How to Improve Grip of Caligae on Wooden Floor?

[kevair464]

Hobnailed caligae + varnished dance floor + beer + doing the safety dance = pain in the a$$ , but the real skill is not spilling any of a full beer..... wish i new about the duct tape method before Reenactor Fest.... could have saved myself some nice bruises. :?

[Crispvs]

For another suggestion which might be a bit more authentic than some of the suggestions made above, you could try actually WALKING like a Roman. The wear patterns on surviving soles, along with the footprints left by people who walked accross tiles laid out to dry, show that the Romans tended to have a very flat footed type of step, rather than the modern gait we all all more familiar with. It is difficult to get this right if you are used to a modern gait but it is easy enough to get reasonably close to it. Try walking along with more of a stamping motion or, as I sometimes suggest to new members of the group, walk as if you are riding a bicycle. It might look and feel a bit odd at first but you will find that you will rarely slip on smooth surfaces with this type of walk. I have been trying to walk in this manner when wearing caligae for several years now and find that even on quite smooth surfaces such as cement paving stones I slip only slightly and only very rarely, unlike those who use a more modern gait. The same would probably apply to your smoot soles on a smooth wooden floor.

So before you go running for the duct tape (which, I admit, can be very useful stuff for all sorts of purposes) think about why the Romans themselves might not have needed to put such a covering over their boot soles in order to stay upright. Try walking like a Roman and see the difference very quickly.

Crispvs

[A_Volpe]

Clodius beat me to it

but one method I've come up with and works pretty well, is to take a long leather lace and tie it to one of the caligae straps near the front, overlap the lace over the hobnails, and then thread the lace through another strap diagonally down, and continue zig-zag over the length of the sole, and then tie the end of the lace to the last strap where your heel/ankle is. It works pretty well. As Clodius says, it looks a little like clip-on ice grippers, there's a brand name called Yak-Traks, I've been told they're a lifesaver.

The duct tape method works well, too. To add onto what Crispvs was saying, try these methods while you learn to walk 'flat footed', that way it's a little safer until you feel confident without the extra traction.

Since you said you'll be on hardwood floors, I suggest going with a full coverage of ducttape, or, wear your non-hobnailed caligae.
The ductape should help prevent any damage to the floors. You can use the ductape on your smooth soled boots, too, although it's not going to improve your grip too much. Sure it doesn't look 'right' but, losing your grip and falling on your head doesn't look 'right' either.

the suggestion of some rugs or mats I think is a good idea too, hope you can find a longish one that is not expensive and you can roll up for easier transportation.

I would suggest scuffing up the leather soles a little bit, too. Walking on leather soles is indeed "adventurous", medieval turnshoes, 17th century locket shoes, and ACW Brogans certainly make for a challenge on smooth surfaces.

One of these days I'll get around to working up a 'slip-on' sole that will cover the hobnails, as if it's a flat sole all together, that ties over or onto the caligae straps, so it's easy to put on or off....And, one of these days I'll have a pair of un-hobnailed caligae too.

I've always wanted to create a caligae that has accurate leather and pattern, but has the addition of a rubber sole with bumps for hobnails, essentially making a 'modern' caligae. I do like wearing my boots during the summer when I'm outdoors when I can.. 8)

[Buggnkat]

The wear patterns on surviving soles, along with the footprints left by people who walked accross tiles laid out to dry, show that the Romans tended to have a very flat footed type of step, rather than the modern gait we all all more familiar with. Try walking along with more of a stamping motion or, as I sometimes suggest to new members of the group, walk as if you are riding a bicycle.
So before you go running for the duct tape (which, I admit, can be very useful stuff for all sorts of purposes) think about why the Romans themselves might not have needed to put such a covering over their boot soles in order to stay upright. Try walking like a Roman and see the difference very quickly.

Crispvs

What you describe is a basic half step march that soldiers use to this day.

[Buggnkat]

The wear patterns on surviving soles, along with the footprints left by people who walked accross tiles laid out to dry, show that the Romans tended to have a very flat footed type of step, rather than the modern gait we all all more familiar with. Try walking along with more of a stamping motion or, as I sometimes suggest to new members of the group, walk as if you are riding a bicycle.
So before you go running for the duct tape (which, I admit, can be very useful stuff for all sorts of purposes) think about why the Romans themselves might not have needed to put such a covering over their boot soles in order to stay upright. Try walking like a Roman and see the difference very quickly.

Crispvs

What you describe is a basic half step march that soldiers use to this day.

[M. Demetrius]

That step (also confirmed by another Roman, who discovered it to be less tiring on a long walk in hobnails) will help prevent slipping when combined with an awareness of keeping one's center of gravity over the knees, and between the feet.

It won't help much with putting dimples and divots on a gymnasium floor, though.

[rszebras]

Well, there are some excellent suggestions here -- like using leather straps and learning to walk in a manner that will provide a more stable footing. However, I wanted to share the results. I'm just now getting out of the hospital. No! Just kidding!

