A friend recently asked, “Have you ever heard of Yaktrax?”
“I love them,” was my answer and we spent the next five minutes extolling the glories of this invention.
Nothing says spring in northern Minnesota like a pair of Yaktrax. For the uninitiated, Yaktrax are rubber, mesh type grippers you pull over the soles of your favorite pair of winter boots. Their purpose is to keep you from an icy death.
They come in different shapes and sizes with specific purposes. Mine are ordinary for ordinary “walking,” but special types are made for running, working and even diverse terrain, meaning back country snow and everything in between.
I’ve owned a pair for at least five years, and the only fault I find with them is that they can’t be worn while driving or inside the house. Slipping on ice never seemed to be a problem until a few years ago. I fell and banged up my shoulder in April and, thanks to that incident, didn’t get on the golf course until the Fourth of July. Ever since the sight of shining ice on my driveway or frozen glints on the deck sends a chill down my spine.
When I heard of this simple way of dealing with ice safety, I bought a pair of Yaktrax ASAP and have worn them every spring since. One other problem is that they are the dickens to put on. They need to be pulled with force. So, all winter, I’ve been wearing Dick’s boots with installed grippers.
Today I decided to take matters into my own hands and install my own Yaktrax. How hard could it be? I found out. It took much longer than I expected. Ten minutes stretched into 15. Finally, they were wearable.
I decided to slip into them and test them outside. Unfortunately, I forgot to avoid the small rug at the front door. The metal coil on my left Trax grabbed onto a loop and there I was, with a small rug hanging from my foot.
Lucky for me, I was able to pull myself over the tiled entryway to my desk where I stash a pair of scissors. Here I cut my wonderful Trax free from the nylon loop of the rug.
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