Calk boots?

[pdqdl]

I have always been interested in trying out some calk boots; they look like they would really keep you from slipping off a hill. I was imagining something like these: http://www.baileysonline.com/Footwear/Calk/Logger/Hoffman-10-Faller-Calk-Boots.axd

I don't normally have much need for that kind of traction, but occasionally we have a severe hillside that we need to work on and these look like they might work. I have a broken-up arthritic ankle, and my knees aren't too good anymore, either, but I have a big project coming up clearing all the trees out of a deep ravine with a creek at the bottom. I have LOTS of concerns about traction.

• Do they hold well in clay mud, or do they just slip through soft ground?
  
• How well do they hold on rocky terrain?
  
• Are you more likely to stumble when forcing your way through heavy underbrush?
  
• Is there much risk of spiking yourself?
• Are they more fatiguing than regular boots, or does the extra traction make the work easier?
• Is there a greater risk of twisted ankles or knees?
• I imagine that they are great in ice & snow, but what about climbing up steel machines to get in the cab?

Sadly, I don't have the disposable income that would allow frivolous investments in boots that don't work for me, so I thought I would ask the folks that use them all the time. If you have any experience with calk boots, please speak up. I would like to hear your opinion.

Any other "improved traction" suggestions are welcome too.

(I am also looking at removable crampons)​

 

[rtsims]

Mud, clay etc. they just cake up like normal boots. No good on rock, there actually slicker. Great for traversing logs, blow down, and underbrush.
I own 2 pair, both Danner/Hoffmann and I haven't worn them since I was falling timber last year.

 

[HuskStihl]

Try some golf shoes

 

[BC WetCoast]

I have always been interested in trying out some calk boots; they look like they would really keep you from slipping off a hill. I was imagining something like these: http://www.baileysonline.com/Footwear/Calk/Logger/Hoffman-10-Faller-Calk-Boots.axd

I don't normally have much need for that kind of traction, but occasionally we have a severe hillside that we need to work on and these look like they might work. I have a broken-up arthritic ankle, and my knees aren't too good anymore, either, but I have a big project coming up clearing all the trees out of a deep ravine with a creek at the bottom. I have LOTS of concerns about traction.

• Do they hold well in clay mud, or do they just slip through soft ground?
  
• How well do they hold on rocky terrain?
  
• Are you more likely to stumble when forcing your way through heavy underbrush?
  
• Is there much risk of spiking yourself?
• Are they more fatiguing than regular boots, or does the extra traction make the work easier?
• Is there a greater risk of twisted ankles or knees?
• I imagine that they are great in ice & snow, but what about climbing up steel machines to get in the cab?

Sadly, I don't have the disposable income that would allow frivolous investments in boots that don't work for me, so I thought I would ask the folks that use them all the time. If you have any experience with calk boots, please speak up. I would like to hear your opinion.

Any other "improved traction" suggestions are welcome too.

(I am also looking at removable crampons)​

They work great in most situations. In clay, they can cake up just like vibrams, so no great advantage. I disagree with the comment Rtsims made about rocky ground. They can be slip, but the footing is consistent. With vibrams, a little moisture on the rock and the traction changes, a little bit of moss and wetness it gets slippy, but with caulks your footing is consistent wet or dry.

I climbed up and down many a rock bluff and road cut with them. You might need a little better foothold than with hiking boots, but not much.

You can get two types of caulk inserts, regular steel and tungsten. Naturally the tungsten holds up much longer (couple of years of constant use).

You will probably stumble the first little while you wear them, because they are different. Once you are used to them, you'll be fine.

I seldom spiked myself, what I would often do when I put new inserts in my boots was rip the bottom of my raingear by stepping on it. The boots are high enough, you seldom spike your leg.

They can be more fatiguing because they are heavier. You just build up you muscles to accomodate. You tend to notice more going from caulks to light hiking boots.

Most caulks are worn in terrain where the risk of twisted ankles and knees is higher anyway. I would say, I had fewer twisted ankles than if I had vibrams because my footing was consistent and the boot tends to be higher.

They're ok in ice, no real benefit in snow.

If your machines have expanded metal, wooden surface or rubber surface, they aren't a problem. Caulks on smooth steel surface can be a little sketchy.

I can understand cash being tight. I noticed some that I've used can be had for $180 Cdn (rubber chainsaw boot) http://www.onoworkandsafety.com/Caulk-Boots_c_80.html

Hope this helps.

 

[pdqdl]

Try some golf shoes

Short shoes fill up your socks with sawdust. One of my guys suggested athletic shoes with spikes, but they don't have very durable "uppers".

