UKC

Hey all,
When watching "The Great Climb", I heard one of the commentators mention that in the wet they used to wear socks over their EBs.
I'd never heard of this before. what benefit does it bring? does anyone still wear socks over their rock shoes in the wet?

In reply to Double Knee Bar:

In actuality it was a case of putting socks over their 'rubbers' as the precursor to EB's were called and these might simply be gym pumps.
The likes of Joe Brown would put socks over their boots and supposedly this gave a better contact on wet rock. Just imagine it!
There is a story in the Villain by Jim Perrin of Brown undoing his boots on a dodgy lead, removing the boots and socks, putting the boots back on and then the socks over the boots in order to carry on. All on 1950' gear.

In reply to Double Knee Bar:

Not much benefit because the toes wore out after a few moves.
I discovered this when doing Lorraine.

In reply to The Purple Pimpernel: Not much use with modern rock shoes then? Looks like I'm in for a wet weekend in Snowdonia.

In reply to Double Knee Bar:

Not climbing, but I quite often take my Vibrams off when scrambling to do a short slippery section in either socks or bare feet.

In reply to Double Knee Bar:

A loooooong time ago the heavens opened just as I was about to follow the actual groove pitch on Llech Ddu's 'The Groove'. I managed to struggle up about a third of the pitch before giving up and cliping into some gear. I then took off my EBs and my socks and put the boots back on with socks on the outside. (An *interesting* enough exercise in itself considering the deluge coming down the pitch!) The rest of the pitch was climbed with comparative ease although the socks were well and truly trashed by then.

So on the basis of the one single experience, it did seem to work. Never tried it since although I did wish I'd been wearing socks when following 'Last Tango in Paris' in very similar conditions some years later as I'd have willingly tried the same trick again.

Dave

In reply to Dave Williams: I did Dovedale groove (in the Lakes) on a wintry day. All was fine in the groove until I pulled out onto the slab above, it was completely verglassed and my EB´s just kept skating off. I balanced from one foot to the other and untied and pulled off my boots. The socks gripped just fine and what must be an easy section in normal conditions became easy again.

In reply to Double Knee Bar: I recall seeing a TV item featuring Pete Whillance and Pete Botterill off to do some training on, I think, an E3/4 on Ravens Crag, Thirlmere. It was raining and one of them commented "You just drop a grade and put your socks over your boots"

In reply to Tom Valentine: Tut tut, a gentlemen should always remove his socks when making love to a beautiful woman.

In reply to Double Knee Bar:
Some related research here (the winner of the 2010 IgNobel physics prize):
http://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/122-1298/3683/

In reply to Double Knee Bar: It works very well on wet greasy rock. Quite common recommendation for gill scrambles.