OK. put your drink down.Mushoes !

T

Toucan Oasis

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I have an area, up the road a bit, towards Nicaragua , that is nearly exactly like some areas of the Everglades, or Okefenokee swamp.
8 to 24 inch thick mud in the rainy season. No swamp buggies or airboats allowed, like we did in the 'glades.:mad:

Anyone ever try something similar to a snowshoe in sticky mud ?
I often thought about it back in Floridastan but never needed to get serious due to the rides available and allowed.

I have a place I want to access that is virtually impossible when the plant I seek is in bloom..

I'm thinking small home made, or maybe even commercial, 'snowshoe' , with a black nursery ground cloth type mesh lashed underneath.It would pass some water, but not the mud.
There are no hills. I'ts as flat as it gets.

There are some good minds here.;)
Whatcha thunk ?
 
From the thread title, I thought you might have made yourself a pair of shoes out of some kind of tree fungus.
:D
My first thought is that the wide surface area might create a large area of suction when you try to pull your foot up for a step but that might depend entirely on the consistency of the mud. If it's particularly sticky mud, I might be worried about trying to plod around with not only the weight of the Mudshoes but also an extra ten pounds of sticky mud all over them. The only way to find out is to get out in the shed and start making stuff!
 
Tookie,

I think those Mudder boots (or a homemade analog) might just be the ticket. That being said, I'd have a self-rescue plan in place for that inevitable header into the muck! :barf:
 
Ive been duck hunting in a swamp down outside of Houston. The problem that I had was not only the mud, but also the vines. They had islands made of vines that were anchored to the bottom of the lake/swamp 3'-4' under them.
Some of the toughest hunting I have ever had. Most of the time you take a step, fall through, work your way out, take another step, fall through, etc etc. It was very tough to get the dogs get the ducks, much less having one go down on "land" only to have to figure out the hard way that it wasn't land at all.

Looking back I think some type of broad kayak or canoe would have been better than my tall waders. The boat would have spread my weight out more easily over the very shallow waters and would of easily been pulled over the vines.

Just me thinking out loud about swamps as I know them.
If it is all mud... then good luck.
 
I couldn't find a video on youtube; the Mudder web site does have a short clip.

But like Flix sez, have a back up plan. :D
 
If the bottom surface is mud (and ONLY mud), the "mudshoe" idea can work.

If the bottom is anything like swamps I've "walked" in, there's also innumerable sticks, vines and other obstacles on the bottom that will stop your progress.

Best combo I've found is stockingfoot waders, or a stocking foot wetsuit, with an old ski-type waistband life preserver to give you bouyancy, which reduces the sinking into the muck. Of course, you have to have s bit of water above the muck for the bouyancy trick to work.

If you go with the waders, make sure and use a belt or bungee at the top of the waders to hold the top shut, cause you're gonna need it sooner or later.

Nothin' more "fun" then putting your foot down and sinking in up to your nuts, while the swamp water comes up to your armpits, but if you wanna go where no man has gone before............................
 
I agree with Blais.

I'm not sure if the muckshoes (modded snowshoes, that is - not the mudder boots) would give you the same 'float' in the swamp that snowshoes afford in the snow, though I'm totally willing to experiment in the swamp behind my place when the snow melts - in, like, May. Suction would be a big problem, I think. Most of the snowshoes I have used have a combination of ratcheting buckles and straps for retention, but they can still come loose if you twist them the wrong way or get caught in a hole. For muckshoes, I think you would need to jury rig a much more powerful retention system (integral rubber boots, maybe?).

If this works, you totally need to market it!

Best,

- Mike
 
i did a bit of pipe line insulating through some pretty thick muskeg (thick bog) and all we did was make some 4x4(feet) squares of 1/4 (2 planks together) plywood with handles made by drilling holes in the sides and running some cord through. and we used those for about 5 miles of skeg. just a thought. im not too sure how thick the everglades mud would be. but it might work and its cheap.
 
Blais said:
Those are awesome! Totally solves the suction problem. What a great idea.
Click to expand...
Ditto. I'm taking a swing at those, immediately . Thanks Rotte.
I'm going to ebay up some snowshoes as well and play with them a bit.

If one of these don't work i guess i need to buy a helicopter :D
 
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