A Big Plug For A Small Company

[Ed'n Lauky]

About five years ago my wife gave me some Yukon Charlie snowshoes and told me she was giving them to me so I would have something to do in the winter and wouldn't have to climb mountains. Thus began my venture into winter climbing. I've never used the shoes except for climbing. Now some five years later the crampons were very worn and I have been looking for a replacement. In looking around in the stores I was surprised to find that the Tubs and Atlas didn't seem as solid as the Yukon Charlies. Nothing on the YKs was ready to break. Only the crampons were worn out. In studying the shoes I could see that five bolts held on the two crampons on each shoe. If I could replace the crampons at a reasonable price the shoes would be good to go. I googled Yukon Charlie and found an E-mail address. They E-mailed me back with a phone number and on calling I discovered that the founder--president of Yukon Charlie is from Bridgton. The company is located in MA. I don't know if I got a home town price or what, but for VERY little they sent me new crampons which arrived the next day and are already installed. Congratulations to a local New Englander for coming up with a surprisingly good product.

 

[Hillwalker]

Keep our money close to home

Good on ya mate! The Jet Boil company is also local (NH) also Chuck Roast, Wild Things, and Stephenson's Warm Lite. Let's hear about others......

 

[Jazzbo]

Ed

Were the crampons bolted on with selflocking nuts or were they held on with rivets requiring you to drill them out and replace with nuts and bolts? Most of the crampons I've seen use rivets which I think is cheesy. Also most of the snowshoe makers change their designs so frequently, the crampons must be hard to match maybe requiring you to drill all new holes. I recall calling Tubbs for new aluminum crampons and new set cost $35 which sounded bit steep so they're still in basement not used. I just looked at Yukon Charlies site. I bet his crampons would fit my Tubbs. How much were they?

Ray

 

[Jazzbo]

I also like the tied webbing. When your tied webbing wears out you can just re-tie with plastic line from any old place. The plastic decking material that wraps around the aluminum tubing on many models when it gets shreaded on rocks it's done - not repairable.

 

[Bob]

Let's hear about others......

Ragged Mountain and Log House Designs

 

[Bob]

Let's hear about others......

Ragged Mountain and Log House Designs. Of course these didn't get a mention in Applachia though.

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

Ed

Were the crampons bolted on with selflocking nuts or were they held on with rivets requiring you to drill them out and replace with nuts and bolts? Most of the crampons I've seen use rivets which I think is cheesy. Also most of the snowshoe makers change their designs so frequently, the crampons must be hard to match maybe requiring you to drill all new holes. I recall calling Tubbs for new aluminum crampons and new set cost $35 which sounded bit steep so they're still in basement not used. I just looked at Yukon Charlies site. I bet his crampons would fit my Tubbs. How much were they?

Ray

They screw on with self locking nuts. On each shoe there was one screw that I couldn't unscrew and I had to cut it off with a hacksaw. They went on in a jiffy. They sent me all new screws too. I'm not sure if I was given a 'home town' price or not and I hesitate to post it here, but I will PM Ray and anyone else who would like to know what it cost.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

I wonder if low or no-cost snowshoe repair is part of the ethic for snowshoe makers? Before Tubbs was sold and moved to China I worked in Waterbury, about 20 minutes from their location. About once a year I'd need repairs to my trusty Katahdin's, and I'd try to time it so that I could drop them off in the AM and travel back thru Stowe in the PM to pick them up. The repairs usually were free.

Anyway, not to take anything away from Yukon's - maybe that company was following the lead of Tubbs. Don't know if Tubbs has maintained that stellar performace since their sale.

 

[Doc McPeak]

Don't know if Tubbs has maintained that stellar performace since their sale.

NO. They used to be beyond stellar in their warranties and repairs department. Often a week (from NY) for one broken item, would result in that repair, plus several little bonus ones as well.

The last time my neoprene webbing broke in the back of the shoe. The repairs were three weeks, after I agreed to the $50 (plus 13.00 for shipping and tax) repair charge! The repairs were supposed to include a missing buckle (and the rivet) as well as a broken heel plate. Neither of those were done, luckily the ski shop was able to do the buckle repair for no charge.

I went ahead for a few reasons. First being all the great free repairs over the years. Maybe 5? Second being I figured I would get back the shoes with the usual full once over and have a fully refurbished pair.

No such luck. It will be very hard for me to buy Tubbs again. The Chinese labor (er, profiteering) angle doesn't help, either. It's too bad K2 has been invaded by the same corporate profiteering mentality as too many of our other "new age" corporations. But, it's nice to see examples bucking this trend!

