Might have scrambled what few memory cells I have left . Was Perch fishing on glare ice and my slip on Ice scratchers are well worn down .I was almost completely unconscious . What natural material did the natives use for traction before metal came along ? My size 13 wide winter boots do limit the modern ones at the hardware store . I barely got my chores done today with the headache . Stay upright folks ! smith

Fabric works pretty well until it ices up or wears out. I know people that put old oversized socks over their shoes when it's slick. As far as the natives, i don't know. Balance?

A wise professional musher turned me on to the idea of having regular automobile tire STUDS put onto a set of Bunny Boots. Local tire guy laughed at me when I first came in and requested it, but later he told me he did it to his own boots too!

There is risk involved... The first time you forget you have the studded boots on and proceed to wear them in the kitchen on the linoleum, your wife will castrate you. Ask me how I know!

Pete

Caulked chainsaw boots always does the trick for me, but as Pete says, they'll ruin every floor and vehicle floor mat they come in contact with.

Hope you feel better soon g smith sounds like a concussion...... not fun

And Pete next time you are flying a fire don't wear them in that 2.5 Million Dollar Helicopter. Pilots can be worse than your wife in those cases.

The local bike shop will stud shoes and boots here too, like they do bicycles. And the bike studs are shorter and sharper, so you don't need as thick of a sole.

I’m sure the leather bottom moccasins they wore had a lot better traction on the ice than the hard rubber soles we wear now.

My Buddy here had a pair of Lapboots, they were made with caribou with the hair on, even the bottoms had the brisket fur with the swirl of hair that gave them pretty good traction, they were nice looking boots too.

You can take hex head sheet metal screw and screw them into your boots and they work great.

There is nothing slipperier than leather soles on ice. Mukluks with moose bottoms will put you on the ground faster than you can think about it. Inside the house is pretty bad too. On snow they are fine.

Moccasins or wraps can be slippery as ball bearings on ice. As a kid I ski'd down hills standing up in an elk hide pair bought from the "Sydney I Robertson" catalouge ( Bet that raises some memories with Canadians)

But to answer the question I've seen light twine / rope wrapped around the bottom of moccasins to provide traction.

I do think Bushmans post about twine or rope would work or the Caribou hair or old cloth as Kenai or Jeff suggested. Thanks to all of you for your help . The things we take for granted these days were the answers to problems our ancestors faced daily ,they used what they had close at hand to solve the problem. My big feet are a lot of the problem in buying ready made cleats,I might have to improvise some . Blessings to all. smith

Ear plugs man. Ear plugs!

Pete

I've seen regular...SHORT.. roofing screws driven into the bottom of bunny boots with a screw gun. Worked real well for a home made set up.

Folks here in the Arctic during traditional times had two kinds of ''soles' on their boots, either ''hard bottom' made of shaped Seal skin. Kind of slick walking, they were use mostly in summer and during wet times as the bottoms take soaking and use like few others. Most old photos show them being use as cameras back then didnt take Winter pictures back then much, unless it was a warm spell.

The other type were ''soft bottom'' with a sole made , preferable, of Caribou Bull neck skin. This was very warm, easily sewn in for replacement soles to the uppers, and not nearly as slick to walk in like 'Hardbottoms' are.

Folks here tie knots in cords and wrapped their booted feet with them for quick, cheap and easy traction or wore ''ice creepers' basically a tie on carved ivory 'stud' line across the bottom of the boot for traction during the slickest times.

I use Baffins Hunters with a removable liner and the occassional roofing screws driven into my boot soles, as mentioned above

Well, speaks volumes for progress.

Aboriginal ways are ingenious, at times. I will leave it at that.

No way I would go out on grey ice without caulk boots or a good set of carbide cleats.

Thanks ,that sheds some light on "the way it was " smith

Put your skates on.