Snow shoes?

[USMCret]

Need some help and looking for recommendations. All kinds of brands, makes, style, Models and sizes. Can you help me figure out what I need and what to spend. I’m that guy that wants to buy once. Weigh 165 lbs and wife is about 130. Looking for plain hiking for the wife but mine are for hunting. Any thoughts advice would be greatly appreciated Also where to buy your recommendation

 

[Htm84]

msr is hard to beat. I have some older lightning axis. If you’re gonna be in the mountains having the lifter bar deal on the heals helps a lot. I bought mine used from a second hand store. For what it’s worth I rarely use them. I pretty much just take them on the snowmachine in case I have to walk home. Knock on wood.

 

[Hill Difficulty]

My wife and I + griff (dog wears a roading harness, pulls a weighted sled) snowshoe at least 40 miles a month, Dec-Feb. My wife is fond of her 21" Tubbs "urban" types, while my favorites are 46"x 9"W ash (wood) Ojibwe shoes I built from a kit 12 years ago for coyote hunting. I have different length Ojibwes at 46 & 54" based on snow depth. I also ruck a #40 weighted pack, going 2.5 to 5 mile distance most nights of the week.

Wood snowshoes are silent, metal snowshoes are never quiet. For hunting I can only recommend wood Ojibwe or Alaskans as either will cover ground faster/easier without announcing your presence. Both makes shuffle like c-c skis, smooth and efficient. Also can't ping and clang and will keep you on top of the deepest powder.

Consider buying a frame kit and use white nylon lacing (think hockey skate laces) for lightest OAL weight. I built my own so I could mix white color oil paint into the varnish when finishing. Happy to answer any questions, provide pics, binding preferences, whatever. If I had one pair (#170 weight), I'd go 48x10 unless you can find an ash frame maker to shorten/narrow.

>My wife loves her Tubbs w/bindings at $150-$200 range. One limitation is that she can't sneak up on anything.

>My same Ojibwe shoe kits can be got new for $125 + whatever you want to pay for bindings. Check out Country Ways @ https://snowshoe.com

Modified H binding w/stainless heel tension clip for quick on/off


Ojibwe kit

[Edit to show pics - see snowshoe.com]

 

[Hill Difficulty]

...also great for the heart, glutes, quads, and marriage.

 

[Mosby]

I have a pair of Tubbs. They work well. I also agree that MSR is hard to beat. Both are good quality.

 

[KHntr]

I spent a decade plus on snowshoes for work every winter, and have come full circle and am back on misery slippers again for work. (Self employed and loving every single second of it)

My business partner and I were talking about snowshoes the other day as we were standing on 3 or 4 feet of fluff, and I did the math on the pair of MSR Denali's that I was wearing that day (on and off of snowmobiles all day long, easier to just leave them on while riding) and I realized that I had bought them in 1996 for $120. They saw at least 600 days of use by my math and now they are back in use. The bindings are getting pretty worn, but they still stay on.
I have used maybe 4 or 5 different makes over the years, Tubbs, Sherpa, Arctic Trekker, MSR, and some hand built wood and sinew. As previously noted, anything made of plastic/aluminum/rubber WILL make noise. If you are going to hunt off of them pretty much your only option is going to be a wood/sinew version. On a still day you can hear aluminum snowshoes squeaking for a startlingly long distance. You will give up traction on steep drifts though compared to something that has a lateral cutting edge and crampon incorporated into the binding.

For your wife's recreational hiking, a quality ratchet binding will make her happier than a more traditional lace up version if she gets stuck and needs to pop a shoe off from an awkward angle.

 

[Cameron.25]

I cant recommend northern lites shoes enough! Lightest snowshoes for their size on the market that im aware of. I got the tundra models with the speed bindings for my wife and i, they weigh 1.5 lbs per shoe so 3 lbs per pair and are rated for over 250 lbs total of weight in deep powder. We could hardly tell we were wearing them. Hard to find right now but they're super nice. They make smaller ones that are way lighter for those who dont carry heavy loads too

 

[Rokwiia]

A lot depends on the terrain you'll be using them in. Flat and rolling? Up and down mountains? No one snowshoe does both equally well.

I do more flat and rolling terrain and have two pairs of Northern Lites. The regular size (Backcountry or Tundra) and the racing size. I prefer the latter.

https://northernlites.com/

If I was going up and down mountains, I go with the MSR Lightning Ascents.

https://www.msrgear.com/snowshoes/ascent-series/lightning-ascent-snowshoes/lightning-ascent.html

 

[LASTINLINE]

i dont know if there still in business but ive used Montana Snowshoes for hunting snowshoe hares. they are a plastic flexible type that are kinda strange but super lightweight and springy with each the step. i loved them on crusted snow compared to bear paw styles.dont know how theyd do on fluffy stuff.

 

[menhaden_man]

Many folks above with more miles than myself but I’ve got some good climbs in my MSRs with the fins. Great for climbs in the west, better than the longer wood ones in my experience. Good luck!

MSR® Snowshoes | Unrivaled, All-Condition Performace | MSR®

MSR's legendary snowshoes deliver all-terrain traction and ergonomic efficiency to carry you confidently through all of winter’s changing moods.

www.msrgear.com

 

[lvtuna]

Check out the MSR Lighting Assent. They are a do all shoe. Simple and rugged. Heel lift.

 

[Wassid82]

I bought some MSR from an REI garage sale.....they were a steal. They have held up so well.

 

[pewpew]

I have a 30" pair of older Atlas shoes, and 25" MSR Revo Explore. I really like the bindings on the Atlas compared to the MSR, and prefer the Atlas over MSR for anything that is relatively flat, or deeper snow.

The Atlas are on a tube style frame, and the MSR are a more aggressive metal frame. I learned the hard way that the tube style snowshoes can very easily turn into skis in steeper terrain, the teeth on the bottom do virtually nothing and are pretty gimmicky IMO. MSR's get the nod for anything at all vertical.