Slippery Down booties

[Paul S]

My wife and I use down botties for our winter (snow) backpacking trips. Super warm, very convenient for having to get out of the tent in the middle of the night to relieve oneself. But, arg, very slippery! Curious as to how people have worked around this problem?

They are Feathered friends booties by the way. They have an inner (removable) down bootie, and the exterior nylon has a waterproof sole.

[Iago Vazquez]

Perhaps some stripes or patches of Gorilla Anti-slip Tread tape or skateboard tape would work. Not sure how much weight they would add or whether there’s a lighter solution. Good luck!

[BlackHatGuy]

what about whatever they put on the bottom of skis to climb with? Probably too expensive, I don’t ski so I don’t know anything about the stuff really, but it popped into my head so I popped it in here!

[Roger Caffin]

what about whatever they put on the bottom of skis to climb with?
Either climbing wax which is a bit antique, or a machined plastic looking like fishscales.
Not suitable for down booties!
You could try 1 mm silicone or polyurethane sheet, or even 1 mm rubber sheet.

Cheers

[Bonzo]

My WM booties have a non-slip fabric sole that’s basically a textured, rubber-like layer.  It works very well…even on ice!  The fabric is called Toughtek™, which you can find or read about with a quick Google search, if you like.  Solution-wise: look for a similar fabric with a self-adhesive backing.  Here’s a version that comes in strips:

https://www.seattlefabrics.com/Self-Adhesive-Bumpy-Slip-NOT-Grip-Strip-795_p_1169.html

Try something like that on the soles.

[Dustin V]

I have the same booties and agree they’re kind of slick. Paul, please keep us apprised what you try and what works/doesn’t.

I have a harder time with the booties rolling underfoot, even with the foam sole insert.

[Chris R]

If you can find some crumb rubber, smear a layer of glue on the soles and sprinkle the rubber on top.

[Greg Pehrson]

Roger, I think Doug’s talking about climbing skins? That’s an awesome upcycling idea for a damaged set of skins.

Paul, you may want to consider overbooties/ shells with grippy soles to go outside with your down booties, so you can remove them when you’re back in your tent and avoid getting snow and dirt in your sleeping bag. There’s some on Gear Swap now a few pages in (I’m not affiliated with the seller) but you can also find DIY examples online using Tyvek booties.

[Roger Caffin]

Ah – climbing skins. Could be.
Good for going uphill, but I think they slide a bit going downhill. Not light either.

Very light overboots with a grippy sole would, imho, be better.

Cheers

[Dustin V]

If the OP has the same booties, they come with a silnylon overboot that has a foam sole and durable (if slippery) tread. But different overboots would be a good solution.

I feel like I’ve kept the booties on and just worn my shoes for short trips, though.

[BC Bob]

More difficult for your wife I suppose, but I just stay in the tent and pee in a bottle (summer camping when the fly is wet inside and out).

[Paul S]

I called the folks at Feathered friends and they said that some people have glued pieces of climbing skins to the soles of the outer bootie. Two pieces for each sole: Each pointed in opposite directions so that you have traction going both uphill and downhill.

I picked up some climbing skin scraps at a local ski shop and may try that.

 

I also thought about using shoe goo to make a grid patterns of small beads on the soles of the outer booties.

FYI: The feathered Friends down booties have a Down inner bootie, which you can remove ( to sleep in for example) and a nylon outer bootie that has a cordura-like sole and rand. The booties are very warm for hanging out in the tent, sleeping in, and walking around camp. I’ll keep you all posted when I try a solution.

 

 

[Paul McLaughlin]

For my MYOG overbooties, I have tried a couple of fabrics, and light Cordura has been the best. so you could either add a layer of that to your existing booties, or make some overbooties with the lightest fabric you can get for the upper and some light cordura for the soles.

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