Who makes decent snow shoes for bold explorers?
>>2857036Meindl
>>2857036Tbh MSR
>>2857036MSR for merikans.Nords have some shit they make in nordickland and prefer because it's a fad and they're homos.No one cares about europe, They don't have any real mountains and the Chinese do it in sandals. The real question is what boots?
>>2857036MSR is good, rock solid warranty too.
All I see is TUBBS everywhere, so they must be decent. A bit cheaper than most of the competition as well.
>>2857036>>2857036I'd imagine making your own from willow branches woul be easy
>>2857278If you're not going to do anything serious, definitely get Tubbs. I have a pair that I have used to snowshoe on flat ground and over some rolling berms. I feel like a lot of people buy snowshoes and end up going once a year, if that, so I recommend the cheap Tubbs to everyone.
>>2857036I have TSL, but i've yet to actually need them since i bought them hoping to go out west during early spring when it was still snowed in and i didn't
>>2857283>>2857278Entry level Tubbs is now more expensive than entry level MSR. The MSR have the option to get a tail extender for heavier loads and the Tubbs don't.If cost is your driver I'd go MSR unless you find them on sale. Tubbs has more options for kids.
>>2857271I have MSR too, and I really like them, especially the bindings and general design seems really well thought out and ergonomic (MSE Lightning Ascent). However, I'm cautious about how much weight I carry on them (which is difficult for big winter overnight trips), since I've seen a couple accounts on YouTube and other places of the hinge between the binding and the snowshoe itself breaking. Apparently this isn't just the hinge pins snapping or coming loose or something, it's the actual metal around the pin fracturing, making it essentially unrepairable in the field (or at all). And one tuber (MartyUpNorth) was basically told to fuck off by MSR customer service. I keep trying to come up with a way to mitigate this or repair it in the field, but so far most ideas are janky.
>>2857299They have weight ratings. People really need to weigh their gear (and themselves) before figuring out which snow-shoes to get. I've never heard of a pin breaking, or the metal housing, but I have heard of bindings failing.
I found a pair of "used" brand-new Flex VRT online for cheap. I already love the BOA bindings. I'll be testing them on a moderate mountain tour, in - if the forecasts are correct - fresh snow. Come to think of it, I bet the avalanche warning level will be quite high.
I got TSL Camos and I can't tell if they suck or not because they're the only snowshoe I use. Last outing they were collapsing several inches with every step and I punched through. Is it even possible to tell if getting Lightning Accents would help?
>>2857299>>2857468I think the weight rating is more a matter of the amount of provided float, unless you're drastically over the rated weight. I know that out here in the northeast we don't really have 5+ feet of powder so float is less important than traction for us, at least for more "technical" hiking snowshoes. I could be completely wrong on the weight ratings though. >>2857623Several inches is fine, you aren't going to float on the very surface without pretty large shoes especially with a heavier bag on.
>>2857626Float and weight rating are different things.Weight rating is the design threshold before mechanical failure probability skyrockets. Float is directly related to the type of snow you're hiking through.MSR have additional extenders you can add to their shoes that will increase the "float" but will not increase the "weight rating."I live in the west so the snow is heavy and wet. I never use the floats. I can also, easily, go over the shoe's wight ratings but still be able to "stay on top of" the snow.
