spikes that dont hurt?

[miko0618]

my legs are bruised, swollen and rubbed raw. I can be semi comfortable in them for about 3 hours. once the pain starts on the sides and fronts of my shins, I am gonna be sore for a couple days. I have weaver felt L pads. they twist, which hurts the front of my shin and they let the top dig in.

I need to upgrade. I saw climb rights online. they have a nice price and look decent. but whatever $ amount it takes to fix this I will do.

 

[isaaccarlson]

Do you have the spurs adjusted right? How tight are you making the pads? Maybe try the pads with metal inserts. Do you have the right and left spurs mixed up?

 

[Lil Red]

Gecko's are nice but still gonna hurt and feel uncomfortable after while, suck it up :msp_wink:

 

[miko0618]

suck it up? my legs are bleeding, have lumps and bruises, and are swollen.

correction, they are T pads. not that that matters.

they are on the correct feet and adjusted correctly. I tighten them to where they are tight but wont put my feet to sleep. the pads twist back towards the calf muscle which is causing the problem.

 

[bootboy]

I have the climb rights with the ultralight pads. They are great. I got 1 blister on my shin once after climbing for 8 hours. But that was the only time. I can spend all day in them now with no trouble, but it took some adjusting.

 

[Nemus Talea]

L pads are garbage. T pads should be considered a minimum. Don't understand why L's are sold at all
Are you presently climbing on old lineman spikes bought at a yard sale? If so, replace the old straps before ya get stuck 40' up on only one hook.
A take down pro should spend as much as can be afforded on the best. If you just occasionally demo tree's top down , super climber pads are a good cheap compromise but brutal hot in summer.

Red has it right, hours working on any spikes ain't pleasant. Remember to use your climb/bailout line to take pressure off when ya can.

 

[tramp bushler]

am would work. Hold er boy. Easy does it.
2 weeks ago I ran into a problem that gave me some very good solutions to fix this problem and they don't cost very much at all.
I couldn't find my last pair of clean knee high Fox River work socks. So wore a shorter pair as my heavy sock. I always wear thin wick dry liner socks and a medium weight sock over it.
It was a hot day for here and us. Somehow I got something in the top of my left boot. Sawdust, bits of bark, ?
Anyway that day I spent 5 + hours in the trees in the spurs. When I got Bach to my room I had a big nasty blister under where my left pad sits. It was all bloody ect. Yuk. That was a Friday so Saturday I got some leather, and some foam padding. I was going to make some pad liners. But time slipped away and it was Monday morning and I had t go t work.
So. I cut 2 , 8"×8" squares of foam padding and put them in the tops of my boots where the pad on my spurs fits onto my leg.
So its tall socks. Foam pad top of my boots, pants then the pad from my spurs.
I spent 4 hrs in the spurs todayand I can't even feel where the pad was.

I wear 15" tall boots and I nestle the foam pads in when I'm laceing them up in the morning.

I hope this helps.
Wet suit neoprean foam, knee pad foam, heck, even sleeping pad

 

[tramp bushler]

Having re read your post, I'm wondering if its your boots that are causing the shaft of the spur to rotate back into your calf muscle.

What boots are you wearing? Are the a block heel logger or lineman boot? . A spring heel boot sets the strip too far forward which pushes the top of the shaft back into your calf muscle.

 

[miko0618]

I thought it might be the boots too. I just wear steel toe work boots. And they are only 8". I tried to find a tall logger but everything is online.

 

[Dutch295]

I've been where you are... the irritating pain doesn't allow you to focus on the task at hand.... "caddy pads" ... along with my hoffmans I don't think about any leg pain and can focus on working the tree. Unless you have tree trunks for calves you'll probably need the narrow. good luck

 

[TheJollyLogger]

I think a lot of "spur" problems are actually boot problems, and even more specifically, boot sole problems. The best spurs and pads won't make up for a boot that doesn't have a good, tall, well defined heel to "lock" the spur into place.

 

[miko0618]

Is there a retail store that sells logging boots?

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Red Wing does, might be one close to you

 

[CETP]

I had the same issue with my pads originally. Replaced them with a set of Big Buck pads (and straps) and have very little issues for 6+ hours in a tree ever since.

 

[beastmaster]

T-pads are the worse. Their like mid-evil torture devices. Get rid of them. Any thing beside them is a step up. I wear klimb rights(ultra lites) and love them. Worth every penny. I can climb in any boot that has a heel. More then once I put them on wearing low top hiking boots and had no problem at all.
I use to climb in linemen boots, but they put my calfs a sleep. Haven't wore them in years. If you have good pads I don't think the boots matter, so long as they have a heel and steel shanks.
When I was with the forestry dept. we all had,''##### Pads", a lightly padded 6'' X 18'' strip with velcro on the end you could wrap around your calf under the pad. They made a big difference.
I wore a pair of gaffs recently, I don't remember what they were called, but the pad fitted over you like a clam shell. Like having clouds on your legs, but a little bulky.
Those T-pads should be out lawed. They always twist and nail you, causing great pain, there just isn't no support in them. I highly recommend the klimb rights, but any thing is better then those T-pads.

 

[tramp bushler]

I got a set of the narrow cast aluminum pads. Brand new at a garage sale once. There are not enough cuss words in my vocabulary to adequately describe the pain they caused me. The curve hit me on the point of the shin bone. And I was up a spruce that was about 5' on the stump.
My advice. Invest in a good pair of boots. I have L pads on my Kline spurs and spend 3-6.5 hours in them most days of the week. Now that I have the foam padding in them my shins are one part of my body that doesn't hurt. . If only I could find solutions for hands, wrists, shoulders, neck, hips, back. Ect. Ect.

 

[KenJax Tree]

I got these pads a few weeks ago and put them on my 6 year old Bashlin's they made my shins sore for a few days but are pretty comfortable now. One day i'll get me some ultra light Gecko's.

OP do you double wrap your straps around the shank it keeps them from trying to twist.


Super Wrap Pads by Buckingham, with steel insert | SherrillTree.com

 

[isaaccarlson]

I started with the double wrap on the foot strap. I tried just buckling it normally yesterday and I liked that better than the double wrap. I felt more freedom in the tree. The double wrap glues the spur to my boot like glue and I can't bend my ankles at all. With a single wrap, I can move my ankle and it feels and functions much better. Just my experience. I will be trying it some more to see if it holds up.

 

[Carburetorless]

Yeah spikes get uncomfortable after a while. That's why I only put them on when I absolutely need them for positioning in places where climbing the line is next to impossible, like when my line is set lower than I need to go, or I need to get out/up a limb that too hard to walk the spikes make it easy' er.

I guess it gets easier with a lot of practice, I just don't have the time or patience for it. "Get the job done, if I learn something in the process, that's a bonus".

 

[Lil Red]

suck it up? my legs are bleeding, have lumps and bruises, and are swollen.

correction, they are T pads. not that that matters.

they are on the correct feet and adjusted correctly. I tighten them to where they are tight but wont put my feet to sleep. the pads twist back towards the calf muscle which is causing the problem.

Sounds like some serious jacked up equipment, you got extra screws poking out of yer spikes? Kidding. However that sounds like you have something really messed up. Are your spikes secured TIGHTLY around your foot and calf? If your padding is worn out, I would replace that.

Maybe you are turning your feet/legs at funny angles creating extra movement? Do you try to spike in extra hard to get a secure feel? Any of these movements can be to excessive and part of your problem.