The word “ski” is of Slavic origin, and was first mentioned in a message from Emperor Nicephorus to the Kyiv prince Vladimir Monomakh at the beginning of the 12th century. Chronicles of the 15th-16th centuries also talk about the use of skis for military purposes.
Skis not only make it easier for a hunter to move through snowy terrain, but also make it possible to hunt in very deep snow, when all paths in the taiga are closed to the “on foot” hunter.
In ancient times, a hunter who crossed someone else's path had their skis cut off - this suggests that skis were and are one of the most important types of hunter equipment. Not only successful fishing, but also the health, and sometimes even the life of the hunter, directly depends on the quality of skis. What are the requirements for hunting skis now? Firstly, they must be strong, but light, and secondly, they must provide easy ascent to fairly steep slopes.
With certain skills and knowledge, you can make skis yourself. The most durable skis are made from birch and maple, while less durable skis are made from spruce. It is best to harvest birch ridges for skis in winter, when the movement of sap in the tree is stopped. The tree chosen is smooth, with thin bark, without knots in the lower part of the trunk. A two-meter ridge is cut from the butt of a felled tree, which is split or sawn into bars, parallel to the slope of the trunk and the direction of the wood fibers. After this, the blocks are hewn, resulting in boards 3.5-4 cm thick. The outer side of the board, facing the bark, is always used for the lower, sliding surface of the skis, and the butt part is used for bending the toes. After drying for at least a month, the board is shaped into a ski, then the nose of the ski is steamed in boiling water for half an hour, it must be taken into account that insufficient softening of the wood can lead to a break in the tip when it is bent, and excessive steaming leads to the formation of folds on the inner surface wear or cracks. The bend of the ski tip is made on a wooden, home-made template, and its curvature should be made somewhat steeper than the desired bend of the ski tip, since when removed from the template after a week of drying, they unbend by ten millimeters. Before removing the skis from the template, the lower part of the bend, for better fixation, is “roasted” over coals. After all this, the ski blanks are processed in accordance with the required dimensions, which must correspond to the weight of the hunter, but in any case, the height of the skis should not exceed the height of the owner. With loose snow, one kilogram of the hunter’s weight should account for approximately fifty square meters. centimeters of support, based on this it turns out that with a hunter’s weight of 70 kg, the ski support area should be equal to 3,500 square meters. cm, which is achieved by the following dimensions: ski length 160 cm, width 22 cm. Holes are drilled in the toes of the skis for towing them. Finished skis must be soaked in heated wood resin diluted with turpentine and tar.
Hunting skis There are three types: golitsy, kamus and combined. Golitsy - skis not lined with camus. Before going hunting, the sliding surface of the loaches must be treated with a specially prepared ointment, for example, consisting of molten wax (three parts) and one part of stearin and fish oil. It is better to prepare special ointments designed for certain temperature conditions. The ointment used during a thaw or in slight frost (down to -10°C) consists of three parts of paraffin, two parts of brown wax and not large quantity tar. A frozen piece of this mixture is rubbed on the heated lower surface of the ski, then rubbed until shiny with a cloth. At lower temperatures, an ointment is used consisting of three parts wax, one part stearin, one part blubber (or fish oil) with the addition of a small amount of tar and rosin. In very severe frosts (below -30°C), it is good to lubricate skis with popular tar. The main disadvantage of golits is the difficulty of climbing uphill. Well-known techniques - herringbone or ladder climbing - are impossible in the dense taiga. To overcome a steep climb, you have to make large zigzags, which require a lot of effort and time. All this can be avoided by equipping the goiters with a simple device - brake plates. To do this, a plate the width of the ski and a length of 15 cm is cut out of three-millimeter aluminum. One end of it (thrust) is made rounded, the second is bent into a tube into which a thick, preferably stainless, wire is inserted, its ends are bent in the form of a bracket with loops at the ends , which are secured to the heel of the ski with an aluminum plate 4 cm long. On the heels of the skis, 16 cm from the edge, clamps are installed that secure the thrust plates when moving on flat terrain. When overcoming climbs, the plates are released from fixation and stretch freely along the ski track, without interfering with forward movement, but as soon as the skis go backwards, they rest against the snow with their lower end and hold the hunter in place.
The second device that eliminates the lack of skid marks is a brush made of coarse hair (bristles), for which the ski itself serves as a block. The brush is placed in front of the support platform and behind it. Bunches of brush hair are placed in relation to the sliding surface of the ski, to its heel at an angle of 45°. To make brushes, holes for them are made on the lower surface of the skis. The holes, which are best pierced with an awl, are placed in a checkerboard pattern. They should be conical with a diameter of 2 mm on the upper surface and 4 mm on the lower surface. To make the work easier, the holes can first be drilled with a two-millimeter drill, and then, to make them taper, treated with an awl made of four-millimeter wire. To ensure the same inclination of the holes, it is necessary to make a template.
