How to Make Your Own Snowshoes

Snowshoes use a webbed material fastened to a frame to make walking in deep snow easier. The shoe keeps you from sinking into the snow so you use less energy. Traditionally they were made from bent wood, animal skins and sinew. Modern high-tech snowshoes are made from lightweight aluminum and rubber and allow for an easier range of motion. If you find yourself stuck in the woods after a snowstorm, use this easy method to make your own snowshoes.

Things You'll Need

  • Knife
  • Rope, twine or other cord
  • Branches
  • Twigs
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Instructions

    • 1

      Cut down two or three small trees with branches. The bole (lower trunk) should not be more than 2 inches around. Try to find a supple, green wood that will bend without snapping. Test the sapling by bending it toward the ground to see if it is likely to snap when formed into a loop.

    • 2

      Strip the branches off the tree. Cut about a 4-foot length of the narrow trunk. The size of the snowshoe depends on your weight. A 200-lb. person would use snowshoes that are about 15 inches wide and 2 feet long. Adjust the length of the cut trunk accordingly.

    • 3

      Bend the trunk into a circle or oval. Tie the ends together. Loop the cord around the ends, forming an X shape. Then loop the cord around the center of the X. Test to make sure the ends won't come undone and redo the rope if necessary.

    • 4

      Add cross pieces. Tie on one branch where your foot will rest on the snowshoe, then two more spaced evenly toward the rear of the snowshoe.

    • 5

      Create a webbing by weaving smaller branches through the three crosspieces until there are enough branches to hold each other in place.

    • 6

      Make bindings by putting the ball of your foot on the main crosspiece and then tying the snowshoe through the laces of your boot.