Snowshoe advice

“Thanks for all this info. I too am very confused about the pros and cons of snowshoes. Because of you guys the MSR's are now on my wish list, which is in my wife's hands. (Santa I've been a GOOOOD boy, PLEASSEEEEE can I have the snowshoes? PLEASSSSEEEEE?)”

“Not to throw any more confusion into the mix, but there is another approach. My wife and I have traditional-style wood-framed snowshoes from Iverson, a small company up in the U.P., Shingleton to be exact. While the frame is steam-bent ash, the webbing and harness are brown neoprene, which is much less maintenance and more durable than the old-fashioned varnished rawhide and oiled leather .

Mine are 10X46" with tails and my wife's are 10 X36" w/o tails (replacing a pair of Atlas high-techs, which my daughter inherited). For the north woods terrain, mine have always proved a good choice, both on trails and off. I've used them day hiking and hunting in the U.P. wilds. A bit of effort to turn around at times, but good floatation in the deep stuff (as U.P. winters tend to have).

Not to mention, a very classic appearance vs. the high tech look. Nice, too, to find a quality product made in my backyard for a reasonable price (can't remember the exact costs). Iverson's slogan is "Seek Wilderness."”

“Navi...I think Santa knows you've been a bad boy....LOL!”

“I think I got her...Him fooled.”

“Hey time for a dumb question!
Never even looked at a pair of snowshoes here in the South.
I'm going to Maine very late March.
Baxter requires snowshoes.
twiggy says I can rent a pair from Beans. Is it worth it to go ahead and buy a pair.

So MSR snowshoes make a lot of noise on hard snow, why do you need snowshoes in hard snow?”

“when I went up to NY they said I would have to pay $15 per day...,you can get snowshoes for $90 or $100, so I decided to buy me a pair.”

“Sometimes the surface of the snow is hard or frozen, but the layer underneath is softer... if you try and take the shoes off, you plunge in up to your, knee, hip or crotch.”

“There is a distinction between the knee and crotch...just let me think about it a bit....”

“That's quaintly referred to as "post holing." Next comes "floundering." Then comes "cursing," sometimes followed by "freezing."”

“thanks mtnsteve, makes sense.

I downhill ski, but never tried crosscountry. Are Xcounty skis an option for Maine?”

“When you plunge in to your crotch, one leg it typically straight down while the other is horizontal (or horribly bent)

When you plunge in to your hip, you are usually in a tree well or right next to a rock (but not always) Both legs are usually buried rather well at this point and getting out takes a certain amount of gymnastic ability.

The hip plunge happened on my last trip (twice) and it took at least 5/10 min to recover.

As pekka put it, I was floundering, freezing and cursing.”

“What kind of terrain are you talking about? I”

“Never been to Baxter, but I think most of the walking will be on closed for the winter roads. We are going to some hut so I think it's mostly lowlands.”

“You can use both on the BSP trip StoveStomper. You can ski or snow shoe in, your preference, but for hiking you'll want snowshoes.

I go to BSP in January and usually ski in and out, bringing my snowshoes. The TT BSP trip last February, we booted it in, but did need snowshoes/skis once we got there.

I think the idea behind renting before buying is 1) what if you don't like it and never want to do it again; and 2) sometimes the rental fee can be applied to the purchase price, should you decide to buy them after. Don't know if LLB has that policy or not.
Another thing - I've always used the wooden snowshoes, and when I went to the new style it took three brands/models before I found some I liked.”

“twigeater is such a wise woman.

I think I'll start watching for a used pair of snowshoes on backpacking.net.”

“OR...LLB snowshoes can be bought, worn on the trip, and returned if they don't work for you.”

“Twig I am shocked that you would suggest sucha thing.”

“What am I suggesting?”

“Good idea though! SS I am probably going to be renting Snowshoes at EMS for the trip. I was thinking skis mght be fun also. If you want to buy some check E-bay just be aware that most of the "New" technology in Snowshoes is in the bindings.”