From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Short nail with a thick head
In
footwear
, a
hobnail
is a short nail with a thick head used to increase the durability of
boot
soles
or provide traction.
History
[
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]
Hobnailed boots
(in Scotland "tackety boots") are boots with hobnails (nails inserted into the soles of the boots), usually installed in a regular pattern, over the sole. They usually have an iron
horseshoe-shaped
insert, called a heel iron, to strengthen the heel, and an iron toe-piece. They may also have
steel toecaps
. The hobnails project below the sole and provide traction on soft or rocky terrain and snow, but they tend to slide on smooth, hard surfaces.
They have been used since antiquity for inexpensive durable footwear, often by workmen and the
military
. Examples include the
caligae
of the Roman military, the "
ammo boot
" in use by the British and Commonwealth armies from the 1860s and the US Army "
trench boots
" of
World War I
.
Important design work for the modern hobnailed boot was done during
World War I
, e.g. the "
Pershing boot
" in the United States.
[1]
Problems experienced in designing WWI US Army boots were:
- Tearing at the backstay: solved by securing the backstay with three rows of stitching each side.
- Letting water in: solved by
dubbin
.
- Rotting in foul conditions in trenches: solved by
chrome tanning
rather than using vegetable tanning.
- Cold conducting through hobnails into the feet: that, and need for strength, solved by three thicknesses of leather in the soles.
- Sole wear: toe and heel irons in addition to hobnails.
Uses
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Hobnailed boots were formerly common in
mountaineering
to grip on sloping rock surfaces. These boots tended to have large pointed hobnails on the extreme edges of the soles and heels to grip small roughness on steeply sloping rock and on snow, but have become less common with the invention of
crampons
.
Homemade hobnailed boots, which provide traction on ice and snow, can be created by driving roofing nails (with cut-off ends) through used
rubber boots
, which are then worn with normal shoes on the inside.
[2]
See also
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- Caulk boots
? spike-soled boots worn by loggers and tree planters
References
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External links
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