Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Snowshoe advice

the long skinny ones

I have the atlas 1033 mentioned above. Good all-around shoe.

If powder, big pack, etc, that adds weight, go 36”.

If hard pack or thin snow, you can get away with smaller.

This is for bear claw style.

Msr lightning ascents are the best. Great traction, good float, lightweight. I have used/own most brands from northern lights, atlas, tubbs, local good quality wooden shoes. Pickup some lightning ascents.

When in powder, I haven't found anything that beats a traditional woven set. It can certainly be made from modern materials, but the woven design allows powder that caves in on top of the snowshoe to fall back out, which every modern design that I have played with didn't do well, at all. I don't like to lift my foot up and have it be twice as heavy because I am lifting a bunch of snow up too. For me the MSR Lightening, various modern Atlas models, etc. are a no go. YMMV.
Stride and leg length may have something to do with it v.s. a shorter person....I dunno.

Except for the heel bar, they appear to have copied the original ATLAS design.

We always get a good laugh at urban snowshoers that proudly sport their high tech snow shoes....on a packed trail.

......... the 1st snowfall after Christmas while I blow by them in my Muck boots.

Northern lites....

I'm still using a pair of old Sherpa Snow Claws, lighter and better function than a lot of the newer designs. Northern lite would probably be my current choice, basically a modern version of the Sherpa. Like someone mentioned, the old rawhide web shoes work well. The best flotation I've ever had was with a long Alaskan pair of these, but they get a little difficult in the brush.