Snowshoe experience anyone?

[Snoshu]

Does anyone have any knowledge to offer in the world of snowshoeing? Mrs. Flushingrouse got me a pair for Valentines (Wood Beavertail style 56″ long)…

After discussing it, we decided these may not be the type for a novice and one who would probably be criss crossing and wandering in circles…

Looks to be around $150 and up for some of the newer aluminum types…

Any input is appreciated..

Bill
Team Flushingrouse

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[Hotdogs_Off_Trail]

Sounds like you got a great pair of snowshoes. For your average caching and geting around they are rather large and, at 56 inches, are probably best suited for a large person. We have both, the beautiful wooden snowshoes and the new aluminum shoes. I love my wooden for just shoeing in deep snow, but for on the trail of a cache, the newer hi-tech aluminum are like walking with little weight on your feet and easier to manuver as they are only 25 inches compared to my 56 inchers.
We shoed about 4-5 miles last weekend to retrieve out caches at Blackhawk Ridge and loved it, but were glad to get back to the van. Hotdogs were carrying a few extra pounds of dangling snow balls by the end of the hike (actually had to carry Madison for a while to let her rest from the deep snow). We’re headed out this AM on a snowshoe/cross-country ski/caching adventure,not knowing what lay ahead on the trails. Have fun with your shoes. There’s good info online at Tubbs and Atlas snowshoe websites (those are two different sites).

[OuttaHand]

Part answer; part question:

Answer to where to get some…
We got a couple pair of cheaper aluminum showshoes a little over a year ago from a catalog: The Sportsmans Guide. They have a web site at http://www.sportsmansguide.com They have several choices of shoes. We spent about $49 – $59 per pair and they seem well-built. Haven’t had a chance to use them yet, though!

The question…
Do you snowshoers usually use some kind of ski pole for balance? Or do you just walk like “normal”?

[sbukosky]

Add me as one interested in the topic! Getting around Sussex park made me think about snow shoes. My size 12’s are close but not close enough! Is there some size guide for buying the right ones like so many square inches for so many pounds that one weighs?

[OuttaHand]

quote:

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Originally posted by sbukosky:
Add me as one interested in the topic! Getting around Sussex park made me think about snow shoes. My size 12’s are close but not close enough! Is there some size guide for buying the right ones like so many square inches for so many pounds that one weighs?

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When I ordered our shoes from Sportsmans Guide, they had a few different lengths listed for the particular model I was looking at. For each length it gave the recommended weight range.
So I don’t know of a definitive weight vs. square inches chart; but this particular catalog listing told me which to order right within the product description. It listed three different lengths for that model and under each one said the max weight for that model.
An aside: I never realized it before, and I don’t know if it’s on ALL snowshoes, but the ones we got have sharp aluminum cleats under the ball & heel of the foot. That will provide great traction on ice. Something to consider in making a choice.

[Author]

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