Gear for walking on the ice?
 

I'm heading up to the lake this weekend and want to go out on the ice, like I usually do, but this time I am nursing a broken tailbone and CAN NOT fall while out there. What is the best solution (besides staying home of course)? Are snow shoes or crampons better, and which is the best brand to buy and wear with winter boots?
Hopefully the snow cover will be good and it won't be too much of an issue!
Thanks for any advice!

There is just enough crust that we didn't need crampons as we took a walk around 3 Mile Island yesterday. Perfect for walking. Of course it changes just about every day out there so no telling what it will be like next weekend.

Crampons would be my choice to prevent a fall. On flat ice snowshoes slip unless your weight is in the toe and crampons don't! Unless the snow is knee deep, leave the snowshoes home.

Enjoy and be safe.

I use microspikes for all my winter hiking unless the snow is deep, then shoeshoes.

http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3667589

You don't want snow shoes for the current conditions on the lake.

A google search for ice cleats will yield many choices. First decide what shoes or boots you'll be wearing the cleats on.

A thick lugged sole boot will require a more substantial and less stable attachment. If you're wearing snow-tire soled work boots then you'll probably want a plate-style base, screw-lug "stable-icer" cleat. This is not real sturdy as the straps tend to loosen and the combined thickness of the boot sole and the cleats makes walking awkward .

Do not buy a singe strap, small-of-the-foot pair of cleats. You'll regret it.

For rubber bottom duck-boots (like LL Bean) or even street shoes, the stretch-over ice cleats seem to be more stable. You don't want too much hardware between you and the walking surface.

I've been ice fishing Winnie for more than twenty years and always had ice cleats. I've only worn them 3 or 4 times.

...... up the creek without crampons???
 

Rand's Hardware on Main St in Plymouth has a good selection; both the mini spikes or the spring-tire chain facsimiles, in about four different sizes, for different size shoes, all costing about 20-dollars /pair. The rubber stretchy shoe grip-ons can be a little tricky to get on correctly, especially when the temp is in the deep freeze but its best to take the extra 60-seconds to stretch the rubber stretchies correctly onto your walking shoes once you get to the problem icy-snowy area.

I like the spring-tire chain facsimiles best because they have more spring in contact with the snow-ice and are more comfortable than the mini-spikes, and are more comfy to walk on.


In Waterville Valley, walking the one mile long WVAIA Mad River Trail can be a challenge when it comes to crossing one large creek that drains down from the Mt Tecumseh ski area. A 60' (aprox) Forest Service bridge constructed with engineered lumber that was washed away by Tropical Storm Irene in August 2011 has been replaced with seven large, stepping stone boulders, so crossing the 2-3' deep creek now means taking big long steps from one boulder top to the next, and they do get covered with ice and snow! Missing a step, or sliding off the top of an icy-snowy boulder-step and into the creek could be a cold, wet miss-step, so's the spring-tire chain facsimile shoe cleats definitely help to get it done, but it is still a bit of a scary creek crossing......every time! Without the tire chain shoe grippers ..... for me ..... it would be a no-go!

A winter photo of the creek and seven big boulders here would be nice! ...... but you can google "WVAIA Mad River Trail" for a link to an article on reconstructing the trail with summer photos including the seven boulder creek crossing! "Some of these stones weighed approximately 3000-lbs each."

KAHTOOLA Microspikes
 

Yes they are a great product, we use them all the time. When winter hiking you can walk up or down a sloping sheet of ice like there was no ice. When buying take the shoes/boots that you plan to wear so you can test the fit. EMS is a good choice to buy, they will help you get the correct size. I had to get XL to fit on my size 10 winter hiking boots.

Kahtoola Microspikes
 

Another vote for this product. easy on/easy off and very effective.

Right now you don't need anything with the thin crust of ice.

Walking on the icy lake
 

One piece of advice I can offer is to also use walking poles or ski poles for added stability. Most have a metal tip that will help.

I also have pair of these Stabilicers that I use for walking on icy streets. They grip very well, but have a lot of rubber on the sole. They get chewed up fast on rough surfaces.

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/79802...ductId=1321178

I personally hate yak traks.

Save Your Money
 

Right now walking on the lake is no different than walking in your back yard. No spikes needed just warm boots. The walking is easy with a nice crust of snow on top. No deep snow until you get to the North and West shores of the islands or mainland where some minor drifting has occurred and even then it's minimal.

Put on your Sorels and enjoy the lake while the access and walking is this easy! Save your money on the spikes till you really need them.

