Snowshoe recommendations

if you want something inexpensive, check Ebay. You might find some MSR's available used

You might try these:

$188US post paid to the US.

http://www.yowies.com.au/

I don't have much experience with snowshoes, but I got a pair of Crescent Moon Gold Series 17 last winter for around $225. I like them, and the silver series is cheaper and slightly lighter without too much loss of quality–I think they lack the extra "traversing claws" and have a binding which takes more time and effort compared to the gold series.

Edit: I returned them because they were too heavy, the binding was uncomfortable, and I prefer a model which drags the tails to save lifted weight. I now have a pair of the Atlas 12 series.

how much do you weigh?

My weight with pack in the Winter could be as high as 220.

Ah. I have some Northern Lites, but they're not rated for that high.

I'm a fan of the MSR Denali Classics ($140 at backcountry.com). They provide good lateral stability when traversing a slope. For deeper powder or when carring extra gear, the addition of the optional floatation tails helps quite a bit. If you have the coin, the Evo version, with the heel elevator, would be great for slogging up a steep fall line. The MSRs can be a bit noisy when hiking on icy packed trails, being all plastic. I'm not bothered by it, but my buddy picks on me for being a noisy snowshoe guy.

I recently picked up a pair of Northern Lites Backcountry Rescue snowshoes. They're extremely light, and superb on flatish trails. They don't have a lot of lateral stability though, like the MSRs. The Backcountry Rescues will carry 250#. Doug's are probably the Quicksilver model, rated at 175#. By the way, Northern Lites are great folks to deal with, wonderful customer service.

Gary, those are the shoes that I have, and I love them. Yes total weight does matter in selecting snowshoes.

This is excellent! This is what I am looking for, recommendations from folks that own and use their snowshoes. Keep it coming.

In the pictures, it looks to me like the MSRs are a continuous molded plastic platform vs. the traditional platform attached to an aluminum frame. Is that accurate? Is there an advantage to one over the other?

John,
I have the MSR Evo ascents. The ascent part works great in the sierras but would have limited value in the smokies since there are few places where you would be doing 1000' ascents. I live up in Canton. You could give my pair a trial run next winter if you want to try before you buy.

Great review:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/northern_lites_backcountry_snowshoe_review.html

Great review summary:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/snowshoe_review_summary.html

I've owned 6 different brands of snowshoes- Tubbs, Northern Lites, Sherpa, Redfeather, MSR, Atlas, and traditional as well. I've broken 3 or 4 through the years but not the Northern Lites which I've used hard for several years now. Those shoes are very lightweight and strong as well. There are sometimes situations where I wish they had a bit more crampon such as subalpine icy conditions but for 90% of the conditions, they are nearly perfect for my usage.

I'd highly recommend these snowshoes.

The MSR shoes are inexpensive and surprisingly effective. I often loan a pair of these to beginners and they perform well.

Best of luck!
Doug

Nah, I have the Backcountry Rescues as well, but those are for me! ;-) I also have a pair of Elites that I would have let go, but they're much too small, as racers, to be used as a regular snowshoe by John, I should think.

I would second the recommendation to look at e-bay. I picked up a brand new never used pair of Tubbs Wilderness for $49. I was the only one to bid on them. Especially this time of year you should be able to find a bargain like that.

I have MSR Lightning Ascent 'shoes.

The "Ascent" label means they have a heel lift transverse rod that can be lifted up when climbing a long, steep ascent. It greatly reduces calf strain.

I also have a pair of 30" Atlas 'shoes but the MSR lightning 'shoes are MUCH better in side grip on wind-packed (sastrugi) or icy snow B/C the sides of the frames are serrated. This is possible because the Lightning frames are made of a flat band of aluminum set on edge, not tubular aluminum as on most other metal frame 'shoes.

**But these Lightning 'shoes are pricey.

For a good quality inexpensive set look for "Yukon Charlie's" 'shoes and poles package. Well made & was sold at COSTCO, among others.

Be SURE to get at least 30" long 'shoes for decent flotation. If people can handle 6' + bck country skis you can surely handle 30" 'shoes.

Doug thank you for that detailed info.

Eric, good info. on the ascent label. I didn't know about that.

Good recommendations to look at ebay. I have done a couple of craigslist searches using google. On craigslist I was finding that sellers were asking around what I could buy new ones on sale for at this time of year. So there may be some better deals on ebay.

I have snow envy, bigtime. I get a good snow trip in once every several years. If I get snowshoes it will probably doom me to no snow for a decade. Last year was record snows in the Smokys, I was really fired up to get out there, and didn't have the right gear. I'm pretty sure there is a rule somewhere on this website about being required to have all necessary gear for any situation in your gear closet.

I do about 5 trips every Winter and rarely get into good snow, but I've been turned away on the A.T. in the Smokys a couple of times in January, and I really want to see the next trip through, up there. Here in the South that is about the most extreme location I know of for Winter backpacking.

Check out the reviews on backpackgeartest. I think it is ".org", but might be wrong.

I've done extensive winter hiking along the GSMNP section of the AT, but I never used snowshoes. It's way too brushy and the snow is almost never deep enough to warrant them.

I now live in the Cascades and I use them all the time.

That said, I'd go for northern lights. The snow is rarely powdery enough to need tons of float. You don't sidehill so you don't need fancy bindings. You won't be in rough terrain so MSRs would be way overkill.

>>Be SURE to get at least 30" long 'shoes for decent flotation. If people can handle 6' + bck country skis you can surely handle 30" 'shoes.<<

I would disagree with this, given the application that the OP is talking about. A smaller pair of shoes should be more than sufficient.

With regard to the length of the shoes. I have found a good deal on some 25" snowshoes that list the weight range as 120-200lbs. With my pack I might be at 220, but more likely 210-215. How critical is that max weight number. The deal is only on the 25" shoes. I had hoped to go with the northern lites as suggested, but couldn't find them in my price range. I am not likely to use these very frequently and so don't want to allocate as much as I usually do for gear that will get regular use.

if you want the lightest snowshoes there are – choose Northern lites. I have a pair, my friend has one, we've been snowshoeing and climbing in those. they also get better flotation then Denali-types.

>>How critical is that max weight number. The deal is only on the 25" shoes.<<

25" shoes will be fine…unless you're planning on heading out in 3 feet of unbroken dry powder regularly.

Recently looked into getting a pair of them. I have never tried them and have no idea what I need to know per se. I found a couple of pairs that I like, Redfeather and Tubbs but recently saw TSL which are shaped differently and are mostly composite. Also Im close to 230 or so without my pack so do I need wider ones? Any help is appreciated.

Greg,

I'm about 230 also. I chose the Atlas 1235 (35") shoes, but have only done a little testing with them so far. Much depends on the conditions and terrain you hike in. In deep powder, you're going to sink quite a bit no matter what shoes you have on. I chose a shoe which gives decent floatation, but is still lighter than similarly sized shoes. I also like how the tails drag due to the pivoting hinge strap design of the binding. This avoids having to lift the entire weight of the snowshoe with every step.

If you only hike on already-packed trails you might be able to use a smaller shoe. If I did steeper terrain more often, such as out west or New England, I might chose one of the MSR designs with more aggressive claws.

Edit: Before these, I had the 37" Crescent Moon Gold Expeditions. They were wider, heavier, and the tails didn't drag. They felt like boards strapped to my feet compared to the Atlas 12's. Buy them from somewhere with a liberal return policy in case the ones you select don't work out.

Just a suggestion, but renting may be more cost effective if there is a place nearby since you won't be using them a lot.