 

[pdqdl]

Mud, clay etc. they just cake up like normal boots. No good on rock, there actually slicker. Great for traversing logs, blow down, and underbrush.
I own 2 pair, both Danner/Hoffmann and I haven't worn them since I was falling timber last year.

No good on rock? How about algae-slick rocks in a creek bottom?

That is what I thought they would be great for.

 

[pdqdl]

They work great in most situations. ...
Hope this helps.

Thank you, an excellent review.

My biggest problem is getting up and down very steep earth-banks with scattered boulders and tons of dense underbrush. How are they when you are crawling on all fours and can barely get up the hill 'cause your footing won't hold?

I was on the hill yesterday, showing a newbie how to run a saw, and firmly imprinting the importance of cutting all the saplings low enough (and at an angle that doesn't make them sharp!) to prevent injuries when you might fall or trip over them. I was grasping a branch to keep my balance and it broke off. I tumbled backwards but I only rolled downhill onto my back and stopped immediately: the dense underbrush keeps you from falling off a hill you cannot walk up. My trainee sure appreciated the value of not lining the hillside with pungi-sticks after I fell, though. Thank goodness I fell away from the area he had been cutting on.

 

[rtsims]

Yes I should have been more clear. Anything the calks can dig in to your going to have more traction. If your working on a steep hill/ Rock bluff situation there slick. Your looking at $10-$15 bucks to put new calks in your boots when there dull. We walked a lot of rock roads and cut on some rocky terrain for about a year. I would replace mine every 2-4 weeks. A great investment for the traction and safety. The down side is when your replacing them that often it's easy to strip out the threads in the boot. Don't use the drill adapter, change them with the hand tool

 

[BC WetCoast]

Thank you, an excellent review.

My biggest problem is getting up and down very steep earth-banks with scattered boulders and tons of dense underbrush. How are they when you are crawling on all fours and can barely get up the hill cause your footing won't hold?

I was on the hill yesterday, showing a newbie how to run a saw, and firmly imprinting the importance of cutting all the saplings low enough (and at an angle that doesn't make them sharp!) to prevent injuries when you might fall or trip over them. I was grasping a branch to keep my balance and it broke off. I tumbled backwards but I only rolled downhill onto my back and stopped immediately: the dense underbrush keeps you from falling off a hill you cannot walk up. My trainee sure appreciated the value of not lining the hillside with pungee-sticks after I fell, though. Thank goodness I fell away from the area he had been cutting on.

I used them when i was timber cruising and road and cutblock layout on the BC coast, where it's steep and rocky. If there is anything on the hillside that wont slide, like roots brush or coarse soils you will have more traction. For brush, we had areas on the Broughton Archipelago where the salal was 9 ft high. You were walking/swimming on brush stems that were no more than a couple of inches thick. Some places it would take an hour to go100 meters.

 

[HuskStihl]

Short shoes fill up your socks with sawdust. One of my guys suggested athletic shoes with spikes, but they don't have very durable "uppers".

I was just thinking in terms of getting a feel for the traction. I have been informed that golf shoes no longer have spikes, so never mind.

 

[buzz sawyer]

I was just thinking in terms of getting a feel for the traction. I have been informed that golf shoes no longer have spikes, so never mind.

Good though on steel spikes - wish I still had some. they were replaced with plastic spikes - which can also fill up with debris. I'm not aware of any golf shoes with steel toes.

 

[BC WetCoast]

Been in a couple of forester golf tournaments where we golfed in caulk boots.

 

[pdqdl]

Pics?

 

[buzz sawyer]

Been in a couple of forester golf tournaments where we golfed in caulk boots.

I bet the greenskeepers loved that!

 

[tidy]

you can buy cleats designed for rockfishing and other trekking type stuff, they strap onto the existing footwear

 

[pdqdl]

I have been looking at those, too. Thanks.

 

[2dogs]

I have a great pair of Wesco caulked shoes, aka corks, but I only wear them when I will be walking on logs. They are OK on soil that has rocks, but NOT on slickrock. Most of the time they are a pain in the butt.
BTW when I first received my current pair a couple of winters ago I was walking around the back yard in the dark and stepped on an extension cord running to the chicken coop. Yep, just what you would imagine it felt like.

You might get more responses if you had this thread moved to F&L.

 

[pdqdl]

You are probably right, but I don't talk t0 F&L. That is pretty much a private club to which I am not admitted. Whatever informative answers I might have gotten there, I expect I would have been more resented than welcome.

I haven't been there for several years; It might have changed some, but I would bet against it.