Idea for snowshoe/crampon/short ski combo? Any potential?

Why are you trying to reinvent the wheel?

Get wide cross country skis with climbing skins and ski crampons (harsheisen).

–B.G.–

A piece of plastic with a few screws won't give you any traction on snow. Not everything has to be titanium. You can make a nice crampon for snowshoes out of aluminum angle stock.

Try snowshoeing and skiing with the proper equipment and you'll see why this won't work. Snowshoes require some way of gaining traction in the snow. Skis need a stout binding and a stiff boot.

I think you want an approach ski. If you are good, you might be able to slide/skate a bit with them, but don't plan on just sitting back as you blast down a hill.

"Why are you trying to reinvent the wheel?

Get wide cross country skis with climbing skins and ski crampons (harsheisen)."

I'm not really trying to, i'm mostly trying to save money, and i like making my own gear.

The combo of gear you mentioned in the above could cost quite a bit, easily 400 dollars minimum. If i can make something that works half way decent (not saying it will) for 150, why not? Unlike seemingly a moderate percentage of you folks here, i don't have much in the way of play money.

So, necessity is the mother of invention and resourcefulness.

Thank you for the feedback Jeff.

"but don't plan on just sitting back as you blast down a hill."

If you read some of my original comments closely, you would understand that i never thought or intended for this weird hybrid to do that. Mostly a snowshoe, with very slight ski "like" capability in some mild conditions.

I'm not looking for maximum performance, etc. I'm looking for a relatively light weight, relatively low cost, emergency item that i can put in my bug out bag or use on the occasional snow trip (not something we get much of around here). Something that could do a little gentle down hill if need be, and some climbing if need be.

I've had just enough experience with theses to know that this would kind of suck compared to most single specialized equipment. But, for many years, people made due with snow shoes that were basically like tennis rackets. For many years people thought you needed super long skinny skis to ski properly. I would argue that this would be at least better than some of those designs.

As regards traction on snow, i realize a "few" screws won't be enough. I'm also counting on the textured nature of the fabric on the bottom to help some. If need be, i can also sew in some sleeves and add some flat left over carbon fiber strips to help the screws with some traction. The carbon fiber strips would work better in powder and the screws better on ice.

Yes, the bindings etc will be the hardest and trickiest part. I may try to re-purpose some used equipment for that aspect, goodwill/salvation army/ebay salvaging.

I probably should have been more clear with the reasons and intentions behind this, and that i wasn't looking for the typical BPL motivation of best performance for least weight at whatever cost. If i had plenty of money to spend on gear (i don't), i would probably invest in some pre made specialized equipment.

Thanks again, and i will looking into the aluminum angle stock thing.

Justin,

Why not just make a sleeve that has the screws in them, not in the UHMW, then you wouldn't have to worry about ice getting through the holes, better yet you could do as the post above mentioned and use some type of aluminum angle material and cut teeth in them, attach them to the material sleeve somehow, then just slide them on and off as needed, just thinking here, don't know how well this would work, but hey if you've got the materials already why not.

I'd seriously consider either snowshoes, ultra short backcountry skis, or cross country skis. I think if you solidified what you want to accomplish one of those setups would accomplish your objective better.

Used snowshoes or cross country skis are plentiful. Looking at craigslist most ski/binding setups were right around $30 and a pair of boots was another $30 or so. Snowshoes were also right around $30 and you could use any old shoe.

I'd also look into buying the Altai Hok or the Marquette Backcountry if you think the project would run you anywhere near $200.

Keep in mind these skis both run ~$200 without the binding. But both can be setup to work with cross country boots and bindings which are dirt cheap.

If you really, really, wanted to save money and go DIY I see no reason (besides fashion) that you couldn't find a pair of old tennis rackets and make snow shoes out of them. I would cut a thin piece of plastic to the shape of the racket, poke small holes around the perimeter, and hand "sew" it on top of the racket lacing (otherwise there wouldn't be enough flotation). Then you could cut slits in the plastic to thread some nylon straps through to attach them to your boots. Could be worth a laugh

Anthony

Any modern snowshoe can "ski" a little going down the right slope, like steep powder. The key, in my experience, is a rigid hinged binding so you can control it as it gets snow on top of it. Of course the more traction you build in, the less sliding you will do, but that might not matter much if you are in powder country. If you do build your own, which sounds like a great project, I would concentrate heavily on the binding as that is going to dictate performance almost as much as anything else.

I think you just described an Altai Hok for all intents and purposes, only not long enough to ski with and probably too wide at that. Find or make a crampon for the altai and you'll be set.

Also you didn't mention any rocker to your UHMWPE plastic. I hear thermoforming it after production is "difficult" and probably not very feasible on a small scale. Altais are comparatively inexpensive and worth considering.

Justin – try searching the web for "Karhu Meta" or "Karhu Karver" both discontinued years ago, but if you can find some used I'll bet they'd be in your price range. Very much like the Altai Hoks. Also, L.L. Bean used to sell a skishoe like that – probably a rebadged Karhu. Some had bindings that could be used with hiking boots.
If nothing else, looking at those will give you more ideas if you really want to make your own.

I wouldn't count on the fabric doing much. If you haven't already, look at the design of the MSR EVO snowshoes[0]. It's a very simple solid platform with a hinged binding. Next, look at the ski crampons Bob mentioned, as they are also quite simple in construction.

Once you've gotten a solid look at both, you may be able to easily replicate a binding from metal stock and a fistful of ski straps.[1] However, the cost for a pair of the EVOs, especially if bought used, is not that high. Similarly a used ski setup from Craigslist can be found for quite a low price as well.

Beyond that, 12 inch wide platforms would be rather awkward to walk with; the beauty of skis is that they're relatively skinny and allow for a more natural stride. Have you considered the idea of trying to make skis instead of a hybrid?

-Jeremy

[0] http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/snowshoes/trail-snowshoes/evo/product
[1] http://www.evo.com/ski-straps/g3-strap.aspx#image=70089/338875/g3-ski-strap.jpg

The Altai Hoks with universal binding looks pretty cool, and somewhat similar to the concept i was thinking about. I'm going to hold off on this project, and try to save up for these. Maybe there will be a black friday type sale?

I may meanwhile, do an ultra cheap snowshoe combo. Either going with a modified tennis racket, or a carbon fiber/reinforced cuben fiber. I have both cuben fiber and carbon fiber, so it would not cost much to make, just need some elbow connectors.

Thank you everyone for all your help and suggestions.