Snow shoes

[Tweegs]

Gads….
Just had to purchase a set of snowshoes.
Tried to get back in the woods to ready the lines and it’s a no-go.
Knee to waist deep everywhere yet.
Next bout of warmer weather and I’ll be tapping.

It’ll be my first time on these contraptions…any tips/tricks/warnings for a highly accident prone, out of shape, middle aged, clod hopper, like me?

[stoneslabs]

don't trip!! :lol:
but seriously, get used to them on flat land first if you have hills to negotioate, and remember to take bigger/wider steps and you'll get used to them in no time... good luck!

[Rhino]

Just take your time at first to get used to them, Walking in deep fluffy snow is hard to do just because you sink deeper and then snow falls on top of them, and you bring up extra added weight with each step. It's more like marching steps when its like that. If or when your snow will "set up" to be more firm, they are great to just skim right on top, sometimes the top couple inches of the crust just pushes down a few inches. If you are out of shape, be prepared to get charlie horses/ cramps in your legs. I look at tapping in snowshoes as the pre muscle workout to the collecting part of syruping. Also have it in your mind that you are going to fall with them, and then struggle to upright yourself, don't get discouraged, after a couple hours on them you will get the hang of them. The most important part of the snowshoe in my mind is the bindings, I tried 4 different types over the years and in my opinion the Bob Maki rubber bindings are the best. I have yet to have them slip off but still they are super easy and fast to put on and take off when you want to. good luck.

[MN Jake]

And don't overdo it. I pulled my hip flexors several years ago snowshoeing from going too far. I hadn't been on them for a couple years and there was waste deep snow. Too much too fast, and it took months for them to settle down.

[maple flats]

One pair of mine have Bob Maki bindings, 1 has traditional leather bindings and 2 have Tubbs bindings. I find the Tubbs shoes the easiest to get on and off if you have a problem. The Maki's are easy but on hills and ravines they tend to allow too much sliding around on the snowshoe. And take it from me, if out of shape and your foot slips out climbing the side of a steep ravine and your foot goes thru and down so you're sitting on that shoe, it takes lots of time and struggling to get back on your feet (experience, believe me, no one to help, took me about 40 minutes and I almost gave up and cut the binding to escape). I didn't dare fall back or I'd have likely broken my leg and been 10' down in the ravine. When first learning to walk on snowshoes, have at least 1 ski pole, it will help you keep your balance if you stem one shoe on the other, or catch some brush. They will however give you a great workout. I have 4 pairs, and use which ever size the snow conditions call for, as snow settles I can use a smaller shoe.

[MISugarDaddy]

Make trails to the trees in the order you expect to collect from them, assuming you are using buckets. That way you won't sink in as deep when you are collecting from your buckets. My wife and I also like to wear vinyl cross country ski pants if the snow is not settled because it helps to keep our jeans from getting soaked from the snow that is flipped up each time you lift a snow shoe up.

[Tweegs]

Thanks for the feedback folks.

“Don’t trip”…heh, like there’s even a prayer that won’t happen.:lol:

A snow pack like this is rare around here, once a decade, if that often. As such, I bought a pair that didn’t ding the wallet too harshly for fear they’d just hang in the barn and rot most years. No fancy bindings or other jewelry that would make them an heirloom worth fighting for when my time in the bush has passed. Just something to keep me atop the stuff so my passing doesn’t come to be (it’s murder out there, I tell ya).

As for slope; nah, not much of it. It’s a short and rather unadventurous ride to the bottom, long as you mind some of the hazards on the way down. Used to carry a walking stick, but it often became one of the hazards. Trying to untangle myself from it left little time to navigate the myriad of snags and thorns along the way. Was better, I found, to just plant marker flags at each end of the run rather than try to prevent the inevitable. This way, at least, I can go back after the snow melt and retrieve all the little goodies loosed from my pockets during the slide.

Took to carrying those little marker flags and plant one immediately following every face plant in the snow. I’ll always find something to pick up later, if only a bit of my dignity. By the end of the season, my wood lot looks eerily reminiscent of a Detroit crime scene, flags abound… still, it’s like a good, old fashion treasure hunt come spring.