To prevent the tufts of brush hair from bending too steeply, a recess is made opposite each hole at the back along the ski. After all the holes are ready, they need to be cleaned of burrs. Next, we proceed to the manufacture of brushes, for the construction of which bristles 7 cm long are prepared. A fishing line with a cross section of 1 mm is secured with a nail at one end on the upper surface of the ski at the front extreme hole, then the fishing line itself is inserted in the form of a loop from top to bottom and a bundle is placed in this loop stubble. The intended bend of the bristles on the loop is generously lubricated with glue, preferably epoxy, after which the free end of the fishing line is pulled upward, while the tuft of bristles fits tightly into the conical hole. Then the fishing line is threaded into the next hole and the whole operation is repeated again, and so on until the end, after which the second end of the fishing line is secured in the same way as the first. After the necessary drying, the hair on the brush is trimmed in a plane parallel to the plane of the ski, leaving tufts of hair no more than 15 mm. The puncture sites on the upper surface of the skis are covered with colorless varnish. If the skis converted in this way do not hold you on the slope, then either the slope is very steep, or the weight of the skier is high, and it is simply worth adding a few rows of beams. Came skis do not have the disadvantages of shaft skis. They provide speed of movement and stability in deep, loose snow and the ability to climb uphill at a normal pace. Kamus is the hard-haired part of the skin taken from the lower part of the legs of an elk, deer, or horse. According to most hunters, the best camus is considered to be horse camus; it is also called the most popular. Elk camus is considered the most durable, and the softest, non-squeaking camus is considered to be reindeer camus. Camus is also used by roe deer, musk deer, and deer. In coastal areas, seal skins are often used for these purposes. The camus is selected so that there is as little “transverse” hair as possible. To lighten the weight, the camus is flayed to an extremely thin thickness, after which it is sewn into one long strip with the pile directed in one direction. When installing the skin on skis, it is necessary to monitor the general direction of the hair, it is necessary that in the middle of the skin the hair lies parallel to the edges of the ski, otherwise when moving it will go to the side, in other words, “mow”. When attaching the camus to the skis, it is either nailed or sewn and, finally, it can be glued on.
Hunters do not have a unanimous opinion on this matter. The camus is nailed starting from the toes of the skis, first along the “axis” with nails with a wide head, maintaining a distance of 5 cm between them. In the places where the camus joins, nails are nailed more often, and the sides of the camus are nailed in the same way. If some nails go right through the ski, it’s okay; when bent towards the heel of the ski, they hold the skin more securely.
You can sew on the kamus using varnish-coated grit. For strength, the edge of the camus is stitched with a vein. Before installation, the camus must be soaked in warm water. Then, every 10 cm (at the toe of the ski every 5 cm), two holes with a diameter equal to the thickness of the grit are drilled or pierced: one, retreating from the edge of the bast by 10 mm, the second by 18 mm. Through these holes a thread is pulled, which is used to attract and tie the skin to the ski. The free end of the thread, sweeping the edge of the camus, goes to the next pair of holes, and the whole operation is repeated in a circle around the entire perimeter of the ski, starting from its toe. With this method of attaching the camus, it can be quickly replaced when it becomes unusable or worn out. This is difficult to do without damaging the skis if the skin is nailed down with small nails.
Most hunters believe that skis with a glued camus are stronger in bending, because all the strength is in the ceilings and glue. Before gluing the casing, the ski is coated with glue twice. After drying, a third layer of glue is applied and the wet casing is pulled onto the ski, after which it must be rolled with a roller in the direction of the hair until excess glue comes out and the casing is completely flattened. Then the ski is wrapped with a bandage or twine so that the skin on the sides adheres well and does not warp. After the necessary drying, the bandage (twine) is removed, and the excess camus at the edges is cut off with a sharp knife. Various adhesive compositions are used to glue the camus. These are both BF and epoxy-based glue, but the most preferable is wood glue with a small addition of acetic acid, which makes the glue water-resistant. For the summer, camo skis are tied with the sliding side inward with a spacer in the middle. To prevent damage to the skin by moths, you need to wrap your skis in newspaper soaked in kerosene.
The disadvantage of camus skis is that the camus gets wet and the skis become heavy and difficult to control. Therefore, many hunters make combined skis, by gluing a narrow strip of camus onto the sliding surfaces of skis, which is located in the middle, along the entire sliding surface. The width of the camus strip should be at least 8 cm, which ensures sufficient braking of the skis from sliding backwards when going uphill. The camus tape is glued as follows: glue is applied in an even layer to the surfaces to be glued, after which the camus strip is placed strictly in the middle of the sliding surface of the ski with the nap to the heel and pressed tightly until the glue dries completely. After gluing the kamus strip, excess glue along its edges must be removed. The ends of the camus strip must be folded at the toe and heel onto the upper surface of the ski and secured with glue; gluing the camus strip directly to the sliding surface of the ski is allowed, but to improve performance, it is better to place it in a specially selected groove 2 mm deep and 80 mm wide.
In all the above-described options, kamus is used both dressed and undressed. You can make a kamus yourself. To do this, pour 10 liters of water into a wooden container, pour 1 kg of table salt into it and, taking special care, pour in 200 ml of sulfuric acid, mix it all thoroughly. The kamus is placed in the resulting solution for three days, after which it is taken out and nailed with nails, stretched on a board to dry, with the inside up. A kamus made in this way is not afraid of dampness. And one more thing: when working with a kamus, it is necessary to correctly process it at the joints, for which, at the junction of the kamus, both ends of it are cut to “no”, and the hair itself must also be trimmed there.
