has anybody tried making them or even a short set of ski's. did some reading on it. for my size i need about 9" by 30" surface area per shoe or 300 sq.". p.s. i tried tennis rackets. they didnt work. :)

Nice try with the tennis rackets. :)
I like to trudge in the winter without skis or snowshoes. This winter I might try making snowshoes while in the woods, in case the snow gets wicked deep, or I break a ski or something.

. p.s. i tried tennis rackets. they didnt work. :)

I think I saw that in a MacGyver epsisode years ago.

For those of you who have hiked through New Hampshire and remember place names, here are two stories. The latter relates to emergency snowshoe construction and both to tragedies. I remember both crashes; one as a teenager, and the latest occurring very close to my adopted AT section.

http://dartmed.dartmouth.edu/winter00/pdf/Plane_Crash.pdf

Thanks for that link. Those were very tragic stories. Great losses.

I think I will definitely practice making snowshoes. For one thing such activities like that are a great way to have winter adventure and experience wet and cold without travelling so far. Also, I think I will build more safety factor into my insulation and food than in the past. I know my sleeping bag is inadequate for what might hit. That needs to be addressed. Also, as a more practical measure I need to keep my winter car kit in the car where it belongs.

Here is a web site with links to plans for snowshoes.

http://www.inquiry.net/outdoor/winter/gear/snowshoes/pvc_pipe.htm

I was thinking about this a little earlier this winter. What about old crutches? I haven't tried it yet, but I think you could get some at a thrift store and maybe bend them to the right shape.

I was thinking about this a little earlier this winter. What about old crutches? I haven't tried it yet, but I think you could get some at a thrift store and maybe bend them to the right shape.

I'll throw in my $0.02's worth. First, check your garage sales, flea markets, and (to a lesser extent) places that sell antiques and other "old junk" - it is sometimes possible to find old snowshoes that are in reasonable shape for not too much money at these places. I once found a pair made from small diameter aluminum tubing and rawhide webbing for $35. They're a bit small for me and a pack, but I carry them on my dogsled as emergency snowshoes, and they work just fine.

If you try to go the "wood route", you will need to steam the wood - a lot - in order to bend it without breaking it. A length of metal downspouting (with one end hammered flat and crimped back on itself) makes a fine "poor man's steamer" that can be fired with a torch. Set up on horses at a slight angle (open end up just a little) and fill with water, put your wood inside and slowly run the torch along the length of the downspouting for 15-20 minutes. Your wood needs to be a straight-grained hardwood (ash is traditional), and you'll need a form to clamp it onto once it comes out of the steamer. If I remember correctly, the guy who made my dogsled used 1/4 inch x 1 1/4 inch strips (the 1/4 inch thickness gets bent), sent several thicknesses of them simultaneously, and laminated the strips together after they had dried.

Survival snowshoes can be made out of small branches and cordage only, in a pinch. They will be heavier than necessary, but quite serviceable, with a little skill. The way to do it is to choose two longish saplings or young branches about as long as you are tall, or a little longer, and twist them together as tightly as possible, with the tip to the butt. You can use smaller sticks, and join them in the middle. The simplest style to make is bear paw, with no tail. You form the rim and weave the ends together, maintaining the twist all around. This is just basketweaving. Then, with the frame made, you make the cross pieces under the foot, and stick the ends between the rim pieces. Then weave more, smaller pieces across the spaces for the netting. You can also strip the bark of several kinds of trees to make netting and cordage. You can whittle the ends to fit more easily, and finish off with lashings to make sure it is all tight. You can also split bigger wood if necessary. Green saplings are easiest to work. If you want to practice, take a basketweaving course. This is a basic woodcraft skill of great general utility.

Of course, if you can kill a large animal, you can make them the way the natives used to, with carved wood rails and rawhide weaving and harness.

The problem with this and many other survival skills is that it takes considerable energy and time to do them. Unless you have the skills honed to a high degree before the emergency, it may be better to spend that energy in other directions. Someone with a high degree of woodcraft, on the other hand, can simply make what he or she needs, and walk out, or just set up camp and live there for a while, always presuming that no grievous injury prevents it.

One of the problems of city folks lost in the country is a simple lack of general fitness and woodcraft skills. If you haven't the fortitude to last a full day at high intensity, doing things right the first time, you will soon be exhausted and lacking in necessities. That is the true value of lightweight survival gear: it substitutes to some degree for fitness and skill.

I say this knowing that in my present state, I would not be able to do these things. No practice, no fitness, no luck. So I need to take great care not to hang too close to the edge. But I think that a combination of modern lightweight gear and woodcraft will enable most fit hikers to survive all but the most brutal conditions. The usual problem is that we don't expect to find ourselves in a fix, and we haven't planned for it, or learned our survival skills for when we may need them, and we haven't exercised due care and judgment. We are humans: our only edge in a survival situation is our ability to think, remember, invent and plan. Every other animal in the forest has a better day to day system for getting through the storm, because they are at home there. We aren't: we have to adapt.

The problem with this and many other survival skills is that it takes considerable energy and time to do them. Unless you have the skills honed to a high degree before the emergency, it may be better to spend that energy in other directions. Someone with a high degree of woodcraft, on the other hand, can simply make what he or she needs, and walk out, or just set up camp and live there for a while, always presuming that no grievous injury prevents it.

One of the problems of city folks lost in the country is a simple lack of general fitness and woodcraft skills. If you haven't the fortitude to last a full day at high intensity, doing things right the first time, you will soon be exhausted and lacking in necessities. That is the true value of lightweight survival gear: it substitutes to some degree for fitness and skill.

I say this knowing that in my present state, I would not be able to do these things. No practice, no fitness, no luck. So I need to take great care not to hang too close to the edge. But I think that a combination of modern lightweight gear and woodcraft will enable most fit hikers to survive all but the most brutal conditions. The usual problem is that we don't expect to find ourselves in a fix, and we haven't planned for it, or learned our survival skills for when we may need them, and we haven't exercised due care and judgment. We are humans: our only edge in a survival situation is our ability to think, remember, invent and plan. Every other animal in the forest has a better day to day system for getting through the storm, because they are at home there. We aren't: we have to adapt.

Very well said, thanks for sharing your wisdom.

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