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Best snowshoes for ski flying

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Very hard to find the WWII vintage big upturned snowshoes which are the best for powdery deep snow like when the tail feathers and cargo pod is touching the surface. Best not to stop in that until you have packed several circles around where you are parking otherwise you will be doing it with the snowshoes. The other set is for wet, steep or in the brush conditions, always on the door side lift strut ready to go.
 

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Those are good looking shoes. Who makes them?

These are the snowshoes Narwhal references in post 1.

Bob, I’m surprised you don’t have more drag than you like on the right side with two sets of shoes strapped onto the strut. I’ve carried my Bearpaw shoes there plenty of times and don’t notice them. But the one time I bungeed the big 5’ shoes out there, wow there was enough drag I had to fly with rudder input in cruise. Now I either put them in the belly pod or put the tails into my fishing rod tube holder. The only issue with the pod though is they have to go in through the back door and when you’re in lots of powder they aren’t easy to retrieve.

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These are the snowshoes Narwhal references in post 1.

Bob, I’m surprised you don’t have more drag than you like on the right side with two sets of shoes strapped onto the strut. I’ve carried my Bearpaw shoes there plenty of times and don’t notice them. But the one time I bungeed the big 5’ shoes out there, wow there was enough drag I had to fly with rudder input in cruise. Now I either put them in the belly pod or put the tails into my fishing rod tube holder. The only issue with the pod though is they have to go in through the back door and when you’re in lots of powder they aren’t easy to retrieve.

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My Cub is slow so don’t notice it out there, any time I see much more than 80 mph on the airspeed means I’m headed downhill. Besides there is usually a load in the pod and back to work around. They stay out there for convince and do not come off until the snow melts and skis come off.
 
Been discussed before if you care to search. I prefer synthetic decks on aluminum frames. Overflow pops right off them. Easy to use bindings are great, too. I have Tubbs and Atlas shoes and prefer the Atlas for the bindings. I also have some cheaper shoes from AIH. No surprises, you get what you pay for. Add some collapsible poles. Snowshoeing is way better with poles. And a dog.

I’m a big guy and those Atlas shoes work great. Nice bindings, easy to work with big gloves and don’t get soft when wet and warm. Found the easiest way to transport was use two straps to secure them crampon to crampon and let the binding of the lower one rest against the rear strut then bungeed. Don’t really notice them inflight on one or both struts and the bungees hold them solid. Tried it the opposite way and there was a bit of vibration.
 

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I have the atlas as well. With a light pack I am 300 plus pounds. I was post holing around on them then handed them to my wife to try. She was literally running around on top of the snow next to the holes I had left(until she tripped and face planted). Snowshoes like engines, there is no replacement for displacement.

I will be getting some of those Alaska shoes.
 
Funny you say that. I'm thinking of buying some smaller, more maneuverable shoes this week. The snow in the valley this year is layers of snow and icy crust. I could stay on top with smaller shoes and for doing chores around the cabin long shoes are a pain in the butt. If a guy had 6 pairs of different kinds of snowshoes he could find cause for buying a 7th pair. The only ones I'm not interested in are the ones made for trail running. ;)
 
If you're going to be on some sort of established Trail or going over and over your tracks again the atlas will work fine. Where the big shoe shine are areas that are virgin snow and tramping down runways
 
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Size matters. These 9” x 30” are the 8.50 tires of snowshoes. Good enough to get you in trouble when way off trail.
Photos from yesterday in wind blown New England snow.

Ratchet bindings and poles are a must regardless of size.



Sent from my iPhone using SuperCub.Org mobile app
 

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I use 36” Tubbs, a little pricey but work great in the ADK’s. The snow is heavier in the east so this is my choice. Also work when collecting sap in the woods for Maple syrup. When the snow is real deep I prefer skis.
 
Ratchet bindings.....like on my snowboards, that I have several sets of! Meanwhile my snowshoes have complicated/always piss me off bindings, I see a modification happening today. Thanks for the idea, wish i had thought of it.
 
And, done. Perfect, though I did gain 8 ozs. on the pair. Any ski/snowboard shop will have old bindings, probably for free.
 

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Cabin life. Waist deep snow. When the chore of getting sleds unstuck is finished and walking is required? My 36” Atlas shoes cruised easily across the top. Take them off? Right to my belly with very little resistance. Floundering in belly-deep snow is no fun. Smaller shoes wouldn’t have been any good this week.
 
Only 3' of snow here in this part of Idaho, at least at this site. The bindings mod worked great, for about 25'. Then one boot slipped out the back, expected I guess, as these bindings on a snowboard have a back of heel plate. Just tightening the bindings more worked to keep them on until I got back to the plane, where I had 2 heel straps (thinking this issue may arise.) Just leftovers from the old binding setup, light 1" webbing, with one of those nifty plastic connectors on the end that snap together in a male/female type arrangement, that still also allow strap tensioning (and not loosening if desired) once snapped together. I am already a big fan of those, used appropriately they are super handy and I have yet to break one in any of my many uses of them.