And the last important detail is the fastenings. On the one hand, they must hold the leg securely, on the other, for example, when falling or if necessary to quickly get off the skis, they must almost automatically release the legs. The bindings are installed in such a way that the heel of the ski when moving gives a greater draft than the toe. To do this, find the center of gravity of the ski and draw a transverse line through it, then, retreating 40 mm from the toe, draw a second line parallel to the first, which will be the line where the fastening begins. The support platform for the foot is best made from multi-layer plywood, select a groove for the loop from below and glue it to the ski with waterproof glue; for greater reliability, you can also screw it with screws. Under the foot itself, it is necessary to stick microporous rubber, which, by compressing and unclenching, prevents the snow from being compressed under the foot. If rubber is not available, you can use a birch bark plate, and glue it only along the edges. Fastening straps are best made from well-smoked elk leather; it does not get wet or stretch, as happens with rawhide, which becomes limp from dampness. You can also use canvas straps. There are many methods of fastening, I will give some of them.
First. The main strap passes through the toe of the shoe just behind the toes, and the heel strap is attached to it, which, on the leading foot, crosses twice in the instep (double figure eight). The tension of the strap should allow you to pull your leg out from under the main fastening belt at any time. On the second ski, the toe of the foot goes deeper under the main strap, the back strap fits the shoe looser and crosses once.
Second effective way fastening is that the heel strap is attached not to the main strap, but to a metal hook attached to the front of the support platform, or to the front of the ski itself. With this method of fastening, the foot gets tired and cold less, since the main belt practically does not carry the load and does not squeeze the foot in the shoe.
Sometimes the bindings are lined with special stocking bags made of thick material, which are put on the legs together with the skis and tied just below the knees. With this method of fastening, the snow does not get under your feet and does not creak, thereby ensuring quiet running, but there is no opportunity to quickly get off the skis.
The simplest and at the same time reliable fastening has been known since ancient times. There is no heel strap here at all; the whole secret is that a boss is sewn onto the toe of a felt boot using tarred grit (it can be made from the boot of another felt boot). It is enough to raise the heel of your foot higher, slide the toe of the felt boot with the boss under the main belt and that’s it. When moving through deep, loose snow, some hunters tie ropes with one end to the holes in the toes of the skis and the other under the knees, thus freeing the front halves of the skis from falling under the snow.
In this article presented to your attention, I tried to cover rich experience hunters of the Urals, Siberia and the Far East. I apologize in advance if this came out a little awkward. With great respect to all brother hunters.
Leonid Mamonov,
game biologist
Hunting requires special skis that differ from standard narrow sports models. Real hunting skis have a large width, thanks to which you can move on the snow without falling through. They are indispensable for a hunter in winter, as they allow you to move across any landscape, getting to the most interesting places for fishing. Hunting skis are sold in stores, but you can make them yourself at home. Some people enjoy making equipment with their own hands, others want to save money, or simply live far from cities where they can buy skis.
Hunting ski device
Hunting skis have two main differences from sports skis - width and type of fastening. Usually they are no longer than 15 cm, this is what allows them to hold their owner in the snow, preventing him from falling through.
The binding should provide the hunter with a greater degree of freedom so that he can comfortably ski for a long time, and also so that he can instantly remove them if necessary. It must be designed to fit boots or boots that are normally used for winter hunting. A good option for homemade hunting skis there will be fastenings made from straps. There are two main options:
- fastening consisting of one strap into which the toe of the shoe is threaded;
- fastening with two straps - one under the toe, the second holds the heel.
Wooden and plastic hunting skis are manufactured industrially. The latter glide on snow as well as possible. On the one hand, this allows you to quickly move on a flat surface. On the other hand, when going uphill, such skis slide back too much, and when going down they pick up too much speed. Wooden skis do not have these disadvantages. They are well suited for traveling over rough terrain with ups and downs, and when moving downhill they do not accelerate to critical speeds. At the same time, they can be made quite easily with your own hands.
Can be used for hunting wooden skis- golitsy or camus skis. On the working surfaces of skinned skis there are pieces of skins that make it easier to slide on the snow, and also help to climb uphill, preventing you from sliding back. The disadvantages of camus skis are the complexity of manufacturing and greater weight than golitz skis.
Selecting ski size
How more weight hunter, the larger the area of the skis should be so that they can provide reliable support. To make hunting skis that fit best, when choosing a size, you can focus on the following parameters:
- ski height – eyebrow;
- width - 16-18 cm for a hunter weighing 60-70 kg, 18-20 cm - for a hunter weighing 70-80 kg, for a hunter weighing more than 80 kg - more than 20 cm.
It is not advisable to make licks wider than 24 cm, otherwise walking on them in the forest will be uncomfortable. On wide skis Oh, it’s difficult to squeeze between the trees, and you constantly have to keep your legs “straight up.”
An example of the geometric dimensions of skis for a person 190 cm tall and weighing more than 80 kg.
Also, the required area of hunting skis can be calculated using a simple formula. For every kilogram of the hunter’s weight along with equipment, there should be 50 square centimeters of ski area. So, if you weigh 85 kg, and your usual equipment is 15 kg, the required area of the pair is (85+15) * 50 = 5000 square centimeters. Accordingly, the area of one ski is 2500 square centimeters.
All that remains is to choose the appropriate ratio of length and width. With a width of 15 cm, the required length is 2500: 15 = 166 cm. You can also make the skis shorter and wider, in which case it will be more convenient to move through the forest. For example, for a width of 20 cm, the required length is 2500: 20 = 125 cm.
Wood preparation
To make hunting skis, you can use a wide variety of wood - aspen, spruce, birch, and so on. When choosing a material, you need to proceed from its availability and performance properties. The most durable skis are made from birch and maple. The lightest are spruce and aspen. It is more convenient to move on such skis, but you will have to be careful, as they are inferior in strength.
