Objects Database

Koflach Viva Boots

Accession Number

424.2008.1

Object Name

Koflach Viva Boots

Created

21/11/2008

Creator

Hermione Cooper

Accession Date

21/11/2008

Brief Description

Grey 'Koflach' moulded plastic boots. Metal eye hooks and bright green nylon laces. Rubber soles. Black rubberised cloth protecting a silver tongue. Bright green padded nylon at top of heel.

Materials

plastic, rubber, metal, nylon

Dimensions

30(l) x 9(w) x 26(h) cms.

Number Of Objects

1 pair

Inscription Description

Yellow octagon on sole with " VIBRAM " inside. " ULTRA S KOFLACH " on back of heel. " KOFLACH " in fluorescent green on side of boot. Also " MADE IN AUSTRIA FABRIQUE EN AUSTRICHE "

Colour

grey, fluorescent green, black, silver

Maker

Koflach

Object Production Place

Austria

Provenance

Plastic boots came upon the mountaineering world like a rash in the late 1970's and within a couple of years just about everybody had a pair. Scottish bog trotters said it was the first time they'd had dry feet for a hundred years,Himalayan climbers didn't get frostbite and boot polish dried up in the tin - redundant. Unfortunately, there was a down side - condensation made your feet look like wrinkled prunes with blisters popping up on each wrinkle! Blisters appeared round the ankle where the boot top rubbed and if water did get in, it couldn't get out. Some folk loved them, others hated them, but as if by magic, they almost totally disappeared from the scene sometime in the late 1990's.
Koflach were one of the main producers back in the 70's, using technology gleaned from making ski boots and we've got a prime example of their 'Vivas' here in the collection.

The following is an article written in April 2007 in Mountain Rescue Magazine
EQUIPMENT WARNING - OLD PLASTIC BOOTS
Andy Sallabank, Mountain Instructor, was working with a couple of students in the Cairngorms when the old plastic boots of one of his students literally cracked and fell apart This not the first time I've heard of this happening. If you have any doubts about the age or quality of your plastic boots, Andy advises they are put in the freezer overnight and then hit with a hammer the next morning! It's got to be better than them cracking and falling apart on the back doorstep than half way up the Ben.

Acquisition Date

21/11/2008

Condition Check Date

28/04/2009

Rules

Spectrum : UK Museum documentation standard, V.3.1 2007

Modified

28/04/2009

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