Firsts in your life seem to have a deep and lasting impact, tastes for food, parental advice, activities that whiled away youthful hours. My life as an Arborist begin with Andy at Proclimber, who described the borrowing from Forestry to make Arb legislature. It being a ground based operation is obvious, and it raised questions from Andy, why shouldn’t equipment and techniques and rules be tailored to a Climbing Arborists perspective?
Footwear has always interested me. As a kid I used my feet for football, then skateboarding. It was a surprise that many years later, as a tree climber, I began to think about my feet again.
UK Arborists wear chainsaw boots, the law states that BS EN ISO 17249 certified “Protective boots with good grip and protective guarding at front vamp and instep” must be used for ground and aerial work. Historical injury statistics tend to bundle the foot in with leg, so data may be misleading. A famous graphic from 1994 shows that ‘foot area’ accounted for 6.7% of injuries.
Chainsaw boots with toe protection make sense at ground level. Andrew’s words about legislation pulled from a ground based industry is pertinent. Focused on becoming a climber, I considered the shoe as an important tool for work and often wondered if this heavy handed approach to safety was correct.
It’s difficult to find statistics that focus on climbing injuries, and more specifically foot injuries while climbing. Does this lead one to assume that foot injuries while climbing do not happen? Or are happening and not being reported? Either way, the focus on worker safety is important, though it leaves out considerations of tree health and climber experience. Damage to cambium from basal anchored systems is real, as is damage from chainsaw and mountain boots.
An old blog post (2013). The approach boot is popular but has three distinct draw backs. The low cut allow debris to easily enter. For some reason they are nearly always made with a gore-tex liner, too hot. Expensive for a mass produced item.
Clemens Hagen is a mountain enthusiast and orthopedic shoe maker. I visited his atelier in the autumn of 2021, by the spring of 2022 he completed the first iteration of a custom sized and designed boot. He calls it a “prototype”, it being almost impossible to perfect on the first try. My specification was for a work boot mixed with three design ideas. Height and tactile feel of a Japanese ‘Jikatabi’ (Ninja shoe), the comfort and weight of a sneaker, while having a climbing focused design like an approach boot.
Clemens recorded my feet and gait, finding that I have some issues with achilles tendon. Feet, right side in particular, twist outwards. Legs different length. A last was made and as the design conversation continued Clemens created a shoe that would give relief from the aforementioned afflictions.
Cutting trees down can be done in chainsaw boots. Tree care, pruning, inspections and recreation need a different design language. I wanted to try and tackle some issues that I have with chainsaw, mountain and approach boots. I desired a tread pattern low profile enough to climb a tree without damaging the cambium layer and bark. A sidewall thick enough to comfortably use a foot ascender. A boot tall enough to stop things from falling inside. And a shoe cool enough for the summer season.
Leather outer, leather liner, velcro cuff that sits high, half way up the shin bone, soft and flat rubber on sole. The walking experience of a bespoke shoe is new to me, quite breathtaking. Cool for the hot Japanese summer, relatively waterproof too. Easy to put on and off. Foot ascender is used with no discomfort and foot-locking is quite amazing. Don't know how the rubber and glue and leather will wear through time, but tactility and grip incredible. Widish toe area is comfortable, soft enough to get feed back while climbing, firm enough to hold positions without discomfort.
Here it is, possibly the worlds 'first' climber inspired pruning boot.