It is better to harvest wood for skis in autumn or spring. It should be stored in a well-ventilated area. When summer will pass, you need to cut off the bark from it and store it for another year.
With such a long preparation, the wood will have best quality. If you speed up drying, cracks may appear at the ends - thus, the material will not be strong and reliable enough.
It is better to prepare material for two or three pairs of skis at once. Then it will take less work per pair than if you prepare material for each set of skis separately. In addition, without proper experience, it is easy to damage the material during the manufacturing process, after which it will be unusable. Therefore, it is better to have several sets of blanks on hand at once.
Ski making
When the wood preparation is completed, you can begin making ski blanks. They should look like boards up to 1 cm thick in the middle, and thinner at the edges. First, you need to make cuts across the prepared wood every 5 cm, and then chop off the excess material with an ax. After this, you need to give the blanks a finished look using a plane. Using an electric planer greatly simplifies this process.
Then the boards should be placed in a bucket with a sliver of wood between them, placed on the stove or placed in a boiler in water and boiled for 1.5-2 hours.
Then the boiled parts must be placed in a special machine and bent, thus making the noses of the skis. This must be done gradually so that the tree “gets used” to new form and it didn't break. Then, at the bend, the wood must be hardened by treating it with a burner until it turns black.
The next step is to round off the toes and heels by removing excess material with a hacksaw. You need to saw in the direction from the center of the workpiece to the end so that the wood does not break off. You must act very carefully and without haste.
Then you need to drill holes on the toes and heels, after marking them with a pencil. They should be spaced about 2 cm apart. The diameter of the holes is about 2 mm. After drilling, each hole must be burned with a hot awl. In this case, their edges will become hard, and the thread will not cut them under load. You need to pass the rope into the prepared holes; the tighter it is, the better. Thanks to this thread, homemade hunting skis will be stronger and more durable.
Mounting bases
Afterwards you need to prepare two bases for fastenings. They should be made in the form of small planks with a recess in the form of a transverse path. They need to be placed in the center of the skis, and then moved 3 cm towards the heels and marked with a pencil. Then the bases for fastenings must be placed on glue and secured with self-tapping screws. If the skis are thin, the screws should go from the bottom, and if they are thin, from the top.
Skis with bindings installed incorrectly move to the side when moving. Therefore, this step must be performed very carefully.
Kamus
The skin for skis must be peeled off from the hoof itself, making an incision along inside legs. After fleshing, the skins must be pulled with force onto the boards, secured with nails. Then the camus should be dried for 1-2 weeks at room temperature, away from the stove or radiator. There is no need to additionally treat it after drying - the thinner it is, the faster it will wear out. After drying is complete, you need to select a piece of skin for each ski. The smaller its thickness, the thicker the camus should be, and vice versa.
If the skins are not large enough, you need to sew several pieces into one with coarse thick threads. Before the operation, the camus should be soaked in a bucket of water for several hours and then half dried. Skins that are too raw or too wet will stretch and tear when stitched. When sewing, you need to make holes with an awl and then thread the thread through them.
The holes should be angled so that the thread does not come out from the underside of the skin. The finished camus needs to be glued using reliable waterproof glue; the usual “Moment” is good for this. The glue must be applied to inner surface skins and on the edges of the ski. To make skis more comfortable to use, they can be painted or varnished. In this case, snow will not stick to them.
Fastenings
The final stage of ski manufacturing is the installation of bindings. They can be made from leather or fabric belts. In the wooden base for fastening, previously mounted on the ski, you need to thread a strap under the toe of the boot and attach a second strap to it under the heel. If during use it turns out that the ski moves to the side when walking, this second strap needs to be moved, to the right or to the left.
If you approach the matter correctly, self-made hunting skis will be no worse than those you can buy in a store. It is important to choose the right size, and then make skis in compliance with technology. In this case, they will serve reliably, be strong and durable. They will allow you to climb into the most promising places for hunting and always be left with good trophies.
Winter is a great time of year for those who like to hunt. However, hunting in winter requires special equipment, since moving through snow-covered forests is often not so easy. An experienced hunter who has walked many miles knows firsthand that sports skis Not intended for walking through large snowdrifts. To do this, his equipment must include special skis for hunting.
Selection criteria
When choosing hunting skis you need to pay attention to the following criteria:
- strength and flexibility;
- quality of material;
- length and width;
- fastenings that fix the leg.
Skis for hunting must be distinguished not only by durability, but also by good flexibility, so that even when passing through the most snowy places the hunter does not lose maneuverability. They must be selected in size, taking into account that the support area for 1 kg of human body weight should be at least 50 square centimeters. At the same time, their length should not be greater than the height of the hunter. Bindings for hunting skis must be selected in such a way that rigidity is ensured and the leg does not slip out or bend while riding.
Materials
When choosing equipment, the hunter should first of all be interested in what skis are made of and which ones should be purchased. Hunting skis are made of plastic or wood.
Plastic
Plastic skis have become very popular recently, because in terms of their strength characteristics, many models are not inferior to wooden ones. One of the advantages of using them is that there is no need to treat them with special lubricant before each trip.
But plastic also has a significant disadvantage - it slips very much. Due to this, climbing a high hill on plastic snowshoes is quite problematic, and when descending from a large slope, the hunter may completely lose control of speed and fall. Therefore, plastic hunting skis are best used on gentler slopes and flat terrain.
