Henry Rifle Forums

I was very stoked yesterday when I left for physical therapy. Two large boxes were in front of my door. They were from a gentleman in New Hampshire, Bill Novacek. He makes wooden canoes, seats for the canoes, handmade snow shoes, and furniture. I ordered a pair of modified bearpaw shoes and a canoe seat from him last month. I got a call Monday that the items were ready and the items arrived yesterday afternoon.
I was very pleased when I got home and unboxed things yesterday. We had a discussion about his seat for my Radisson canoe. No one had ordered one of his seats to use to row, normally the seat is for a passenger to be comfortable on their canoe ride. I plan to use it to row my Radisson in some of the small lakes for fishing. It appeared to be robust and the snow shoes would be needed for next seasons rabbit hunting.
















I looked at several different manufacturers of wooden shoes. There are many good places out on the internet. I settled on Mr. Novacek in a large part due to his about us page. He sources his materials locally and has forged relationships with his suppliers and neighbors. He comes from a small town and his canoe seat really intrigued me. I liked the quality look of his items and wish I could use one of his canoes. I have two Radissons and that's all I need.
I have a set of wooden shoes, Alaskan style, that I've had for over 40 years. Just take care of them and they will last. They haven't seen use in the last decade though, being relegated to wall hangers at the camp. They will now join their new hunting shoes and the aluminum cousins (for guests). I had the bindings and cleats added too. The cleats have the holes drilled, but come separately so you can add them when needed. With care, I hope to get several decades of use from them and hand them down. I'm also hoping that I don't get to use them until next year, I've had enough snow and when I ordered them, I knew they would be arriving after rabbit season.

Very nice craftsmanship. Enjoy those for years.

Very nice Dave! I can see the quality workmanship. You're ready for next year with those shoes, but put that beautiful seat to work soon!

those look like high quality ones to me but my assessment isn't worth much .... outside of hanging on the wall as some display in some store, I've never seen them in our part of the country

Good looking shoes and that is a comfortable looking seat.
I have been eyeing a forward row system to put on my canoe. They are a little pricey but I figure I could really move out and be able to face forward. Have considered making one but it might just be better to buy one and make a rudder for convenience.

those look very nice, but like many, the only snowshoes I have seen in person were hanging on the wall at Cracker Barrel.

Never used snow shoes or skies, never lived or vacationed where we needed them. Had friends that loved skiing, I always passed. I figured the Bono solution would have been my luck. I did have a wicked fast 6ft long sled and that was deadly enough on the icy downhills.

A few of my buddies would vacation in the northwest for snowshoeing and crosscountry skiing trips. Trekking, they called it.

Do you have a link for the shoes? I’m want to order a pair.

Those are gorgeous and I do appreciate and use snowshoes as well as XC skis, but these days I use modern snowshoes, simply because they work better for me. Love that old time handmade quality on those items, though.

Gene, here is a link.

http://www.cooscanoeandsnowshoe.com/Woo ... shoes.html

We got at least 8 inches outside since last night and it's still coming down. I'm about to go out and try them.

daytime dave wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 12, 2022 2:59 pm

Gene, here is a link.

http://www.cooscanoeandsnowshoe.com/Woo ... shoes.html

We got at least 8 inches outside since last night and it's still coming down. I'm about to go out and try them.

Thanks. I really like the looks of them.

Dave, do let us know how they work for you. Sounds like fun.

I have to say that it was blowing about 15 to 25 mph, snowing lightly and Mary came with me to try out her new snow shoes too! She got the latest and greatest for winter mountain climbing in the Adirondacks. They are aluminum and something else. They cost about the same as mine. r

I am fortunate that I can order a pair of snow shoes like this. When I was a scout, I bought my other pair of wooden shoes. I prefer the time honored and traditional over the modern and latest technology. I guess I really am turning into Elmer Fudd! I am glad that I can and am.

We had 8 - 10 inches of powder snow that fell since about 10 pm last night. I put my shoes on and used some adjustable poles from a set of aluminum shoes. I had the best experience. The shoes compressed down about four inches in the fresh snow, I was able to walk steadily and evenly. I did some turning in brush and the shoes performed wonderfully. I am very happy with the purchase, workmanship and quality of these new shoes. We are expecting more snow this evening, so I'll try them again tomorrow. I also had no trouble with my leg. I walked without difficulty, which was great. We didn't go as far as we wanted because it was bitterly cold in the wind and we had gloves on instead of mittens. Mary's shoes worked well also. Her's are MSR lightning ascent.

Gene, don't hesitate to order a pair from Mr. Novacek. I think from start to finish it was just under three weeks as he made them once I ordered. There were a few days of email regarding the canoe seat and what I wanted it for. I will let everyone know how it holds up to rowing in a few months.
These shoes will be a great addition to the winter outdoor gear here at the new farm.

Great report Dave! Glad you're doing well on that leg as well!!

daytime dave wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 12, 2022 5:00 pm

I have to say that it was blowing about 15 to 25 mph, snowing lightly and Mary came with me to try out her new snow shoes too! She got the latest and greatest for winter mountain climbing in the Adirondacks. They are aluminum and something else. They cost about the same as mine. r

I am fortunate that I can order a pair of snow shoes like this. When I was a scout, I bought my other pair of wooden shoes. I prefer the time honored and traditional over the modern and latest technology. I guess I really am turning into Elmer Fudd! I am glad that I can and am.

We had 8 - 10 inches of powder snow that fell since about 10 pm last night. I put my shoes on and used some adjustable poles from a set of aluminum shoes. I had the best experience. The shoes compressed down about four inches in the fresh snow, I was able to walk steadily and evenly. I did some turning in brush and the shoes performed wonderfully. I am very happy with the purchase, workmanship and quality of these new shoes. We are expecting more snow this evening, so I'll try them again tomorrow. I also had no trouble with my leg. I walked without difficulty, which was great. We didn't go as far as we wanted because it was bitterly cold in the wind and we had gloves on instead of mittens. Mary's shoes worked well also. Her's are MSR lightning ascent.

Gene, don't hesitate to order a pair from Mr. Novacek. I think from start to finish it was just under three weeks as he made them once I ordered. There were a few days of email regarding the canoe seat and what I wanted it for. I will let everyone know how it holds up to rowing in a few months.
These shoes will be a great addition to the winter outdoor gear here at the new farm.

I’m going to call him tomorrow. Thanks for the report. I recently bought a pair of modern shoes and kept throwing one. I didn’t care for the bindings at all.

He offers two kinds of bindings. I opted for the largest leather bindings he had to accommodate my size 13 winter hunting boots. They are plenty large enough. Good luck.

daytime dave wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 13, 2022 12:12 pm

He offers two kinds of bindings. I opted for the largest leather bindings he had to accommodate my size 13 winter hunting boots. They are plenty large enough. Good luck.

Thanks. I wear a 9 1/2 city shoe and often go to a 11 for winter boots. Gotta have lots of toe wiggle room.

I just got back inside from another walk with the new shoes. They performed as flawlessly as yesterday with an additional 4 to 6 inches of snow on top of what we had yesterday. The sun was out and we went to the top of the pasture hill. I'm very happy with these.

I sent the maker a link to my original post and he was glad I was pleased. I hope he likes the site and joins.