Reviews > Snow Gear > Snowshoes > Redfeather Hike Snowshoes > Clifford R Haynes > Initial Report

RedFeather
Hike Snowshoes
Initial Report
12/5/2003

Personal Stats:

Backpacking Background:
I am from and live in Maine. I have been hiking, backpacking, and canoe camping for over 45 years. I am also an assistant scout master; I average 2 to 3 days a week in the woods year round.

Over the years I've used or tried a variety of different gear. When I joined scouts as a boy, most of the boys my age didn't have backpacking gear, and their families didn't have money enough to buy it. So we had great fun making our own gear.

I can't really say that I have a backpacking style. I take what I need or want, depending upon what I plan to do on the outing. Even before my knees became a problem, I could never see being in a big rush. It is my opinion that camping is part of backpacking, and should be enjoyed at least as much as the hiking. In areas where there is a lot of hiker traffic, I tend to pack heavier in order to minimize impact. I just like being out in the woods, and exploring.

I got my first pair of snowshoes for Christmas when I was 4 years old. They were an old pair of army surplus crust shoes (very small bearpaw snowshoes). That first winter I had great fun in the back yard on my snowshoes hunting pretend rabbits with my wooden rifle. I couldn't walk very far because my legs wouldn't spread far enough. As the winters passed I grew into my snowshoes, and got even more enjoyment from them. By the time I was 11 and entering scouts, I had outgrown my snowshoes for all but crust and hardpack conditions. Since I didn't have the money to buy a bigger pair, I managed to talk an old fellow that made his living making snowshoes, pack baskets, and trapping, into teaching me how to make my own snowshoes. By the next year, I had a fine pair of snowshoes that are still in use today. Over the years I have used about every style of snowshoe there is, including survival brush snowshoes. In my opinion there is no such thing as the perfect all-around snowshoe. You either have to wait until the conditions are favorable for the snowshoes you have, or you need several pairs and use the pair that matches the conditions. My approach to the problem is multiple pairs of snowshoes. My current preferences are: wood frame rawhide lace 48" (1.22 m) Green Mountain style for bushwhacking and light backpacking, 48" (1.22 m) Michigan style for heavy work, Alaskan (Pickerel) style for open country trail breaking, and the L. L. Bean White Mountain snowshoes as a sort of all-around utility snowshoe. For the duration of this test I will be replacing my White Mountain snowshoes with the Redfeather Hike 36 snowshoes.

I generally prefer not to wear a backpack when snowshoeing. I prefer a fanny pack for essentials and if I'm camping I carry my gear in a Pulk (modified Paris Expedition sled).

Product Information:

*Redfeather's web site lists the weight as 1.7 kg, but the converted weight should be 2.13 kg.

Product Description:
The Redfeather Hike series are Green Mountain style snowshoes (an elongated oval shape, longer and narrower that bearpaws), with a metal frame, plastic decking, and plastic / nylon webbing bindings with metal cleats.

Frame:
The frame of the Redfeather Hike snowshoe is made of what appears to be 0.75" (1.9 cm) outside diameter aluminum tubing. The Hike 36 model snowshoes are 35.75" (90.8 cm) long. The widest point, at the base of the upturned toe is 9.5" (24.2 cm). They taper to a width of 7.125" (18.1 cm), at the point where the turn for the round tail starts. The bottom of each frame has four holes drilled in them for rivets. Two in the tail for anchoring the decking material and two (one on each side of the frame) where the Live Action Hinge is riveted to the aluminum frame. 

Decking:
The deck material is a black laminated plastic fabric about 0.031" (0.78 mm) thick. The decking appears to be quite stretchy, and isn't very tight in the binding area. I will be watching to see if the decking stretches and loosens more in this area. The deck material is wrapper around the tubing frame and is riveted back to itself. The decking is only riveted directly to the tubing frame at the tail where there are two rivets into the frame.

Binding:
Redfeathers All Terrain Binding (ATB) consists of a plastic plate that the ball of the foot rests on, a butterfly shaped piece of flexible plastic, three nylon web straps, a plastic heal plate, heal and toe stainless steel cleats. The butterfly shaped piece of flexible plastic (the wings of the binding) is sandwiched between the plastic foot plate and the live action hinge. The three web straps are attached to the wings of the binding. One strap crosses the top of the toes and is fastened with a plastic buckle. The second strap attaches to the forward portion of the wings and crosses to a plastic loop on the rear wing and then across the foot at the front of the ankle and into another plastic buckle. These two straps form a "Z" across the top of the foot. The third strap is attached to the back wing and passes around the back of the heel to a third buckle. The binding is attached to the Live Action Hinge with four Philips bolts and lock nuts. The two front bolts pass through the foot plate, the butterfly shaped wings of the binging, the Live Action Hinge, the decking material, and the stainless steel toe cleat. The bindings also have a plastic hee plate that is bolted to the heel cleat (heel plate, decking material, heel cleat) with the Philips bolts and lock nuts.

