How to bend hunting skis. We move along the white path

11/13/2013 | Skis for hunting - how to make skis and snowshoes yourself

If anyone is not yet accustomed to the variety of models of skis and snowshoes that exist at all hunting exhibitions and still claim that self-made is always better (well, or maybe they deliberately do not want to live with everything ready-made or do not have the desire to means), he can once again familiarize himself with time-tested descriptions of the design of classic hunting skis and snowshoes.

Skis are of great importance for a hunter. They must be strong, light, elastic, have the correct movement and the ability to hold the hunter on the surface of the snow cover. In areas with deep snow, they are necessary. Good quality skis can be made by choosing a rational design and type of ski. Spruce, aspen, ash, rowan, and maple are used to make skis. The wood must be straight-grained, without rot and without through (“moving”) branches. You need to take the butt part. Cut the ridge about 2 m long. Harvesting can be done at any time of the year, but it is preferable at the end of summer.

First, the blocks are knocked out. Plates 30-40 mm thick are hewn out of them, and skis are made from the plates. To prevent your skis from slipping in the future, you need to plan them strictly in layers.

The size of the skis must correspond to the height and weight of the hunter; it also depends on snow cover. In loose snow, per 1 kg of hunter’s weight there should be 50 cm2 of support area. With harder snow cover, the area can be reduced to 40-45 cm2. Skis are usually made no higher than the height of the hunter and no lower than his shoulders. But most people prefer short skis, slightly below the shoulder, as they are more maneuverable in the bushes and more comfortable on climbs. The width (in the middle part of the ski) is taken equal to the distance between the thumb and index (or middle) fingers as far apart as possible, that is, 180-220 mm. To prevent skis from scooping up snow, their width at the toe should be 30-40 mm greater than the width at the heel. The thickness under the foot, under the cargo area, is taken on average 11-14 mm. This is for skis glued with camus. For regular skis, this size needs to be increased by 3-5 mm. At the front end, the thickness of the skis is increased to 5-8 mm, at the front bend 3-7 mm, at the rear 2-6 mm (the dimensions and contour of the skis are shown in Fig. 1). A hole Ø 6-8 mm is drilled at the front end of the skis. It is useful for transporting and converting skis into sleds.

Rice. 1 Hunting skis. Dimensions in mm. A - top view, B - side view. The numbers circled (5.3-5, etc.) refer to skis with camus, the numbers without a circle (8.4-7, etc.) refer to regular skis.

Ski bending is done in a machine. It is shown in Fig. 2. Both skis are slightly heated over the fire and tucked into the machine, giving them a arch. In this case, you need to carefully ensure that the bend is correct, since if it is skewed, there will be no normal movement. The skis tucked into the machine must be steamed with boiling water, and then heated strongly over the stove, and then taken out into the cold.

Rice. 2 Skis in the machine. The board (1) is inserted into the machine after bending the ends of the skis.

You can bend the ends of the skis by first making a transverse cut 1 mm thick. Before bending, it is coated with glue and a veneer insert cut to the shape of the end of the ski is inserted inside (Fig. 3).

Rice. 3 Insert into the toe of the ski.

When the skis have cooled, they are removed from the machine, inspected and the bindings begin to be marked. The bindings are installed in such a way that the back of the ski when walking gives a greater draft than the front. To do this, find the center of gravity of the ski, mark it with a line perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the ski, then retreat 30-40 mm towards the toe and draw a line parallel to the first. This will be the toe line, that is, the line where the fastening begins. Standard semi-rigid fastenings can be used.

Before installing the bindings, the skis are treated, tarred or waxed (paraffin). The heated ski is poured with wax (paraffin) and rubbed. If the wax hardens on the ski, it is heated again and so on until the wood is saturated. It is advisable to coat the upper part with oil-resin varnish.

