Researchers tested 98 different pairs of winter boots to see how they stood up against ice and found that 90 per cent of them didn’t meet their minimum slip resistance standard.
Researchers on the iDAPT team at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute-University Health Network tested both casual and safety boots, in the “WinterLab” laboratory that recreates winter life in Canada.
With a floor made entirely of ice, below zero temperatures, and winds up to 30 km per hour, the lab can recreate some of the slipperiest conditions Canadians typically encounter during winter.
The iDAPT researchers got volunteer participants to walk back and forth on an ice floor while gradually increasing the incline until the person slipped.
Based on the results, they ranked each boot out of three snowflakes. A boot got one snowflake if it managed to make it up a hill that’s angled at seven degrees, which is the incline of a curb ramp. Two snowflakes were given for 11 degrees and three snowflakes for 15 degrees.
Of the 98 different pairs of new winter boots tested, researchers found that just eight per cent met their minimum snowflake slip resistance standard of being able to maintain grip on the seven-degree slope.
None of the boots earned two or three snowflakes.
When looking for non-slip boots, Geoff Fernie, the research director at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, told the Toronto Star to look for boots with an outer sole that has gritty material or fibers in it.
According to their tests, the best-performing casual boots were Sperry brand’s Vibram Arctic Grip, while Dakota’s transitional boot with “Green diamond” soles was the best safety boot.
The researchers hope that the results of their tests will help better inform consumers and keep people safer from slips and falls.
They haven’t tested the boots in snow yet, but they hope to include snow as one of the surfaces they test on in the future.
