"The Daring Dufas" wrote in message
...
On 2/2/2011 11:23 AM, DGDevin wrote:

Remember the old clamp on roller skates? Mountain
climbers have something called "crampons" which
strap on like the old roller skates. But which have
wicked sharp points to dig into ice.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/garden/p...=2,51676,40911

I could have used them during our last ice storm recently where I
slipped on my steep driveway. Fortunately I landed on all fours
and only received a few scrapes. I was a lot more careful after
that and stayed in until the danger passed. :-)

I keep a gallon jug of plain kitty litter on hand and spread it out ahead of
me as I walk. Works great on flat ice, not so great on the uneven stuff
that forms on top of thawed and refrozen hard-packed snow. I keep a bag of
it in the trunks of our cars this time of year, along with a fully charged
12V battery so that I can jump those in need without having to mate our two
cars together electrically. Hell, I've even ended up jumping my own battery
when I inadvertently left the interior lights on one time. There's nothing
like extreme cold to knock the remaining life out of a marginal car battery.
It's a bad feeling when you're out in the middle of cold, dark nowhere and
you turn the key only to hear: rrrrrrrrr, rrrrr, rrr, click, click,
click.

--
Bobby G.