Reviews > Snow Gear > Traction Aids > Yaktrax Pro > Kathryn Doiron > Field Report

Yaktrax Pro

I started backpacking and hiking seriously almost four years ago. Most of my miles have been logged in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. I have recently finished 1200+ miles (2000+ km) of the Appalachian trail. My style is to be as light as possible while not spending a fortune. My pack weight tends to hover around 25lbs (11 kg). I have recently started getting into winter hiking, snowshoeing and kayaking.

Product Information:

The Yaktrax fit nicely over both my Asolo boots and lighter shoes. I felt that the strap helped stabilize the Yaktrax when worn with the boots but were not really needed for the lighter shoes. This could be due to the larger size of the boots versus the smaller shoes. The YakTrax seemed to fit the shoes better. I found that the Yaktrax did not catch the rubber lip of the boots as well as on the shoes. I simply may not have pulled the Yaktrax up high enough to catch. Due to some knee stiffness, I am unable to fully bend down to easily get the Yaktrax on. I have to step into them then pull them on with the back tab. With the smaller shoes this is easy but with the larger boots this is slightly more difficult. The Yaktrax are a tighter fit to the boots and the rubber only stretches so much.

I found that the Yaktrax worked especially well on compacted and icy snow. I took them for a jog down the street and into the park. They gave me excellent traction and stability. I did find that they did not help on powdered snow when there is no ice or snow base. I had a chance to use them on a sidewalk that was simply covered with powdered snow and they offered no advantage. The Yaktrax actually were more difficult to walk on and I found I had less stability. The metal coils make for slippery walking when not actively engaged in ice or snow.

The Yaktrax have held up well with no sign of wear and only a few small spots of rust to the metal coils. The stability strap is easily removed and with a little work easily replaced. There was no sign of scuffing to my boots or shoes. I did notice that when entering a building, the Yaktrax seem to hold an enormous amount of snow. After banging out most of the snow, I easily removed the Yaktrax and shook out more snow. I have found that the Yaktrax store very easily into a bag and I have also kept them in the original plastic container to contain some of the debris I picked up in the wearing. I find they are easy to toss into my bag and forget about them until they are needed.


Test Plan:

I will continue to look into ease of use and removal of YakTrax Pro back especially in terms of any hindrance by the performance strap. I will look into how comfortable the coils are under different conditions. How rocky terrain versus leafy or sandy terrain affects comfort and grip. I will examine the usefulness of the performance strap under various conditions. I will also try using the YakTrax without the performance strap on occasion for comparison.

The Yaktrax have been tested more often with the boots than with shoes. Conditions encountered included some slush, snow and packed snow, and ice, with a quick trek through a park with no gain in elevation. Mostly dayhikes with no elevation gain but otherwise rugged. Temperatures in the first month of testing have varied from just above freezing to -20 C (-4 F). More recently with the nicer weather, I have been restricted to simply carrying the Yaktrax in hopes of a sudden blizzard.


Pros:

- Flexible and pliable rubber frame adapted well to different footwear

- Coils form a criss cross pattern to prevent directional slippage

- Coils difficult to walk on with little or no snow underneath

Reviews > Snow Gear > Traction Aids > Yaktrax Pro > Kathryn Doiron > Field Report