Northern Lites in New England Snow

Unless I am just out for a fun hike in new snow around the golf course, my snow shoes are mostly just carried on my pack "just in case".. which is why I like the Northern Lites. On trails I use them when I start to post hole, and they work just fine. I find they work just as well as many of the popular, more agressive shoes that other hikers use. A glaring example was when I was scrambling with some friends up some steep terrain, bushwacking to a summit. Everyone was slipping backwards, even those wearing MSR and Tubbs with more teeth. Occasionally you might encounter a wait deep drift, but that's been rare for me. Snow depths are rarely more than knee deep, so I have never felt a need for a wider or longer snowshoe. I have hiked with friends where we have had to switch off breaking trail and the Lites have worked fine. As you mentioned powder days are rare. I use crampons a lot more than snowshoes. I alos disagree with NE hikers who say they will just use the crampons or claws in their snowshoes rather than carry crampons. Crampons work great in hard packed snow where there is no need for snowshoes.