SNOWSHOE TEST

[Pilgrim]

This thread is an awesome example of men and dogmatism!



Opti has a great question on traction.

Here's some stuff to think about:

Wood frame snowshoes can be laced through holes in the inside of the frames or wrapped outside of the frames. Neoprene lacing is run entirely through holes in the frame while nylon lacing or rawhide lacing can be laced either outside or through the frame. Outside lacing provides approx 50 tread points while inside has no tread so your shoe is bearing the snow and ice on a smooth surface. I intentionally doubled up the toe area wraps on my shoes to add extra grip. Note: If you don't have any tread points on your frames you can wrap material around the frames and coat with varnish.

Check out TBush's shoes in photo:

1) The shoes in the photo are a combination of inside (front) and outside lacing (along mid section), so he has a bit of traction.

2) The other thing about TBush's shoes are that his bindings are not designed for his style of shoe. Notice the hole under the cross brace: The hole is intended for a binding style that allows for the front half of your foot to step into the hole and bite into the snow as you walk (more traction). Even so, the way TB's bindings are set up will work, and probably float higher in cattails or tall grass considering he has added about 5" of front end to nest on top of the snow.

[22-250AI]

This thread is an awesome example of men and dogmatism!

I agree Pilgrim, insufficiently examined premises appear to be rearing thier ugly heads.

[bucksnbears]

i put my ojibaw's through the test this week and am very happy. very quite. i really liked the pointed toeas they poke through the snow . i did have some issues in cattails but 2 feet of powder i'm not sure anything would hold me up. i did climb some steep hills and did not have "much" slipping problem.

[Pilgrim]

Bucks

Been hoping you’d report on your shoes.

Everything I’ve run through is easy enough trekking although high grass and cutting over soft cattail banks can be quicksand, plus discovered I’d punch through some weaker crust while walking in Dcoy’s Alaskan tracks. I intentionally built mine on youth frames so I’m 30 pounds over the intended weight range and 40% less weight distribution than normal size. I’m very pleased, anyway.

Was thinking after hunting last week that I’d get started on a set of Alaskans for the best of both worlds…Then yesterday I opened a can of varnish in my basement (to do some touch ups)--- One whiff and I decided I’ll wait until warmer days.

[lyonch]

Well i did my own little test on sunday with snow shoes. the wind was dead calm and the snow was crunchy. We walked on two different types of terrain. One of them was normal snow like walking through a grass prairie, and the second was on a groomed cross country ski trail. The two snowshoes, were the magnesium (already white) with coated cables for webbing and wooden ojibwe with nylon webbing wrapped around the frame. My brother in law is approximately 20 to 30 lbs less than me.

Efficiency:
First thing i did was have the wife time us on how long it takes to put the snow shoes on. I took me exactly 16 seconds to put on the Bob mahki rubber bindings. It took my brother in law 2 miuntes and 4 seconds to put his bindings that had buckles on. I know there are tons of bindings out there and some might be faster than mine, but 16 seconds from having the shoes laying in front of me to on my feet and standing is pretty good if you ask me. especially with all my coyote calling hear on.

Noise:
When we got into an area with some normal looking snow like i would walk in the prairies of the dakotas, i set up my camera and put it on video mode so that we can tell how loud it really is. After hearing the play back, the results were: When walking in the normal snow there was no difference between the two shoes. They both made a lot of noise breaking through that crust of snow. The next area we tried was the groomed trail. Here is where the ojibwe shoes had a noticeable advantage for noise.

Up and down hills:
Here is where we noticed a big difference. the ojibwe shoes slipped the whole time going up or down the groomed trail, where the cleats on the magnesium ones were grabbing and had unnoticeable slippage. When in the crusty snow, there was no difference.

Depth of sinking:
When walking in the rolling grass hills and falling through that crust of snow, it was really obvious to me after walking side by side and looking back at the tracks, that the ojibwe were deffinitely sinking more into the snow than the magnesium ones. Remember the guy on the ojibwe was 20 to 30 lbs lighter too. i know the tightness of the webbing and thickness all play a factor, but this is just what i saw.

Weight of snow shoes:
i was unable to weigh them with a scale, but can honestly say that the magnesium shoes physically felt lighter than the ojibwe. If a scale was available i would have definitely posted what the results were.

Conclusion:
The test between these two shoes was simple and straight forward to me. I need people to remeber that i am more of a tournament hunter than someone who goes out everyday for just the fur. If i could fur hunt everday i would, but there is something about the competitive part of a tournament that i can't get away from. I have used these shoes for a few years now and can honestly say i have not tried others, but have had people walk with others right next to me. i dont want to push anyone one way or another, but these magnesium shoes with the rubber Bob Mahki bindings have definitely helped me get to areas that i would never think about calling with out them. The efficiency part is what really wins me over. During a tournament i dont have 5 minutes extra on every stand to put on and take off snow shoes.

