Friday, January 29, 2010

Decision 2010 - Snowshoe Edition

You're thinking this is some big thing. But it's not. It's probably not even the biggest decision I've made this month (though it might be).

I'm thinking about buying myself snow shoes. I think if I do, and stick them in the car with my skis, I'll use them the way I do my skis, which is fairly often and happily.

Here's one recommendation, which I can't find in my area: Denali A friend whose family member does ski patrol and snow rescue type stuff says they're great, and should work well for me. They're small and light, looks like. But they're not sold locally that I can find, so I'd have to do the internet purchase thing. (I'm an REI member, but there's no outlet near me. I don't want to drive 90 miles to go shopping.)

In the high techish area, these also seem to fit my needs: Tubbs Flex They flex, they're cool. They're available at a local medium box type store on sale, so about the same price as the ones before.

In the more traditional look area, but also seemingly appropriate to my needs: Tubbs Venture They're made by the same company as above, but an older sort of thing. Does that mean the new one is "untested" or that the old one has been surpassed. And really, truly, for my needs, would it matter one way or the other? They're available at a local bigger box store, not on sale, and more expensive. So probably out.

And finally, these are also fairly traditional ones: Atlas They're available at a truly local bike, ski, and stuff shop in the next town up the road, at about the price of the first two. It's the shop where I bought my skis, and I like them and their service.

All three companies seem to get good reviews on the web. All three seem to make good snowshoes, and all are comparable (basic snowshoeing needs covered). I'm not going up Everest (trust me on this), just goofing off in local parks, so I'm pretty sure whatever I get will be fine.

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Edited to add: I finally got over my indecision and decided any of them would be fine for my needs and ordered the red ones (the first ones)!

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