Hello the fire;

Just wondering what you all do to get better traction with leather soled straight last shoes - there were times my feet were sliding on grass and rocks that we not really fun.

Advice on making them have better traction?

Thanks

"Dan'l"

Not PC, but Shoegoo works great, and increases the shoes soles life span. The shoegoo turns dark after a short time walking outside. A possible alternative might be pine sap.

Hobnail them. That should provide some PC traction. YMHS

Just how would one go about "hobnailing" them?

To the best of my knowledge, just add small iron tacks along the outer edge of the bottom of the shoe. Or you could do any other symmetrical pattern of nails that you think would work.
YMHS

quote:

Originally posted by KHickam:
Just how would one go about "hobnailing" them?

Find a local shoe repairman. When I was a sprog, we called 'em cobblers. There's some still around. He can hobnail your shoes.

You want to be careful though, hobnails on a hard surface floor such as smooth concrete or tile is like walking on greased glass. Not to mention the owner of the floor beating you to a throbbing pulp for chewing up his or her floor. What hobs can do to a varnished or sheet vinyl floor has to be seen to be believed.

Three Hawks

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Three Hawks,

I would suggest you ask Loyalist Dave about hobnails .....good story ...hey Dave???!!!

Dave:

I've had a pair of hi-lows for years now. Try just wearing them. Wear em to Walmart, wear em to Safeway, wear em to work. This will naturally put some wear on the leather and help with the traction. But most of all you will begin to learn how to walk in them. After all isn't this what we try to do. Experiance what it was like in what ever time peroid your into.

If we would have started off as a young boy's wearing this type of shoe, or moc for that matter, instead of vibram boots, we would have learned how to move about without slipping around.

Anyhow, give em some time and try to learn how to walk in them as a peroid shoe/boot instead of changing them.

I have a buddy who put tacks in his. it did improve tracking on grass but he can't wear em when we hunt anymore because they sound like tap shoes when walking on rocks. Not to mention, they are slippery as all heck on wet rock.

Just a thought

Rio

One thing I learned when recreating renaissance swordplay, modern movement ie heel first guarateed slipping. Especially when lunging.

Moving with the ball of the foot hitting first cuts way down on this.

I tried walking in my hi-lo's and moc's landing the ball of the foot first and I really cut down on slipping.

Now it feels real funny, but once you get used to it, there's no problem.

Craig

Proper military shoes of the 18th century and later, were often hob-nailed. This was done often to preserve the shoe leather of the soles, not for traction.

You need hob nails, not tacks or other things, but actual hob nails. You need a cobbler or "shoe repairman". I had a second sole put on my high lows to avoid any possibility of the nails coming through. I also had proper heel plates installed. When done..., they made a wonderful crunching noise when marching on cobblestones in Colonial Williamsburg. About 1/4 of us had them done, and man the only thing missing when me marched into town was the theme music from The Empire Strikes Back

Now..., as to use on modern surfaces...,

Walking on nice hardwood floors will get you killed (by the home owner).

Walking on linoleum is like walking barefoot on hydrolic fluid on glass in bare feet....I got better traction in sweatty wool stockings than in hob nails at the supermarket near Boone's Homestead.

LD

I have often wondered about the 'authentic' bit when it comes to soft soled moccasins. I like them and they are comfortable. But useless on mud slopes and, often, useless on wet grass. Barefeet work better.

Hey Dan'l,

Bein' a saddlemaker by trade, I resole my own boots. It 'ain't pretty, but it gets the job done. Since I was a young cowboy, I've always bought Olatha boots out of Kansas. Well, Mercedes boots out of Texas bought Olatha but kept the Olatha name. I had a pair of boots made and have never been satisfyed with 'em. So, this summer when I had to have a second pair of boots to go prospectin' in, (let one pair dry for a day while you wear the other pair in the creek), I broke down and repaired and re-soled my last pair of real Olathas.

To make 'em last as long as possible, I bought hobnails from Fall Creek. http://fcsutler.com/fcshoes.asp I loved 'em! The gripped the wet rocks in the stream, they grabbed every crevice in the cliffs I scaled, they dug into the dirt and bit into the grass in every situation I was in. Granted, I wasn't walkin' around the house on my 110 year-old hardwood floors, but for the great outdoors, they can't be beat!

You can't see the hobnails, but you can see the boots in some of the photos from the prospectin' trip. http://www.willghormley-maker....uthwestColorado.html

Will

A might late fer this thread but one thing you could try if your not into the hobnails(they suck on "mocs")Cut a small(about 2") V shaped piece of leather and glue/tack to the soles with the point of the V pointing fore or aft. My OL'grandpaw showed me that one.Have done this with mocs also,but glued and stitched them

Fall Creek sutlers has Real hob nails I think about $15.00 for 30. They have a picture showing a pattern on sole of shoes.

I think "Missouri Boot and Shoe" also has hab nails.

P

I tried putting shoogoo on my leather soles once. Maybe I did it wrong, but the stuff came peeling off the front of the soles in a real short time.
You can try scuffing up the bottoms of your shoes with either a coarse file or a steel toothed file comb. Don't know how much traction it'll give you, but it's easy to do, and you can always try something else. The scuffing will also make it easier to glue something on later.

Unless things have changed drastically in the last 25 or 30 years, loggers and other timber workers still use 'hobnail' boots. I've worn out a couple pair in my younger days, and I loved them. Incredible traction, especially on logs, but even on ice. No doubt Poordevil had similar experiences. We called them "corks" or "cork soled shoes." Officially they were called "caulked boots."


It is significant to note that all of the stores in the area carried signs on the front door saying "No Corks!"

That said, I have gotten use to wearing my smooth soled HiLows in stores.

Sparks

Sparks - Right you are! "Caulks" are great, other than on finished floors. I work at a 19th century steam powered sawmill and wear them there to reduce the danger of slipping on the peeled logs (Redwood) at the landing - piled up every whichway and quite dangerous if you slip a leg in between when they are being moved! You can darn near climb up a tree with those things! But, just wear them into a local store and see the reaction of the clerks! They are widely sold in logging areas to this day- Washington, Oregon, Northern Calif. Elsewhere too, I presume.

Boone

Caulks are not hobnails. Caulks or "Corks" are pointed so they grab on slick as greased eel peeled logs. Hobs have rounded heads.

I expect that some of the PC things we appreciate about leather soled shoes are the constant getting up off the ground and for the older folks the wrenched ankles, knees and hips as well as the bruises and broken bones.

Imagine the delight at watching someone carrying an armload of firewood, or a pot of hot soup when they slip and fall, dumping the load in their laps.

Yup, experiencing PC footwear is definitely good.

Three Hawks

Yepper, caulks are better traction than hobnails. Remember hobnails are more for saving the leather soles than for traction. There are special hobnails for mountaineering, which are a bit different.

Hobnails in some variations do come "coned" or pointed with a blunt tip (good luck finding that variation). They get smooth pretty quick in our modern world of concrete and asphalt.

Another option is to have half soles applied, such as cat's paws or coaches soles. They are thinner than standard soles, and aren't as obvious as vibrams.

LD

Ice creapers seem to be a common quick fix for many folks involved in this thing of ours. Work well no matter if you have mocs or shoes, but not exactly PC