In places where you often have to climb steep slopes, they use camo skis. Camus is the skin removed from the lower part of the leg of an elk, wapiti, reindeer, horse; seal skin can also be used as a camus. The camus is glued to the bottom of the skis and it is made flexible and at the same time more durable, resistant to wet snow, which does not stick to them.

The manufacturing technology of these skis is the same as conventional skis, only the thickness is reduced.

Rice. 4 Placing the camus plates on the bottom plane of the ski.

Rice. 5 Bend the casing onto the ski: 1 - ski, 2 - casing.

The soaked kamus plates are selected so that their shaggy edges lie towards the middle of the sliding surface, and their smoother edges lie towards the sides (Fig. 4). Then they are sewn together with nylon threads. The size of the camus should be slightly larger than the size of the ski (allowing for bending; see Fig. 5).

To glue the camus, you can use BF glue or epoxy-based glue, but wood glue with a small addition of acetic acid is preferable (it makes the glue water-resistant). A casing is applied to the ski lubricated with glue, after which it must immediately be rolled with a roller in the direction of the hair until the excess glue comes out and the casing is completely flattened. Then the ski is wrapped with a bandage or braid so that the skin on the sides adheres well and does not warp.

If you have to hunt in mountainous areas or hilly areas, and you don’t have a camus, you can make a simple stop, which is shown in Fig. 6. I choose its width according to the width of the ski. It is advisable to make the stop from non-ferrous metal. If necessary, it can always be folded back onto the ski. You can use standard canopies by sawing out the teeth. The canopy hinge needs to be regularly lubricated and maintained so that it does not become clogged or rust.

Rice. 6 Support for a regular ski. Dimensions in mm. 1 — ski, 2 — movable part of the stop.

Microporous rubber is glued under the foot, on the cargo area. By compressing and unclenching, it prevents the snow from compacting under your feet.

Came skis should not be brought into a warm room in winter. Skis should be stored tied in pairs on spacers, suspended in a dry, ventilated place.

Onishchenko V.

Canadian skis

The most convenient for a hunter are considered to be skis of the usual sliding type, of relatively short length, much wider than sports skis, with a strongly curved toe. The underside of the ski is sometimes lined with elk or deer skin taken from the animal's legs. This is done to make it easier to climb uphill, because... upholstery hair prevents the ski from sliding back; Such upholstery makes the ski more comfortable, but heavier both in weight and in travel.

Currently, interest is awakening in non-slip skis, which are not common and little known in our country. The most advanced type of such skis are the skis of the Indians of northern America, known as “Canadian”. They are an elongated wooden hoop intertwined with a mesh of straps. You cannot slide on such skis, but you must walk, raising your legs, as when walking normally.

In order to give an idea of the shape and size of skis, I give a drawing depicting a ski. The dimensions are based on the measurements of the skis currently in my possession. Judging by the stamp, they were made in the North American United States and are called "Maine model 12 x 48 No. 70". 12x48 - ski dimensions (width-length) in inches (inch = 2.54 cm).

Rice. 7 "a" and "b" - front and rear wooden crossbars. "o" - hole in the mesh.

The space occupied by the leg is shaded. The bottom picture shows how a ski is attached to a leg.

The ski rim and crossbars are apparently made of ash. The rim has a section of 7/8x3/4 inches, its ends, forming the tail, are connected with rivets. The mesh is woven from “pulled” cheese-mint straps, coated, apparently, to protect them from getting wet in wet weather, with varnish, just like the wooden parts. The mesh holes are so large that it is difficult for a finger to fit through them.

The ski is tied to the leg with straps, and the leg is positioned on the ski so that its tip is above the hole “O”, without touching the front crossbar “a”. This is necessary to make walking easier. As the ski moves forward, the heel is lifted from the ski, and the toe is slightly lowered into the hole “O”, so that the ski comes into contact with the sole of the foot only by a thick twisted belt that passes directly behind the hole “O” and serves as the main support for it when lowering the leg. This method of tying skis allows you to walk at a normal pace without raising your legs too high. When you lift your leg, the tip of the ski, being lighter, rises upward, and the heavier tail drags along the snow, preventing the ski from spinning on your leg.

