How to Make Wooden Snow Shoes
If you can hike, you can snowshoe. Snowshoeing is an inexpensive and fun ways to get outdoors and off the track in winter. It's great exercise, and you don't have to worry about sinking to your waist in snow. Snowshoes today are largely made of high-tech materials such as aluminum and nylon, but traditional, Indian-style snowshoes make an interesting project.
Things You'll Need
- Hickory or spruce sapling
- Leather or plastic cord
- Leather or plastic webbing
- Plywood pattern
- Knife
- Wood wedges
Instructions
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1
Wooden snowshoes vary in shape from a bear paw to an oval to a bow shape, depending on which tribe or group originated the design. Here we describe a bow shape, the easiest to make. The size of the frame should be about 12 x 42 inches for a 100- to 150-pound person and about 2 inches bigger each way for a 150- to 200-pound person.
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2
Choose a long flexible sapling of straight grain about 6 inches in diameter and 10 feet long. The sapling will be stronger if it is drooping and cut in late summer. In northern climates, look for white spruce; further south, select a hickory or birch sapling. Split the sapling lengthwise by scoring with a knife and using steel wood wedges. Ideally, let the wood air dry for several weeks because green wood might shrink.
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3
To bend the seasoned sapling, steam it and wrap it around the perimeter of a plywood pattern you have prepared. Your snowshoe will be sized as mentioned in Step 1 and an oval shape. Make an oval shape to the size you want, slightly squashing or taperinging the oval toward the rear of the snowshoe. The two ends of the sapling will come together to form a tail. To steam the wood, wrap it in rags and scald it repeatedly with boiling water until the fibers soften and become flexible. Then wrap the sapling around the edge of the plywood form, starting at the head and moving back toward the tail. Allow the two ends of the sapling to come together, forming a "tail" which juts from the rear of the snowshoe. Use a shear lashing and clove hitch to bind the tail.
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4
As you bend the wood, place horizontal braces or spreaders in three equidistant places to hold the snowshoe's shape These same spreaders have to support the toe and heel of your boot, so experiment with the placement. Bind the braces and the tail using traditional square lashings. Thongs of buckskin or caribou leather are most authentic, but you can use nylon cord, wire or even screws to hold your snowshoes together.
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5
To keep the snowshoe from sinking in the snow, fill the interior of the shoe with crisscross webbing, but don't make it too heavy. Reinforce an area around the toe of the boot. In the field, fasten the boot to the snowshoe with leather cord (leather cord is known as a "thong"). Pass one cord over the toe of the boot to hold it down to the frontmost spreader. From the same spreader, pass another set of thongs around the heel of the boot. If tied properly, the toe of the boot will be held firmly to the snowshoe, while the heel will be able to lift to provide comfortable movement.
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Tips & Warnings
Coat wooden snowshoes with varnish once every season or two, and they can last for years.
