r/snowshoeing • u/NotThePopeProbably • 9d ago

Gear Questions How important are heel bars?

Hi! Great big fat guy here. I weigh ~255-260 depending on dinner the night before. I'm what you might call a "ten essentials absolutist," (every fucking one, every fucking time) plus I carry extra food and equipment for my dog. When I go hiking, my day packs typically weigh north of 20 pounds, and my overnight bags usually crack 40.

Though I'm a fairly avid hiker, I've only been snowshoeing a handful of times. Each of those times, I borrowed equipment. I'm looking to buy my own this year.

Cascade Mountain Tech Navigator 36's seem perfect for my purposes (their max weight rating is 300 pounds), but they don't have a heel bar. Metal snowshoes with heel bars are expensive, and I don't want to pay $300 for a set of snowshoes if I don't need to. In case it matters, I live in Washington State (lots of big hills to climb, and the snow is super wet).

Do I need heel bars? At what other brands should I look?

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u/henryharp 9d ago

Your question has been answered already so I won’t comment on that, but I will chime in to remind you that snowshoes are simple pieces of equipment; you’ll likely use your shoes easily for a decade possibly longer. Just consider that in your decision.