There are two straps for tying skis. One regular one, covering the toe of the foot, is passed through the mesh cells closest to the hole “O”, and the other, passed through the same cells, covers the back one. To prevent this belt from slipping, another strap is attached to it, passing through the instep of the leg.

Fans of Canadian skis tested their suitability for various purposes. It turned out that these skis are very convenient in cases where fast walking is not required, since the walking speed on them is equal to the usual walking speed. With skill, you can run, thereby increasing your speed somewhat.

These skis are more convenient than skis in rough and forest terrain, because... make it possible to climb, descend and, if desired, stop on steep slopes. In the forest, due to their short length, they allow them to pass freely between trees and bushes. Turns on such skis are made very quickly, easily and almost in one place.

On such skis, due to their agility, small size and the uselessness of poles, due to which your hands are free all the time, you can perform various works. I know that they were successfully used when measuring and counting forests, when installing snow shields along the railway line, etc.

The advantages of Canadian skis include their low weight: the pair I have weighs 2.25 kg with straps. When skis are not needed, you can tie them up and throw them over your shoulder. Being light in weight and length, they do not interfere with walking at all.

In snow, even loose snow, this ski almost does not sink; the snow is pressed down by the net and almost does not fall on the ski, it does not pack under the foot, interfering with walking.

The disadvantages of skis include their weakness in those places where the crossbars are drilled into the rim. This place needs to be strengthened. Almost all ski breakdowns occurred precisely in the places where the crossbar was fastened to the rim, but it should be noted that in most cases the skis broke in shallow snow, when rocks were touched, etc., i.e. under conditions that are generally unsuitable for any skis.

A big drawback is the lack of literature about Canadian skiing in Russian. To disseminate them, it is necessary to study the question of the types of skis suitable for certain purposes, because There are several types of Canadian skis, differing in small details from each other (for example, there are skis without a tail). It is necessary to find out the most suitable wood species for skiing; processing of mesh straps so that they are stronger, do not get wet and do not stretch; find out the most practical way to attach the ski to the leg, because... there are small but perhaps important differences.

All this has probably been known for a long time in America, but for us, due to the lack of literature, it sometimes presents small but annoying ambiguities, the resolution of which must be resolved through experience.

Holidays today coincided with frosts. Forced downtime, and especially during the season - oh, how unnerving. I decided to start making hunting (winter) skis. And time seems to be ticking for the future perspective.

I’ll start right away by telling you how I make “winter” kitty skis for walking in snow above the knee! Autumn skis are shorter and therefore stronger. Ski height at eyebrow (approx. 180 cm). Width is 21 cm. Everything is simple here: 60-70 kg (hunter) _ 16-18 cm, 70-80 kg _ 18-20 cm, for 80 kg preferably more than 20 cm. If you make wider skis - for example 24 cm (walking through the forest on them is very inconvenient - you won’t be able to squeeze between the trees, on someone else’s ski track - you’ll quarrel, and your legs are always “splayed”).

We chop out the blanks (wood) in the spring or autumn. I store it at a height in a ventilated room (in a woodshed under a roof) with the wane facing up (since the process of rotting may begin at the point where the bark comes into contact with another tree). After the summer, I cut down the bark (so that the resin comes out) and again in the same place. Trees are stored for at least two “years”. Of course, you can speed up the drying process, but firstly, you prepare several pairs at once, and most importantly, with accelerated drying, cracks form at the ends. The tree is usually 200 cm long (if you make it 230-250 cm for the first time). Photo of aspen cuttings.

good wood - the skis are very light, the main thing is not to over plan. Need impregnation or painting. And of course in the “correct” glue. If you glue it with “carpenter’s” glue, then it’s better not to walk in the steam (thaw) (the kitties will start to fall off).

There were spruce trees - I made them from them.

