hellomolly
03-16-2010, 08:15
I apologize if this is in the wrong forum but I thought I'd give a short suggestion to people who are planning a thru in the upcoming days and weeks. A person I know who is thruhiking right now has told me repeatedly that his microspikes have been an absolute godsend for the conditions in Georgia and North Carolina.
Here's a link for those who haven't heard of them: http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3667589
I have a pair myself and and love love love them for snowy/icy conditions in which snowshoes would be far too cumbersome (which is basically 99 percent of the time in my opinion, lol). The person I know who is thruhiking said he's met so many people who either use yaktrax, which easily slip off your feet and break due to wear spots, or nothing at all and seem to really struggle in certain conditions, whereas his microspikes have prevented any sort of bad falls, slipping or such and have allowed him to keep a good pace despite varied conditions.
He mentioned that a lot of people who don't have any sort of footwear attachment seem to be from areas that don't see a lot of snowy conditions. I've read a bunch on people's journals about how they are having trouble keeping traction, slipping and going really slow through the slippery spots. In these cases, I think microspikes would be really great. They're on the heavy side when compared with yaktrax but they're sooo much better that I would think they're worth it.
Just a thought!
Here's a link for those who haven't heard of them: http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3667589
I have a pair myself and and love love love them for snowy/icy conditions in which snowshoes would be far too cumbersome (which is basically 99 percent of the time in my opinion, lol). The person I know who is thruhiking said he's met so many people who either use yaktrax, which easily slip off your feet and break due to wear spots, or nothing at all and seem to really struggle in certain conditions, whereas his microspikes have prevented any sort of bad falls, slipping or such and have allowed him to keep a good pace despite varied conditions.
He mentioned that a lot of people who don't have any sort of footwear attachment seem to be from areas that don't see a lot of snowy conditions. I've read a bunch on people's journals about how they are having trouble keeping traction, slipping and going really slow through the slippery spots. In these cases, I think microspikes would be really great. They're on the heavy side when compared with yaktrax but they're sooo much better that I would think they're worth it.
Just a thought!