Modern vs Traditional Snowshoes in Deep Snow

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Disclaimer
Any opinions expressed in this video are mine and mine alone and are not related to my employer or any other organization or individual. I have not been paid to make this video or to endorse a product. If I am ever paid for an endorsement or provided other compensation, I will state it clearly in the video. Any advice or demonstration I provide is just advice. The viewer should take responsibility for their own actions, follow any manufacturers warnings and directions and act safely and responsibly when travelling in the backcountry.

[@tomdonaghy8757]

I have two pairs of traditional snowshoes, big and bigger, and cannot think of a reason why I would purchase the newer design. These work well and always have. Thank you for a serious evaluation of snowshoes!

[@KevinOutdoors]

Totally agree!

[@mikehendricks2933]

Outstanding comparison! THANK YOU! WELL DONE!

[@KevinOutdoors]

Thank you!

[@ColdPotato]

Great video of someone using snow shoes in fluffy snow. A vast majority of reviews just talk about features and specs followed by drone footage of people flying along an established trail.

[@KevinOutdoors]

Thanks, I try and provide something of actual value. :)

[@heather4623]

You succeeded ​@@KevinOutdoors

[@april906outdoors3]

Great content and demo, Kevin. I snowshoed just over 20 miles through the forest on the North Country Trail in northern Michigan last weekend on metal MSR snowshoes. We did quite a bit of trail breaking - after seeing this, wish I had a pair of traditional snowshoes for that trip!

[@KevinOutdoors]

Ha. Well at least you got a great workout! 😉

[@philsmith2444]

Yeah, MSRs are the absolute worst on anything but hard packed snow. Even with tails they just don’t have enough surface area for soft stuff. Off-trail you have to halve the max recommended weight to have a hope of staying near the surface. A pair of 10x36 from Garneau, GV, or Tubbs would have worked better, and GV also makes 12x42.

[@anonymoususer1231]

Finally a video where you used deep snow for all of them!! Not one in deep snow while the other one on a packed trail. Great video!!

[@KevinOutdoors]

Thanks, it was tiring making the video, trudging in deep snow even only a few yards can really wear you out. I know why most videos only show one pair and don't offer a comparison. :)

[@craigrobertson6082]

Great to see you back, mate. I have both types. Still prefer skiing. If you're carrying weight, you need a set with good long tail to it.

[@KevinOutdoors]

Totally agree, thanks for the view.

[@MeetMeOutside]

Fantastic video ! I’ve always wanted to get some traditional snow shoes ! Very well executed my friend ! Now I’m off to dehydrate some food ! Cheers

[@KevinOutdoors]

Right on, glad you liked it.

[@keithcorliss1547]

I agree with you that your weight to snowshoe length should not even be considered when purchasing snowshoes. It's all about what you intend on doing with your snowshoes. And surface area = floatation. Thank you for your real world approach to showing folks that.

[@KevinOutdoors]

Thanks Keith. Absolutely, those smaller snowshoes will work for me just fine on a reasonably packed trail.

[@heather4623]

6-27-24 12pm Thank You! Surface area, holes in frame and pointed toe are the keys to the type of walking we do. There are not groomed trails in the backwoods that we prefer to go. Apparently the modern snowshoe makers never leave the trail head😅. My question is where can you BUY a traditional snowshoe & how much$?👍. Great video thank you for REAL information!

[@patrickstanley8655]

That is the kind of winter I dream of. I live on the Fundy Bay and winter usually involves many many varieties of slush and rain . Thanks for the videos. Your meals will be coming with me on summer canoe trips

[@KevinOutdoors]

Thanks Patrick, have a great time on those trips!

[@Tigrezebra]

Thanks! Great video:)

[@KevinOutdoors]

Glad you liked it!

[@Tigrezebra]

@KevinOutdoors looks exactly like my backyard here in northeastern Quebec. Although this year we have more snow than last winter. My Dobermans can't clear the height of the untouched snow. I have the regular modern snowshoes, and I decided to try them out back in January. Well, I sunk really fast!! I considered buying the traditionals, but I hesitated on account of their relative size. Your video convinced me to go ahead and get them:)

[@KevinOutdoors]

@@Tigrezebra I am so glad this video helped you out. All the best.