View from above. In order to plan less, I measure out 3-4 cm, draw a line, make cuts to the line and cut it down (I don’t chop off the wood when cutting it out). Experts do not recommend it (I haven’t gone into the science on this matter - it may be related to the drying process - I do as they recommended). The electric planer is a miracle of technology!! First, I cut off the bottom (preferably it should be even) and a little bit of the edges, 2-3 cm, so that they don’t wear out too much (the pussy). Next is the top with a smooth descent to the edges. I correct it manually.

I try to make the middle (the place where the fasteners are attached to the board) level. I select the middle from the bottom of the ski.

The boards are ready. Next, we lower them into a bucket, pour water, turn on the boiler and close the lid (so that it heats up quickly and does not steam). We insert a cap between the boards. I boil for 1.5-2 hours.

We clamp it into the “machine” and make any angle you need. I don’t “like” sharp “corners” that get cut into the snow. You can only walk on the crust, otherwise if there is no rise, it’s pure torture.
We use a stick to adjust the “angle” (knock it out little by little) so that the tree gets used to it.
We harden the skis on both sides. I don’t bend the backs (personally I “don’t like it” - but that’s my opinion).

Toes and heels (beginning of sawing) towards the nose or heel (since when sawing to the ski, a flake of wood may occur). I cut it out piece by piece - just don’t rush (otherwise you can split it in an instant).

After sawing and cutting (planing on both sides) - the thickness at the ends is 2-3 mm - the path is 2 cm. I mark marks with a pencil symmetrically under the holes (about 2 cm). I drill d=2 mm. I burn holes for the thread with a hot awl. When burned, the edges become hard and the thread does not cut through the wood under load.

We are looking for the center of the ski; I shift it towards the heel by 3 cm and secure it after marking with glue and screws. If the ski is thin - screws - from the bottom, if thicker - from the top (in this report - 2 options). After marking, I use a thin drill to make several holes to temporarily secure it (if on top of the screws, I insert a few nails, if from below, a few screws from above). When applied to glue, the sliding process begins and catching the middle is oh so difficult.

Ah, incorrectly installed mount - 100% moving to the side when moving!!

This photo shows the mount from below. If when tightening the self-tapping screws there are some slippage, it’s not a problem (it’s better if the fastening is reliable). We burn the edges of the cracks with an awl (then glue will get there and everything will stick together).

Pull the thick thread (you have to tinker with this). Preferably under load (you can rest the ski against the ceiling so that it bends a little). I pull it with my hands - pass it through the adjacent hole and clamp it with an awl - then tie the knots. It turns out like a stretched string!? Using 3-4 wire staples for each thread, we nail it “to the bend” of the ski. You can screw long brackets and nail them.

I strip kitties from the very hoof along the inside of the leg. I cut it after the carcass has been completely cut up. And there is less wool and it is more useful for business. Depending on the size of the animal (you look where the hair went long - it receded a little - even if it was a wide place). I rolled it up into a bag, and at home you cut off the excess - the dogs will chew it off or burn it in the oven.
I strip it and pull it onto the boards. I make sure to stretch it out wide and don’t spare the nails.
The bottom, where the skin is thick, is cut off on the sides so that a strip of 13-15 cm remains and I also stretch it with force (the more you stretch it, the thinner the pussy will be).
This is followed by drying away from the stove (a week or even 2) and storage. I tie each animal to a wire and hang it on a perch until use. The gallery has photos from comm. (“So that the moth doesn’t eat”).

Now we choose (it’s good when there is one) for each ski separately! We weigh the skis and decide on which ones. For thin ones - thicker kitties (if the skis turn out to be level, there is a choice). I don't make pussy anymore. I make thin skis - thick kitties. If the kitties are thin, they will wear out faster!
I cut it so as not to cut through the hair!

No further photos are coming through!? I will try to finish this work in the second part.

