I have used my MSR Evos for a bunch of years and they are great for most things, but suck for breaking trail,especially with a pack. I don't imagine any snowshoes are magic, but in my theoretical search for something that has Traction AND Flotation, comes in at reasonable weight and at a price that's a bit more reasonable than the current sticker tag of the MSR Lightning Ascent 30s...I came across
Louis Garneau Everest. Which largely appear to be a MSR-like design, 27 inches in length, at a price just a bit more than Evos. The only catch is the BOA system. I did some research and I understand it's "quick,easy and convenient,and the wire is super strong". What I can't figure out is
#1 Short Term-how does the system do under demanding conditions? And how tough is the rachet if,lets say they get banged around in the trunk or accidentally dropped awkwardly for example? How tough are the wire guides and where the guides attach to the binding
#2 Long Term-how long until the rachet inevitably wear out?
If the system fails, I can foresee issues trying to do field repair, depending on what actually goes wrong... though if wire itself breaks, it's probably easy enough to temporarily replace with a piece of mechanics wire until you get home.If one of the housings breaks,that'd be a pain.