Get a Grip! Testing Out Traction Aids
Let’s be honest: every single day, packaging makes or breaks a sale. Although we are taught not to judge a book by its cover, point is, we’re human, and we like nice things! Which brings us to the traction aids we brought home, in spite of their packaging.
So where do we start without diving into a very detailed background story… oh, the part where there’s a billion – or was it a trillion – choices. Well, we did what all strong teams do: we divided and concurred. Some read the packages on the left, some read the packages on the right, some approached store staff for Q&A, and then we got to trying things on in the store. Within a short time we had made a choice: ‘Everyday Traction Aids’ by Due North®. We made our choice based on price and because we wanted them to walk/power walk in (not run), and they were super easy to put on. Rewind to the point where we first saw the packaging, thought process went something like this:
‘Um no, those can’t be the right traction aids for us, the cover shows a white pair of running shoes, the type elderly people wear. We’re way more hardcore, we move so fast, we need traction aids for our traction aids.’
Regardless of how purely ugly we thought the package was, we took a chance because sometimes a little feeling in your gut tells you to trust and reminds you that the store has a kick-@#$ exchange/return policy.
So we took them out for a 60-minute power walk and each of us temporarily lost our traction aid once. Seems like the traction aids get slightly confused when you are trampling through slushy ice; it’s as if they get trapped by the slushy ice because the ice acts like a Venus flytrap for the traction aid.
Now, to be clear, the day we bought them, and the day we tested the traction aids, we were wearing winter boots. We’ve since tried them with running shoes, and WOW! Just awesome! WOW! With the running shoe, which is obviously much lighter than the winter boot, your foot is much lighter and confident in a way that you’ve never felt (unless you’re already a seasoned traction aid wearer).
Regrets you ask? No, actually, none. We give these traction aids, which are labeled for ‘everyday’, an 8/10. The only reason they lose 2 points is that there should be a strap that bridges over the top of your foot so that the left side of the aid attaches to the right side, so it doesn’t get trapped in slushy ice, as aforementioned.
Lucky for us, there’s a sporting equipment repair shop up the street where we were able to purchase some Velcro® that allowed us to strap the traction over the top of our feet. But you don’t need to get that fancy. Be more eco than us and re-purpose and old pair of shoelaces or extra large twist ties.
Here’s the website for the traction aids we took a chance on and liked – but don’t say we didn’t warn you when you see those glaring white jogger shoes glaring at you! http://www.duenorthproducts.com/