Every hunter or lover of winter tourism knows how difficult it is to walk on virgin snow even on wide hunting skis. If we also take into account the mass of equipment (backpack, gun, supplies), it turns out that the supporting area of skis for loose snow should be 2.5 - 3 times larger than that of ordinary skis.

Many hunters, especially from the Russian North, successfully make homemade skis from straight-layer birch.

Wood should be harvested in winter, when the movement of sap in the tree has stopped. The tree is stripped of its bark and a sprat is made along the length of the skis. The sprat is sawn and split into bars five centimeters thick.

Using planks, the bars are tied together, and a spacer approximately six centimeters thick is inserted into the middle part. After this, the bars are sent to dry for twenty days. Drying should take place in a cool place.

When the bars are dry, future skis are drawn on them, the excess wood is ground off, and then planed with sherhebel.

To bend the ends, use the following technique. The socks are burned a little, then steamed in boiling water for about an hour. The ends are bent on a special block. The steamed and bent ends are secured directly to the block with strips, ropes or clamps. After this, the skis must be dried in a cool place for six days.

Hunting skis must fully meet the requirements for strength, flexibility, and width. Covering skis with leather taken from the leg of an elk, horse or red deer helps a lot. This kind of hunting skis is called kys or kamus. Experienced hunters have long noticed that a camus made from horse or deer skin has excellent driving characteristics. As for strength, elk camus is unrivaled; in terms of noiselessness and softness of movement, reindeer and wapiti camus are the champion.

A ski with a glued camus becomes much stronger in bending, but does not become much heavier. Before gluing the casing, the skis are covered with two layers of glue, then dried and another layer is applied. After this, you can put a wet skin on the ski, roll it along the growth of the bristles with a roller, squeezing out the excess glue. The camus should be completely level. The next stage is wrapping the ski, which can be done using twine or a bandage. This way the camus is glued to the sides as tightly as possible.

After drying the ski, the twine or bandage is removed, and excess pieces of casing along the edges of the skis are cut off with a blade. As for adhesives for gluing camus, epoxy BF glue is quite suitable, but it is better to use wood glue with the addition of a small amount of acetic acid, which makes the glue water-resistant.

It is not at all necessary to buy ready-made sports equipment; you can make skis at home. Making any skis is not a complicated process; you will need a minimum amount of materials and a little free time.

Homemade skis can be used by children, adults, hunters, in alpine skiing, and in team sprinting. As for hunting ones, they are wider and do not fall through. With their help they move across any landscape and overcome difficult obstacles.

When choosing wood, you need to decide for what purpose the wooden sports equipment will be used. Durable boards are made from birch and maple, but spruce and aspen help create the lightest possible sports equipment.

It is better to harvest material in spring or autumn. Moreover, the boards should be in a well-ventilated area. In the summer, the bark is removed from the wood and stored for about another year. Drying should not be accelerated artificially, otherwise cracks may appear on the equipment in the future.

Selecting ski size

Choosing your ski size is easy. The greater the person’s weight, the larger the area of the products should be. When manufacturing, you need to focus on the following indicators:

for a person weighing 60-70 kilograms, the width of the skis should be 16-18 centimeters;
with a weight of 70-80 kilograms, sports equipment should have a width of 18-20 centimeters;
with a weight of more than 80 kilograms, the width of the sports equipment is more than 20 centimeters.

What tools and materials will you need?

First of all, high-quality wood is prepared: light, strong, elastic. Homemade products are made from material without rot, cracks, or through knots. Do-it-yourself plywood skis are made mainly for children and infrequent walks in the park.

To prevent the skis from being handed over when climbing a mountain, and the snow not sticking to them, the equipment must be covered with camus, which is made from genuine leather. Horse, deer or elk leather is best suited for this.

You will also need to prepare:

reinforcement materials;
edgings;
wood glue;
epoxy resin;
masking tape.

What kind of ski presses are used?