Wooden
Wooden skis are for deep snow. They are made from the strongest wood species - birch, pine or maple, making them lightweight and reliable.
Being small in size, such snowshoes can easily move both on newly fallen snow and on loose crust. The tapered front helps reduce snow resistance. There are small slots in the nose to be used as drag nets.
If you treat them with resin before each use, they will last a long time, and regular lubrication with a special compound will improve glide.
Types of fastenings
Mounts for hunting skis are usually used in three types:
- Simple fasteners are leather or canvas straps that are inserted into holes on both sides of the support platform. The foot in the shoe is inserted into the strap and secured.
- Soft fastenings provide another belt that helps to better secure the leg. You need to grab your leg just above the heel and tighten it well so that the snowshoes don’t fall off while riding.
- Another option for mounting hunting skis is a semi-rigid mount. A metal plate is installed, into which the leg is rested and secured using a sling placed on top. The heel in this fastening option is fixed not with a belt, but with a spring, which is adjusted to the foot and secured to the shoe toe.
The best option would be to place the fastener in the middle. But here you need to listen to the wishes of the hunter; many prefer to place the mount closer to the bow.
You can also use rigid fastenings, but then the hunter runs the risk of being limited in movements, which is completely inappropriate in something like hunting, where dexterity and agility are needed. It is best to use one of the three options above, and ideally it would be good to try each fastening option to determine the most convenient one for yourself.
How to make camo skis with your own hands
Materials for production
Almost every avid hunter has at least once been interested in how to make skis with his own hands. After all, just in order to achieve maximum convenience, most winter hunting enthusiasts make homemade hunting skis for themselves. The wood for their manufacture must combine qualities such as fracture strength, flexibility, elasticity and lightness.
Birch has all these properties, which is the most popular when making hunting skis with your own hands. Also often used are cork, Amur lilac or Maca akotnik, and less often - willow and aspen. The craftsman determines what kind of wood to make the skis from, choosing from the above-mentioned wood species and based on their availability.
Ski skins are needed so that they do not roll back on the slopes and loose snow does not stick to them. It is made from leather taken from the shin of a horse, wapiti, deer or elk. These ungulates have skin on their legs that is covered with elastic hair, which will give the snowshoes flexibility, good stretch and compression, like a spring. Hunting skis with a camus made of elk skin have the highest strength, and in terms of softness and noiselessness, capes made from wapiti and reindeer simply have no equal.
Wood harvesting
So, how to make hunting skis yourself? Typically, wood is harvested in winter, while the moisture in the wood is frozen. The main thing is that it is straight-layered and without rot. Some craftsmen prefer to take material at the end of summer, explaining this by the fact that it is no longer so hot and it is more convenient to hew at this time than in hot or frosty weather.
The tree is cleared of bark and the log is sawn into 5-centimeter thick bars corresponding to the length of the skis. After this, they are firmly tied and a spacer is inserted into the middle part. At this stage, the master sends the workpieces to a cool place for drying, which lasts about 20 days. An outline is applied to the dried beams, and then the excess is sawed off and planed off.
Sizing
Decide on size homemade skis quite simple. If you place the ski vertically with the toe up, its length should correspond to the height from the floor level to an outstretched arm. Usually the length range is 180-250 cm, no more. The width is selected according to the distance between the spaced large and index fingers, on average it is 18-20 cm. The thickness should correspond to the distance between the middle and ring finger a person with his fingers spread wide apart. Usually the master tries to bring the thickness to 0.8 cm, and in places of bend to 0.5 cm.
Bending
The front, middle and rear arching of hunting skis at the first stage is carried out by burning their ends and steaming them in boiling water. Afterwards, the ski is placed in a special bending machine. It is necessary to carefully ensure that there is no distortion when bending, otherwise there will be no top stroke and all the work done will be useless.
You can pour boiling water over the product directly in the machine - this will give greater flexibility and ductility when bending. After making sure that the procedure was successful, the product can be taken out into the cold or placed in a cool place to cool.
Marking holes for fastenings
To make holes for fastening, the ski is placed on its edge and in the area where the leg will be located, it is lifted with the thumb and forefinger. The ski should be at an angle of 45 degrees to the floor, with the nose pointing upward. When it takes this position, a mark is placed on it and a line is drawn across it along the width.
Then, retreating 4 cm to the bow, draw another line parallel to the previous one. The middle is marked on the lines and a fist is applied to it, so that its middle is located at the level with the centers of the lines. In the places where the edges of the fist touch the lines, mark the points of the four holes for future bindings for hunting skis.
After this, the holes are burned and connected from below with grooves of good depth so that the belts fit neatly at the bottom.
Making kamus
After making the skis themselves, you can begin dressing and patterning the camus. The animal's stretched paws must be dried and freed from fat and remaining flesh. The camus must match the size of the ski and provide a small margin for turning. After this, the paws are cut lengthwise into two parts and soaked in cold water.
When they soften, they are folded with their shaggier edges towards each other and attached to the ski so that the thickest pile is in the middle of the sliding side. The camus is then sewn together using strong nylon thread and its transverse edges are beveled to increase bending strength.
Bonding
Pockets are made along the edges of the camus in order to tuck the toe and heel into them. After sewing, the camus is sent to dry, since during gluing it can be damp, but not wet. Next stage- coating the camus with glue and gluing it directly to the ski.
