A relatively new product is giving some Emporians a little more confidence this week.
YAKTRAX and similar ice-gripping shoe accessories have sold well during the past several days, according to two businesses that offer the item.
“They’re great,” said Jim Ayers, owner of Brown’s Shoe Fit. “We’ve sold quite a few of them the past few days.”
The products are made, in general, with a stretchy rubbery-elastic net base covered with metal springs or spikes that grab the ice.
YAKTRAX and others like them are pulled on over shoe soles and hug the base of the shoe itself. They are like a hairnet for feet. They fit most shoes — work boots, tennis shoes, loafers — with the exception of dressy heels.
“They’d work on those chunky heels,” Ayers said.
Ayers said the product had been on the market about two years. They come in two versions, one for ordinary use and one for professionals who spend much of the day walking on icy surfaces.
“I walk my dog in them twice a day and haven’t fallen yet,” he said. “They work pretty good.”
Only medium and large sizes are left at Bluestem Farm & Ranch Supply, according to boot department supervisor Alan Nuessen.
“Today, we’ve had more people after it than we had even over the weekend,” Nuessen said Wednesday afternoon. “Pretty well all of the smalls are gone.”
Nuessen said that the ice-grippers are effective in grabbing the ice. One of his customers already has come in for a spare pair.
“He said, ‘I’ve got calves coming now and sometimes when you get around the old momma cow and she wants to take you, you’ve got to have some grippers. They grip and you can get away.”
YAKTRAX and similar products are priced from $19.98 to $27.98.