I’ve been mulling over a few products for this week’s staff picks, but given the weather this morning there’s one super obvious item which makes life in the winter so much easier – Kahtoola Microspikes!
We’ve stocked these for years, so we’ve probably blogged about them in the past, but they’re definitely worth mentioning again if we have. They’re a perfect little solution for any winter walking, whether you’re rushing down to the supermarket to stockpile bread for the oncoming winter apocalypse or you’re going for a snowy walk in the country after the danger has passed.
What’s so great about them is the stretchy plastic which means they’ll fit your shoes and walking boots so you only need one pair. They’re also super easy to put on and, as they’re steel, they’ll last. They also come with a carry bag so when you reach your destination they can be packed away keeping the rest of your kit/mates house clean and dry.
At Easter this year I walked up Ben Nevis via the tourist track and a friend had sensibly brought some Microspikes along. They worked perfectly and were definitely a requirement as there was lots of compact and soft snow and the soles of his old boots were wearing pretty thin and were worn smooth in places. When we got back to snow free ground it transpired that he’d actually put his ‘spikes on inside out with the pointy pits leaving some neat little pierced holes on the soft, old rubber of his boots. Amazingly they still worked perfectly for the walk – he didn’t slip once!
A word of warning – in the anecdote above Microspikes were ideal for additional grip on the way up Ben Nevis, however they are not a replacement for proper walking or mountaineering crampons which should be carried/used when conditions, skills and experience dictate, whatever the objective.
ABOUT STAFF PICKS
Throughout the week the staff at Facewest are constantly coming across all the stuff that’s on our website. As a result we often discover handy little features or particularly innovative or well designed aspects on many of the products we stock. Each week throughout the winter season there’ll be a short blog post from one of the staff at Facewest on a product they happen to have come across which really stands out, for whatever reason, as a great bit of kit.