Enjoy!

Dan

YakTrax
 

My choice is the YakTrax. I keep them full-time on a pair of pull-on boots, and have used them a LOT since late December. While there good snow over the ice, the ice-storm we had a few weeks ago is still hidden under the snow, and you can't walk very long without catching some. Even on the lake, the winds have exposed some bare ice.

I wouldn't say the Yaktrax are the most effective. They are the spring kind, and do very well, but aren't spikes, which would be safer. However, I can walk up on my porch steps and even into the tile hallway without worrying that I am going to dig up anything. One down-side to walking on bare surfaces though, is that they are slippy when they don't bite into something. However, I've worn them in the grocery store, where real spikes probably wouldn't be appropriate, yet the YakTracs were handy walking in from the parking lot.

We had a neighborhood dinner party last week, and people showed up with a wide variety of spike brands. I should have taken a picture of the pile of boots. The others that I saw used include STABILicers, GripOns and Get-a-Grip.

I prefer a snowmobile with 192 picks, but that's just me...:D

Things are not glare ice out there from what I have seen, so as Dan said its just like walking around your yard.

XXL size?
 

After falling on the ice last year and rupturing my quads, I've been very tenuous walking on even snow covered surfaces and totally avoid ice covered. I see that even the Yaktraks X-large only fits up to size 14.5. Anyone know of a product that will fit a size 16-mens?

Microspikes
 

Microspikes is the only way to go with sizing and product reliability!!

Overshoes for me
 

I bought a pair of Neos overshoes and they are the best thing I used so far. They are a bit pricey but are way worth it. They are insulated and have the stable icers built right into them and they slip right over your shoes. I use them to clear snow from my driveway, riding the snowmobiles and ice fishing. My feet have never gotten cold and when you go inside somewhere they just slip off leaving to mess at the door. Check them out at the site below.

https://www.overshoe.com/Pages/Produ...SHOE&pid=N5P3S

Microspikes
 

Another vote for microspikes . . . easiest to get on and off, too.

Thanks everyone! TJNed, I think your suggestion is the way I'll go. Insulation and gripping power plus the fact that their size chart specifically shows dimensions of the sole corresponding to their offerings. Measure twice, cut once. Thanks.

Gear for walking on ice?
 

Without mentioning any particular brand of ice walker, the best suggestion made in this whole thread is to take the boots with you when you buy the icewalkers, because, as we all know...size matters. Stay safe.

Another vote for Kahtoola microspikes if hiking or walking on ice. I took a hike up toward Mt. Shaw and the trail was covered with ice in spots. Walked right up (and down). No other human tracks in the area --probably because of a very icy trail. Felt totally confident with this gear.

I tried all the other type of slip on grips, they ether make your feet sore from standing on them all day or they work their way off somehow. With the overshoes it doesn't matter what your wearing for foot wear, workboots, sneakers, slippers.

I'll just put my 2 cents worth in for Stabilicers. I've been using them for several years now when walking Sadie in and kind of icy conditions (and that's often with the thaw/freeze/thaw cycles. They're a bit clod-hopperish but they bite in well and I never feel like I will slip.

Thanks!
 

Thanks all for the advice. I went to ems this evening and bought the Microspikes. Hopefully they'll do the trick.

Spike my boots so I don't slip and fall into the drink
 

Got a pair of Kahtoola's in the mail from EMS. Can't wait until they arrive. My wife was able to buy a pair in her size at Piche's.

I have these too, love them!!

another item
 

An item that no one has mentioned yet is a set of hand spikes. These can be simply a pair of large spikes, sometime known as timber spikes, for pulling yourself out of the water in the event you break through. Buy them at your favorite hardware store. They are also available as a set, connected by a cord. One spike hangs from your coat sleeve - the cord goes up the sleeve, across the shoulders, and down the other sleeve to the other spike. If you go through, you stick the spikes in the ice around the hole and pull yourself out.

Polar Picks is one brand:
http://www.amazon.com/HT-Enterprise-.../dp/B000M97IR2

I started with the Polar Pick listed a few years ago but I found the rope breaks off the small rubber loop when pulled to hard when I have had them around my neck and through the arms of my jacket. Also they can sink. I have since switched to these (link below) they float and seem to work better with the string not breaking off.

http://www.angelguardproducts.com/re...ent/pickoflife

I wear them anytime I'm on the ice either fishing, snow shoeing or out on the sleds.

Enjoy the snow everyone finally some has arrived!

Rather than footwear, a BIG pillow? :D