The stainless steel cleats are made of sheet metal about 0.046" (1.16 mm) thick. The bends are crimped (dimpled) such that the bend is stiffened, hopefully this will keep the cleats from flattening out with use. The toe cleat has four teeth which are about 1.625" (4 cm) long across the front and a tooth on each side about 1.125" (2.9 cm) long that is perpendicular to the front teeth. The heel cleat's teeth form sort of an open "V" with the narrow end toward the real of the snowshoe. There are three teeth on each side which are about 1" (2.5 cm) tall.

The Live Action Hinge is made of a rubber-like composite material, about 0.125" (3.2 mm) thick. It is essentially a 1.375" belt that crosses the top of the decking, wraps around the frame and is riveted to itself. There is also one rivet on each side into the bottom of the aluminum frame, which keep the hinge from sliding on the frame. In the middle of the top of the belt, a tongue (or flap) extends under the foot plate of the binding. The hinge action of the binding is provided by the twisting of the Live Action Hinge. 

Initial Report:

The Redfeather Hike 36 snowshoes arrived on 11/29/2003. They were packaged in a plastic bag inside a cardboard box. The snowshoes were held together with two plastic wire ties (cleats of the top shoe nested in the binding of the bottom shoe). There was a tag attached to the top shoe's binding which provides basic information about the Redfeather Hike series of snowshoes. After separating the shoes I inspected them for damage. I found no serious damage from shipping, but the deck material (of the bottom snowshoe) has a scuff mark where the aluminum tail of the top shoe rubbed it. This is just cosmetic, and in my opinion does not weaken the deck material. While inspecting for damage I noticed quite a bit of aluminum filings on the decking, presumable the result of inadequate cleaning after drilling and riveting the deck material to the frame. A quick wipe down with a piece of paper towel removed the filings. The workmanship appears to be adequate, all of the rivets are properly set, and there are no puckers in the decking. A couple of the rivet holes in the deck material appear to have stretched (elongated). The marks that were made in the decking while setting the rivets has pulled out from under the rivets backing washer. While this may indicate that the rivet wasn't tight enough allowing the hole to elongate, it isn't apparent at this point that this is actually the case. I will be watching these points closely as the test progresses.

Redfeather also included a "snowshoeing guide" between the snowshoes which provides a brief outline on how to snowshoe, safety precautions, product line descriptions, an accessory list, and brief warranty information. While this is certainly not an in-depth guide, it does contain helpful information for a person new to snowshoeing. My main comment concerning the guide is that the instructions for adjusting the bindings should be more prominent and clearly labeled. The instructions are tacked onto the end of the available binding descriptions (in italics after the description of the Kids Binding). These instructions, at first, appeared to be for adjustment of the Kids Bindings.

Unfortunately we don't have enough snow yet to actually try out the Hike 36 snowshoes. I have tried adjusting the bindings for my (size 12) Sorrel Packs and LL Bean Hunting boots. The bindings fit both boots well and were easy to adjust. I'm looking forward to getting them out in the snow.

Field Information:

As soon as we get more snow, I will be using the Redfeather Hike 36 snowshoes backpacking and camping in western and northern Maine. I plan to do some hiking on the A.T., but they will see the most use bushwhacking cross country. Elevations run from sea level to 4000ish feet (1219 m). During the winter I prefer to stay below tree line, because there is generally more to see and the weather is more predictable. During this test I expect average temperatures to be between 10 F (-12 C) and 50 F (10 C), with occasional highs and lows outside that range. I expect to see snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain for precipitation (but hopefully mostly snow) during the test period. Most winters snow on the ground averages from 2 (0.6 m) to 4 (1.2 m) feet (with more in the woods). Since these snowshoes are designed for recreational hiking and casual walking, I don't plan to carry more than a fanny pack. When camping, I will be carrying my gear on a Pulk (modified Paris Expedition sled).

Test Plan:
As I mentioned earlier I plan to replace my LL Bean "Tubbs" with the Redfeather Hike 36 snowshoes. Due to problems my knees, I have to walk daily. I am fortunate to live where I can move those daily walks off the street and onto the snowmobile trails. I always use snowshoes with cleats when hiking the snowmobile trails, so the Hikes will see almost daily use. I normally get out for at least an overnight every week and plan to use the Redfeather Hikes on these outings whenever conditions allow it, when conditions require another pair of shoes, the Hikes will be in the sled ready for when they can be used. If the weather cooperates we have several multi-night outings planned and I will be using the Hikes on these outings also.

Things I'll be looking at:

• I'll be using the Redfeather Hikes on day hikes on snowmobile trails where I can observe how well the cleats work. I'm interested in durability and how well they grip.
• I'll be closely observing the rivet holes that appear to have elongated, to determine if they have actually elongated and continue to stretch.
•  Redfeather recommends the Hike 36 snowshoes for weights greater than 220 lbs (100 kg). I intend to find out if they are actually adequate for this much weight. I plan to use these snowshoes hiking in the woods and not on a packed groomed trail at a park or ski area.
• How well will the decking material stand up? It appears to be quite stretchy, will it stretch out of shape and get baggy?

Reviews > Snow Gear > Snowshoes > Redfeather Hike Snowshoes > Clifford R Haynes > Initial Report