In the past year I have moved from Kansas to Iowa and with the change in climate and being closer to the north, I am looking to buy a pair of snowshoes. Any recommendations on brands or models? The only pair I have used was a pair of redfeathers once in Yosemite. I am not looking for anything too fancy but wanted to see what you guys have used and what your opinions were. Thanks.

I am running around in old-fashioned rawhide bearpaws, but the bindings on the modern ones plus the lesser weight seem to be a winning combination. (I saw an add for redfeathers in advantage camo, go figure).

Redfeathers are a good pair of snowshoes. I use Tubbs.

GV brand, made in Canada.

CB

do snow shoes really help?
are they user friendly for your hips, body?
seem they make you walk an uncomfortable gait.
my wife and i hike in deep snow with good hiker boots and gaitors from rei.
i have not wore snow shoes, and i know i am off topic a little here, but you might want to try some gaitors.

Snowshoes can make a huge difference, they're not really difficult to get used to, and they don't change your normal stride that much. The modern aluminum frame shoes are usually 9" wide, so center your foot on a 9" shoe and your feet aren't spread any wider than shoulder width as you are walking. Depending on snow conditions it may be some work to swing your leg up and over for the next stride, but certainly not harder than lifting your leg up out of knee deep snow and plunging down on your next stride. You'll sink deeper in powdery snow but on deep snow with a crust, say knee deep, you'll barely sink in and can even run on top of the snow. If you enjoy walking in the snow, try some snowshoes, a lot of outdoor places rent them.

Match your snowshoes to the type of use you'll put them to. Deep powder you'll need more flotation, warmer sticky snow you can use a more compact shoe. Bushwhacking in brush one kind, trail hiking another. Do some research.
And, yes they really help. They give your foot a level platform and a solid base. I don't think I'd want to hike 5 or 6 miles not knowing what was underfoot. Constant flexing of the foot and ankle. Snowshoes stabilize your feet.

I started snow shoeing when was very young and got back into it when I was 18. I haven't missed a year since. When I got back into it at 18, I was using a pair of 10x48 wooden shoes and they worked very well, they are the same ones I used in third grade. I bought a pair of Tubbs in my early twenties and received a generic aluminum framed pair as a gift that were purchased from Sam's Club.

The Sam's Club pair are similar to the Tubbs, but the bindings are simpler to use and are subsequently my favorite of the three pairs I currently own and they were by far the cheapest.

I have found that the 10x48 won't sink in the snow as much as the smaller aluminum framed shoes, but tend to collect more snow and are therefore heavier and more tiring.

I have a 32 inch in seem and have found the 10x48 to be plenty maneuverable, just heavier when they are loaded with snow and that's why I prefer the smaller aluminum shoes.

As for the question of "are snow shoes really necessary?" I don't even take mine out unless the snow is above my knees by several inches. When there is less snow than that, I prefer hiking boots with gators and with the recent winters I have not used snow shoes often.

On a trip up north last year I discovered that it's much easier to let everyone else pack the Superior Hiking Trail with their snowshoes and just head out with a pair of hiking boots if it hasn't snowed in many days as the trail becomes a very hard packed channel that is the perfect width for walking in hiking boots or maybe even running shoes.

I will say that snow shoeing in deep untracked powder snow is a SERIOUS work out, bring your nitroglycerine pills if you have 'em. :)

Nice to see this post but it's also making me wonder if Santa is bringing the best gift or not.

I was advised (by a salesperson) to buy aluminum, base the size of the shoe on the weight of the person plus packs and clothing, nothing was said about the depth of the snow?

Get the ratcheting bindings not buckle type. Good advice??

What I'm hearing here is maybe for local shoeing around our land and treks down the river and across lakes I should have just invested in gator's and better boots for the family??

We have not shoed before and wanted to start as a family. Hope I made the right choice.

On the brighter side I felt I got a good deal on shoes, poles and the deluxe shoe bags (X 5)!

Help?!

uigreyjay - they make a big difference in deep snow. I used mine much more when I lived in the Rocky Mountains than I do in minnie.