Any amateur craftsman knows that the main element in manufacturing is the press. It is thanks to it that all layers of wood, pre-impregnated with resin, stick to each other.

The material is glued using the following types of press:

vacuum - vacuum bag technology is used;
classic - gluing using milled forms;
pneumatic - a special metal frame applies uniform pressure and bends sports equipment.

How to choose reinforcing materials?

Regardless of the purpose for which the homemade product is used, for sports or hunting, you need to use special reinforcing devices that help increase the strength and rigidity of sports equipment.

Use one of the following materials:

aluminum alloys;
aramid;
carbon;
fiberglass.

All materials are of high quality, the only difference is that special fabrics work directly along the fibers, while alloys strengthen the skis in all directions. Special rubber bands are often used as fastening. They hold the boot perfectly. This device is inexpensive, easy to use, but it won’t last long. Also, roller skis, which are used to ride around the city in the summer, have gained considerable popularity. In this case, roller fittings are used.

How to assemble a wood core?

How to make skis at home correctly? First, a wooden core is prepared. The part is the last component and is made of wood. Making a part is simple; it is placed in the core of the structure, hence the name of the part.

For the production of cross-country, alpine, and hunting skis, aspen, ash, and maple cores are used. Sports equipment made from these tree species is considered durable and of high quality. They are the ones that can withstand heavy loads. Poplar is suitable for the production of children's equipment, and bamboo will be an excellent additional support.

How to make a bend

When making sports equipment themselves, many people ask the main question, how to bend skis at home? The first priority will be to prepare a simple drawing according to the appropriate parameters. To properly bend sports equipment, adhere to the following instructions:

Wooden blanks are cut into bars, tied at the edges, and a spacer is installed between them.
The resulting blanks are placed in a warm place for several weeks before being bent.
When the wood has dried, the outline of the future skis is applied to it. Excess material is removed, and the workpieces are treated with Sherhebel.
The ends that will bend are placed in hot water for several hours, boiling water is periodically added to prevent the liquid from cooling.
To get a deep but smooth bend, they are placed in special blocks, where the skis take on the desired shape. They are fixed with clamps or sticks.
Next, skis for racing or hunting are dried for about 6 days and subjected to finishing.

Marking holes for fastenings

To properly install the mount at home, determine the center of gravity of the sports equipment. When purchasing ready-made sports equipment, the manufacturer indicates the location, but with a homemade module everything is a little more complicated.

Finding the center of gravity is easy. Place the sports equipment on a special edge, such as a ruler, and move it until the scales are parallel to the floor. At this moment, the ruler will point to the desired place, marked with a pencil.

An equally important step when creating sports equipment is marking. To do this, use either a special outline or a cardboard template, sold along with the fasteners. The markings are carried out so that the back of the sports equipment settles a little more than the front. Remember that products may have special notches, but these slide worse.

Making kamus

The reinforced skin is stretched over sports equipment and secured with nails. The camus is dried in a warm, ventilated area for about 2 weeks. The thicker the skin, the better. Thin camus wears out quickly.

If there is no large piece of skin, use several pieces of fabric sewn together with coarse, thick threads. When stitching, the material is soaked for some time, then slightly dried. The point is that wet or dry skin can tear and fall off the ski. It is easiest to work with slightly damp material.

Gluing

The finished casing is fixed to the sports equipment using waterproof glue, applied to the edges of the ski, directly to the casing. To make sports equipment more practical to use, it is recommended to coat it with a protective varnish. A special polyethylene slip is also used.

As soon as the glue is taken, the skis are wrapped with cord. This is necessary so that the camus fits tightly to the wood and does not warp. When the sports equipment is completely dry, the fastening straps are inserted into the holes made in advance.

Making a ski pole

Without a ski pole, it is impossible to fully use sports equipment. The main thing is that the stick is comfortable to hold in your hand and that it matches the height of the person who will use it.

