Ice is not nice! According to the CDC, one million Americans are injured every year after slipping and falling on ice and snow. Approximately 17,000 of these injuries are fatal. Imagine that: the entire population of Otsego, MN, gone every year as the result of completely preventable accidents!
The nonfatal injuries are not pleasant, either. People who slip and fall on ice commonly suffer from muscle sprains, ligament strains, compression fractures, herniated discs, concussions, and of course broken bones in the hips, wrists and ankles. Broken bones are especially devastating to seniors, whose bodies are less capable of quickly healing from fractures. Nearly 12,000 seniors die every year due to the injuries they sustained while falling!
The choices you make will have a profound impact on your chances of slipping and falling on the ice this winter. Take care never to traverse unshoveled sidewalks and pathways. Avoid running, walking with your hands in your pockets, and going out at night when ice on the ground becomes harder to see. Proceed with extra caution while exiting a vehicle, and never let snow sit on your front steps for so long that it can become compacted and slippery!
Selecting proper footwear for weather conditions is also highly advisable. Footwear with rubber or neoprene soles provide better purchase against ice and snow than shoes with plastic or leather soles. You may also invest in a good set of crampons. While several very aggressive styles of crampon are available to mountain climbers, many are also made with smaller metal cleats on their bottoms. These will give you much-needed traction while you’re braving the Midwest’s harsh winter terrain.
But if you wish to enjoy the surest, safest footing while you’re walking on ice, nothing compares to a proper pair of studded shoes or boots. Footwear with integral studs offer unparalleled traction, as their metal teeth bite securely into ice and do not shift around while you’re adjusting your balance or moving forward!
We’re going to make our recommendations for the best studded shoes and boots for winter. If you’re unable to locate the exact same products we recommend, don’t fret! Any pair of studded shoes or boots is poised to provide far greater traction than a non-studded alternative. So long as your choice of winter footwear shares similar features with our recommendations, you’ll be at significantly lower risk of becoming an unfortunate wintertime statistic!
Best Studded Shoes and Boots for Winter
Icebug is a Swedish footwear manufacturer – and who should know better about walking on ice than the Swedes? Metro2 BUGrip boots encompass the ankles for added warmth and protection, yet their side zippers make them easy to put on. They are also made of rich suede, so they don’t look drab and utilitarian. Most importantly, each boot is equipped with 16 BUGrip carbide steel studs, which are virtually immune to wearing down while you are traversing long stretches of asphalt!
Nexgrip is headquartered in Quebec – another place which suffers from no deficit of ice and snow (or poutine). All of their boots possess multi-layered soles for added warmth and comfort, and also look stylish enough to be worn to all occasions. But what really makes Nexgrip’s Ice VICTOR and other boots special is their reversible cleat system. A single hinged, spiked cleat in the boot’s heel makes it easy to add more traction on the fly, and it only becomes more effective in conjunction with Nexgrip’s anti-slip rubber sole.
These Canadian-made unisex boots feature Minnesota’s own 3M Thinsulate insulation, and are rated to keep feet warm in temperatures as mortifying as -58 °F. Inside the Snow Dome’s sole sits Navatex’s patented OC Grip System, which enables you to erect multiple rugged, steel cleats on your forefoot and heel areas in seconds flat. Perfect for when you want to go indoors without taking your boots off and without damaging the floors!
Another example of an extremely comfortable boot: 1,200 grams of 3M Thinsulate per pair, as well as 100% weatherproof construction that will safeguard even the daintiest tootsies from the bitter cold. Korkers’ Polar Vortex 1200 boots also come with two interchangeable OmniTrax 3.0 soles, one of which puts 32 carbide studs between the wearer and any slippery ground beneath them!
Tingley Winter-Tuff Ice Traction Overshoes
Would you prefer a convenient pair of galoshes to wear over your regular shoes? Tingley’s Winter-Tuff overshoes feature 46 rust and corrosion resistant tungsten carbide-tipped studs to provide nearly unparalleled traction on ice. These injection-molded overshoes are also completely waterproof and durable enough to stand up to the rigors of manual labor and ice fishing. (Just don’t wear them at home if you’re even remotely fond of your flooring.)
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If an unfortunate slip and fall on the ice has injured your feet or ankles – or you have any other need for foot care in the Twin Cities metro – the passionate podiatrists of TC Foot & Ankle Clinic are available to see you right away. We welcome you to contact us today to schedule a visit at one of our convenient locations in Golden Valley and Woodbury, Minnesota!