Historic Hillwalking

[Creeping Past]

Good idea. I'll brave Regent St, but Oxford St would be a step too far. My only visits to Ox St these days are made from the Marble Arch end — to get overpriced scents from Arabian Oud, my favourite smell merchant.

 

[H.Johnson]

An interesting side note. At the week-end a 'mountain' marathon in the Lake District (where there are no mountains!) was abandonde due to bad weather. OK - there was a very high wind and it rained a lot in a short time. Flash floods and all - it' s the Lake District!

The press cried 'Irresponsible' because the organisers had been warned about teh weather, but most of the competitors accepted the conditions and 'just another bad night'.

My point? One of the organisers is Mike Parsons - late of Karrimor and co-author of the book 'Invisible on Everest: Innovation and the Gear-makers' that is often quoted here.

 

[Mike1939]

It rained all day Saturday and I took to the hills for a long walk.

 

[H.Johnson]

It rained all day Saturday and I took to the hills for a long walk.

Ah, real walking weather. The fresh air, the views...here is one from England. Love the puttees...

.

 

[BellyTank]

H. Johnson?

H. Johnson- an apparently off topic question for you... (but not entirely)

An eBay vendor of repro military uniforms, hailing from Singapore, HK, or somewhere similar... "Dorlong"? something like that... what is the correct name of this vendor? Do you know? I can't find him- he does a good WSS Sahariana style jacket.

Thanks,

B
T

 

[Creeping Past]

Dawlong, Dawlong Militaria.

Sorry to butt in.

 

[BellyTank]

Sorry, yerself.
Thanks- I think it was you, not the Doctor, anyway.

Thanks again, Mr. Past.


B
T

 

[Creeping Past]

Nice to see another fellow giving his puttees an airing. May I ask what sort of boots you're wearing?

 

[H.Johnson]

China. Watch the size - his stuff runs very large...

H. Johnson- an apparently off topic question for you... (but not entirely)

An eBay vendor of repro military uniforms, hailing from Singapore, HK, or somewhere similar... "Dorlong"? something like that... what is the correct name of this vendor? Do you know? I can't find him- he does a good WSS Sahariana style jacket.

Thanks,

B
T

 

[Mike1939]

Nice to see another fellow giving his puttees an airing. May I ask what sort of boots you're wearing?

U.S. Garrison shoes from WPG. I've used them for over a year now and haven't fallen on my backside once yet. I like the rubber soles, although I have not tried hobnailed boots yet. What are the opinions of my fellow hillwalkers on the use and functionality of hobnailed boots?

 

[H.Johnson]

For vintage walking, they are the only option IMO. They collect mud, skid on rock, catch tufts of grass and make a unique noise. Walking without segs, hobs and cleats isn't really vintage...

U.S. Garrison shoes from WPG. I've used them for over a year now and haven't fallen on my backside once yet. I like the rubber soles, although I have not tried hobnailed boots yet. What are the opinions of my fellow hillwalkers on the use and functionality of hobnailed boots?

 

[Creeping Past]

U.S. Garrison shoes from WPG. I've used them for over a year now and haven't fallen on my backside once yet. I like the rubber soles, although I have not tried hobnailed boots yet. What are the opinions of my fellow hillwalkers on the use and functionality of hobnailed boots?

Interesting seeing those WPG boots used for actual walking. If they stand up, that's quite an endorsement.

I use triple hobs (clover shaped) which grip well on most surfaces, from pavement to wet rock, although I've not used them for proper rock climbing. German wing nails (pic here, and probably not their 'proper' name) are good, if you can get them.

Beyond this, for more seriously committed vintage mountain adventurers, there are clinkers, which are great for grip and are used on heels and edges of soles, and tricounis, kind of crampons in minature, used mainly around the sole edges under the balls of the feet and specifically for mountaineering. These types of hobs were generally used together.

Here's a great guide to hobnail types and patterns.

This WW2 British commando training manual mentions types of hobs (see "19. Footgear").

Bear in mind that hobnails are called by different names in the US and the UK. Your cleat may be my clinker... or something.

It's hard to recommend hobnails, because there are quite a few different types and people use them differently, depending on what terrain they're walking over.

You should bear in mind that (1) modern hikers and climbers take the view that hobs are dangerous and (2) they tend to think they destroy the environment.

On the first point, overall and in general, they're probably right. Vitale Bramani developed the Vibram sole to provide Apline climbers with better-gripping footwear to prevent slippage and death.

On the second point, I tend to think that the numbers of people who wear hobnails for hiking is so small that wind and rain will wear away more of the hills. If pressed on this point by other walkers, I always mention that I don't drive a car or motorbike, then I ask how they travelled to the place they're walking in...

The main thing I find when walking in hobnail boots is that I'm aware of the weight on my feet and, when on hard ground and metalled surfaces, aware of the stress on my legs, especially the knees.

 

[H.Johnson]

I always mention to 'modern hillwalkers and climbers' who object to me wearing nails that, as well as damaging the environment, they could make quite a mess of modern hillwalkers and climbers...and there's nothing wrong with 'a little slippage and death', in the right place.

 

[Creeping Past]

Vintage hike rage

(Posted just to get to "A-list customer" status)

 

[H.Johnson]

Congratulations!

Vintage hike rage

(Posted just to get to "A-list customer" status)

 

[Creeping Past]

"One of us! One of us! Gooble gobble, gooble gobble! One of us! One of us!"

 

[H.Johnson]

Nice to see another fellow giving his puttees an airing. May I ask what sort of boots you're wearing?

For those who favour vintage puttees - a quick tip. The long (pre-1937) British military puttees are hard to find and reproductions are expensive. The post-war short pattern are cheap (4 GBP should do it) and easy to find. So...buy two pairs, cut the tape off on pair and sew them together with a lap seam on the plain edge. Voila! A cheap pair of knee length puttees. Obvious, but it worked for me.

 

[BellyTank]

...A thousand hairy savages sitting down to lunch, gobble gobble, glup glup, munch, munch munch...


B
T

 

[H.Johnson]

Vintage hike rage

In my father's day hikers were opposed by the agents of the landowners (see the above postings about the mass trespasses of 1932 etc.) who behaved as if they...err...owned the land.

Now I (and presumably other walkers who choose to wear vintage walking gear) find themselves up against a new generation of self-appointed guardians of our 'great outdoors' - the 'eco-hiker' (or whatever you call them). Their claims that hobnailed boots 'damage the environment' more than other types of sole are at best questionable.

Sometimes (as with many people who believe they are 'righteous') they can be quite abusive. What gives them the right?

 

[Creeping Past]

I've had relatively little nonsense from landowners and land tenants/users while out walking — get orf my land! — and only a little trouble from eco-hikers and gear-heads on grounds of destroying the environment/risking death.

While I can appreciate the former, I really don't appreciate the latter.