 

[Quietman]

I own a pair of Yukon's and bought them mainly due to the low cost. I think that it's great that it's a locally owned company, but like tubbs,and Atlas, the shoes themselves are made in China. I wish that there was a well made, resonably priced American made snowshoe.....Oh well.

I also wish that it snowed more so that I could use them more often but that's another entirely different issue....Oh well.

Did a little research before submitting this post and found this article about three remaining US made brands. Redfeathers aren't too pricey, I'll check them out next time I have a need. Snowshoe makers

 

[bikehikeskifish]

I wish that there was a well made, resonably priced American made snowshoe.....

I wish there was a well-made, reasonably priced American-made ANYTHING!

Cheap, Light, High-Quality -- pick any two

Tim

 

[J.P.]

There is also Havlick Snowshoe company in Mayfield, NY. According to their website http://www.havlicksnowshoe.com/ their snowshoes are completely manufactured in the US.

 

[jmegillon149]

Good on ya mate! The Jet Boil company is also local (NH) also Chuck Roast, Wild Things, and Stephenson's Warm Lite. Let's hear about others......

EMS (Peterborough, NH), Burton Snowboards (Burlington, VT) and LL Bean (Freeport, ME) are New England based operations. They are mega-corps, but still based up here. There actually was recent article in AMC Outdoors that talked about New England based outdoors companies.

 

[Andrew]

I have been extremely impressed with Ibex (Woodstock or is it Bridgewater, VT), although have not had need to see warranty response. Although I looked at the labels and saw the typical "Made in China", though it's nice to keep the overhead profits close to home.

When I lived in Central VT in the early 90's Tubbs was going through one of their ownership shifts from Tubbs Snowshoe to Tubbs Snowshoe and Canoe or something like that. I had a Green Mt Bearpaw that split perfectly along the grain of the Ash frame and I didn't forget the "Lifetime Warranty" claim. Walked in and spoke with the new management asking for replacement and they said "Really,.... it say's 'Lifetime' on the the label? Guess we better give you a new one." Which they happily did.

Right now I am terribly frustrated that I can't use my favorite older Tubbs Cross Country shoes, since they were made w/ the older tan neoprene that seemed to dry out and get brittle quickly and deteriorated. I bought 'em at Briggs Men's Shop in White River and I think they dried out from sitting in the display window for so long. In my new local area I went first to Sam's Dept Store since they used to have piles of the newer red neoprene available for relacing- no luck. Tried Summers in Keene to see if Tubbs (after another ownership change) would replace the neoprene based on the "Lifetime Warranty", but no luck. They would repair them at a cost but I was ethically opposed. Now I hear they don't even make classic shoes anymore.

I have had a very difficult time finding a source of the red neoprene lacing, but research a week ago brought this forward as a likely source and looks like a great local source for snowshoes- www.mgsnowshoes.com

 

[shadowcat]

Another Small Co Plug

Has anyone tried Northern Lites snowshoes? I can't say where the parts are made but they are definitely a smaller company and the shoes get great reviews. My hiking buddy has a pair and loves them:
http://www.northernlites.com/faq.php

 

[forestgnome]

It will be very hard for me to buy Tubbs again. The Chinese labor (er, profiteering) angle doesn't help, either. It's too bad K2 has been invaded by the same corporate profiteering mentality as too many of our other "new age" corporations. But, it's nice to see examples bucking this trend!

Agreed. However, profiteering is a good thing....no profit = no business. The cheap labor is not the only draw for manufacturers to go overseas. The bigger draw is escaping burdensome beauracracy and taxation. As a company like Tubbs or K2 grows, the disadvantage of staying home grows.

I like to buy American as much as possible. I use my wife's 25" Yukon Charlies more than my new 36" Tubbs. I like the spirit of them better. Also, huge kudos to Ragged Mountain Sports in Intervale, NH. Excellent store with great homemade gear and an awesome bargain basement!!! I get most of my stuff at Ragged.

Happy Trails

 

[Jazzbo]

Does Canadian made count????

I should hope so. There's a snowshoe company in Canada that makes all types of snowshoes and supplies snowshoes to the Canadian military. I wonder if our Canadian members of VFTT patronize this company? I came across their snowshoes at a hunting shop near Sunapee and purchased a pair on impulse. I didn't really need another pair of snowshoes. I recall purchasing them after my Tubbs aluminum crampons got shredded by walking too long on bare rock. The snowshoes seemed pretty well made, but of course have had no opportunities to use them as they are 32" and most always use my 25".

GV Snowshoes

As for local companies, don't forget Hydro Photon who makes Steripen water purifiers.

Steripen