It is made from wood; at the bottom of the stick there is a special blade, and at the top there is a claw and a ring. Some craftsmen mark sports equipment with divisions every 5 centimeters. Thus, hunters and athletes can measure the thickness of the snow cover.

Store sports equipment in a warm, well-ventilated area. It is recommended to tie them in pairs. It is better for skis to be stored in a suspended state. Some craftsmen are able to make special cases that highly reliably protect products from possible damage. Periodically repair the sports product; it is covered with a polyethylene protective layer and special ointments are used.

“Skis” made from plastic bottles for children

It’s very easy to make skis from plastic bottles with your own hands, for which you need to use 1.5 or 2 liter containers. They make an oval hole in each one, where the child’s leg can fit through. Cover their edges with electrical tape so that the child does not accidentally get hurt. Plastic products will not replace full-fledged equipment, but will be excellent entertainment for children. In addition, snowmobiles are made from plastic pipes that glide perfectly on snow.

Winter hunting is a fun and interesting activity, but to hunt for prey in the snow you need to have special equipment. The most important element is hunting skis, which will help you move comfortably on the snow, regardless of its height and terrain. It’s possible to make hunting skis with your own hands, but you need to know the step-by-step algorithm.

Hunting skis differ from ordinary skis in their design - they have a shortened nose and a reinforced middle. Due to this, the resistance of the snow when walking is reduced and durability is ensured.

Can be made of wood or plastic. Their strength is almost the same, but plastic ones are considered more practical, since they do not need to be regularly processed and lubricated. The disadvantage of plastic ones is that they are slippery and are more suitable for sports. This is why they are rarely used by amateurs. Fishermen and hunters choose wooden ones. The latter can be made independently.

Wooden skis come in the following types:

Golitsy are the simplest skis made of wood. They will have to be lubricated with special products before each exit.
Kamus - elk or horse skin is used to create them. The skin is attached from below, and the base is wooden. The design allows you to move quickly through the snow, while on loose surfaces they do not fall through.
Combined. Best value for money and convenience. Only pieces of horse hide are glued to the lower part, which significantly reduces the cost of production.

Materials for making skis and camus

The main material for creating skis is wood. For the camus you will additionally need some skin. The requirements for wood are:

strength;
elasticity;
flexibility;
ease.

Birch, aspen, cork, Manchurian walnut, Amur lilac, willow, and fir trees have such qualities. You can take any of the proposed ones, but it is important that the wood is straight. You can also make hunting skis from plywood yourself, but the plywood needs to be of the highest class.

Similar material is used for camus, but they also require skin. It should be taken from the shin of an elk, horse, deer, or wapiti. There is an elastic pile on the shin area of these animals. With it, movement on snowy slopes and loose snow will be convenient.

Wood harvesting

Before you make skis for hunting, you need to prepare the main material - wood. Wood harvesting is done in winter. During this period, the moisture in it freezes, which makes working with wood easier. Although craftsmen suggest making preparations in August, because at this time the heat has already subsided, and working with wood is more comfortable than at sub-zero temperatures.

Note! The selected tree should have no traces of rot or branches, especially small ones.

You can get high-quality material by following these steps:

Remove the bark.
Saw the deck into boards, thickness 50 mm, length according to the expected length of the snowshoes.
Tie the boards together and insert a spacer in the middle.
Dry for 3 weeks in a cool place.
After drying, apply the contour of the ski and remove excess.

Sizing

Homemade wooden hunting skis must fit in size, for this you need to know how to determine it. To do this, you need to know the weight of the person who will walk on them. The rule works here: 1 kg of weight corresponds to 50 cm² for each ski, the length is no greater than the height of the person for whom it is created.

Calculation example:

The hunter weighs 90 kg, his height is 1.75.
Looking at the formula, the ski area for it is 4500 cm².
Skis for a hunter should be 1.7 m long and 26 cm wide. If you plan to travel on the plain, then the length can be slightly longer, for mountains - shorter.