So, around the rear of my heel, then up front through part of the old binding, and snap, then a tug on the strap to snug it up. The next LZ I got the new improved version out, and realized that with the heel strap, the other two bindings didn't need to ratcheted tight, just kinda snug. But they were still loose enough to allow me to simply slide my boot into place, then all that was left was to snap and snug the web strap. It took maybe 10 or 15 seconds per boot, if that. I've had 3 different pairs of snowshoes, all of them pissed me off everytime I absolutely needed them, complicated strapping that got out of adjustment and was laborious in use. This setup is a huge improvement, not just in a possible survival situation, if it's life or death who cares how long it takes to strap them on, more a great convenience. No more post holing it as I don't want to deal with the old style bindings to just go a relatively short distance. This may be my single biggest advance in my winter gear since my T-3 tailspring pusher, I'll make a separate post about that.
 

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I have a large set of 11x54 Ojibwa’s, in addition to traditional 12x60 Alaskan trappers and XL + L Tubbs mountaineer synthetics, as well as the titanium surplus.

They are listed in order of preference, unless you’re talking deep powder that your plane won’t like anyways. Then, the XL Alaskan’s rule the day. Most of the synthetics don’t work in powder for my 240lbs of winter gear, pack and shoes - too much postholing.

Country Ways at www.snowshoe.com will ship your traditional ash framed shoes with synthetic webbing, so not as much concern about porcupines and rot.

The synthetics (Tubbs, Atlas, etc) do excel for hilly terrain and ice, where those built in crampons on the rears + forestep really do assist.



www.snowshoe.com

I really like the Ojibwa style over the modern types, bearpaws or Alaskans. The shape lets them step over each other without being bow legged. The pointed bows ride on top of deep power or crust better, and cut through brush or cat tails. If you get them here you can save some money buying the kit, and learn a new bushcraft skill sitting in front of the fire at night building them.
 
I fought the old leather bindings while marking timber in the winter for years. Then the rubber ones that were junk too. Now I have a pair of the old original Sherpas and those have very good bindings I like a lot. For deep soft snow I have these bindings on a pair of 48 inch long x14 inch wide Huron wooden snowshoes. I agree with the maker. They are the worlds best snowshoe bindings.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/snowshoe-b...176599?hash=item4d4db4cdd7:g:SBcAAOSw5cNYEx9B

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Too add to this snowshoe thread, this winter I made a set of bindings from UHMW and after some thought decided to try Titan straps. They work very well and are a one-hand tighten or removal affair.

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these are on my bear paw shoes.

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the strap is 1” x 24” and heat formed into the horseshoe shape. Slots were cut and the Titan straps threaded through.
 

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Too add to this snowshoe thread, this winter I made a set of bindings from UHMW and after some thought decided to try Titan straps. They work very well and are a one-hand tighten or removal affair.

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these are on my bear paw shoes.

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the strap is 1” x 24” and heat formed into the horseshoe shape. Slots were cut and the Titan straps threaded through.

Dan,

I really like what you have com up with for bindings. I have the die cut rubber bindings on my Iverson snowshoes and don’t care for the directional stability. The shoes always seem to twist on me.

Might you be able to post a few more pictures of what you have developed? 3/16” UHMW strap? I have some leftover from re-skinning my ski bottoms.

Jeff


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Jeff, I used 1/4” thick plastic. It was from a 24” x something sheet I ripped into 1” strips. The blocks were made from 2.5” square and then machined to size. I have a few more pics I’ll post.

The shoes turn with your foot like they were locked into a ski binding. The Titan straps are 20” in the front and 25” in the rear.

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I ended up with a set of maine guide small modified bearpaws with star studs. Works pretty well, I'm on the upper limit of the 225 lb weight range with all my winter gear on but they fit just about perfectly behind the seat of my cub without having to move anything. I've only been in stuff that I posthole about up to my knee in w/o the snowshoes on but float pretty much completely with them on.
 
My Hok skis work better than any of my snowshoes 99% of the time. From tight woods to speed across the lake.
 
Backcountry skis w/ touring bindings make it easy to travel and easy to pack out strips and they tend to provide more float.
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Jeff, I was out this morning and took another picture showing them with the Titan straps a bit better.

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I actually wished I brought my big shoes. These were sinking in quite a bit in the fresh powder. In total there's about 10' here now.
 

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Sometimes you really, really need compaction.....up to one's chest in that otherwise.

MTV
 

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Looks like a lot of trouble to me…..

Oklahoma snow shoes
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These have rear straps and a plow. Improved version.

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