[Dcoy]

Good report Chris-as with everything else,go with what works for you and life remains simpler.I'd use Bearpaws or something else if Tourney hunting or making hard pac short trips only.(best is still no shoes at all .)But for our group,once we get enough snow to require shoes,we know what we need.Our style usually is when you're dropped off,it is likely 3-6 miles(4-6 set ups)to the truck and you'd better be prepared to deal with what you run into on the way.The school of hard knocks taught us over the years what that means in terms of shoes.
Another oldie and I are heading back to nirvana(NoDak)wednesday so I wish you and Levi the best at the Classic.I hope you guys run into what we did last trip-as you know it was sweet and we hope to outdo that now that we know the new country a bit.Weather sounds like a dream(for you guys as well) and even here they kicked it up a notch yesterday with LOTS of yote talk.It's time!!!
Today they were howling after sunup even here and I got one my first set but had to quit cause it's one of those RARE days=dead calm,sunny,and perfect shooting/testing temps.Had 2 rifles to get ready because of scope changes and just finished.Popped a lot of caps but I'm now zeroed from 250 yds out to 500(25 yd increments)with my 243 and 22-250.(The improved scored this morning and never needs to be touched except for its annual 2 shot verification. )
Won't be online much for a month or two-too many trips.Good hunting to all!
PS Got your Cuddebacks,nice!!!

[lyonch]

Good Luck Dcoy!!! I hope all pans out well for you on your trips. I know its been said several times, but one of these times we will get together and wack some dogs.

P.S. GPS coordinates will be on there way for some new hunting grounds in S.D.

[Dcoy]

Chris,
Thamks much,heading over that way tomorrow morn.I owe ya.

[Tbush]

Just a quick note about pilgrims post #2 all I have to do to get great traction is push my boot ahead through the hole to get all my toe area out and the rubber gives and I can get great traction that way for going up hills then just kick my heal back and my toes are back correct and yes a bit slippery at times but on a big drift or hill I just sit back on the tails and ski all the way down even in powder its like skiing down a black diamond slope side to side! and just like Dcoy.... a few ass over tumbels too

[Pilgrim]

An honest snowshoer must admit his folly, as Terry reminds. For me, getting trapped in the deep stuff brings on the extremes of emotions incl remorse, helplessness...

Now on a more basic level, Chris might want to consider equipping his bro-in-law with a Stan Mikita. A white one, of course.

"It took my brother in law 2 miuntes and 4 seconds to put his bindings that had buckles on."

[lyonch]

the bindings he was using look like antique leather bindings with a couple of fancy buckles. I think it took him longer to figure out which straps go above the boot and which ones go below than to actually buckle them Yes i have taken several spills in sow shoes. One of my spills i ended up dropping the rifle in a drift one snow shoe came off and the other one my foot was in backwards, my hat was over my eyes, my binos were packed with snow, and some how i ended up getting snow down my pants it took me a while to gather bearings and re-group to keep on going

[LeviM]

Having to put snow shoes on just sucks period, nothing is easy about them!!! Putting them on, Having to cross a barb wire fence with them on, falling once or twice to a stand. Taking them off when you get to stand. Then the process starts over!

[Dcoy]

They aren't too bad.Today I was trekking down a lake,looked ahead and across to the other side and saw one coming down the hill and onto the ice.I slowly(painfully)knelt and he didn't see me.Rather than trying to get them off I slowly got the Harris deployed,one leg at a time.He still kept walking.By now the ankles were screaming 'let me go' but didn't dare to.First and only time in 2 years I was glad I got the Harris that was 2 inches longer than I wanted.At 306 paces I couldn't stand the knee and ankle pain anymore and I shot the dumb bastard.
I love snowshoes!

[Fallguy]

lyonch

Thanks for the awesome review of the two kinds of snowshoes! I got a pair of Magnesium ones and I can't wait to try them out. We went calling on Saturday but we didn't need snowshoes yet where we went. Thought we would with this latest blizzard but we didn't need them.

How did you record the sound exactly? I think it would be cool to setup a video camera on a tripod about 200 yards away on record, and then walk around with no snowshoes, and various snowshoes and see how loud we sound walking to an ear that is 200 yards away. We may be suprised at the results compared to hearing our own footsteps just a few feet away. Then again we don't have the ears of a coyote either!

[bucksnbears]

yeah about the feeling of helplessness but first i go onto panic mode when i get twisted up. i act like a little girl who see's a snake. my 4 ft long shootong sticks have saved me more than once. screwed up big time today. becuase of a dumbass at the lumber yard that screwed up my schedule today i had time to go out. stopped by a cornfield and was gonna go out 1/2 mile and make a set. i could see dirt chuncks all the way out there so i assumed i would'nt need my snowshoes big mistake. should have turned back after the first 50 yards but did'nt. that walk sucked. hit spots of very deep snow and was very winded by the time i got to my spot. bad day, my new foxpro locked up and wouldnt respond, i lost my cell phone, buried my truck in a huge drift trying to catch up to a coyote coming towards the road. took an hour to get out. my shooting did improve though. killed 2 hit and lost one. shot 4 jacks, all on the run from 50 to about 125. gotta go get a new phone