Faber snowshoes / Steger Mukluks

[TomD]

Anyone own or seen Faber Hybrid snowshoes? Couldn't find a hit using Search, so I suspect the answer is no, but asking anyway. I would be using them out here in CA in the Sierra where the snow tends to be wet and heavy and on moderately hilly terrain (no mountaineering).

Also I looked at old posts about Steger Mukluks-for those of you using them with snowshoes, what kind of bindings work well with them?

Thanks.

 

[chinooktrail]

I haven't been snowshoeing with my Steger Mukluks, but I would imagine they would work with either my old Tubbs or my new MSR bindings. I'd be a little concerned about how soft the soles are, and the abrasion from rubbing on the base of the snowshoe for a long time.
I do recall her telling me that they are really meant to only be worn with the right snow conditions. Very cold, dry snow. No slush and no rocks is what they are really made for walking on.
They do feel so much like slippers, it almost feels like you are 'cheating' by having such dry warm comfortable feet!

 

[TomD]

Thanks, that is the consensus I have gathered from different users. Steger does warn they aren't for wet conditions, but will take a bit of dampness if sprayed with a DWR.

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

Anyone own or seen Faber Hybrid snowshoes? Couldn't find a hit using Search, so I suspect the answer is no, but asking anyway. I would be using them out here in CA in the Sierra where the snow tends to be wet and heavy and on moderately hilly terrain (no mountaineering).

Thanks.

I must admit I'd never heard of them before this post. But from what I see here they are very impressive. http://www.costco.ca/Browse/ProductSet.aspx?Prodid=10318513&lang=en-CA

 

[peakbagger]

There used to be a line of snow shoes sold for many years marketed by Faber. They were traditional ash frame rawhide laced snbowshoes and were reportedly built on contract by various native tribes in Canada. They were definitely not high end. Usually they were for sale at ice fishing shops, department stores and Laverdieres Drug stores.
Like many other snowshoes of the era, the bindings were generally very difficult to use and always had to be readjusted as they were made out of leather. I think I have a pair that I bought when I was a boy scout in the early seventies. At some point I switched to a rubber fabric binding, unfortunately both shoes are warped so that when you wear them they point 10 degrees to the left. Probably good if I want to ascent a mountain counterclockwise but annoying for general use.

When Tubbs factory in vermont was winding down, they were offering traditional wood showshoes with their TD 91 binding. They looked like a good shoe but I expect they would get shredded the way that most folks use shoes these days.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

TomD - I've no experience with that brand of snowshoes, and peakbagger does raise some good points. I would offer this - if you do buy them, get them from Costco. In general, I've found that Costco does not sell junk - it's invariably of good quality. And, they have one of the best return policies going, and on their website they list the warranty period at 3 years. That should provide ample time to figure out if the binding system works, whether the crampon is aggressive enough, etc.

 

[TomD]

Thanks all. Faber makes everything from a modern shoe like a Tubbs or Atlas, to the hybrid like I'm looking at, to the all wood traditional shoes worn in Canada by the deep winter campers on wintertrekking.com, where I learned about them. You can see all of them on their website.

Ed-You must be in Canada. Costco in the US doesn't sell the Fabers, but I recognize the shoe from the Faber website. I wish they did, I have a Costco right down the street. Maybe I can ask about them. That shoe is one grade up from the ones I was looking at, but in the same Hybrid group.

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

Ed-You must be in Canada. Costco in the US doesn't sell the Fabers, but I recognize the shoe from the Faber website. I wish they did, I have a Costco right down the street. Maybe I can ask about them. That shoe is one grade up from the ones I was looking at, but in the same Hybrid group.

Nope, no Canada for me. I'm from Maine. I just Googled it out of curiosity and that website came up. I admit I didn't notice the CA at the end of the address. What you need is a Canadian cousin or someone you could work out a deal with.

 

[TomD]

Doh! I should have looked at your info under the picture. I may be able to find them on eBay, but you are right about Costco-they are great about taking stuff back if something goes wrong with it.

 

[spider solo]

Steger Mukluks

I wear the Steger Muklucks with Super A bindings, or with any lace up binding, such as the ones on the old Sherpa Snowshoes.
Other than that I wear them with a Lampwick binding which can be used, well most anytime you have a few feet of lampwicking around the house.

I use my mukluks most everyday this time of year, esp. with the deep snow. I slip them on to snowshoe out to the wood pile for splitting wood etc.

I don't use them that much for the mountains where I might want a hard shelled boots for kicking steps in icy conditions, but for a snowshoe through the forest or moderate terrain I go for the mukluks..same for sleeping out these past few days , they make easy off and easy to put on for those middle of the night "calls of nature".

The Steger mukluks are light, warm and dry. I have worn them through a few streams over the years, treating them with water repellent from time to time,
but no rainy days for them, they like snow.

Think I first learned about them in the Conovers book about winter traveling.