The Mystery of the Icer - By The Lady

On Friday January 19th, Hailey, Phod and I went for a very early (like 5 am) morning walk. (Emma finds it too cold so she cuddles in bed with the Man on our early morning walks).  It was dark, but not too cold. It was a fine walk. On the weekend we didn't walk because I was resting my legs (this 30 day yoga challenge is causing me some pain), but we had lots of play time outside and chase and fetch. It is important to note, I only wore my shoes on the weekend.

The remaining icer

On Monday January 22nd, I went to put my boots on to take the dogs for a walk and noticed one of my icers was missing. (Note: An icer is a thing you put on your boot to give you traction. I had a pair of Lee Valley ones for 5 years, I had re-studded them last winter. There are many brands of this type of thing). I looked around the front entryway but it was no where to be seen. I thought maybe one of the dogs had grabbed it and moved it. I decided we would walk without it and I could look some more when I got home.

It wasn't too icy so the walk wasn't too bad, but I did slip a few times because my boots are warm, but have no grip. I came home and we searched for the icer, but could not find it. I guess somehow it came off on the walk Friday and I didn't notice. This seems odd to me because they do add some weight to my boot and I wouldn't have been walking evenly. I guess I was not awake enough to notice.

Tuesday we had a lot of freezing rain. It left our world covered in ice. Tuesday I ordered a new pair of icer type products because I realized I couldn't safely walk the dogs without them. I bought a different type, Snotek, because they were half the price. Thought that made them worth a try. Because I didn't want to pay the ridiculous postage to get them rushed (it was going to double the price of the product), we had to wait a few days. On Friday my new ones showed up.

This picture was taken on Sunday - 5 days after the rain. You can see how icy our world remained and why it  could be very dangerous to try and walk the dogs without proper footwear. 

Saturday I got them on my boots and went for a short walk with Lee to try them out. They are lighter which is nice and they seem to have a good grip. When walking on a surface to the ice (like the garage), I notice how the studs sit differently then my old ones, but on the ice I haven't noticed a difference.

You can see the rubber of the new Snotek on the toe of my boot

Here you can see the bottom of it. 

I have not thrown out my remaining icer in case the other one mysteriously shows up! Maybe I will find it in a ditch in the spring. Until then we will use these and see if they allow us to have safe winter walks!