Rope soled boots
Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2022 12:17 am
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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?