Those of you north of the Frost Line might be inteested.

My big plan for today was to go out and test Coughlin’s Fire Paste in cold weather. I had the cold weather (10 to 20 degrees F) and I had the day off. What I didn't have was any Fire Paste. I went to two of my sure-fire stores, and the hooks were empty. Did someone figure a way to smoke the stuff or something? Can't imagine why it's sold out.

Anyway, not wanting to wander the hinterlands with no purpose, I bought my first ever ice cleats, and I went cheap. This pair set me back $5.50. They are the HT All Purpose Safety Cleats.

They come flat in a plastic bag. By the strong smell emanating from the bag, I would guess they are made out of the same sturdy rubber compound that tires are made of, and about 3/16th inch thick. I bought large size, which stretched to fit my size 12 boots perfectly. I believe they would fit 9 to 12 as advertised. They also come in a medium and a humungous XL size. On the bottom are 56 - 1/4 inch teeth arranged in 6 parallel rows. There are no cleats on the heel. I strapped on the cleats and noted how easy they were to get on and off

The weather has been pretty nice this winter, but walking conditions horrible in ravine country. The temps have been freakishly mild this year, and what little snow we have had has mostly melted. An exception would be in the southwest ravine country where snow and ice persists out of reach of the sun, and melt water collects in pools and refreezes. The snowmobile trailhead I went was in one of those big ravines, and the trails were really icy.

I walked about three miles along a trail through the woods carrying my winter daypack. The cleats were pretty comfortable, and they did not slide around as I walked. When walking on smooth ice, the cleats dug in and held very well. I was wearing leather and rubber insulated duck boots with a wool felt insole, and after about 2 miles, my feet began to hurt a little. Next time I will wear stiff-soled boots instead of soft-soled ducks. I found that as long as I walked flat-footed, the cleats dug in. I had to adjust my stride to a little shorter one, because if my heel hit the ice first, my foot slid precariously.

When I got back to the trailhead, I examined the cleats. There was no visible dulling of the metal parts, and only minor separation of the metal from the rubber. Given the fact that the ice was so jagged and that I did go down and scout along the banks of the river (spotting a half dozen big trout) I am satisfied with these cleats. For the price of a single set of Yak-Traks, I can get 5 pairs of these. I noticed when looking for some pictures of the cleats to post, Hi-Tech has now developed an identical product with the addition of an X shaped pair of coils that go under the heel. They are about $12, I think.

Here is a picture of the trail with my rucksack for scale. Everything you see is frozen solid, even the snow. What appears to be water is slick hard ice. Most of the holes you see are melted down and refrozen animal tracks. The picture of the product is not me, I got it from the mfg website.

I have no affiliation, I just couldn't find any fire paste.