Bob Farrell
New member
During the last few months, along with winter hiking, I've been altering some of my gear.
I noticed that when I wore my OR Modular Mitt System (P-300 mitt, pile liner mitt, basic shell) or my Black Diamond Mercury Mitts, the straps on my LEKI Air Ergo's were too small. To fix that problem, I took off the strap and replaced it with a two piece strap that is longer. It is attached by a buckle and is also adjustable. So now I can wear them with no gloves on or one of my mitt systems.
I also have a pair of the new LEKI Ultralites with the Soft Antishock System (SAS). I do not like the SAS since I like to have a solid purchase when I plant a pole, not a shock absorber. There is a way to turn off the SAS but it still moves a little. To fix this problem, I seperated the poles and I put a metal pin in the SAS so it will not move.
Also when I bushwhacked up Mt. Isolation on 12/22/03, I had a problem. This hike was the first time that I've ever had snow/ice accumulate under the crampons of my snowshoes. I tried to break it off with my Carbide Flextip on my trekking poles, but it didn't work. So I cut part of my snowbaskets off. I cut it so that 3/5th's of the snowbasket remained. I tried them out when I hiked up Flume/Liberty on 1/4/04 and they worked great. They still kept the trekking poles from sinking into the snow. I didn't get a chance to try them out breaking balled up snow from under snowshoes or crampons, but winter is still young.
I bought the North Face MG55 pack for winter hiking. One of the reasons I bought it was that it had a pocket for crampons. When I got it home, my crampons didn't fit. But I didn't alter that.
What I did do on the MG55 was I added D-rings to the side compression straps so that I could use small bungie cords to attach my snowshoes to the sides. The compression straps on the MG55 are long enough for carrying snowshoes but using them for that purpose negates the compression straps. So there is two D-rings on each of the four compression straps. I attached the snowshoes with small bungie cords and I haven't had a problem with them loosing up or falling off.
And the last one (for now) was when I turned Recreational snowshoes into All Terrain snowshoes. I started out with a pair of Tubbs Discovery snowshoes. They didn't have the full rotating toe cord and I found out the hard way that they didn't work good on anything steep. So I took the toe cord from a pair of Tubbs Sierra's and I put them on the Discovery snowshoes. Now they work great. They pivot 90 degrees and are great on steep terrain.
To check out some pictures, go to Altered Gear
4000'ers Journals of the White Mountains
I noticed that when I wore my OR Modular Mitt System (P-300 mitt, pile liner mitt, basic shell) or my Black Diamond Mercury Mitts, the straps on my LEKI Air Ergo's were too small. To fix that problem, I took off the strap and replaced it with a two piece strap that is longer. It is attached by a buckle and is also adjustable. So now I can wear them with no gloves on or one of my mitt systems.
I also have a pair of the new LEKI Ultralites with the Soft Antishock System (SAS). I do not like the SAS since I like to have a solid purchase when I plant a pole, not a shock absorber. There is a way to turn off the SAS but it still moves a little. To fix this problem, I seperated the poles and I put a metal pin in the SAS so it will not move.
Also when I bushwhacked up Mt. Isolation on 12/22/03, I had a problem. This hike was the first time that I've ever had snow/ice accumulate under the crampons of my snowshoes. I tried to break it off with my Carbide Flextip on my trekking poles, but it didn't work. So I cut part of my snowbaskets off. I cut it so that 3/5th's of the snowbasket remained. I tried them out when I hiked up Flume/Liberty on 1/4/04 and they worked great. They still kept the trekking poles from sinking into the snow. I didn't get a chance to try them out breaking balled up snow from under snowshoes or crampons, but winter is still young.
I bought the North Face MG55 pack for winter hiking. One of the reasons I bought it was that it had a pocket for crampons. When I got it home, my crampons didn't fit. But I didn't alter that.
What I did do on the MG55 was I added D-rings to the side compression straps so that I could use small bungie cords to attach my snowshoes to the sides. The compression straps on the MG55 are long enough for carrying snowshoes but using them for that purpose negates the compression straps. So there is two D-rings on each of the four compression straps. I attached the snowshoes with small bungie cords and I haven't had a problem with them loosing up or falling off.
And the last one (for now) was when I turned Recreational snowshoes into All Terrain snowshoes. I started out with a pair of Tubbs Discovery snowshoes. They didn't have the full rotating toe cord and I found out the hard way that they didn't work good on anything steep. So I took the toe cord from a pair of Tubbs Sierra's and I put them on the Discovery snowshoes. Now they work great. They pivot 90 degrees and are great on steep terrain.
To check out some pictures, go to Altered Gear
4000'ers Journals of the White Mountains