Epoxy glue will also work for gluing casing skis, but it is preferable to use good carpentry glue. Before gluing the camus, the product is coated with glue in one layer, allowed to dry and coated again. Then apply the kamus and, rolling it with a roller, squeeze out the remaining glue until the kamus is completely leveled on the surface.
If you don’t have a special roller at hand, you can use well-rolled pebbles or cobblestones.
Then you should rewind the product with the camus with a bandage or belt so that the camus sticks well to the sides. It would be a good idea to attach a piece of rubber under the foot to prevent snow from sticking to it. The product is sent to dry in a well-ventilated dry room, after which belts are threaded through the fastening holes.
This step by step instructions How to make skis is complete. And homemade camo skis are ready for use. Just don’t forget to lubricate them before going out.
Making a ski pole
The stick or tunepun is usually made from the same type of wood as the snowshoe. At its lower end there is a scapula, and at the upper end there is a ring and a claw. To use a stick to determine the level of snow, marks are made along its entire length every 5 cm. Tunepuns are good for walking on ice; they can clear a road or a place to rest.
Storage
For storage, plastic and wooden skis are tied together and hung in a dry, well-ventilated place. Water should not get into the fastenings and after each use they must be carefully cleared of snow residues. If the fastening screws are loose, you need to unscrew them and pour epoxy glue into the holes - after this the functionality will be restored.
Video
Watch our video on how to prepare your skis for the hunting season.
I’ll continue the topic of equipment for backcountry freeride. This time review about camus. Yes, yes, about those very “skins” that catch on to make it more fun to climb the hill)).
Why do you need a camus at all? The answer is simple, like that broom - to make it easier for a skier (or split boarder) to climb the mountain. It is only necessary to clarify that the ascent is on snow.
The camus has a sticky layer on one side (for attaching to the ski), and a fleecy surface on the other. It is this lint that makes a kamus a kamus. The upward/forward movement occurs along the pile, with minimal friction. When the load goes in the opposite direction (we transferred the weight to this ski, leaned on it), then the movement occurs against the pile, with maximum friction. More precisely, no movement occurs. And this, in fact, is what we need, so that it slides in one direction and does not slip in the other.
Camus are bought either specific width and length, for your ski/split model (there are plenty of variations of skins, there is plenty to choose from), or, which is also generally not bad, you buy it by the length. Since it is sold only by the meter, you usually need to purchase 4 meters of camus (of the required width!) + a mounting kit. It turns out cheaper than ready-made solutions.
When choosing kamus, It is best to take the widest part of your projectile in the area of the contact surface as width(that is, wide nose and tail hanging in the air do not count). Then, after cutting the camus, it will cover the entire working surface.
If exactly this width is not on sale. Of course, if it’s just a little less, then there’s no point in overpaying for the sake of a couple of millimeters, which you’ll most likely cut anyway. If there is a significant lack (5-10 mm or more), then take a size larger. Cut off the excess.
When choosing a camis, not only size is important.
There are 3 types of camuses according to the material: synthetics, mohair(Angora goat wool) and their combination, the so-called. miixt. The former are more durable and cheaper, but glide much worse and are not as light and compact as mohair. So, usually ski mountaineers and everyone who runs uphill at speed take more expensive mohair. Yes, you have to buy new ones more often, but they work perfectly. More often, this is 2-3 times higher than if they were running on synthetics (they wear out a lot, they get infected).
For us, for freeriders, mixt ones are more suitable, they combine the advantages of both types of camus (the glide is almost like mohair, and the tenacity is almost like synthetics), but they cost a reasonable amount. Some of the best - Black Diamond and G3, if not the best.
Here it is, mohair)).
These are the main points (width, length, composition), the rest is your personal preferences. By price, color, etc. There are even kamusa for girls)). By the way, very cute. As a guide, the usual price for a good ready-made mixed camus is $119-160. And they're worth it.
Now, about that how to “collect” kamus. I suggest you look at this video from BD. In 5 minutes the main points of the fireworks were covered and not bad.
Now mounting kits all major manufacturing companies are approximately similar. For some it is a little more convenient, for others less so, but the essence is the same. ONE BUT.
You should not take a camus without fastening on both sides of the projectile(nose + tail). Initially, a number of manufacturers only had a bracket on the nose and that’s it, the heel did not cling anywhere (it was assumed that it would not go anywhere). This option is not an option at all. Over time, when the camus wears out and holds worse, or simply when it gets wet/frosted/clogged with snow, it begins to come off in places, or even completely, from the projectile...that’s when the looseness of the heel shows itself in all its glory.
Yes if you buy ready-made kamus to a certain size, then often you no longer need to assemble anything, everything is installed, just cut it a little to fit your projectile and use it. Comfortable. But more expensive)).
Trim tool. Pruning knife from BD, inconvenient.
And this one, thoughtful.
Without these special kamus knives, it’s difficult to trim the camus properly and there’s a high chance of messing up. Therefore, if suddenly it is not included in the kit (forgot to put it in, or something else), then it’s better not to do it yourself. Either borrow from friends or buy, they are for sale. Well, or do everything very thoughtfully and peeking out of the corner of your eye in the video instructions.
But you still have to cut the kamus, even a ready-made one... it almost never happens that the purchased kamus fits the projectile perfectly, without "processing with a file")).
Cheat sheets, or in Russian, "grid". When you first receive your new furry friends, don’t throw it away, thinking that it’s a spacer for transportation and nothing more. This thing will make your life a lot easier. You will lay it between two camus so that they do not stick together like crazy. The kamus stick to it, but only moderately.
