Tubbs Wilderness Snowshoes are high-flotation tubular snowshoes outfitted with aggressive crampons, an easy-to-use binding system, and a 16-degree heel bar known as a televator. Available in 25″, 30″ and 36″ lengths, they’re also surprisingly affordable. The Wilderness has a classic teardrop shape that’s wider in the front and narrower in the rear, which is advantageous when breaking trail in fluffy powder because there is more flotation up front. However, they can be awkward to use on trails that have already been broken out since they’re substantially wider than rectangular snowshoes, like those from MSR.
- Frame: Tubular
- Gender: Men’s (Women’s also available)
- Length: 30″ (36″ and 25″ also available)
- Width at Front: 9.5″
- Weight: 4 lbs 15.4 oz/pair
- Crampons: front and rear
- Price $219
I have been using MSR snowshoes for nearly 15 years, primarily in New Hampshire, where the snow is usually less than one or two feet deep and quite dense, requiring little flotation. So I was caught off-guard when snowshoeing this winter in Vermont (near the New York border), where the snow is much drier, fluffier, and much deeper than I was used to.
This fact bit me hard on a recent attempted hike up two mountain peaks (Mt Bread Loaf and Mt Wilson) where I had to turn around after post-holing for 5 hours in waist-deep snow despite wearing snowshoes. I clearly needed more flotation than my 22″ MSR Evo Ascents provided and subsequently upgraded to a 30″ Tubbs Wilderness Snowshoe, which has a much larger surface area. These new snowshoes have made a huge difference in my ability to hike through deep powder, although it took a few miles to acclimate to them since they’re 2″ wider than my MSRs, heavier, and more challenging to strap to the outside of a backpack.
The Tubbs Wilderness Snowshoes are backcountry snowshoes with aggressive crampons under the ball of the foot and below the heel, under the televator bar. They have a simple front binding with a foot-specific right and left boot fit that is large enough to accommodate my 400g insulated Oboz Bridger winter hiking boots with no problems. The binding has two canvas straps on either side that you pull taut to secure the front and a yellow pull strap to release it. The canvas straps are awkward to pull tight with gloves on, but the pull strap is easy to release. One nice thing about this binding is that it limits how far forward you can insert your boot, ideally positioning the ball of your foot over the front crampon for maximum traction. The back of your boot is held in place with a simple strap and a buckle with a pin that slots into holes in the strap. It’s a straightforward and reliable binding that works well.
These Tubbs Wilderness Snowshoes have a heel bar you can flip up when climbing hills. It elevates your heel, reducing the tension and stretch imposed on your calf muscle when snowshoeing up an incline while directing the force of your heel onto the rear crampon for added traction. I used to like this snowshoe feature a lot (on other snowshoes), but I rarely use it anymore because it hurts my knees when deployed. I have enough hamstring and quad strength that I don’t need it, but it’s a standard feature on many backcountry snowshoes and worth looking for if you climb mountains and have younger knees.
These 30″ Tubbs Wilderness Snowshoes are wider in the forefoot than any snowshoes I’ve ever used previously, including the 30″ Atlas Snowshoes I cut my teeth on decades ago. When hiking along a trail that’s already broken out, this takes some adjustment, requiring a slightly longer stride so you don’t step on your own snowshoes. They are also heavier than snowshoes with a smaller surface area, although one that’s easy to acclimate to since they provide so much more flotation.
The most significant adjustment I’ve encountered is in figuring out how to attach such a large snowshoe to my winter pack(s) since they’re much too wide to be secured under side compression straps. These Tubbs stack flat, however, since the binding isn’t very bulky, making them easy to lash to the front of my winter pack with cord or under a floating top lid or Y-strap. See How to Attach Snowshoes to a Backpack for tips on how to do this.
Recommendation
Tubbs Wilderness Snowshoes are high-flotation teardrop-shaped snowshoes available in 25″, 30″, and 36″ lengths that are good for snowshoeing in deep, powdery snow. They’re surprisingly well-featured and low-priced, with aggressive crampons, a heel bar, and an easy-to-use binding system. While they take some adjustment to get used to if you’re used to narrower snowshoes for snowshoeing on packed trails, you’ll be glad you upgraded to a higher-flotation snowshoe when the snow gets deeper and you need to break out less frequented trails or off-trail routes. Shop around. I found these snowshoes at a significant discount ($135/pair) and consider them a great addition to my winter gear.
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