Tripping over our own feet, a slapstick classic, was probably the first human joke — shortly after Sahelanthropus tchadensis, one of our most ancient ancestors, stood up on the plains of Africa seven million years ago.
But pratfalls are no joke when they happen to us, particularly as we get older.
There are all the normal trip hazards, such as uneven surfaces, unexpected steps, ice and other slippery surfaces.
But there’s the one lethal but avoidable hazard that may lurk unsuspected on your walking boots.
Quick-lace hooks — also known as easy-lace and speed-lace — are fitted to the vast majority of walking boots sold every year. With Mintel reporting that nearly a quarter of Brits are hikers or walkers, that’s a lot of boots.
Rachel White, 46, fell while wearing her walking boots by the laces getting caught in the hook of the other shoe
The convenient hooks at the top enable you to fling the laces round, pull them tight, tie that bow and off you go in double quick time.
But there’s increasing evidence that these innocent-looking hooks cause serious accidents.
The uniting factor is the speed with which the victim goes down. Unlike a normal trip where you have a spare foot to catch you as you go over, with hooks, your feet are literally locked together.
There are two separate scenarios. The looped lace from one boot can catch on the hook of the other — or the hooks themselves can become entwined as your feet brush together.
On Reddit forums, there are threads devoted to advice about boot hooks, with one reporting a woman falling forwards in New York, causing life-changing facial injuries.
Another wince-making accident involved a naked man at the notorious Burning Man festival held in Black Rock Desert, Nevada. Wearing nothing but his boots he stood up, catching his Prince Albert piercing on his boot hooks.
Buckler Boots makes specialised safety work boots, and kicked off its Sling Those Hooks! campaign back in 2005. It reports that while these days fewer safety work boots are made with hooks, it would like a total ban.
Buckler points out the irony of a product defined as ‘safe’ after undergoing rigorous hazard testing, but being fitted with a ‘simple widget’ that could break bones or worse.
The Sling those Hooks! campaign has now reached the hiking and walking sector, too.
Retired Ofsted inspector Steven Morris wrote to Buckler Boots to describe an accident on a railway platform, where his lace caught the hook on the other boot and he crashed down face first, bruising his face and smashing several teeth.
Sue Green also wrote to the campaign, reporting breaking her shoulder in a hook-related accident, and being left with a poorly functioning arm.
It’s not just when walking: anecdotal evidence has highlighted the hazard of driving in boots that get hooked together, leaving the driver unable to brake.
And hand gliders have reported tangling their boot hooks in their harness. This may not be noticed at the time of take-off, but when the hand glider tries to land on their feet, they can’t free their legs.
Unlike a normal trip where you have a spare foot to catch you as you go over, with hooks, your feet are literally locked together
Solo fell walker, Sarah Barnes, 66, from Leighton Buzzard, has been hiking alone for the last four years.
‘I started solo walking by accident,’ she says. ‘Four years ago, I found myself walking all the way up Mount Fuji in Japan, after setting out for an afternoon stroll.’
After that she was hooked (pun intended).
‘As soon as I got home, I bought what I thought was the right equipment and set off up any fell that was a scramble rather than a climb.’
She now owns five pairs of boots and shoes, which she picks according to weather and conditions.
Among her favourites are a bargain pair of walking boots from Millets which she snapped up for £60 in 2021, with easy-lace hooks at the top.
‘The trouble is, they’re so comfortable that, when the laces get wet, stretch and drop off to expose the hook, I don’t notice,’ says Sarah.
‘One day, up on the fells, a wet and trailing lace wrapped itself around the hook on the other boot.
‘Luckily it was more of a Dick Emery comedy moment — I tripped, but I’m sprightly enough to stay upright.’
This experience prompted Sarah to walk with poles for safety so she has less chance of falling, plus ‘less work uphill and save your knees downhill’. Alone in the fells, she cannot risk an accident.
Rachel White, 46, from west London, is fit and active as Area Activator for community volunteer organisation GoodGym. But both she and her son Harry, 12, have suffered hook-related accidents.
‘I was out on an evening stroll during lockdown with my friend Gemma, wearing my walking boots, when suddenly I felt my legs lock together and down I went hard on the pavement,’ she says.
‘Gemma checked that I wasn’t injured before we collapsed laughing.
‘The lace of my left boot had caught itself on the top hook of my right walking boot as I hadn’t tied the laces all the way to the top.’
As for Harry, he was just walking down the road in his boots when he ‘yelped and hit the pavement’, says Rachel.
‘He was lucky that he has quick reflexes and managed to pull his hands out of his pockets in time and, although shocked, he got away lightly with grazed palms.’
Harry didn’t hit his head or break a bone, but this is a real danger, according to Jordi Sanchez-Ballester, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
‘Tripping over can lead to bruises and simple soft tissue injuries, sprains and strains, damaged ligaments and muscles, leading to pain and swelling.
‘If the trip is more severe it can lead to fractures. Bones can break upon impact, ranging from minor cracks to complete breaks,’ he says.
‘Although a fall can injure any part of the body, the most commonly affected sites are the wrists, foot and ankle.’
As we age, the risks get worse. Both men and women can suffer from osteoporosis, the bone-weakening disease, without knowing – until they have a comparatively mild fall and break a bone.
As Mr Sanchez-Ballester says: ‘Individual with osteoporosis have a higher risk of falls, due to muscle weakness, spine deformity, or decreased postural control. In this group of patients with low bone density due to osteoporosis, falling easily results in fractures.’
Of course, prevention is better than cure.
If you already own boots with hooks, make sure they’re laced up tight with a short double knot. You could also wear gaiters – waterproof leggings that cover the top of your boot up to the knee – or tight long trousers.
Gaffer tape is another (albeit rather fiddly) option. Some people take a pair of pliers and squeeze the hooks in tight to the boots.
If buying new boots, avoid hooks altogether.
Sacrificing a few moments of lacing for safety’s sake seems a small price to pay for preventing serious injury and staying upright on remote trails.