The most convenient option is to cut it in half, into two approximately meter-long pieces. One for each camus. Then, during the assembly and disassembly of the projectile, it will be possible to operate each camus separately and independently of the other. In strong winds and in conditions of a lot of snow, this is very important. Try it, you will like it.
But, unfortunately, these nets die faster than good ones. In this case advice. Don’t even think about buying a mounting grid and using it to replace your deceased original one. It might end badly. There are many stories online about how the construction mesh began to tear and remain in pieces on the camus, with all the consequences. So, if it starts to run out, order a new one. The issue price is $20 if BD and 10-15 from other manufacturers.
Now, Let's go over some aspects of using camuses in action.
First of all, clean the surface! No snow or frozen drops of water. The cleaner, the better the contact of the adhesive layer will be. If you have time, turn the shells with their sliders towards the Sun and let them warm up a little. The warmer the sliding surface, the better everything sticks.
Advice. Sometimes, complete with camus (and sometimes with split crepes) there is an inconspicuous plastic or rubber plate of unclear purpose. Don't throw it away and take it with you. It is just for cleaning the surface of the projectile from snow and so on. Very useful crap. And not only for putting on camus. I regularly use it to clear drops of ice that freeze when a warm projectile hits cold snow after backcountry, or it just gets colder during the climb (first the snow on the projectile melted and then froze at altitude). Previously, I did this with ski passes and bank cards)).
And, peeling the camus from the mesh, we glue it to the projectile. Important points, - The camus should not climb onto the edges and even more so for them. Rule of 2 millimeters- there should be 2 mm left to the edge of the projectile. This is necessary so that even when lifting the casing, we remain in the working position (what if there is a traverse?), and so as not to shaggy kill the edge of the camus. Aging ahead of time has no use for him.
The more frayed the edge is and, in general, the closer it is to the edge of the projectile, the faster the camus gets wet, and this is not gut (it comes off and the sliding is worse).
And of course, there should be no bumps or “bubbles”. The camus must be glued so that it fits completely. If a jamb starts to come out somewhere, it’s worth peeling off this part and trying again. In general, the quality and speed of gluing kamus strongly depend on experience. The more you glue, the more precisely movements, well, it’s like in everything.
In severe frost, especially if the camus were wet, they can stand up like a stake. Working with them is then very difficult. But, what to do... Try not to bring your friends to this point.
Of course, it’s great when a ski tour starts right from the parking lot and you can sit comfortably using the trunk of your car (a very convenient option).
But more often than not everything is not so rosy... wind, snow, you know...
If it is possible to stick your ski into the snow, then it is better to do so. Then, first, the upper half of the skin is put on, then the ski is taken out and what was started is completed “on the knees”, with various variations of resting the tip of the ski in the snow.
If the crust is thick, then you can dress the entire camus with this Makar, it’s very convenient.
The finishing touch- putting the rear fastener on the tail of the ski. It's good if there is some tension, it shouldn't be too weak. But there is no need for over-Oz either.
Advice. Do not slip through the pieces of snow that will inevitably be on the tail of the projectile by the end of the operation. They need to be shaken off, otherwise if your tail from the camus gets caught in them, the tail will start to fall off and come off first. Kamus generally doesn’t like it when snow gets on its adhesive side, especially in cold weather.
Well, here you are at the top of your snow-white mountain... and soon you will begin your divine descent.
First of all, we unstick the camus, one by one. We start from the tail (it won’t work any other way).
There are several ways to peel off. Some people tear off the entire skin at once, others meticulously, piece by piece, gluing it to the mesh... as you like. Well, it depends on the weather whether you need to hurry or not.
Personally, I like to carefully lay out the grid, piece by piece. In a strong wind, for example, it may be possible to peel it off at once, but a developing 2-meter crap that wants to stick to everything in the world... is not an acquired taste. It’s better to be 10 cm, Zen style.
At the same time, The less snow gets on your jacket, the better off you are. Firstly, who knows, maybe you will still have to use it today. Secondly, dry less when you return. This is also relevant, not everywhere there are conditions for quick drying, and the next day getting a wet jacket is not the best scenario.
One more video for variety)). At the same time Let's pray on the powder.
While packing junk into a backpack You shouldn’t just shove the kamus inside. Otherwise, over and over again, collecting various debris on its adhesive surface, it will work worse and worse. It is recommended to use a pouch-case (included), 
For those who are especially confused, we can advise special case for kamus, from the company G3. He also “dries out” your friends while they are driving down home with you. Although, IMHO, the usual one is quite enough. The main thing is not to lose them - in the wind they fly away at once.
Well, s.. the cycle is closed. We are below again, joyful and happy.
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You can soak not only your mountain boots, but also your camus. For better moisture protection and glide, there are various sprays. For example this one. Particularly relevant for old kamus, which have already lost part of their healing properties. Well, in the spring, when the snow is already wet, it’s useful for everyone.
If things are really tough, or you are a real fan, then applying paraffin with an iron, it's your everything. The main thing is don't do it directly on your projectile. Work either on an old, unnecessary one, or just on some hard surface. Well, don’t set the temperature above 60-70.
I don’t know if there is any difference between regular and camus paraffin, but, for example, BD offers specialized camus paraffin for $10. I guess it's just marketing.
