I’m on target for ice falls of previous years. I usually fall on the ice two or three times in upstate New York. People always write to me to warm me that this is a serious problem for older Americans, and it is.
But if you live up here, you know it is a serious problem for all Americans, orthopedists will tell you that many more young people break wrists, fall down and slide into trees, breaking arms and legs, and than old people.
Old talk is the fake news of the elderly. I’ve fall down two times already on the farm, both on black ice and night. Black ice is treacherous, it comes at dusk and after melting when the temperatures drop.
You can’t see it and your feet go up in a micro-second. My camera has saved me many times, I go down clutching it to my chest to protect it and have only broken one lens.
My last fall was nasty and bloody – both knees on the frozen slate. I got online and ordered a pair of Merrill’s Ice and Coldback slip-on. They came today, and I put them right on and went sliding all over the yard.
They are great, they seem to be built like good snow tires, they have a flexible grip that digs in and even adjusts. They fit perfectly, and I trust them already.
I need to make sure to take the time to put them on, whenever there is melting rain or snow on the ground. I think I’ve filled my quota of falls all ready for the winter of 2021. No more.
Thanks for writing about this. Fell and either broke or badly bruised ribs 3 weeks ago. Doctor said to not even bother coming in for x-Ray unless I have trouble breathing. As a Vermonter, I have ice cleats but love the idea of these shoes. Will be getting a pair. Thanks again.
I use ice cleats. They come in different sizes and slip right on over boots. You will not fall when you wear them. You just have to make sure you pick up one foot after the other and not shuffle. You can walk on glare ice with them and not go down.
Ice cleats are useless on farms with mud and manure…
Those Merrill’s look like the ticket for me too. Everybody up here, Canadien border/N.Y., wears the metal treads that slip over your boots. The Merrill’s look better function wise. Don’t always need metal traction. My bloodhound lab mix Queenie, 130 lbs, can smell firearms now and if she gets whiff, she’ll take off like a race car. ( Thus new aroma awareness only started this year, hunting season but the state Park has duck hunters in the river, poachers too). We were coming up a steep hill and she stopped for a second, then took off, I tried to stop my fall by bearing my heels into the decline of the hill, but it made my fall worse. My leg felt like it went into my butt it really hurt. I didn’t get up for a bit. I felt that fall for a good week or more. My vet said if you let Queenie go, run free, she won’t cone back… she’ll follow scents. So I don’t let go of her leash in the woods. I’ll check out the Merrill’s.
You’ve responded to me in the past about “old talk”. I do not believe it is “fake news” of the elderly. Just a realization that you are not young. Even though I have bicycled across 29 states from the western border to the eastern border and am very physically active for a 69 year old I am still old, I like being old and referring to myself as “Oldddd”, nothing can change that.
Glad you got those shoes. I didn’t realize Merrill made them. I will order myself such a pair even though my wife says I should use cleets (which I hate). Thanks for making me aware of them. Best, Jim
Jim, I write all the time about being old and older, I have no problem with it. I don’t personally see that everything that happens to me is the result of my age, and I think the old talk I hear – at our age, etc…- is debilitating and often self-destructive. I have no problem with being 73, I like being older. I won’t demean myself with language that encourages older people to quit, downsize, and disappear.
They don’t made them in wide!!
Yes they do, I’m wearing one that is wide as we speak
REI appears to have them in wide widths for women.
https://www.rei.com/product/105903/merrell-coldpack-ice-winter-shoes-womens?CAWELAID=120217890003074423&CAGPSPN=pla&CAAGID=106470606448&CATCI=pla-454080225978&cm_mmc=PLA_Google%7C21700000001700551_1059030006%7C92700053581125175%7CTOF%7C71700000062011481&gclid=Cj0KCQiA88X_BRDUARIsACVMYD-GD2wz_UPyZV8ZCnCSaVlrRfIeS7EbveEoaB3WKdaXacVhRiWLo6caAm9fEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds