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Martin Nelisse
martin@nelisse.org
Pro's (do
not change or at least do not remove):
Con's (need
some changes to make the snowshoe better):
Some
comments and suggestions from my side for solutions to the problems
The rubber bands tend to flap around
Although it
might be seen as a minor annoyance, during walking and especially in the high
mountains with lots of wind, the rubber bands tend to flap around.
A solution
for the loose ends could be to put a small plastic holder on the bands, so one
can fold back the band after it has gone through the metal buckle and stick it
below this holder (just like the band holders on some of the backpacks).
The rubber bands can disconnect during walking
It happened
to me once that during walking, I lost one of the rubber bands (without
actually noticing it myself).
A solution
to prevent disconnection of the bands from the plastic buckle, is to replace
the plastic buckle by an identical but metal buckle and equip this metal buckle
with an additional pin just like the existing metal buckle. This way one can
push this pin through one of the holes in the band, to prevent the band from
slipping through the buckle.
The Saber teeth are hard to tighten in case
they come loose
It happened
to me two times that I lost a Saber tooth during a hike in steep and rocky
terrain.
A good
solution to make it easier to tighten the Saber teeth could be to give the
Saber teeth 2 flat spot, to facilitate the use of a wrench (and a Philips
screwdriver) to fasten the Saber teeth. An easier and cheaper solution could be
to use a glue (like lock-tight) to make it less likely that the Saber teeth
comes loose during the walking, this would in fact prevent the whole thing from
happening.
The size of the opening in the deck platform is
not big enough for all shoes
For some
model of shoes the opening in the deck platform is not big enough and causes
wear and tear on the shoes, deck platform and binding. This is especially the
case with some shoes which are already relatively long and wide (e.g. in my
case: 'Meindl Perfect', US size 11).
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The damage
on the nose of the shoes particularly happens when one has to place ones shoes
to the very front of the snowshoe, in order to be able to place the heel on the
heel lifter. When using leather shoes, the leather is severely damaged by
regularly usage of the snowshoes.
The damage
on the sides cased by usage of wide shoes happens both on the binding and the
deck platform.
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A solution
could be to change the size and layout of the opening in the deck platform, eg
an extension to the front and wider near the rotation axis.
The place of the heel lifter does not fit all
shoes equally well
For the
smaller shoe sizes, the heel lifter hits the heel at the very end of the sole
of the shoe, for even smaller sizes it might be the case that one cannot use
the heel lifters at all, since the heel of the shoe might end before the point
where the heel lifter is placed in the vertical position. For the larger shoe
sizes, the heel lifter hits the heel at the very beginning of the sole of the
shoe, for even larger sizes it is the case that one cannot use the heel lifters
optimally, since the heel lifter does not hit the heel of the boot (but the
lower middle section of the sole).
A simple
solution for this problem could be to simply extend the footplate to a length
that it always reaches the point where the heel lifter is in its vertical
position.
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The front of the shoe sometimes hits the nose
of the snowshoe
During
walking the shoe sometimes moves slowly forward in the binding. At some point
in time the nose of the show will hit the front of the snowshoe and the nose of
the shoe gets damaged. Particularly this will happen when one has to place ones
shoes to the very front of the snowshoe, in order to be able to place the heel
on the heel lifter.
A solution
could be to equip the front of the footplate with a small rim, so that the shoe
will not be able to move over this most forward position. This would even
facilitate the positioning of the shoe on the snowshoe when it is put on.
The choice and design of the plastic to go
around the shoe is not optimal
The early
MSR Denali Ascent models used a hard plastic to hold the shoe. Especially in
the cold, this plastic was not flexible enough to hold the shoe in a tight fit.
Furthermore eventually the plastic showed cracks and broke down. The new more
flexible plastic used on the newer MSR Denali Ascent models is better, but I
think not resistant enough for normal wear and tear.
While
walking my shoes tend to slowly move forward in the binding, causing the nose
of my shoes to hit the decking. Furthermore while walking, my shoes tends to
rotate slightly after fixation, which causes additional wear on the black
plastic. On the places were the plastic bends on the edges of the sole of the
shoe, the plastic shows tears and even some holes (see also other point).
A solution
could be to use a flexible but stronger material, but maybe an improved design
of the binding with a more tight fit could provide a better fixation of the shoe
and thereby less wear and tear issues.
The metal of the footplate and crampons is not
strong enough
On my MSR
Denali Ascent after approx. 4 weeks of snowshoeing a 0.5 inch long crack
appeared in the metal plate, close to the point of the rotation axis.
A solution
would be to use a stronger material.
The heel lifter are hard to put up (especially
with gloves)
Even the
new rubber flap which is connected to the heel lifter of the newer MSR Denali
Ascent models does not help much (it tends to move to the sides).
An easy
solution would be to extend the rectangular hole in the grey plastic just
behind the heel lifter, to under the heel lifter. In that case it is easy to
put ones fingers in the hole and pull the heel lifter up. Maybe this interferes
with the current fixing of the flotation tails, in that case maybe to separate
holes can be used.
PS:
I heard
similar complaints about putting down the heel lifters. I use the 2 circular
holes for this purpose, I stick one of my ski poles in one of the holes and
pushes it backwards, as a result the heel lifter is put back to its low
position. So keep the two holes in place.
The locking positions of the heel lifters tend
to deform
The locking
holes of the heel lifters tend to deform or wear out. This means that the heel
lifters will reach a less vertical position and in time will not be able to
provide ample heel lift.
A solution
would be to use a shell of harder plastic or better metal in the locking
positions of the heel lifters at the end of the grooves in the grey plastic.
The opening angle of the snowshoe is a bit too
large (when doing fast downhill runs)
The angle
between the shoe and the snowshoe which you can make when it is totally opened
is controlled by the form of the metal footplate at the point of its rotation
axis.
An easy
solution would be to limit this angle a bit further by adapting the form of the
current end stop position on the metal footplate.
