Modern vs Traditional Snowshoes in Deep Snow 

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!

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!!

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.

Outstanding comparison! THANK YOU! WELL DONE!

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.

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.

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

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!

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!

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

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.

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.

always worth watching

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.

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

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!

...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...

Very informative, great video. Thank you.

Spectacular demonstration

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!

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 🇦🇹🤠👍🏕🔥

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

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

I don't know why RU-vid recommended me this video, but I'm not complaining

- 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.. ??

Thanks! Great video:)

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.

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.

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!

Would like to have some 13 x 72 Ojibwa style

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

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

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!

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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?

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!!

Use skipoles sink less then

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

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

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

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,

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…..🫤🤷‍♀️🤨

ρɾσɱσʂɱ 😋

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?

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.

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

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

Very nice collection you have there buddy!👍

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.

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).

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

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

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