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Excellent day hiking snowshoes
I bought a pair of Lightning Trail 25s last season for use on established trails where my 30" & 36" mountaineering snowshoes were just a bit of overkill. Even though I weigh considerably more than their upper limit on packed trails it's not a problem, and the dense, late-season snow off-trail only lets me sink about 4-5".
For those of you familiar with MSR snowshoes, the short version of this review is "these are typical MSR snowshoes, with typical MSR snowshoe performance." For everyone else, these snowshoes share the design features and performance of MSR's severe-terrain "Ascent" line, but in a lighter, simplified form that's perfect for established trails and day hiking both on and off trail in rolling terrain.
The first thing you notice is how the frames are made of notched aluminum bar instead of aluminum tubing. This is called the 360 Degree Traction frame, and unlike tubular frames, which rely solely on toe & heel crampons for traction, the MSR frame bites into the snow and provides traction when traveling across slopes.
Next are the toothed braking bars that extend from frame rail to frame rail to provide rigidity and traction when traveling up and down slopes. The 25" models have 2 of these, one directly under the ball of the foot and one under the heel, so there's weight on them whether you're ascending or descending.
The bindings are 3 simple rubber straps that won't absorb water and freeze like woven straps, and are easily manipulated while wearing gloves or...
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For those of you familiar with MSR snowshoes, the short version of this review is "these are typical MSR snowshoes, with typical MSR snowshoe performance." For everyone else, these snowshoes share the design features and performance of MSR's severe-terrain "Ascent" line, but in a lighter, simplified form that's perfect for established trails and day hiking both on and off trail in rolling terrain.
The first thing you notice is how the frames are made of notched aluminum bar instead of aluminum tubing. This is called the 360 Degree Traction frame, and unlike tubular frames, which rely solely on toe & heel crampons for traction, the MSR frame bites into the snow and provides traction when traveling across slopes.
Next are the toothed braking bars that extend from frame rail to frame rail to provide rigidity and traction when traveling up and down slopes. The 25" models have 2 of these, one directly under the ball of the foot and one under the heel, so there's weight on them whether you're ascending or descending.
The bindings are 3 simple rubber straps that won't absorb water and freeze like woven straps, and are easily manipulated while wearing gloves or...
Read More...
Would recommend: Yes
3 of 3 found the following review helpful.