« Kayland Contact 1700 Hiking Boots | Main | The North Face Conness GTX Hiking Boots »
Kahtoola’s Flightboot / FlightDecks Snow Shoes – FLiGHT System
By Editor | March 1, 2009
Kahtoola’s FLiGHTsystem is an innovative hybrid designed to take on a variety of winter conditions. Is it a snowshoe or a crampon? Well, the Kahtoola’s FLiGHTsystem is both, which puts it in a class all on its own. Its two components-a neoprene overboot with crampons underneath, and a click-in snowshoe deck-are sold separately.
For solid snow or icy trails, the stretchy FLlGHTboot snugs over your your footwear from trail runners to beefy leather hikers. Underneath, steel teeth provide firm traction on packed, low-angle trails. In softer, deeper snow, just click into the FLiGHTdecks, which are aluminum-framed snowshoes minus the bindings and crampons.
Sometimes, snow clogged the notches so the steel tongues did not securely click, but a few taps with a trekking pole always did the trick. Once clicked in, the system never failed, despite several long leaps off drifts. The click-in system doesn’t provide the lateral support of a fully integrated snowshoe binding; some testers experienced a bit of heel slippage on steep traverses. The FLIGHTboot packs away flat, with minimal space.
FLlGHTboot Price: $149; 7 unisex sizes to fit over women’s 5 to men’s 14 Weight: 2 Ibs. 14 oz. (men’s 12).
FLlGHTdeck Price: $185; Weight: 3 Ibs. 1 oz.
Bookmark at:StumbleUpon | Digg | Del.icio.us | Dzone | Newsvine | Spurl | Simpy | Furl | Reddit | Yahoo! MyWeb
Topics: Equipment, Fall and Winter, Footwear, Outdoor Gear Reviews, Winter Outdoor Equipment | 131 Comments »
