Snowshoes

cmdionne

cmdionne

Joined
Oct 27, 2006
Messages
1,578
I'm tired of always renting snowshoes and am finally looking into buying a pair (should have done this a while ago). I'm on a bit of a budget and would like to spend less than $150, and around a hundred bucks would be great. I know this prices me out of alot of good shoes, but I'm currently looking at a couple options and wanted your opinions.

First I was looking at the US army surplus magnesium snow shoes. These are traditional type with magnesium alloy frames and steel wire webbing. I've never used traditional shoes, but these go for under 80 bucks, so I'm kinda liking these. When I have some more cash these could be a loner pair.

Second option is the redfeather hike model. Reviews I've seen of them seem good and they are a little more than a hundred bucks.

What do you think of my options? Any suggestions to add? I should have enough cash come friday to buy a pair, and I don't want to wait long because the weather in Michigan can be weird and I want to get a chance to put these to use.

Thanks
 
I was up in the snow this past weekend in my MSR snowshoes. I love them!!! They are light, easy to walk in, and easy to get on/off. They are the plastic ones that you can bolt on extra plates/tails for more flotation. I have never had a reason to bolt on the extra plates myself though and I go about 240#. Also the MSRs are the easiest snowshoes I have used for going up and down inclines. I have used the military shoes you mentioned and a set of Tubbs shoes which use the tube style aluminum frames. The military style shoes just sucked out here in the mountains as they were too big for trail use and were like sleds on inclines as they always wanted to go downhill. The Tubbs I have are great shoes but weigh a tad more than the MSRs.
 
I 2nd the MSRs. I've got the Denali Lama version, which has the bar under the heel that you can lift up for climbing steeper inclines. Best shoes I've ever used.
 
I prefer the traditionals for open spaces (like lakes and swamps) and areas where up hill climbing is not too rigorous. For heavy bush and hills I like the new fangled ones (Tubbs pictured here) as they are more compact and easy to maneuver and the integrated crimp-ons at the toe help with climbing. The smaller new fangled ones provide less flotation for me then the traditionals. The new fangled ones are lighter and easier to carry.

DSC_0128-3.jpg
 
Some good info, thanks guys. I didn't really think of the size of the mil surp shoes, and since alot of my snowshoeing is in woods, I think that the larger size may be an issue. I also realized that if I got the military shoes I would want to add a binding like the ones KGD has on his traditional shoes (they come with a strap binding, but it looks complicated and like it might not work so well) and that would run me another 30 bucks or so, putting both pairs of shoes at about the same price. I'm gonna call around to used sporting good places in the next few days, but otherwise I'm going to go with the redfeather hike model. Hopefully I can get them in time to use them this season.

I'm not totally set though, if anyone can recommend a better pair of shoes for less than $119 or even for a little bit more, I'm listening.

I'll take another look at the MSRs. The shoes I always rent are Indian Summer and are styled like tubbs. They've worked well for me, and I tried to talk the store that I rent from into selling them to me, but they would have none of it. I know I should wait until the end of the season to buy, but I really want to have my own pair for the rest of the winter.
 
Some good info, thanks guys. I didn't really think of the size of the mil surp shoes, and since alot of my snowshoeing is in woods, I think that the larger size may be an issue. I also realized that if I got the military shoes I would want to add a binding like the ones KGD has on his traditional shoes (they come with a strap binding, but it looks complicated and like it might not work so well) and that would run me another 30 bucks or so, putting both pairs of shoes at about the same price. I'm gonna call around to used sporting good places in the next few days, but otherwise I'm going to go with the redfeather hike model. Hopefully I can get them in time to use them this season.

I'm not totally set though, if anyone can recommend a better pair of shoes for less than $119 or even for a little bit more, I'm listening.

I'll take another look at the MSRs. The shoes I always rent are Indian Summer and are styled like tubbs. They've worked well for me, and I tried to talk the store that I rent from into selling them to me, but they would have none of it. I know I should wait until the end of the season to buy, but I really want to have my own pair for the rest of the winter.
 
I have Tubbs and they work great. I was thinking of traditionals vs mod. With snow shoes I would go with mod because of the durability + weight of materials.
 
I have the Cabela's 36" guide series. Perfect snoeshoes at an affordable cost.

Kev
 
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