Gear Review: Tubbs Frontier Snowshoe

      I Have been snowshoeing for about as long as I have been backpacking and doing other silent sports.  In this time I have seen and tested many snowshoes including Atlas, Tubbs, Crecent Moon, and MSR.  All usually have very good products and awesome warranties.  This year at the shop though has been a year of warranties and repairs with a few, no can do's from the companies.  Most of these repairs have came from the Tubbs Frontier snowshoe.

      The Frontier is an average snowshoe from a company that specializes in that entry level consumer market.  On a pretty average platform, the snowshoe is good for just about anything, although advertised as a trail walking snowshoe.  But whats the fun of walking on packed trail? Wasn't the snowshoe meant to blaze trails in the backcountry?  The non-aggressive crampon and entry level binding make the shoe virtually useless if you have any inkling to go walk around in some serious backcountry.  The snowshoe also does not have a heel lift like most other snowshoes, so you may find walking up hills a little more difficult than normal.

      Now dont get me wrong this isn't a bad design for a snowshoe its just stupid.  If all your going to do is go out a few times a year and walk only packed trail, great, buy this price point shoe.  If your going to do more this is what will most likely happen.

      In the past two months I have seen broken frames, broken rivets, ripped decking, and last completely broken bindings.  The quality that Tubbs is known for is simply just not prevalent in this snowshoe.  A large number of people that have bought this shoe this year have came back after one or two time average use, not abuse, and guess what, they're holding a broken shoe in their hands.  The main issue seems to be with the cheap plastic rivets in the decking around the binding.  The force that the average person makes walking through snow, just seems to be too much for the rivets, and they give, either ripping the decking or pulling the metal pins out of the binding.  The Frontier is a cheap snowshoes from a good company.  At $160 you get what you pay for.  The flex series or the Journey series are much higher quality for only $20-40 more, and both come with so many more features that will make you so much happier that you upgraded, such as the heel lift, and a real crampon.  

-Tattooed Adventure