Another sizing option does not involve calculations. More specifically:

install the skis with their toes up, their length does not exceed the height of the arm extended forward;
width is the distance between the index finger and thumb;
thickness is the distance between the ring and middle finger of the hand at maximum spread; this parameter will need to be brought up to 8 mm on flat areas, and 5 mm on the bend.

Bending

You need to make 2 bends: front and back. At the initial stage, wood can be bent by heating, firing and steaming. After this, each is placed in a special bending machine. It is necessary to ensure that there is no distortion, otherwise the material will be damaged.

Steaming is convenient to carry out when the ski is already secured in the machine. This will help you get the best result. You need to cool it in the cold, but this can only be done after successful bending. When the material has completely cooled under the required conditions, it is necessary to inspect it for distortions; if there are any, the skis will move incorrectly.

Marking holes for fastening straps

The next stage in the technology for creating homemade skis is marking the holes for the fastening that secures the leg. Stages:

Place the ski on its edge and lift it in the place where the leg will be fixed.
The ski will stand at an angle of 45⁰ to the floor, the nose is raised up.
Place a mark at the point at which the ski reaches the indicated position and draw a line across it across the width.
Draw another parallel line, retreating 4 cm from the first mark towards the bow.
Find the middle on both lines and place your fist so that it is located in the middle of the central marks.
Make marks where the fist corresponds to the lines drawn earlier. These 4 points will be the holes for fastening.

All that remains is to burn the marked holes and connect them with deep grooves. They are needed for tightly laying belts in a homemade product.

Making kamus

If you decide to make a kamus, then the next step is preparing the skin. Steps:

Remove any remaining fat and meat from the skin.
Stretch dry it.
Cut the camus to the size of the ski with a margin of 1-2 cm for the turn.
Soak the skins in water.
Fold the fuzzy edges towards each other.
Sew with strong thread.
Dry. When gluing, the camus may be slightly damp.

Gluing

After drying, the camus needs to be glued, this should be done carefully, because it is this part that prevents it from slipping on the snow. For gluing, you can use epoxy or wood glue. You can make a fairly high-quality adhesive composition on your own. For this you will need fish skin. Manufacturing process:

you need spawned chum or catfish;
Remove skin from fish, remove scales and fat, soak in water;
after soaking the leather, roll it onto a wooden stick and wrap it in a cloth soaked in water;
hang over the stove or coals;
steam until you get thick gluten.

When gluing, the composition is first applied to the camus. The first layer is allowed to dry, then the second is applied. Next, the kamus is applied to a wooden blank and pressed. It is convenient to roll the product at home with a roller. This must be done until the skin is completely smooth.

To record the result of the work, you should wrap the camus with a bandage - this guarantees a strong grip on the sides. All that remains is to dry it in a cool room with good ventilation.

Ski racks

It is correct to use elk leather belts as fasteners; they should be pre-fried and smoked. The belts are fixed in the holes that were prepared in advance. Screws are used for this.

Advice! For such purposes, you cannot use hard leather. You shouldn’t do this, because it creaks at subzero temperatures, which will make hunting problematic.

Making a ski pole

A ski pole is a must. It is made from the same type of wood as the ski. Its design contains the necessary devices for a hunter:

a claw and a ring - they will make walking on fragile ice safe;
shovel - it is convenient to clear snow with its help;
a measure to determine the depth of the snow; for this you will need to make marks along the length every 5 cm.

Storage

Skis are used only in winter. The key to long-term use is proper storage. This applies to both factory and homemade models. Rules:

Connect with each other.
Hang on a hook or nail.
The room should have normal humidity and ventilation.
It must be placed so that no water gets into the fasteners.

Advice! If the fasteners are loose, then you need to unscrew the screws and fill them with epoxy glue, then put the screws in place. Skis must be checked before each use.

The production of hunting skis is a feasible task, but it requires a lot of time and patience. Their quality is affected by the choice of material and the correct implementation of all the above manufacturing steps.