Backpacking Background:
I am from and live in Maine. I have been hiking, backpacking, and canoe camping for over 45 years. 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 have been using snowshoes most of my life. 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 L. L. Bean White Mountain snowshoes as a sort of all-around utility snowshoe. For the duration of this test I have 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:

Manufacturer:	Redfeather
Web Page URL:	http://www.redfeather.com/
Model	H 36
Year Manufactured:	2003
Listed Weight	4.7 lbs (1.7 kg)*
Weight as Delivered:	4.8 lbs (2.17 kg)

*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 have be watching to see if the decking stretches and loosens more in this area. The deck material is wrapped 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:
Redfeather's 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 heel plate, heel 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 Phillips 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 heel plate that is bolted to the heel cleat (heel plate, decking material, heel cleat) with the Phillips 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.

Final Report:

After the Field Report, we didn't get any major snowstorms. We experienced numerous small storms in the 4 in (10 cm) to 6 in (15 cm) of snow range, but nothing significant. The temperature stayed below freezing, so we had good snow cover throughout the winter. Since the snow stayed densely packed, this winter was ideal for me to test the RedFeather Hike 36 snowshoes. I was able to use the Hike 36 snowshoes on every outing until spring. I used them for my daily walks on my 2-mile (3 km) winter snowshoe walk loop, on weekly overnights and several long weekend outings. I have been able to hike over 300 miles (500 km) using the RedFeather Hike 36 snowshoes.

For this report I have carefully inspected the Hike 36 snowshoes, the results of the inspection and comments are as follows:

Frame:
Careful Inspection of the frames revealed several minor scratches but no significant signs of wear or damage. The frames do not appear to be bent or sprung out-of-shape.

Decking:
There are two small skiff marks visible on the bottom of the right snowshoe, but no signs of cracking or tears. The decking doesn't appear to have stretched significantly. Unfortunately snow conditions (hard pack snow) didn't provide an opportunity to see if stretching of the deck material is an issue.

Bindings:
There are no signs of excessive wear or damage visible on the bindings. The bindings are adequate, but the more I used them the more they annoyed me. The lack of stiffness in the heel strap really annoys me. I have to remove my mittens and fuss with it (using both hands) every time I put the snowshoes on or take them off. Frankly, I would rather use harnesses with old-fashioned leather heel straps. I still feel that the Hike 36 toe-in tracking problem may be caused by the binding configuration, but can’t prove it.

The stainless steel cleats:
The stainless cleats show no signs of wear or bending. While I like that the cleats are made of stainless steal, I don't feel that they are adequate. Even on packed icy snow, walking on the RedFeather Hike 36 snowshoes was a lot like having a child's plastic roll up toboggan strapped to each foot. I slipped frequently. The toe cleat only grips well going down hill, but it frequently slips. When going uphill, I have to get up on my toes to get the toe cleat to bite in, which takes the weight off the heel cleat rendering them ineffective.

Live Action Hinge:
Inspection of the Live Action Hinge revealed no signs of wear or damage. After over 300 miles (500 km), I see no advantage to the Live Action Hinge. In my opinion, the hinge is placed too far toward the rear of the snowshoe, which requires the user to have to lift more snowshoe weight than necessary. I noticed early in the test that I seemed to tire sooner when using the RedFeather Hike 36 snowshoes than I did using some of my other snowshoes. I decided to try hiking with a Hike 36 on one foot and a snowshoe of similar (but heavier) design, from a different manufacturer, on the other foot. I tried this during several different outings alternating feet, and the result was always the same. The leg with the lighter Hike 36 tired more quickly that the other leg. Of course the less efficient cleats on the Hike 36 may have been a contributing factor, but it is my opinion that the pivot point of the Hike 36's Live Action Hinge should be forward of its current position.

Final Thoughts:

I will not be using the RedFeather Hike 36 snowshoes as a primary snowshoe in the future. The lack of traction provided by the cleats is a significant issue for me and I tire sooner when using the Hike 36 snowshoes. I will either donate them to a Scout Troop or keep them to carry in the car or truck during the winter for emergencies.

Field Information:

This test took place in western Maine at elevations from 600 feet (125 m) to about 2800 feet (850 m). Temperature ranged from 30 F (-1 C) to -29 F (-34 C). Snow depth varied from about 2 feet (.6 m) to 6 feet (1.8 m). The snow types I experienced were hard packed, packed groomed snow, frozen snow, cornmeal, and deep powder.

I would like to thank RedFeather and BGT for the opportunity to participate in this test.

Read more reviews of Redfeather gear
Read more gear reviews by Clifford R. Haynes

Long Term Report

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