Making Snowshoes

A

andrew7978

Joined
Mar 19, 2007
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UPDATED WITH PERFORMANCE REPORT!!

Well last week, I said I would show people how to make birch bark pitch, yet we are about to be hit by 12 inches of snow, so I think that project is going to be postponed.

But that meant I had time for a new project and seeing how there is an impending snow storm, I decided to try my hand at making some snow shoes. I have never done this before, so I can't guarantee they will work, but we'll find out tomorrow when the snow hits. I think the toughest part will be attaching them to my feet. I will keep you guys updated.

Gathering wood. I had to work inside due to the cold and the fact that I started when it was dark out.
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The initial frame. Tied together with x-lashing.
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Lashed on three main pieces. Had to have them close enough together so my boot could rest on all of them.
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Final product
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Me modeling the final product, with my cat finding things very interesting.
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Now that it has snowed about 6 inches, I got to try out the snow shoes.

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I sunk in about an inch and a half or so but as you can see my boots didn't get much snow on them. Just walking around in boots sunk me all the way down. While it was akward walking around with these big things on my feet, it would really help if the snow was waist deep. They held together pretty well and stayed on my feet well with just some paracord wrapped around my boot, ankle, and around the three main support sticks.
 
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You'll have to show them after this weekend's weather. I haven't made that version and would like to see how they hold up. In February, I'm teaching the winter survival course at the WLC but we make a different version.
 
Ok, it's today! Where's the field report?!
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They look good!
As far as attaching them, I would use some of the string/rope you used and make one attach point to one of the cross bars nearest the balls of your feet, then come up over your toes, then back around your heels. It would have to be done with one piece of string and one attachment point to the snow shoes so you can lift your heel as you walk without smashing the shoes.
 
Although it takes some practice to use. The simplest attachment I've seen for home made ( or Field Expedient as the Marine Corps says) snowshoes is a loop tied to the front crosspiece.

You put your foot in the loop with the toe pointed to the back of the snowshoe then you twist around so you're standing on the shoe. Doing this will tighten the loop around the toe of your boot and help hold it on, although once you get used to it you can just stick your toe in the loop and be ok.

Where the practice comes in is that you have to keep your feet low enough that the heal of the snow shoe drags the snow when you walk.

Also, I think you might need to weave a little more material into the webbing area but, that's just my opinion. You may have plenty there to support your weight, I'm a heavy guy so I needed more webbing on the one set I made.

David
 
Nice project, I made some once, during a storm, and used two flexible branches(cut the ends of and used them as crosspieces under my feet), some twine, and lots of duct tape(as webbing). They worked out pretty good - well they had to, we had lots of snow, and, 'cause of the blizzard, you couldnt tell how deep it was. That was before I got into bushcraft.

Peter
 
stingray4540 said:
Ok, it's today! Where's the field report?!
poke%5B1%5D.gif
Click to expand...

Hey, I'm on vacation, which means I'm just waking up now.:yawn: Anyways, it's not supposed to start snowing to early afternoon. I'll look into your attachment advice and make sure I snap some pics.
 
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Cool project Andrew. I am still anxiuosly waiting for this storm to hit! We ahave another storm on its heals that should come in on Sunday. Should be plenty of snow to test those shoes for you!
 
also waiting for the snow...those look pretty good, i might have to try something similar myself.
 
I'm in Stamford at work right now and it is coming down really good! Been snowing for about an hour and everything is covered. I live about 35 miles north and my wife said its has only been snowing about 20 minutes and looks to be about an 1nch on the ground allready!!! This should be a good one!
 
cool that they worked!

i tried to make some myself earlier tonight, and i got one frame (rim?) done, and it looks really good, but then i broke the other bending it. i also think mine might be a bit heavy...
 
Important skill.

I had the dubious opportunity to learn first hand that deep snow can be a very efficient man stopper.
 
Andrew, very cool project, and a good one this time of year.

What is the length of the rim piece? What kind of tree did you harvest them from?

I have always been curious about snowshoes, however we rarely get enough snow anymore to warrant a pair. Maybe this year though!!
 
j williams said:
Andrew, very cool project, and a good one this time of year.

What is the length of the rim piece? What kind of tree did you harvest them from?

I have always been curious about snowshoes, however we rarely get enough snow anymore to warrant a pair. Maybe this year though!!
Click to expand...

J,

The frame was probably about 22 inches long by 13 inches wide. The bigger they are, the more your weight will be distrubuted, but there is a trade off because they become harder to maneuver.

I'm terrible at indentifying trees so I really can't tell you. But basically anything that is a little over three feet long, no thicker than half an inch in diameter, and pretty flexible should work. It can either be saplings or just live branches of some types of trees. I just grabbed a bunch and experimented. Some snapped when I tried to bend them.
 
Hey, that worked pretty well!!! Congratulations!

Thanks for posting.

Maybe if you added some more webbing like echo4v suggested, they will hold you up higher on the snow?
 
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