[@neemancallender9092]

Alaskan 56” are excellent in powder snow even with heavy packs Edit With the high upturned toe they break trail very easily So you can almost run in them

[@KevinOutdoors]

Thanks, yes the bigger the better in fluffy snow.

[@neemancallender9092]

@@KevinOutdoors fluffy not powder? Is this a Kanuk expression

[@KevinOutdoors]

@@neemancallender9092 It must be. I suppose if I was skiing I would call it powder.

[@neemancallender9092]

@@KevinOutdoors 😍

[@jeanbonneau6711]

What kind of boots do you have? They look like mukluks. Do you have a video about your boots?

[@KevinOutdoors]

Yes those are Steger Mukluks. www.mukluks.com/ No video yet... Good idea.

[@whothefoxcares]

sir, you need a fat tire e-bike capable of 50kph though the deepest Canadian snowdrifts, eh?

[@KevinOutdoors]

It is something I have been thinking about. Probably not an e-bike.

[@valleymetalwood4542]

I grew up in northern Canada on traditional wood and rawhide snowshoes but just purchased a pair of modern metal frame synthetic, my first and last pair!! They should come with a muffler or earplugs. The synthetic fill is so loud when traveling on a crust!! Good luck if your are out to see wildlife, they will hear you a mile away. For me a huge thumbs down on the modern, I'm headed back to traditional. Great video btw!!

[@bengtgustafsson7844]

Use skipoles sink less then

[@KevinOutdoors]

Ski poles with baskets on the bottom certainly help, especially with balance.

[@pvesely299]

I hain’t seen ya in awhile. Hope you are well.

[@KevinOutdoors]

All is well Paul, I guess I am taking an unscheduled break from KZbin. The snow here is ridiculous (as you can see in the video) this year and it is very difficult to get out and shoot anything in the forest. Perhaps in a few weeks.

[@cristalace579]

ρɾσɱσʂɱ 😋

[@KevinOutdoors]

OK, have no idea what that means.

[@Fehrman21114]

Good video. The different traditional snowshoe manufacturers like Iverson or GV rate their shoes based on one's weight. The weight ratings are not about what the frame can handle, but about making sure one's weight does not cause them to sink lower in the snow than is conducive to efficient travelling. One thing I learned in all this is to make sure to not just take into account the weight of one's body, but also clothes, boots, backpacks, axes, knives, firearms, or anything else one will be carrying. Some shoes work great for me if I'm travelling light, but not so great when I'm loaded down with gear.

[@KevinOutdoors]

Great comment. Thanks!

[@spickey5378]

Ya something I can recommend that many backcountry snow travelers use, is a tow sleigh that carry’s the heavy gear, you clearly know a lot and u probably understand why this works, something I would always recommend with snowshoes is buying shoes weighted for more than you weight to allow for carrying gear, but a tow sleigh will always be the most efficient method of carrying a lot of gear through deep snow

[@paperkay]

I never knew how deep snow can get until I stepped off a trail at a ski resort and three people were needed to get me back out. I literally sank off the world. And that his how my love for snow shoes began.

[@KevinOutdoors]

Deep snow is one of those things that really surprises folks.

[@Mike-wd2wc]

I don't know why KZbin recommended me this video, but I'm not complaining

[@KevinOutdoors]

Hey thanks Marco!

[@jerryschneider145]

Great demo, thanks. I have been making traditional snowshoes for many years. I love the Ojibway style you are showing (my favorite), but for maximum flotation the Alaskan style is best. The bigger toe on the Alaskan's keeps the toe pointed slightly up while walking. Where as on the Ojibway, the toes tend to sink more. Also using ski poles helps a lot going through deep snow.

[@KevinOutdoors]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@erik_normark]

The traditional ones are really beautiful! I have a plastic pair and they work so-so.