I have never walked on aluminum or titanium shoes but from what I see, I prefer wooden ones. Last winter my brother and nephew met me and a Korean student that lives with us at our cabin in northern Wisconsin. They had rented some Tubbs type and we used homemade wooden ones, one in the Michigan/Maine style, the other Ojibwe. Having the longer wooden ones allows the tail of the shoes to drag in the snow while the toe lifts up. The tapered heel also allows you to walk at a normal gait without the shoes hitting each other. I'm about 5'4" tall and my shoes are 50"x13". We went on a 2 mile hike through 10" of snow with no track. I noticed my brother had to march more than stride in his Tubbs and every step caused his snowshoes to kick up snow on his back or butt behind him. On another outing with people who had all rented modern shoes, we went on a 2 hour hike and whenever we hit a new trail that had not been blazed before, they asked me to lead to make a trail for everyone else cuz my shoes didn't break through the snow as much. The attached picture is one from our cabin trip. The Ojibwes are on the left with one of the Tubbs pair on the far right.

I have posted alot of information on my snowshoe making on the Winter Camping and Activities Forum.

MSR Evo Denali Ascent with 6 inch tails - tracks well, great traction on ice, heel lifter for climbing

MSR Lightning Ascent has heel lifter, grips almost as good as Denali

@Kendra

Nope, no mistake. Snowshoes will equal great family winter outings. True it would be great to have different snowshoes for different conditions but ANY snowshoe is more fun than sitting in the house looking out the window. I have a pair of large wooden snowshoes- great for deep snow because they have more flotation. But, they're also heavy, snow can build up on the shoes making them even more heavy, and the bindings work themselves loose as you go along- occasionally one falls off and you're in the deep snow trying to reattach. We have aluminum shoes for the whole family and we really like them. They're smaller, lighter, and snow doesn't build up on them. Also, the bindings NEVER come loose. We have these:

[url=http://www.northernlites.com]Northern Lites Quicksilver 30[/url]

We do sink deeper in these when breaking trail in deep snow but because snow doesn't stick to them and they're so light on your feet it's a trade-off that I don't mind at all. These also don't kick snow up from the tail like Knoozer mentions and I have seen some pairs do that. But, still you'd want some type of water resistant pants so I don't think that would be too much of an issue even if you had shoes that did that. The other thing I like about the aluminum shoes over the wooden as that the aluminum have cleats on the bottom that help you climb steep grades as well as prevent you from sliding down. On a trip in the Porcupine Mountains with our Venture Crew one of the folks with wooden shoes was actually skiing down the hills on his wooden shoes (not by choice- he couldn't stop when it got really steep). They also give a very solid footing on ice and ice that is just under a few inches of snow.

In any case it's my opinion that snowshoes are the cheapest form of winter entertainment around. Buy once: no trail fees, no track needed, no gas/oil, no lift fees, just a winter woods and some free time. Add a full moon and it only gets better!

Ah,

As a lurker I obviously do not know how to properly post a link on these boards. And I can find no way to edit my post.

You'll have to copy and paste I guess- here, at least this will be easier to grab:

http://www.northernlites.com/

Kendra, you made the right choice and you guys will have fun. The snow shoes will seem like a "cool" thing to do to your kids.

I want to 2nd OPS, snow shoeing by moon light is one of the highlights of winter. The ground is white, everything else is black, so there is a lot of contrast and no headlamp is needed, In fact a head lamp seems to hinder you vision under these circumstances.

gbuskk-OPS Thanks. I feel better now about the shoes 'Santa' purchased and hope to spend many hours on them with the family. THINK SNOW!

gbusk- ..."cool" thing to do to your kids. I hope the 'wipeouts' on shoes aren't as hard on me as the sledding was yesterday. I tried to go down the hill standing in a sled (multiple times). Today I decided that what my mind says I can do my body pays for.

I'm a distance runner, and bought a pair of the redfeather running snowshoes. I like em but they'd fail in deep powder. Awesome for running though. That said redfeather makes lot's of models... I recommend redfeather just because they are made in the USA.