Before rubber lugs, hikers used hobnails

Prior to the invention of rubber lugged soles (Vibram) in the late 1930s, there was a great debate as to whether hikers should use hobnails or calks. Hobnails, which have been used since antiquity, are specially shaped iron nails that are inserted on the bottoms of soles to provide traction on snow, ice and rocky terrain. Calks were similar, except that leather or cork was used to provide the traction.

As far back as the Roman Empire, soldiers have used hobnails for traction in various terrains. By the 1500s, miners, farmers, and laborers were using them as well. In 1574, Josias Simler published a book on travel in the Swiss Alps. In one of the chapters, he included information on how to use a primitive crampon device, which he described as “resembling the shoes of horses, with three sharp spikes in them.” By the late-1700s, mountaineers were using hobnails, and were eventually adopted by hikers. The topic of whether to wear hobnails, which type, and which pattern, were frequently discussed and debated in books and various outdoor publications prior to the invention of Vibram, including early national park visitor brochures.

Below is an alpine boot ad from H. Harden showing hobnails in the “Swiss Pattern.” This ad originally appeared in Rock-climbing in the English Lake District by Owen Glynne Jones in 1911.

You can read more about early hiking footwear in Ramble On: A History of Hiking.



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