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.
On my test walk I came across coyote tracks and a couple fresh coyote bedding spots.
A spot where a coyote had dug to a hog carcass and chewed on the ribs.
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.

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



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