore, some just fit over the front part/ball of the foot and some cover the entire underside of the foot.

Some of these are not exactly cheap and I want to spend my money wisely. I don't care if some people think I look like a plonker with them on.

So I thought I would ask if anyone has any experience of these things, such as what type may anyone have tried and how good were they etc.

So, has anybody tried them and how were they for you?

PS I'm getting prepared.....I bought 100kg of rocksalt yesterday. :lol:

I haven't tried them personally, (but may need to soon!) My in-laws both wore the razor-edged type and did so for years. They always swore by them and just packed them away until they were needed again. They seemed to last for ages. They covered the soul of the foot.

[noggin]

Then again I'm not sure how well the 'professional' products would cope with patchy snow and ice and stretches of tarmac.

Thanks, TM.

I came across some grips that coped with changing "terrains" such as from snow to ice to gritted areas and apparently postmen like these! Trouble is, try as I might, I can't find the website now!

All of them come with a warning that they must not be worn on clean, dry shiny floors such as those found in shopping malls, nor on stuff such as vinyl as you would have an almighty tumble. Also, they mustn't be worn on carpet either.

Do the socks really work? I've heard of this, but thought that the socks would just get wet and that would make it even more slippery? Do the seaboot socks have some sort of water repellant in them?

Whilst I wouldn't feel too bad wearing grips, I might feel a bit embarrassed wearing socks over my shoes/wellies as they wouldn't be as discreet.

Thanks to Psycho and Blitzen too! This is all good info which will help me to decide which ones to get.

[Mesoscale]

stabilicers are good for ice, compact snow and basically all slippery precipitation related slipperyness! haha! they come in different forms to ones that cover just your heel and toes or you can get full uncerside foot coverage! these are better then yaxtrax as they are mainly designed for lose snow!

[noggin]

stabilicers are good for ice, compact snow and basically all slippery precipitation related slipperyness! haha! they come in different forms to ones that cover just your heel and toes or you can get full uncerside foot coverage! these are better then yaxtrax as they are mainly designed for lose snow!

Brilliant info there...thanks! That's the YakTrax out then. I'm happy and confident enough wading though fresh snow, the scareyness comes when it's compacted and slippery. I have come across stabilicers and shall go back for a further look.

I knew I'd get better info here than on the products' websites!

What a fine bunch of peeps there are on NW!

[cyclonic happiness]

I was wondering about ice skates too, last winter I came within about 3 days of the canal being frozen enough to skate on, but then we had a bit of a thaw and I never got round to it.

[Osbourne One-Nil]

When I was a kid, I once found a catalogue in my dad's draw at home with lots of chains and (what I can only assume to be) waterproof clothing in it. I could ask him if you like?

[suffolkboy_]

When I was a kid, I once found a catalogue in my dad's draw at home with lots of chains and (what I can only assume to be) waterproof clothing in it. I could ask him if you like?

Hahahaha, you never fail to amuse me OON.

I slipped over on the 2nd January and broke my leg in 3 places....still suffering a little bit now.

I have looked at them aswell, but some are over £20, so I would also be interested to hear if they are any good.

[BucksSnow]

Going by evidence i have seen on a winter discussion i would advise all to be buy snow shoes

[bobbydog]

ive got one of these for winter

[osmposm]

.....I came across some grips that coped with changing "terrains" such as from snow to ice to gritted areas and apparently postmen like these! Trouble is, try as I might, I can't find the website now!....

God, I wish our postmen (or their managers) had the nouse to order some - after the heavyish SW London snowfall of Feb 2009 we had no postal deliveries at all for three days. As the manager defensively explained to me on the phone, the health and safety risk involved precluded any posties from being asked to go out until the snow had almost entirely gone from the pavement. The postmen were happy to concur with this entirely sensible decision.....on full pay, of course - Wandsworth is a notoriously militant delivery office.

I wish I could give you some personal experience of them, but like you I have been looking indecisively at the various types available online ever since. These http://ezyshoes.co.uk/images/ezyshoes.pdf are relatively new, and seem to be designed for any surface, not just snow and ice; but I don't know how effective they are, and at £20 they're not cheap. Available here http://www.icegrips.co.uk/icegrips1.html and here http://www.blacktoe.co.uk/ice%20Grips/ezyshoes.htm (and also eBay) - but always the same £19.95 price & £3.50 delivery.

