Mil surplus snowshoe review

okoyote

New member
Most of us in the upper midwest have got a LOT of snow. It's like a winter wonderland where I hunt and it is not easy to get around. I have had a growing interest in adding snowshoes to my hunting gear and the 15 inch blizzard on top of the 10 inches we already had made it necessary to give something a try. I followed a couple of threads on PM and made a decision to buy the military surplus shoes from The Sportsman's Guide because of the classic design and price.

The shipped price was $50 including bindings. The shoes came 5 days after ordering in new condition. One shoe was labeled Canada 1979 and the other 1982. They were obviously from different factories, but basically the same. The bindings are nylon webbed belt with plastic buckles and were easy to adjust to my size 15 feet. It would seem to me the plastic buckles would be the only weak spot and I may replace these with a rubber slip on type binding. The shoes are of a magnesium frame painted white and coated steel cable woven mesh. They are light and surprisingly quiet for nearly all metal design. I weigh 230 lbs plus my gear so I need a lot of flotation.

I have never used snowshoes before, but found these easy to walk and the bindings worked well. I walked about a mile this morning on a couple of foot of deep, mostly wind packed, snow. Without the shoes, I would step knee deep 3 out of four steps. With the shoes I easily stayed on top of the snow and covered distance quickly. The strap bindings loosened at times and needed a little adjustment to keep things working well. Again, I was impressed with the quiet. I do not know if the shoes would have provided enough floatation for powder snow. I did purposefully walk into areas of deep covered vegetation and the shoes stayed on top.

For the price, I am very happy. They will work well in the areas I hunt.

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On my test walk I came across coyote tracks and a couple fresh coyote bedding spots.

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A spot where a coyote had dug to a hog carcass and chewed on the ribs.

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I got the identicle set in 1994 for off trail backpacking and found that the shoes were a bit wide for a guy of 5'-5" as my knees really started hurting with a heavy load on. I did go to a hard binding also by bolting a door hinge thru the mesh and onto a after market binding so my heels wouldnt swing sideways on a side slope. Your choice of snowshoes was excellent though because they meet my first three criteria, tough as nails, very functional and Inexspensive and you can turn one upside down, shove the tail into a snowbank then set a single burner stove on it for cooking and it wont melt like the plastic decked ones.
 
I have had a pair of bearpaws for long time I went out bow hunten for deer with them knee deep snow spent 5 hours walking in them. I am going to get them new alum. ones my legs were shot Keep in mind you use diffrent mussles in shoes
 
Originally Posted By: CedarbutteIf you have size 15 feet what do you need snowshoes for? LOL

It's my weight that's the problem! I'm actually looking forward to tackling some of those big snowed in pastures now.
 
I picked up a pair of cool, high-tech metal shoes with neoprene pieces instead of lacing. Worked fine when it wasn't too cold out, when it got below zero walking in them was like throwing ice cubes on a snare drum.
I got myself a pair of wooden framed, rawhide laced traditional snowshoes...now I am quiet and happy.
 
Nice Pics! And a good thread!


Used the plastic molded types with the built in hill climbing tracks, they worked VERY well, except the bindings didn't quite fit my snow-packs, and kept coming loose.

Wife picked up a pair of RedFeather brand, rated for 300 lbs.

Interested in how well they work (don't have hardley any snow this year, after two very big snow years, I guess its ok).

They are "thinner" overall, which makes me wonder if they will be easier on the legs....us shorter guys don't need two foot wide shoes!
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Hope they hold up!
 
If you don't find you are getting enough flotation you can add something to the top side of the snow shoes to keep the snow from passing threw the cables. Get some leather or something else quite, cut it to shape and use some zip ties or something of the sort to tie it to the top side of the shoe. Should help provide more flotation in deep powder.
 
Get some leather or something else quite, cut it to shape and use some zip ties or something of the sort to tie it to the top side of the shoe. Should help provide more flotation in deep powder.

In the deep granular snow I had problems with the snowshoes that had the solid material gathering snow. The snow would end up on top of the toe of the snowshoe and you would have to clean it off every few steps...
 
I was a US Airforce Survival Instructor back in the 80's. This is one thing that we did and had the student do also. Once you have the bindings set to your boots. Put a couple of stiches in the webbing on the parts that connect it to the snow shoe. If there are parts that you can stich up that will still let you get your boot out stitch them too. This will save you alot of time and trouble and a few crashes
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trying to fix them out in the field. We(Instructors)used the Mil type snoeshoes in the first pics. Had real good luck with them even with heavy packs on.
 
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I've got a pair that I use for work (land surveyor), I like them alot but I use bindings that are made by some guy in northern Maine that bends a 1/2" x 5/8" piece of ash in a U-shape that goes around the back of your boot. It is then atached to a hinge type fastener that is attached to the webbing at the base of the toe hole of the snowshoe. These snowshoes are about 48" long and can be a bit awkward in the this brush so I cut the first 6" off of the long tail piece and it makes it a bit easier winding through the thick stuff. Even though I made this alteration to the snowshoe design; the tail still drag behind when I lift my foot for the next step, causing the front of the shoe to lift up above the snow as I move forward.
 
I have 3 pair of the exact same snowshoes. Mine have the military style bindings that work ok but not great. I ordered a pair of rubber style bindings that showed up in the mail yesterday. I hope to get them on tonight and give them a try. The more I use my shoes the better I like them. Like anything they take a while to get use to but now that I've tried them I won't go in deep snow without them.

JEV
 
My first pair came with rubber flat bindings. They were terrible in deep snow, slid off to the side on me. I really like these cable and aluminum frame shoes. I had one break, ordered another pair, these came with ski poles to match! 55$ with shipping. I use a quick snap binding, now.
 
I got my Mil-Surps this week. Mine came with different bindings than the ones Okoyote pictured on his. They are yellow nylon with metal pull thru clasps that make it awful to get in and out of. Real pain in the rear. Also, while intact, they are pretty well beat up and don't look in "unissued" condition. But the price is right.

We just got done with a blizzard so since I was snowed in yesterday (and today, maybe tomorrow) I decided to do some walking around a made a couple stands. Walking in the fields was much better than without and I covered 1-2 miles total with zero issues. In my pasture (long grass with drifted powder) I did go in but not as far as if I was without the snowshoes.

Here's a couple sites for people interested:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4705230_make-pvc-snowshoes.html
http://www.wildernessrhythms.com/snowshoelace/snowshoe.html

CB
 
Here's a pic of my shoes;

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These are very much like the milsurps but not as wide. Maybe a little easier on the legs? Somewhere around here is a pattern to make rubber binders. If I can find it I'll post it.
 


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