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{{Short description|Short nail with a thick head}}
:''For other uses, see [[Hobnail (disambiguation)]].''
{{other uses}}
[[Image:Hobnail (PSF).png|thumb|A hobnail]]
[[Image:Hobnail (PSF).png|thumb|A hobnail]]
[[Image:Aa hobnailedboots 01.jpg|thumb|A pair of hobnailed boots]]
[[Image:Aa hobnailedboots 01.jpg|thumb|A pair of hobnailed boots]]


In [[footwear]], a '''hobnail''' is a short nail with a thick head used to increase the durability of [[boot]] [[Sole (shoe)|soles]].
In [[footwear]], a '''hobnail''' is a short nail with a thick head used to increase the durability of [[boot]] [[Sole (shoe)|soles]] or provide traction.


==History==
⚫
'''Hobnailed boots''' (known in Scotland as "tackety boots") are boots with hobnails (nails inserted into the soles of the boots), usually installed in a regular pattern, over the sole. They also usually have an iron [[horseshoe]]-shaped insert, called a [[heel iron]], to strengthen the heel, and an iron toe-piece. The hobnails project below the sole and provide traction on soft or rocky ground and snow, but they tend to slide on smooth hard surfaces. They may also have [[steel toecaps]].
[[File:Large group of hobnails from a site that has given up many Roman coins etc. (FindID 972730).jpg|thumb|Roman hobnails were [[shoe tack]]s, a type of [[clinching nail]]; the narrowing tip was turned by a last held inside the sole as the nail was driven. So the tip did a U-turn back into the sole, clinching the nail in place.]]
[[File:Caligae with nails.jpg|thumb|Reconstruction Ancient Roman [[caliga]]]]
⚫
'''Hobnailed boots''' (in Scotland "tackety boots") are boots with hobnails (nails inserted into the soles of the boots), usually installed in a regular pattern, over the sole. They usually have an iron [[horseshoe-shaped]] insert, called a heel iron, to strengthen the heel, and an iron toe-piece. They may also have [[steel toecaps]]. The hobnails project below the sole and provide traction on soft or rocky terrain and snow, but they tend to slide on smooth, hard surfaces.


They have been used since antiquity for inexpensive durable footwear, often by workmen and the [[military]], including the [[trench boot]]s of [[World War I]]. Roman soldiers wore hobnailed sandals in the United Kingdom in the first century AD.
They have been used since antiquity for inexpensive durable footwear, often by workmen and the [[military]]. Examples include the ''[[caligae]]'' of the Roman military, the "[[ammunition boot|ammo boot]]" in use by the British and Commonwealth armies from the 1860s and the US Army "[[trench boot]]s" of [[World War I]].


Important design work for the modern hobnailed boot was done during [[World War I]], e.g. the "[[Trench Boot|Pershing Boot]]" in the USA.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/l_tanks.htm |title=Little Tanks - The American Field Shoe [Boot&#93; |publisher=Worldwar1.com |date=1918-11-11 |accessdate=2009-09-06}}</ref>
Important design work for the modern hobnailed boot was done during [[World War I]], e.g. the "[[Trench boot|Pershing boot]]" in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/l_tanks.htm |title=Little Tanks – The American Field Shoe [Boot&#93; |publisher=Worldwar1.com |date=1918-11-11 |accessdate=2009-09-06}}</ref>
Problems experienced in designing WWI USA army boots were:
Problems experienced in designing WWI US Army boots were:
*Tearing at the [[Hiking boot#Parts|backstay]]: cured by sewing the backstay on with 3 rows of stitching each side.
*Tearing at the backstay: solved by securing the backstay with three rows of stitching each side.
*Letting water in: cured by [[dubbin]].
*Letting water in: solved by [[dubbin]].
*Rotting in foul conditions in trenches: cured by [[leather#Forms|chrome tanning]] rather than only using vegetable tanning.
*Rotting in foul conditions in trenches: solved by [[Tanning (leather)#Chrome tanning|chrome tanning]] rather than using vegetable tanning.
*Cold conducting through the hobnails into the feet: that, and need for strength, was cured by three thicknesses of leather in the soles.
*Cold conducting through hobnails into the feet: that, and need for strength, solved by three thicknesses of leather in the soles.
*Sole wear: toe and heel irons as well as hobnails.
*Sole wear: toe and heel irons in addition to hobnails.