I’ll manage, I suppose. At least my wife won’t be out there gathering fodder for YouTube, the snow is way too deep for her short little legs. And I’ll be sure to “misplace” that telephoto lens she’s so fond of.

[steve J]

I do enjoy snow shoes and they have created a few adventures such as coming out of a binding as stated above that can be one hell of a problem if snow is deep or as I did last week going down the steep of a hillside and managing to slide toe of shoe under a hidden log causing me to go head first down the hillside into the deep snow. I felt like an 8 year old but my body reminded me I was 62 lol they really should invent safety bindings for snow shoes!

[happy thoughts]

they really should invent safety bindings for snow shoes!

Or whole body airbags! You and tweegs have convinced me to cross snowshoes off my shopping list, lol. Thanks!

[steve J]

LOL Happy they are far better than trying to trudge thru the snow without them I do recommend them and if you can get those airbags I do that too.

[maplestudent]

dress in several layers.....it is a workout and you'll be heating up quickly, even when it's really cold out.

[maple flats]

As a scoutmaster back in the 70's and 80's, I got very familiar with snowshoes, but then I pretty much planned my routes for ease and didn't need to follow tubing lines. Snowshoes in a sugar bush is different for sure. However you will learn fast and become an old pro before long. I still prefer carrying 1 ski pole, it allows me to stay upright far better when navigating tough terrain.

[Z/MAN]

Walking with them on is one thing. Moving around a tree as you tap it and trying to back up and step over lines etc is a whole different experience! I needed them this year and hope they hang on the wall for the next few! BUT!!! I could not have tapped without them.
Paul

[woodchuck]

I had to break out my Tubbs snowshoes a few weekends back. Spent three days on snow shoes. It was great until the leg cramps hit me that night! LOL

[Maple Hill]

It was great until the leg cramps hit me that night! LOL[/QUOTE]

Go to your local pharmacy & get a bottle of leg cramp pills,they really work.

[eustis22]

my advice is to not wait until you're tapping to break out to your trees....take a walk after each storm and by the time the freeze/thaw cycle hits you'll be able to bareboot out there.

It's good exercise and fun, too.

[Tweegs]

my advice is to not wait until you're tapping to break out to your trees....take a walk after each storm and by the time the freeze/thaw cycle hits you'll be able to bareboot out there.

It's good exercise and fun, too.

But you don’t understand…

Procrastination is the name of the game. I can tell it is a favorite pastime of sugarmakers everywhere, just look at the forums for how much work folks still have to do in the days leading up to tapping. I’m quite relieved to find I’m not alone in this regard. :lol:

I hear low potassium levels cause cramps, bananas are the answer, at least in my case. Well, at least they cure more than the stream of profanity does.

Exercise isn’t my thing. If I did I’d be in shape, there’d be no soreness and likewise no sympathy. I mean, c’mon, how else am I going to get the wife to run the evaporator?

I kept expecting a thaw to tamp things down back there, never happened. By the time I got the snow moved from one storm we’d get hit with another, and all too soon it got to the point of being too deep to maneuver. Things have a way of creeping up when you’re a procrastinator.

Actually, all that’s left in the shack is to set the tanks, releaser and vacuum pump and it’ll be ready to go. The bulk of my work is out in the woods. Too deep to mess with up until now. Fortunately, the 10 day forecast says I still have at least 10 days to get it done out there.

[happy thoughts]

Forget the snowshoes, lol. Bring on the fat bikes!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/23/fatbikes-are-big-with-winter-riders/5737585

I can see it now with the ingenuity of all the tinkerers here. You creative guys are going to turn one of these puppies into a sap hauler! :)

[eustis22]

"I mean, c’mon, how else am I going to get the wife to run the evaporator?"

RUN THE EVAPORATOR?????

You don't do this for fun, do you?

[Big_Eddy]

Or whole body airbags!
Speak for yourself. Several of us have whole body airbags. Or was that windbags? Hmmm.