Making snowshoes 'snow proof' ?

[Tom Rankin]

Has anyone ever tried to 'slick' their snowshoes with anything to help them shed water/snow? This weekend, it might get above freezing, and with a little sun, we could all be slogging thru a lot of wet, heavy snow!

I'm thinking of several ideas:

'Pam' spray?

WD40?

Waterproof glop that we use on our boots?

Any other suggestions?

 

[sli74]

I probably wouldn't make it slick or oily because you are likely to jepordize some other aspect of the snowshoes. I just let my snowshoes get wet, it doesn't seem to affect anything else like my boots and socks, etc.

sli74

 

[WildPeaks]

Ask Spider Solo about Pam. I remember him telling of his trip to Isolation & he couldn't figure out what the hissing sound was in his pack. The cover to the Pam came off & was spraying everything but his snowshoes.
I wouldn't use WD40. The smell would drive me crazy.
Maybe silicone or teflon the metal crampon only??

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Anything you add Tom will simply wash/wear off in a hurry - it's the nature of the sport. I've never heard of anything that wasn't more trouble than it was worth. Teflon would probably work for awhile, but it's not very durable.

 

[Oldsmores]

Be careful with WD40, it contains a solvent that might attack bindings, plastic fittings, neoprene decks, etc.

 

[Pete_Hickey]

It's only an issue with fresh warm snow. If the snow is somewhat transformed (larger crystals) it won't stick.

 

[Jay H]

Any other suggestions?

Read this thread!

Jay

 

[Tom Rankin]

Read this thread!

Jay

Must have missed that one! Thanks!

 

[forestgnome]

Interesting thread. I'll try a few of these ideas this spring.

Skis and snowboards don't hold snow on the bottom. What about putting that material on the bottom of a snowshoe binding? Isn't it called P-tech, or something like that? I've thought of delaminating an old snowboard or ski and cutting a couple pieces to fit on the metal crampon part of the snowshoes, which is the only place snow seems to ball up. I suspect the problem has something to do with steel.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Interesting thread. I'll try a few of these ideas this spring.

Skis and snowboards don't hold snow on the bottom. What about putting that material on the bottom of a snowshoe binding? Isn't it called P-tech, or something like that? I've thought of delaminating an old snowboard or ski and cutting a couple pieces to fit on the metal crampon part of the snowshoes, which is the only place snow seems to ball up. I suspect the problem has something to do with steel.

P-Tex. They make 'candles' out of it for filling in minor blemishes, aka "field structure" ;-) The candle might be the easier route...

Tim

 

[Pete_Hickey]

Skis and snowboards don't hold snow on the bottom.

This will happen to "Waxless" skis when the snow is fresh (clean) and it is warm (but not TOO warm). It happens because the waxless area us usually not waxed, and the snow will stick to the bare P-Tex. Waxless skis do benefit from being waxed from time to time. There is a bit of an ambiguity in their name. They are really wax-less (as opposed to wax-more), not waxless meaning no wax.

 

[DougPaul]

Isn't it called P-tech, or something like that? I've thought of delaminating an old snowboard or ski and cutting a couple pieces to fit on the metal crampon part of the snowshoes, which is the only place snow seems to ball up. I suspect the problem has something to do with steel.

Wet snow sticks to several materials. Steel is one of them.

P-Tex is a form of polyethlene. It will not rub on the crampon. Try rubbing on parrafin, candle wax, or hard ski wax. A soft wax might also work (eg bowling alley or car).

Come to think of it, there are some liquid preparations for waxless skis. One of the might help and be easy to apply.

Any of the above might reduce traction in other snow conditions, so keep it off the rest of the snowshoe.

Doug

 

[una_dogger]

I would think that WD40 isn't very eco-friendly.

The smell and taste of Pam might guide a post hibernation bear right to you.

Slogging heavy snow sucks. My MSRs can really pick up HUGE snowballs.

Please let us know what you find.

 

[forestgnome]

Wet snow sticks to several materials. Steel is one of them.

P-Tex is a form of polyethlene. It will not rub on the crampon. Try rubbing on parrafin, candle wax, or hard ski wax. A soft wax might also work (eg bowling or car.Doug

Hope you're healing well Sorry, but is polyethlene plastic or wax? Sounds like plastic. My idea is to cut a piece of ski/snowboard and attach it to the snowshoe crampon, so that material would be what hits the snow, instead of steel. I would then wax it with the appropriate wax, using an iron to melt it on just as I do with my snowboard. I envision delaminating the board and using only the bottom layer, if it is possible.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

P-tex is plastic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-Tex

Tim

 

[DougPaul]

P-tex is plastic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-Tex

Tim is correct.

Polyethylene might be melted onto metal, but I'll bet it would be abraded off the crampon before long.

One trick that some have tried with traditional boot crampons is to "step" the crampon through a flat sheet of plastic and then trim the edges and attach them to the crampon frame (tape?). This is supposed to protect the frame while leaving the points exposed. Tried it once, not sure it worked very well. Probably didn't last very long either.


There is the other traditional method of dealing with this problem--leave your snowshoes in the car if you suspect that the snow will be sticky. <ducks and runs for cover> See threads on postholing for further advice...

Doug

 

[dclynch]

Antibot

It sounds to me that this technique makes an antibot for the snowshoe crampon.

 

[DougPaul]

It sounds to me that this technique makes an antibot for the snowshoe crampon.

The antibott is recent commercial product, the technique that I described has been around for at least 30 years. And yes, they are similar.

Most boot crampons consist of a metal frame with narrow points, not all snowshoe crampons follow this design and this technique may not be applicable.

Doug

 

[Pete_Hickey]

One thing that people(*) with waxless skis use, to prevent snow buildup, is Pledge furniture polish. A lot better than using WD-40 or an oil based thing. Plus! It has that fresh lemon-y smell!!! Even more! If you hike with a can of Pledge, you could use it to polish one of those dirty summit signs.

(*) People too cheap to purchase real ski wax made for the purpose.