[@KevinOutdoors]

They are both functional and beautiful. Thanks.

[@jasonmcintosh2632]

Elves can just walk on top of the snow. I love the bindings on the new snow shoes. I haven't been able to make it up to my property in northern Minnesota this season. I'm missing the great snow. : ( Thanks for showing me some!

[@KevinOutdoors]

Jason, we have plenty this year 🙂

[@RAkers-tu1ey]

Great Video, thanks. I like the trad snowshoes, but I spend a lot of time in the mountains. The old timers used to use "skins" for additional traction. Today it is all crampons. Do you have thoughts for steeper terrain?

[@KevinOutdoors]

Sorry I don't really. Not a lot of mountains here. When I am climbing a slope and I don't have any extra traction (spikes, or crampons) under the snow shoe I do tend to dig into the snow with my toe through the hole in the snowshoe. Everyone probably does that.

[@andrefrancoeur1563]

Good Morning Kevin, I love my traditional bear paws. Just curious, what is the brand of your wool pants?

[@KevinOutdoors]

Those are 'Big Bill' wool pants. I find they are a good quality and as reasonably priced as any pair you will find.

[@Xplodicon]

always worth watching

[@KevinOutdoors]

Thanks. 👍

[@joshuagates7231]

So you really should have at least 2 pairs of snowshoes for different conditions.

[@KevinOutdoors]

For me that works. Or just one pair if you know what the conditions are going to be. The smaller shoes for winter trail hiking, the larger shoes for walking off trail.

[@mikeohms1699]

Would like to have some 13 x 72 Ojibwa style

[@KevinOutdoors]

Big ones!

[@1967AJB]

Nice video, not a problem we face in Lancashire :)

[@KevinOutdoors]

Yeah, I doubt that. 😆

[@Hockeyfan9884]

Being from Labrador and having spent several years along the coast, I found Bear Paw snowshoes an excellent choice with the best flotation there is as far as i'm concerend.The Montagnais and Naskaupi Innu made and used this type of snowshoe for hundreds and hundreds of years, and still do so today.

[@KevinOutdoors]

I don't think those patterns from Labrador and Northern Quebec are common elsewhere. I would love to try some.

[@Hockeyfan9884]

I sure hope you will have a chance someday to try the Bearpaw snowshoes, they are awesome .Thank you for the reply.

[@brainfreeze1925]

Whereabouts in Labrador? I flew Otters out that way in the early '80s. Interior but also along the entire coast from L'Anse Au Clair to north of the Nachvak fiord.

[@tonymaurice4157]

These were traditionally made from Ash which is disappearing from a beetle from Asia, birch, Oak were also used

[@FeldwebelWolfenstool]

...have had a pair of the white metal army ones for a while now...I like them because they can straddle the blowdown trees without fear of them breaking...I also use x-country ski poles too...

[@KevinOutdoors]

Cool, yeah the Canadian military ones are pretty bomb proof. Yes, ski poles would make things much easier.

[@outdoor-suedost]

Thank you for this great comparison👌! I own a pair of modern snowshoes because it is not very easy to get these great traditional thingis to Austria. Thank you🙏 for sharing and Merry Christmas and a happy New Year from Austria 🇦🇹🤠👍🏕🔥

[@KevinOutdoors]

Happy New Year to you!

[@webb-cast1030]

The weight ratings on modern style shoes claim to support WAY more weight than they can. Kevin would do just fine with 36" Tubbs. I've been using modern style 'shoes in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (150+ inches of average snowfall) for over 30 years. I started with Havlick's 8"x30" in 1990. They worked great until I weighed over 180#. I bought a pair of Tubbs Pinnacles 9"x36" in 2003. The modern 'shoes pivot bindings lets snow fall off and keep the toe from catching the edge of the snow footprint. I live an hour away from the Iverson snowshoe company. They are an iconic brand, but I would never consider using traditional 'shoes. Just getting over the plowed bank to get into the woods is next to impossible with wooden 'shoes. Then trying to maneuver in heavily wooded terrain is less than fun. Traditional snowshoes are at their best in deep snow on frozen lakes and areas without or very few trees.

