SHREW SHOE @ Kazoo

[Ron LaClair]

If you're looking for quality Traditional style snowshoes check out the Shrew booth at the Traditional Expo in Kalamazoo this month.

Clyde Risdon from Michigan is a Master Dog sled and snow shoe builder. Clyde is making these old style "Ojibwa" shoes for me. The "Ojibwa" is my  favorite style snowshoe. These are 12X58" and are rated for up to 290#.

  SHREW SHOE is branded on the cross bar to  officially make them part of the  Shrew line of equipment.    
Pray for snow      

This is Clyde with a pair of his "Ojibwa" shoes

   

[**DONOTDELETE**]

them look very nice Ron

[LONGHORN]

Nice shoes Ron,haven't seen those in a long time also.Reminds me of my late uncle,he use to make them years ago.
Serge

[Ray Lyon]

Your prayers got answered here up north "buddy".    

 

[dino]

Those are nice lookin' shoes!! I wish we would get more snow around here like the days gone by, then I could put them to some use.

[Tim Fishell]

Nice looking shoes Ron!!  I wish we had enough snow to get out and do some snow shoeing some time!!

[Ron LaClair]

I wish we had enough snow to get out and do some snow shoeing some time!!  

Tim, we don't seem to have those old fashion winters like we used to with snow up to your hip pocket but there's usually a few times during the winter when the snow's deep enough that snowshoes make it easier to navigate.

In 1983 I went on a longbow Bobcat hunt in upper Michigan with some members of the newly formed MLA. We chased bobcats with dogs from dawn to dark for two days on snowshoes. The snow was waist deep and impossible to get through except with our shoes. I recall at one point I dropped down in the snow over my waist when I went over a little pine tree that was completely covered with snow. It was an ordeal to get back up on my feet. At the time I was using a pair of Alaskan style shoes that I got from Bob Munger. They were the same shoes that Bob used when he hunted with Fred Bear in Alaska. I've still got those Snowshoes but they're retired now and hang on my wall.  

[last arrow]

I am glad to see some one is still making "traditional" snowshoes.  I have been thinking that they would no longer be availble since Iverson's closed down.  I guess traditional snowshoe manufacturing is going the same way as traditional bow making, generally small operations focused on the craft more than the relative profit.  That may be a good thing.

[Tim Fishell]

I know what you mean Ron!!  I can only remember one time being in the woods in waist deep snow.  I was Bowhunting the week between Christmas and New Years and we got hit with a pretty back lake effect snow storm over here.  When you seen deer sign is was a body print in the snow not just tracks.  Needless to say I didn't own a pair of snow shoes then so I pretty much stayed on the snow mobile trails.  It was a fun hunting experience though.

[lt-m-grow]

I love snowshoeing.  

Ron, What are you doing for bindings?

[Carcajou]

Ron~
That's awesome that you have the pair that Munger wore with Fred...Munger was quite a guy, and a great shot, who gained little popularity in the shadow of Fred.

[artvin]

Those are my favorites too.  I wore a pair out in Alaska the two seasons I trapped up there. You can really move in them once you are in condition.

Art
Cedar Ridge

[hunt it]

Ron,

Does Clyde make custom orders for anyone? If so could you give me his contact info. Yours are nice but I'm looking for some 64" I have several pairs but use 56'x10" the most. I borrowed a pair of 64" of a guy few years back and they were awesome in deep powder. He would not part with them and I have been looking for someone to make me some. When wolf hunting we get up to 5' and 6' of deep powder and the bigger the better.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I like the Ojibwa style shoes the BEST. That narrow "Shrew" snout really pokes between the weeds and sapplings and makes walking here in Michigan easier. Great job Ron! See you Saturday!!!

[Ron LaClair]

David, To answer your question, no Clyde doesn't do custom shoes. He may be able to make the Shrew Shoe a little wider but to make it longer isn't possible without making a new form.

Design in a snowshoe is an important factor to consider when it comes to performance just like with bows. I have a pair of custom shoes made for me by Iverson a few years ago. They are the Ojibwa style and are 13X65". They are a very heavy shoe, probably more than twice the weight of the SS, with a lot of up sweep at the toe. The toe starts the upturn right in front of the foot hole and is 12" from toe to ground. Clyde's Ojibwa shoe leaves more of the shoe on the surface before it's upturn to 7" from the toe to ground. The Ojibwa shoe although bigger doesn't give me the support that the Shrew Shoe does.

Snow shoe weight is also an important factor to consider. Clydes shoes are made from Hack Berry instead of the traditional Ash. Clyde tested both woods and found that Hack Berry is 20% tougher than ash and is 1/2 the weight. The webbing on the Shrew Shoe is poly-lace webbing.  Poly-lace looks like rawhide but is much stronger with less maintenance and "lighter" weight. With the Poly-lace it's possible to get a tighter for less sage and a tighter pattern for better flotation.  

   

Here's the huge Ojibwa snoeshoes.

   

[Steve O]

Ron,

How much and are you going to have the bindings with them?

[John C Keith]

Mr. LaClair:

You are about to get me into a whole lot of trouble.  My wife weaseled a peak at my grocery list for the Kzoo show this morning.  Even with the outside temperature on the rise, the air inside was very cold.  Now you go and throw this in my face...      

[Ron LaClair]

Steve, Randy from Iron Mountain is coming down and he's bringing two different sets of bindings with him for the two pairs of shoes that I have. One is the Bob Macky binding which is a stretch on rubber and the other is a leather binding that buckles over the toe and behind the heel . I don't know what the price tag on them will be.

John, don't forget to tell your wife that we take Credit Cards, maybe that'll help...  

[Ron LaClair]

Here's the big 13X65" Iverson shoe next to a 12X58" Shrew Shoe. Notice how much upturn on the big shoe as compared to the smaller one. The smaller shoe actually has more of the shoe on the surface up front and nearly as much on the rear of the shoe. Also on the Iverson shoe the rear tip is 14" behind the webbing, on the Shrew Shoe it's 7"

Better design on the Shrew Shoe IMO.

   

[Orion]

Yep, I'd vote for the shrew design.  I have a pair of Ojibwas just like them.  Bought them quite a few years ago from a fella in northern Wisconsin.  Can't remember his name, but he called his operation and thus, the name on the shoes "Spyglass".  My brother has Iversons.  Like mine better.  But it's sort of like boats and pickups.  Any boat or pick up is better than none.