==Uses==
Hobnailed boots were formerly much used for [[mountaineering]] to grip on sloping rock surfaces. Mountaineering hobnailed boots tended to also have large hobnails fastened to the extreme edges of the soles and heels to grip on any small roughness on steeply sloping rock, as in these images: [http://www.gosullivan.com/hobnail.jpg] [http://i917.photobucket.com/albums/ad16/Ratchet1313/MiA%20German%20Guide/swissbootscg3-1.jpg] and on snow, particularly before [[crampons]] came into common use.
Hobnailed boots were formerly common in [[mountaineering]] to grip on sloping rock surfaces. These boots tended to have large pointed hobnails on the extreme edges of the soles and heels to grip small roughness on steeply sloping rock and on snow, but have become less common with the invention of [[crampons]].


Homemade hobnailed boots, which provide traction on ice and snow, can be created by driving roofing nails (with cut-off ends) through used [[rubber boots]], which are then worn with normal shoes on the inside. <ref name="farmshow">{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Made it Myself Ideas|volume=4|publisher=Farm Show|location=Lakeville, Minnesota|year=2019|page=53|first=John|last=Lubinski}}</ref>
== Etymology ==

*Hobnail: Chambers's etymological dictionary of the English language: [http://books.google.com/books?id=ni8FAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA231&lpg=PA231&dq=hobnail]
==See also==
*Stud: Chambers's etymological dictionary of the English language: [http://books.google.com/books?id=r30KAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA497&dq=stud]
* [[Caulk boots]] – spike-soled boots worn by loggers and tree planters


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{reflist}}

⚫
{{Clothing-stub}}
==External links==
⚫
[[Category:Footwear]]
*Chambers, William (1904). [https://books.google.com/books?id=ni8FAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA231&lpg=PA231&dq=hobnail "Hobnail".] ''Chambers's [[Etymological Dictionary]] of the English Language'', [[W. & R. Chambers]], p. 231. Archived at [[Google Books]].
*Chambers, William (1904). [https://books.google.com/books?id=r30KAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA497&dq=stud "Stud"]. ''Chambers's Etymological Dictionary of the English Language'', W. & R. Chambers, p. 497. Archived at Google Books.

⚫
[[Category:Footwear components]]
[[Category:Shoemaking]]
[[Category:Shoemaking]]


⚫
{{Clothing-stub}}

Latest revision as of 18:42, 2 March 2024

For other uses, see Hobnail (disambiguation).
A hobnail
A pair of hobnailed boots

In footwear, a hobnail is a short nail with a thick head used to increase the durability of boot soles or provide traction.

History

[edit]
Roman hobnails were shoe tacks, a type of clinching nail; the narrowing tip was turned by a last held inside the sole as the nail was driven. So the tip did a U-turn back into the sole, clinching the nail in place.
Reconstruction Ancient Roman caliga

Hobnailed boots (in Scotland "tackety boots") are boots with hobnails (nails inserted into the soles of the boots), usually installed in a regular pattern, over the sole. They usually have an iron horseshoe-shaped insert, called a heel iron, to strengthen the heel, and an iron toe-piece. They may also have steel toecaps. The hobnails project below the sole and provide traction on soft or rocky terrain and snow, but they tend to slide on smooth, hard surfaces.

They have been used since antiquity for inexpensive durable footwear, often by workmen and the military. Examples include the caligae of the Roman military, the "ammo boot" in use by the British and Commonwealth armies from the 1860s and the US Army "trench boots" of World War I.

Important design work for the modern hobnailed boot was done during World War I, e.g. the "Pershing boot" in the United States.[1] Problems experienced in designing WWI US Army boots were:

  • Tearing at the backstay: solved by securing the backstay with three rows of stitching each side.
  • Letting water in: solved by dubbin.
  • Rotting in foul conditions in trenches: solved by chrome tanning rather than using vegetable tanning.
  • Cold conducting through hobnails into the feet: that, and need for strength, solved by three thicknesses of leather in the soles.
  • Sole wear: toe and heel irons in addition to hobnails.

Uses

[edit]

Hobnailed boots were formerly common in mountaineering to grip on sloping rock surfaces. These boots tended to have large pointed hobnails on the extreme edges of the soles and heels to grip small roughness on steeply sloping rock and on snow, but have become less common with the invention of crampons.

Homemade hobnailed boots, which provide traction on ice and snow, can be created by driving roofing nails (with cut-off ends) through used rubber boots, which are then worn with normal shoes on the inside. [2]

See also

[edit]
  • Caulk boots – spike-soled boots worn by loggers and tree planters

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Little Tanks – The American Field Shoe [Boot]". Worldwar1.com. 1918-11-11. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  2. ^ Lubinski, John (2019). Encyclopedia of Made it Myself Ideas. Vol. 4. Lakeville, Minnesota: Farm Show. p. 53.
[edit]


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