Rope soled boots

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Shadrack
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Rope soled boots

Post by Shadrack »

So a while ago, this thread popped up on the forum and in it, Caedmon made post about knotted soles that caught my eye. You see a while ago I purchased some pretty standard, leather soled boots as pictured below.
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I'd done some walking in them and found that with some adjustment, it wasn't too hard to traverse most environments so I planned to stitch some clump soles on them to extend their life a bit and call it a day. They were however an absolute nightmare on grassy and pine covered slopes, especially on the decent. I certainly couldn't imagine being pursued by a pack of orcs down such a decent (not that it's likely to happen any time soon but you know, hypothetically). Seeing this post though, I figured that while I was making a pair of clump soles I might as well give the knotted soles a shot.
I didn't follow the exact layout of the examples shown in that thread vouching instead for a bit more dispersed coverage, but I braided some jute cord and stitched it on the bottom.
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After an extensive trial on a multitude of terrains I have to say that I am VERY impressed with the results. They honestly have the same level of traction as most modern shoes I have worn. Grass and pine needles are no problem at all now even on some very steep descents and I could comfortably run around on grass, rapidly changing directions without fear of slipping.
As far as durability goes this remains to be seen. Here is their condition after the initial test.
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All of the cord is intact if not quite flattened though I found no reduction of traction as this happened. I probably will avoid walking on too much concrete with them as I imagine this would be quite a bit more abrasive on the soles than most natural surfaces. I do expect though that this method will require semi regular maintenance at the least. How regular remains to be seen. However if over the next few months I find that they continuously strip off, it's really no harm done as I can simply keep using the boots and clump soles without the rope attached.
Thoughts? Anyone else tried this method recently?
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Elleth
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Re: Rope soled boots

Post by Elleth »

AAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for doing this! I'd wanted to learn more about them and simply haven't had the time to give them a shot. This is awesome!!

If you wouldn't mind sometime if you're out, would you mind taking some pictures of your tracks? I'm especially interested in how rope soles compare to both smooth turnshoes and modern lugged soles. I'd expect the edges to be about as smooth/subtle as turnshoes, despite the extra definition in the middle... but I've no idea.

Anyhow, they look totally great, and hearing about the traction improvement is fascinating.
Amazing work! :mrgreen:

(also I'm very gratified to find out I'm not the only one who has a problem on pine slopes :) )
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Shadrack
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Re: Rope soled boots

Post by Shadrack »

Thanks so much I'll be sure to next time I take them out!
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Cimrandir
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Re: Rope soled boots

Post by Cimrandir »

Wow, Shadrack! That is entirely too cool and now I want to try it! I honestly wouldn't have figured that a bit of rope would do that much for traction but I'm happy to be wrong. Is the rope fairly noticeable underfoot as you walk?
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Shadrack
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Re: Rope soled boots

Post by Shadrack »

Cimrandir wrote: Fri Mar 25, 2022 1:11 am Is the rope fairly noticeable underfoot as you walk?
Surprisingly, not at all! I was sure to disperse the rope over a pretty decent surface area though in an attempt to avoid this. The cord I ended up stitching on is also not as thick as it could be which I'd expect also has an impact on the level of comfort. That being said, when it does eventually wear out I intend to replace it with some thicker stuff. The real key I think is the surface area, similar to the way a bed of nails works.
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Cimrandir
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Re: Rope soled boots

Post by Cimrandir »

Very cool. Well, yet another thing to add to the to-do list.
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Iodo
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Re: Rope soled boots

Post by Iodo »

That is awesome, when I eventually get to making/buying myself a proper set of footwear I too will be giving this a try :P
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Udwin
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Re: Rope soled boots

Post by Udwin »

LOVE IT! Experimental archeology in action. It's so refreshing to see those soles made of real materials showing real usage and real weathering being used as they were really meant to be. Very interested to hear how they hold up long-term.
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Tom_Ranger
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Re: Rope soled boots

Post by Tom_Ranger »

Great work, very inventive. I've seen some indications that small river stones have been attached with some sap pitch. Maybe combining rope and sap and stone some ancient cleets could be made that would last longer.

I can't imagine a thousand years ago they wouldn't have thought of traction as they slid all over the place.
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ForgeCorvus
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Re: Rope soled boots

Post by ForgeCorvus »

Tom_Ranger wrote: Sat Mar 26, 2022 6:12 pm Great work, very inventive. I've seen some indications that small river stones have been attached with some sap pitch. Maybe combining rope and sap and stone some ancient cleets could be made that would last longer.

I can't imagine a thousand years ago they wouldn't have thought of traction as they slid all over the place.
The footwork in Fechtbuchs looks strange to us, but is designed so you can move with minimal slipping when waving a yard of sharpened steel around while somebody tries to ruin you.
This is why I believe that HEMA should be done in Period footwear..... Now I'm going to have to try knotted soles
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Iodo
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Re: Rope soled boots

Post by Iodo »

ForgeCorvus wrote: Sat Mar 26, 2022 8:53 pm ...so you can move with minimal slipping when waving a yard of sharpened steel around while somebody tries to ruin you.
This is why I believe that HEMA should be done in Period footwear..... Now I'm going to have to try knotted soles

I just watched this:

https://youtu.be/RLV_eO_PoUw?t=1120

(link should be timestamped to 18:40)
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ForgeCorvus
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Re: Rope soled boots

Post by ForgeCorvus »

Good find.
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Re: Rope soled boots

Post by theguywitheyebrows »

i recently did a proof of concept with some osberg turnshoes and have sketched out and plan to build proper knee high boots from the base i have created, walking around on vegtan soled shoes was a slippery affair and i wondered about something like this. i went the "disassemble and hammer some rubber sole material into some barge cement' route and the shoes wouldn't 'turn', this would have been a far bette option. when i get to my boots, as i DIY much and have many irons in the fire, i will definitely be adding some 'rope lugs' as you have here!! very cool, thanks for sharing!
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