Dainite soles' traction in winter

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by cptjeff

That wasn't the question. The question was hard ice, which people were saying that both danite and bean boots did bad on. I believe the point of that question was to question if ANYTHING was good on hard ice. And in my experience, short of crampons or hobnails, the answer is no. Even my (high end) hiking boots with big lug vibram soles will slip on hard ice.
For hard ice, nothing works well.

 

[JohnnyLaw]

I find Dainite soles to be very slippery in the snow.

 

[Nick V.]

Those Barker Blacks rock, from the commando soles all the way up.

Originally Posted by SuitMyself

I never knew that. Thanks!

Commando soles:

That's not a Commando sole. It's a Lug sole.
True Commandos are stitched on and the lugs are recessed in so the can't be seen from the profile.

 

[Gus]

I believe it has to do with the hardness of the rubber. Dainite is very hard and very dense. There are variations on it that are softer, such as some of the rubber soles made by Heschung that I find are not as slippery on ice and snow.

 

[Dewey]

Dainite's website sells the sole pattern on its cleanliness. I admit I never noticed this until today.

This is true -- the soles are much easier to clean than lug or commando soles -- they wipe clean quickly and thoroughly. No bits of salt or ice or gravel or mud get jammed into little crevices.

It could be that dainite does not have the traction of other rubber soles. I wore mine today and while I did not slip much, I did some. I would not have noticed but for this thread. I've been wearing Trickers through the snow for years, and never thought there was a problem with their traction, and I'm sure I'll keep wearing them. Maybe not the best but certainly good enough.

 

[SuitMyself]

The reason Dainite soles do not provide good traction on ice and hard snow is that the "studs" on the bottom of the soles are the only things coming into contact with the ice and show. That's very little surface area of the actual sole coming into contact with the ice and snow.

Think about it for a moment.

Look at the bottom of a pair of Dainites.

See the studs protruding from the sole?

That's all that comes into contact with the ice and snow.

And that's really not a whole lot.

 

[ManofKent]

Originally Posted by academe

I have a similar experience. Dainite is good for the wet, but not so great for icey pavements and streets... Commando soles are probably the way to go for traction.

Dainite - great for wet weather, no better than leather in snow, very poor on ice

Commando - slightly better in light snow, but stamp the compacted snow out of the treads periodically. Marginally better than dainite on ice, but not great.

Only way I've found of reliably walking on ice are strap on spikes.

 

[MyOtherLife]

Originally Posted by Cary Grant

I just use Tingleys... provide good traction and I can wear my regular leather soles.

Are you certain that a product called 'Tingleys' isn't worn somewhere else on the body?

 

[academe]

Originally Posted by ManofKent

Dainite - great for wet weather, no better than leather in snow, very poor on ice

Commando - slightly better in light snow, but stamp the compacted snow out of the treads periodically. Marginally better than dainite on ice, but not great.

Only way I've found of reliably walking on ice are strap on spikes.

This winter especially I wish that I had crampons!

 

[Groover]

Originally Posted by ManofKent

Dainite - great for wet weather, no better than leather in snow, very poor on ice

Commando - slightly better in light snow, but stamp the compacted snow out of the treads periodically. Marginally better than dainite on ice, but not great.

Only way I've found of reliably walking on ice are strap on spikes.

+1

 

[well-kept]

Originally Posted by SuitMyself

The reason Dainite soles do not provide good traction on ice and hard snow is that the "studs" on the bottom of the soles are the only things coming into contact with the ice and show. That's very little surface area of the actual sole coming into contact with the ice and snow.

Think about it for a moment.

Look at the bottom of a pair of Dainites.

See the studs protruding from the sole?

That's all that comes into contact with the ice and snow.

And that's really not a whole lot.

Funny, when I walk on snow with Dainite soles, which I do all the time, the little studs, and quite often everything from there all the way up to my knees, comes in contact with the snow. Ice, granted, is a different matter. Snow is three dimensional.

 

[upnorth]

Originally Posted by SuitMyself

The reason Dainite soles do not provide good traction on ice and hard snow is that the "studs" on the bottom of the soles are the only things coming into contact with the ice and show. That's very little surface area of the actual sole coming into contact with the ice and snow.

Think about it for a moment.

Look at the bottom of a pair of Dainites.

See the studs protruding from the sole?

That's all that comes into contact with the ice and snow.

And that's really not a whole lot.

I am sorry but this theory is wrong. If it were true, then crampons should never have been invented in the first place.

 

[ktrp]

Originally Posted by upnorth

I am sorry but this theory is wrong. If it were true, then crampons should never have been invented in the first place.

Precisely.

Also, if the theory were true, leather would have awesome traction, because the entire sole would be in contact with snow/ice!

 

[makewayhomer]

the only plus side of the snowy winter so far is that I've had plenty of time to test out dainite on snow/ice/frozen w/e. I am pleased and am glad I went with it.

for the horrendous days I just wear my Bean Boots. anytime else I wear my Dainite soled boots, they do fine. and they are indeed an upgrade over a vibram/topy layer over standard leather soles.

I think Dainite strikes a real good balance between function and form, whereas for me I think Commando or lug soles look to rugged to pass on "dress" shoes/boots

 

[Cant kill da Rooster]

Has anyone tried these on their soles? I asked for snow traction and this is what they gave me. I am skeptical.