Winter on Spikes

Altissimus

TreeHouser
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southern Vermont
... this reminds me of when Butch tried Climbing in shorts and soccer pads (may not work) ... Any other cold weather climbers ever try their Pac Boots (Sorels , ect.) Spike Climbing ?. My Wesco's suck in the winter for comfort but I need a good boot w heel to lock in my Spikes. Thinking of trying it out today , if I'm all wobbly and insecure I won't be happy. Has anyone tried this before I do ... ?
 
Sorel's suck in the spurs might as well stand barefoot in them, no arch support, Hoffman pac's are better. I can't remember if they have a steel shank or not.
And they all feel chunky and loose.
 
I just used larger insulated climbing boot & extra wool socks...sorrells & Mickeys suck
 
I wonder if you could notify an over-boot to go over your spurs, and insulate the steel shank.

That's not a bad idea! I envision a pair of Neos with a hole out the side for the gaff. Fairly lightweight easy on easy off over a pair of Wesco's. The waterproof fabric they use should add to the warmth. When out of the tree take them off, pull the spurs off, pull the Neos back on, and get back to work on the ground.
 
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I got these. Both are heavy, but warm and dry and comfy for spurs. The pac boots are made by White's. The overshoes are made by Servus and they're for linemen, so kinda made for spurs.

I think the White's are almost the exact same thing as the Hoffman pacs.
 
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Hmmmm.... Get's my gears turning , I have some Hoff's w Caulks though. I'm fairly sure they are the removable type , in which case I could pull out the ones that would be in the way of leg iron under the shank area and maybe rule the current Winter's Bitch Conditions ... Tree House Rocks
 
Interesting. Those 'pac' boots are what I've always known as half and halfs. Leather upper and a rubber bottom. I could never find a pair that fit me well.

Altissimus that's all we ever did in the woods. Pull the caulk or three where the stirrup went across and voila. Climbers boot.
 
I bet your traction and grip wouldn't suffer a bit if you lost those couple caulks. Is there a heel on the caulk boots or is the whole sole kinda flat?
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Aside from all important insulation the other big difference is the rubber , just as the car talk guys explain that Snow Tires have a different tread than Summer tires yes but they are also manufactured out of a softer rubber than summer tires (Which greatly improves traction). Walking around on snow and ice in Wesco's feels exactly like summer tires in winter.
 
Any pair I ever had always had a good squared off heel. I've seen ones with a slope to the heel, which would suck, but I never owned any like that myself. Traction loss was minimal unless you were walking on limbs(on the ground on/over felled timber). On limbs those caulks just in front of the heel are handy. Still minimal loss.
 
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I bet your traction and grip wouldn't suffer a bit if you lost those couple caulks. Is there a heel on the caulk boots or is the whole sole kinda flat?
View attachment 92187

...okay , checked ... Seems it will be remove as few as two as many as six caulks to open up the slot depending on how my Klein's line up. As far as the heel it is 1/2" which looks quite a bit shorter than your pic. Hoping it's enough to stand the gaff. Can't believe I never thought of it before , I do break out the boots when the weather is super cold , the ground is Ice or both.
 
There is of course, a far more logical, practical, and less risky path here.

Don't climb trees when anyone with a whit of sense would be sitting close to the piping hot woodstove with a warm drink.
:D

Just an observation :P.
 
I really like B’s answer. Seems to be the most logical.

Can’t iffer any good advice. I just do what I do. When I get miserable cold, I’ll bomb out and warm up.
 
Please understand...this is not advice offered from a comfy retirement.

I have climbed in insanely nasty winter conditions...to collect seed orchard grafting scion from selected individual trees in mid-winter in the high Cascades. It was almost always uncomfortable, bordered almost always on dangerous. Hours or even days from any backup if things went badly.

Most USFS climbers wouldn't, and they were far smarter than me, I think now.

Even getting to the trees was a huge challenge. Haul snowmobile trailers over unplowed roads, ride snowmobiles deep into the winter landscape of snow and cold.

I did it over and over, for years, with a really dedicated and highly skilled crew of two other Forest Service forestry technicians. One of those is my wife, M. An amazing woman on so many different levels.

I know with intimate experience what I'm advising that y'all tree workers avoid, when the winter weather gets this bad.

It's an easy way to get dead, frankly.
 
A snowmobile would be nice on the golf course we have about 20" or so on the ground, had to 4x4 up the cart path to the work area. Kinda fun we ran two trucks incase one gets into trouble.
 
We always ran two 4x4 trucks, both outfitted with Warn winches and loads of rigging gear, and usually chains on all four wheels, in the project work I just described. An absolute necessity. And sleeping bags, insulating pads, space blankets, tarps, extra food and water, extra layers from long underwear all the way to spare down parka outerwear, for every member of the crew.

Like I said...it would be easy to die at work like that, if you let your attention slide for even a little bit.
 
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