[@familytablet2577]

Great video.Would have been nice to make a pair of Roycroft snowshoes and try them as well to compare with store bought.

[@spickey5378]

If anyone looking for good modern snowshoes, “helium trail snowshoes” are a great pair, the come in different sizes based on weight, which is by far the most important factor as they determine surface area. The foot is hinged and there designed to glide through snow on the up step, this video is not a credible source, snowshoes have gotten better as technology has gotten better, this test is completely invalid, and the biggest recommendation for snowshoes is making sure there’s weighted for your weight, the basic fact that u didn’t mention the weight for either show or your own weight proves this,

[@kadmow]

- a fun test would be - throw a set of bindings on a set of max tracks (upside down) - should provide as much floatation as the old school type. (the old style with pointed nos and tail - could be better walking through forested areas - lot getting caught on hidden logs or treetrunks.. ??

[@kimlamb3658]

Charles Bronson stared in the movie the mad trapper and he tied a string to the tips and he lifted the shoes as he stepped looked clever. Does that work , have you heard of that.

[@Woodswalker1965]

Very nice collection you have there buddy!👍

[@KevinOutdoors]

Thanks, the collection is much more extensive than that. 3 kids and lost of snowshoeing 😃

[@spickey5378]

Ok those “modern snowshoes” were not weighted correctly, snowshoes have a weight limit and u did not do an valid test.

[@Jeffindsm]

Be like a feather, my friend don’t walk like a 2000 lb. robot. Become a feather It looks like you jackhammered each step with those store-bought snowshoes. Wow. They don’t work at all. None of them. Movies must have packed or crusted snow when they film someone walking in them. Maybe all the old timey people waited for the snow to crust before walking, knowing powder does what powder does, absolutely nothing. Makes me wonder if all those old mountain men that trapped, camped out close to where their traps were in the winter. That way they wouldn’t have to walk from like a cabin or something in powder if the snow didn’t crust. 🤷‍♀️ Or they just made trails with snowshoes to all their traps, and it was easier to walk. And if anybody who asked them how they checked their traps in deep snowy they said well, I use snowshoes. But they don’t say to make a trail and the person asking sees snowshoes for the first time and thinks, oh you can walk on top of fluffy snow without asking. So snowshoes make trails in fluff and are able to float when it crusts as soon as the sun comes out. And yet a snowmobile…..🫤🤷‍♀️🤨

[@KevinOutdoors]

LOL

[@BushtreckBoosh]

Cool video Kevin. We have alot of snow on the east side of the lake too. For the past 4 weeks at the sugar bush all we have been able get around on were 11x36 snowshoes and larger.

[@KevinOutdoors]

Yeah, you guys in the Sault usually get a lot more snow than we do. I have been watching you move around in the snow in your sugar tapping videos. 👍🍁

[@BushtreckBoosh]

@@KevinOutdoors My legs have been getting into good shape this winter. Kind of makes me want to hike the coastal trail again lol

[@kevinharding2099]

Perhaps you could go a bit further in your analysis. The types of bindings and footwear make a big difference. The Ojibway style is much easier to make than a rounded point. Good straight grained ash is the best (but getting harder to find) for the construction. I made a pair using para cord for the lashings and then varnished the cord making it very stiff and long lasting. Wooden shoes can almost always be repaired, but the modern style is “disposable”. Thanks for your video!

[@KevinOutdoors]

Thanks Kevin, I'll give that some thought there certainly lots of topics to cover. My goal was to make a short video on one topic. But it is sometimes nice to cluster a number of videos on one larger theme. Thanks.

[@robertclark539]

Great video. Thanks for the comparison. I got a pair of Tubbs Wilderness snowshoes (modern) for xmas and was recently given a pair of more traditional Huron style snowshoes. I was wondering what the advantages of the more traditional styles were and you answered that perfectly!

