Shoes for Icy Steep Drive?

Adamc

Hi all 

We've had a bit of frost recently and our steep drive was treacherous. We put some grit down but it was still ropey in places. Could anyone suggest a shore/boot that might help? I know you can get metal spikes that attach to shoes but I have no idea about how safe or effective they are. 

Thanks 

TheCheerleader

We have a long steep drive and also live on the side of a very steep hill, I bought us y@k trax type shoe covers from the river company, really convenient as they stretch fit over your existing foot wear and easily removed when you get indoors/onto dry flat ground. I also find wellington boots work well.

coffeehound

The pull-on straps with metal studs are quite helpful for icy slopes, but a bit of a chore to take on and off.  MuckBoots 'arctic' range have Vibram soles made for icy surfaces.  Pretty good in my experience, though haven't tried them on steep slopes yet.

Spoonie_Turtle

Are you able to put any grippy matting of some sort down? Or grippy matting that will keep the grit/salt in place?

Winter Trax are good but they say not to use on bare ground, so I've always been a bit dubious with just frost (rather than ice or snow).  I would imagine similar products should have directions for use, so if they say they're okay on bare ground - or even frost specifically - if they're a reputable brand they should be okay.  I would be wary of overpriced ones in the random mail order catalogues that come in the paper or junk mail though, and I include companies like Coopers in that.

ripplyuk

The best thing I’ve found is WoofWear muckers. You might see them called ‘Yard boots’. They give far better grip on frost than my Anatom boots which have a fancy vibram sole and are significantly cheaper. I think the key is the soft (cheap!) rubber sole. This is obviously just for frost. There’s no boot that will grip ice. You need the spikes/studs for that, although I have one set that just straps round the ball of my foot and are very easy to put on/remove on almost any type of footwear. They also have replaceable studs.