FOOTWEAR FOCUS ROAD TEST
Henry Harington puts the boot into YAKTRAX!
M
y first impression when I opened the Yaktrax box was, “What the *&%$@ has my editor sent me to test this time?” The cold, very cold, snap that gripped the country early in 2010 was disastrous for a friend of mine, indeed close to fatal. He decided he
had to go to the bank. Well, with due respect to my friend, no one absolutely has to go to the bank. The problem is that Andrew had a stroke a few years ago that virtually
paralysed his left side. With an amazingly positive attitude he has recovered well. Part of that positivity has been being independent. Independent means doing the jobs around the house that he can do and taking the pressure off his wife. He thought going to the bank was important. He parked in the disabled zone next to the bank and tried to cross the
pavement using his stick to steady him. Of course, the pavement was an ice rink and in a Charlie Chaplin style fall Andrew was on his back. Except it was not as funny as Charlie Chaplin, Andrew had broken his hip, broken in right at the top where there are important blood vessels and wiring that, if severed, could mean his losing his leg. Yaktrax, once they are unfolded, are sort of snowshoes. Not the type that
Eskimos wear that look like the skeleton of a large fish on your feet, a far more streamlined version. The rubber means you can hook them over the toes of your shoes and stretch them to pull over your heel so the metal coils are under your sole. I just wish that Yaktrax had managed to get their
Yaktrax Walkers into the shops before the Artic blast we experienced in November as I can see them saving many people like Andrew, and not just disabled people, from falling and hurting themselves. Anyone, just anyone walking on frozen ground, will find
the extra traction that the Yaktrax Walkers give will greatly reduce the risk of falling. Indeed, it would be in the national interest, despite the government deficit, for the NHS to issue them to vulnerable people. It would save the NHS having to deal with as many smashed hips and arms as they do when the weather turns to ice. I would have thought that companies with workers
“Anyone, just anyone walking on frozen ground, will find the extra traction that the Yaktrax Walkers give will greatly reduce the risk of falling. Indeed, it would be in the national interest, despite the government deficit, for the NHS to issue them to vulnerable people. It would save the NHS having to deal with as many smashed hips and arms as they do when the weather turns to ice.” Henry Harington, Footwear reporter.
outside in snowy weather could also consider providing them for their staff everyone from dustmen and road sweepers to postmen might find them useful. I put the Yaktrax Walkers through their paces walking on Dartmoor.
They gave excellent purchase climbing up slopes and clambering over rocks, far better than the soles of some much vaunted walking boots do under snowy or event just wet conditions.
Yaktrax can be worn over boots, trainers or other standard shoes and are equally suitable in an urban environment or in the countryside. The ‘Yaktrax Pro, which is described as a ”Heavy Duty Device” counter has a webbing band that is worn over the front of the foot. I am not aware of any other distinction between the Walker and the Pro. There is a bit of an irony in the Yaktrax packaging. They stress that the
steel coils and the packaging are largely made from recycled material and that they offset 100% of the energy used to make the Walkers. Obviously, that sort of environmental responsibility is to be applauded. The irony is that because of climate change caused, we are told, by output
from carbon emissions, we are likely to have more extreme weather, including the colder winters that will make it necessary to wear Yaktrax!
Details: The Y aktrax Walker retails at £15 and the Y aktrax Pro, with an extra
strap across the instep, at £20 and they are available in four different sizes from most good outdoor retailers in the UK.
Tel: 01773 521 521 28 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • FEBRUARY 2011
Grangers International: E:
info@grangers.co.uk
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