I took the suggestion of M. Demetrius Abicio and used duct tape on the soles. As you can see, it worked great. It provided excellent traction. In fact, even though the sticky part is stuck to the sole, the rough outer surface is also a little tacky, which provides great traction. Thanks so much for the help. Though I will try the other suggestions (i.e., walking and leather straps) in the future. Just to see how they do.

Randy Sampson

[Magnus]

How hard was the duct tape to peel off after? And I wonder how one could modify that so duct tape could be used on hobnailed soles?

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

For another suggestion which might be a bit more authentic than some of the suggestions made above, you could try actually WALKING like a Roman. The wear patterns on surviving soles, along with the footprints left by people who walked accross tiles laid out to dry, show that the Romans tended to have a very flat footed type of step, rather than the modern gait we all all more familiar with. It is difficult to get this right if you are used to a modern gait but it is easy enough to get reasonably close to it. Try walking along with more of a stamping motion or, as I sometimes suggest to new members of the group, walk as if you are riding a bicycle. It might look and feel a bit odd at first but you will find that you will rarely slip on smooth surfaces with this type of walk. I have been trying to walk in this manner when wearing caligae for several years now and find that even on quite smooth surfaces such as cement paving stones I slip only slightly and only very rarely, unlike those who use a more modern gait. The same would probably apply to your smoot soles on a smooth wooden floor.

So before you go running for the duct tape (which, I admit, can be very useful stuff for all sorts of purposes) think about why the Romans themselves might not have needed to put such a covering over their boot soles in order to stay upright. Try walking like a Roman and see the difference very quickly.

Crispvs

I agree 100% with Crispvs on this, as we both discovered to our shock a couple of years ago! :mrgreen:

It is definately a safer way to walk, you can get a measureed step, and also, get fewer stones in your caligae when walking on gravel etc.

[jvrjenivs]

For another suggestion which might be a bit more authentic than some of the suggestions made above, you could try actually WALKING like a Roman. (...) The same would probably apply to your smoot soles on a smooth wooden floor.

Although I fully agree with you on the story about how to place your foot, I want to say something about wearing caligae on wood. (especially in ships). Evidence from the wooden shipwrecks from Woerden suggest that the Romans took off their shoes when entering the ship. This has been suggested as there was found some pairs of caligae on one site of the boat, which was exactly where you would enter the boat and put your caligae, to not slip on the wet wood.

Anyway, slipping away can be prefent to place your feet in the right way, as suggested above.

[M. Demetrius]

All true, Jurjen and Brian. But we were originally talking about protecting the gymnasium floor, while staying shod. After a while, the nails will wear through the tape, too, so beware of that. Gaffer's tape will remove more easily than duct tape, and it leaves no residue behind to speak of (that's why the theatre guys use it, of course).

Just an aside. I totally agree that they would either have had to use something more like golf cleats or track shoes to work on wood, and that would have raised so many splinters after a while to make walking on the deck impractical, OR simply gone barefoot. Sailors wore no shoes for many centuries after that, too.

[Hibernicus]

My two bits...
.... you could use a form of Roman patten, but of leather. Did that for a parade we were in, not everyone, but those who didn't had seriously worn out hobnails... many mile parade on asphalt.
.... For indoor demos we've made caliga without hob nails, caliga with rubber soles. One guy used flip flops...
.... most schools, museums etc have readily provided carpeting when asked...
.... generally when damaging the floor is not an issue we walk the Roman walk... my favorite was a demo we did at Qualcomm... their foyer is highly polished granite.. like ice... wee-ee-ee!

[rszebras]

The gaffers tape is quite easy to remove afterwards, Matt. It is not as permanent as duct tape. However, it moved just a tad during the presentation. So all I did was move it back in place afterwards. I could have removed it entirely. It does, however, leave gooey residue behind -- the softened adhesive. But that can be wiped off with your finger and a little water. Also, I was considering using the gaffers tape on my hobnailed caligae, but was concerned there wasn't enough surface area for good adhesion, the hobnails might cut through the tape, and that it just wouldn't provide as good of traction on the wood floor as flat caligae. Further, the tape really is not noticeable -- unless is moves slightly. Overall, though, it was an excellent suggestion by M. Demetrius Abicio.

By the way, I did consider attaching rubber or something similar. But the gaffers tape is quick, easy, and works great. Plus it's removable. Now, I honestly have to say I cannot imagine doing a demo on granite floors. Like ice. as was stated. I think the correct expression is wee-ee-ee, thump, ooohhh!

Randy Sampson

[Hibernicus]

The demo we did at the Dallas Museum of Art was also fun... polished stone floors on a slight slope... walking from one part of the Museum to another... hand rails..phew!!! Though we each did a nice downhill skating trick at least once....

....lots of careful flat foot walking..

....tried rubberr cementing a sole on but that didn't last very long...

[rszebras]

....tried rubberr cementing a sole on but that didn't last very long...

This was one of the things I was considering. I'm glad I didn't. I will definitely practice the flat-footed walking technique everyone is advocating.

If there was a little ramp at the bottom of the sloped, polished stone floor, you could have had your own mini-olympics. See who flies the farthest. Like those skiers I've seen.

Randy Sampson