Edit: here's a (French) video of them in use http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xegk7l_ezyshoes-surchaussure-ezy-shoes-ant_lifestyle . Apparently the cords have kevlar cores, extra grip coming from the metal linking rings - a technology deriving from high-tech snow tyres. When you take them off, they fold up and go in your pocket.

Good luck!

Ossie

PS Blitzen, I love the idea of your foot having a soul!

[DR Hosking]

I have a pair of Ice Cleats which slip over your boot sole and have small metal spikes, nothing like crampons, only a few mm long, bought them in Canada 11 years ago where everyone used them. Never needed them in this country until this winter. I was snowed in and needed to walk a mile up the lane to the main road to be collected by a colleague to get to work. My road is a fairly steep hill, the snow had been packed by 4x4's into a packed snow/sheet ice combination. I have 4 season walking boots but could not grip with them at all, litrally couldn't stand up on the road. I put these cleats on and strolled up the hill with no problems. I deliberately walked on the iciest sections to test them, excellent, no slipping at all.

I also used them walking around town as the pavements were a deathtrap. Again, no problem at all, and because the spikes are small you can use them on patches of path and road that have been cleared too. So in my experience well worth getting, although I have had to wait 10 years to have weather bad enough to use them!

They are hardly noticeable to use as the rubber used to hold them on just slips over the sole of your shoe. Didn't get any funny looks, more lile admiring ones! Would rather wear them then risk breaking my neck.

[sblog]

I've just found this site and thought it may be worth posting on here: http://www.icegripper.co.uk/

[bobbydog]

I have a pair of Ice Cleats which slip over your boot sole and have small metal spikes, nothing like crampons, only a few mm long, bought them in Canada 11 years ago where everyone used them. Never needed them in this country until this winter. I was snowed in and needed to walk a mile up the lane to the main road to be collected by a colleague to get to work. My road is a fairly steep hill, the snow had been packed by 4x4's into a packed snow/sheet ice combination. I have 4 season walking boots but could not grip with them at all, litrally couldn't stand up on the road. I put these cleats on and strolled up the hill with no problems. I deliberately walked on the iciest sections to test them, excellent, no slipping at all.

I also used them walking around town as the pavements were a deathtrap. Again, no problem at all, and because the spikes are small you can use them on patches of path and road that have been cleared too. So in my experience well worth getting, although I have had to wait 10 years to have weather bad enough to use them!

They are hardly noticeable to use as the rubber used to hold them on just slips over the sole of your shoe. Didn't get any funny looks, more lile admiring ones! Would rather wear them then risk breaking my neck.

i never really considered buying ice cleats or shoe chains etc... i just bought a 4x4!

[Terminal Moraine]

Thanks, TM.

Do the socks really work? I've heard of this, but thought that the socks would just get wet and that would make it even more slippery? Do the seaboot socks have some sort of water repellant in them?

Whilst I wouldn't feel too bad wearing grips, I might feel a bit embarrassed wearing socks over my shoes/wellies as they wouldn't be as discreet.

The socks do work well, even when wet. You'll get an idea of the amount traction involved if you imagine trying to sledge on a woollen sledge. It has to be said though that, regarding sartorial elegance, they're not the sort of thing you would find in the window of Karen Millen.

[Guest]

In the Scottish regional thread last mid-December I jokingly posted up a picture of a pram with snow chains on the wheels, only to wish a few weeks later that I'd ordered them from the website. So don't jinx this winter by buying any of this nonsense

[Winter Warmer]

just spotted these http://www.betterwar...&language=en-GB they mite be of some help :unsure:

[bobbydog]

just spotted these http://www.betterwar...&language=en-GB they mite be of some help :unsure:

lol i think i'd rather fall over!

[Jack Frost]

Brilliant info there...thanks! That's the YakTrax out then. I'm happy and confident enough wading though fresh snow, the scareyness comes when it's compacted and slippery. I have come across stabilicers and shall go back for a further look.

I knew I'd get better info here than on the products' websites!

What a fine bunch of peeps there are on NW!

Hi Noggin,

Not sure if you're sorted yet? Came across a good site www.icegripper.co.uk ...Have a safe winter

JackFrost

[sblog]

If anyone's near Costco they have some chains for shoes in at the moment.

Can't remember what make they were, but were 2 pairs in a pack and I think about £15, but not too sure.