Help: Period Traction for Turnshoes?

[FrauHirsch]

frauhirsh;

Can you remember the source of the pic with the hobnails, sounds interesting?

No, darn it, but it was one of those things that stuck in my brain... and some of us had been talking about portage and slippery grass and mud shortly before I found it, so I told them about it, but then I realized it really wasn't a period Viking woodcut, but a later period one in a book about Vikings.

The woodcut showed them like 2" long! I think I've seen it in a couple of books. When I get home I'll look through my meager viking resources, but I can't recall if its from a book I own or one from a library.

Juliana

[David Teague]

Has anybody found a source for real hobnails???

I had to build a pair of Roman sandals with cut nails...

I'd love to have a source.

Cheers,

[St. George]

hobnails are terrible on marble and some stone floors- just like ice!

Alaric

[Kel Rekuta]

Poplar. Used because it's lighter & easier to shape.

Did you use a knife/chisel or a shaper/sander to shape them?


edit - never mind... should have read the whole thread.

[Owen]

hobnails are terrible on marble and some stone floors- just like ice!

Worse; hobnails work on ice! On marble and tile, just like tiny little bearings.

[T. Finkas]

At the moment, I am considering something like a leather sole with a combo of hobnails and leather strip treads, that would be rigged with straps & buckles like a patten. I had considere the cording idea, but I see it more subject to wear and wobble than the leather strips (with the stitching inset into grooves).

These would not be strictly historical, but at least would not be glaringly "modern"; and I could remove them from my boots when I wanted to.

Cheers,
Tim

[T. Finkas]

Here's an interesting solution from the saint Olaf's website:

http://www.olofsgillet.org/skor1L.jpg