[@KevinOutdoors]

They both have their place but on lighter fluffy snow the larger traditional snow shoes. Once you get a packed trail the modern style will perform well.

[@jodylaporte4786]

Not a comment about snow shoes. Have a question about dehydrating food. Love your videos and plan on buying your recipe book. I do wonder how I know that food has been dehydrated enough? Is there a sign to tell its done?

[@KevinOutdoors]

Hi Jody, You will get to know pretty quickly when your food is dry. But until you get confident with it I suggest cutting into several individual pieces of food. The inside should be dry to the touch. If it isn't then it should dry longer.

[@l214laus]

Would having ski poles help with balance? I'm in south east Australia and whilst our mountains do get plenty of snow, rarely the fluffy powder type, and only once in a blue moon would we get any depth.

[@KevinOutdoors]

Great question, yes for sure. Hiking poles with 'baskets' on the bottom would provide a lot more balance in the deeper snow. Perhaps that is another video. Thanks!

[@richardwildeman1267]

Fantastic video Kevin, thank you!! I have been wondering about this for many years! Leave it to you to do such a thorough video with a scientific approach, just awesome!

[@KevinOutdoors]

Thanks Richard, glad this was of interest!

[@brentandellesoutdooradventures]

Fun video Kevin. Lots of snow! Nice to see the comparison.

[@KevinOutdoors]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@lukesarginson5903]

Hey Kev, have you tried the GV 12x42 wide trail snowshoe?

[@KevinOutdoors]

No I haven't. These are Faber 12" x 46" (60" total length).

[@mitchellpugh497]

Very informative, great video. Thank you.

[@KevinOutdoors]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@pvesely299]

Thanks for the demonstration. I was wondering if the smaller snowshoes they sell at Costco were worth it but now I see to avoid them for an adult.

[@KevinOutdoors]

Hi Paul, yeah the smaller snowshoes are great for packed trails but not for deep powder.

[@philsmith2444]

It all depends on surface area. Traditional snowshoes and modern snowshoes of the same size will float exactly the same. I’d be more concerned about the quality of inexpensive wholesale store snowshoes than their performance.

[@destoroyahfanatic9464]

Spectacular demonstration

[@KevinOutdoors]

Thanks!

[@BorealSelfReliance]

I was in similar conditions this weekend - possibly a bit deeper. 150" total snowfall with about 5' of settled snow. First time for me sinking to my chest in snow as an adult 😄. I floated really good with modern 36" snow shoes (Tubbs brand) BUT the binding was crap with my Steger Mucklucks. I was sinking about 4 to 6" - with the occasional sink of 12" where the snow was unstable (close to trees and above a seasonal creekbed).

[@KevinOutdoors]

Our snow usually settles more and develops a bit of a crust but this year we haven't had any warm weather and it has remained fluffy.

[@x83n]

Madison, I dont mean to sound rude or inappropriate but you are absolutely stunning. I've never seen such stunning beauty and intelligence in a single individual in all my life. This is completely out of my character but the need for me to express myself was far to strong to avoid doing so. I hope whoever finds you as their companion does so with the utmost fragility,respect and kindness as humanly possible because youre an angel that walks amongst modern man.

[@KevinOutdoors]

Pardon? :)

[@woodwalker6025]

So we showed the modern snowshoes but didn’t compare them?? What’s the point?

[@KevinOutdoors]

Ummm, pretty sure I did. I used a larger pair to be as fair as possible.

[@MichaelAChang]

Well, I guess strapping old tennis rackets onto my snow boots isn't going to work.

[@KevinOutdoors]

Yep, not an option.

[@stoicodysseys6352]

Eh you didnt use poles and you were stomping more with the modern ones. I'll keep my quality modern snowshoes from Atlas do Great. But they weren't the budget modern ones you featured

[@KevinOutdoors]

The theme of this video was floatation. Floatation is achieved with surface area. The brand, price or poles doesn't create floatation, surface area does. Nothing wrong with modern snowshoes they just don't work well in deep powder.