About restoration of the adhesive layer on old camus, this is a topic for another discussion. Some other time. I’ll just say one thing: it’s quite easy to do, if you have the desire. There are at least 3 recovery methods.
Well, for a cooldown, lightweight versions of skins, for owners of especially wide skis, and for split boarders. For guys with big things, this is important, otherwise their kamus weigh a kilogram per pair, a lot... They cost almost the same as regular ones, but they are more compact and lighter, all other things being equal.
(review). UPD!!
P.S. I will expand and update this text as best I can., filling with more and more information. And, of course, I will be extremely grateful for any comments and additions.
Kamus– a special insert on the sliding surface of the skis that prevents the skis from rolling backwards. Kamus was made from the skins of deer, elk and other wild animals. Initially, skis with camus were used and continue to be used by hunters. On hunting skis, the camus takes up almost the entire area of the ski.
Cross-country ski manufacturers borrowed this technology and began producing sport skis with camus. They called everything differently: skintec, twinskin, skin, r-skin, intelligrip. The names are different, but the essence is the same: a special insert, unlike hunting ones, occupies only the ski holding area - the block. Rest sliding surface made from the same plastic as everything else cross-country skiing. The insert is made of mohair and artificial fibers.
Pros and cons of cross-country skis with camus
Pros
- no need to fuss with holding ointment
- lasts in any weather
- significantly faster than notches
- do not buzz underfoot, unlike notches
Cons
- inferior in speed to conventional skis
- do not work well on loose snow and powder
How to choose the right skin cross-country skis?
Selection principle like regular ones classic skis : by height and weight. Height +20-25cm, but In terms of weight, it is better to choose a little stiffer than usual.
The casing is thicker than the grip ointment layer and protrudes more from the slip – this will interfere with rolling. On stiffer skis, the camus will be raised and will not interfere with sliding. However, in this case, you need a little more effort to press the pad.
If you are choosing skis for walks, then take in the recommended weight range on ski marking. If you want to get a more sporty and fast skating – by minimum weight range. For example, skis marked 70-90 kg are best taken for a skier weighing 70-75 kg, no more.
How to care for cross-country skis with camus?
In principle, you don’t have to take care of skis with camus at all. That's why they thought of it, so that they could get up and go. But skis will last longer and roll faster if you take care of them.
Slip zones become waxed as usual, you can use liquid sliding lubricants. We wrote about all this in the article The procedure for applying paraffin is identical.
For skin care for sale special means in the form of liquid emulsions. They prevent the camus from getting wet and freezing.
How long does a camus last on cross-country skis?
None of the manufacturers gives exact figures. It all depends on the type of snow and other factors. On average, according to reviews, there is enough camus per 1000 km. After this, it can be replaced with a new one. Here, for example, is a replaceable Fischer ski skin And ski skin madshus.
Replacement of the camus is carried out in the same way for all manufacturers. We have posted a video on replacing the camus below.
Atomic skintec skis
The list of skis is made in descending order from top to bottom. Model Atomic c9 skintec – best model with skintec module and racing plastic. The models are arranged in order of cheapest price: from racing to touring.
- Redster c9 skintec
- Redster c7 skintec
- Pro c3 skintec
- Pro c2 skintec
- Motion skintec
Compare prices and buy Atomic Skintec in ski shops.
Fischer Twin Skin skis
Ruler skis Fischer Twin Skin is a little more modest than atomic. 4 models, where 2 (carbon and race) are racing level, and the other 2 are recreational. The models are arranged in order of cheapest price: from racing to touring.
- Twin Skin Speedmax (new 2018-2019)
- Twin Skin Carbon
- Twin Skin Race
- Twin Skin Pro
- Twin Skin Power ef
Compare prices and buy Fischer Twin Skin in ski shops.
Skis with camus Salomon skin
Salomon hasn't forgotten about juniors either. The line is represented by 6 models for adults and 1 for young skiers. Top model – Salomon S/Race skin. The models are arranged in order of cheapest price: from racing to touring.
- S/Race skin
- RC skin
- Equipment 8 skin
- Aero 9 skin
- Aero 7 skin
- Snowscape 9 skin
Junior
- S/Race Junior skin
Compare prices and buy Salomon Skin in ski shops.
Rossignol R-Skin camo skis
The French brand Rossignol made 2 models for juniors and 4 for adults. Top – R-skin race. The models are arranged in order of cheapest price: from racing to touring.
- R-skin race
- R-skin
- R-skin ultra
- R-skin sport
Junior
- R-skin race jr
- Speed skin
Madshus Intelligrip
The Norwegians acted like Fisher. 4 adult models, where the top Nanosonic carbon classic intelligrip. The models are arranged in order of cheapest price: from racing to touring.
- Madshus Redline Intelligrip (new 2018-2019)
- Nanosonic carbon classic intelligrip
- Terrasonic classic intelligrip
- Ultrasonic intelligrip
- CT 140 intelligrip
Buy Madshus Intelligrip from the official supplier in Russia.
Skis with camus Nordway Skin, Tisa Sport Skin and Inovic Classic 500 skin
In the 2018-2019 season, “popular” brands joined the general trend for skis with camus. And this the right step, because in the Scandinavian countries skin skis occupy about 70% of the market.
Tisa Sport Skin and Nordway Skin are the same ski. Tisa, as you know, is owned by Fischer and is manufactured to Fischer standards: UltraTuning structure application and AirChannel wood core. Nordway Skin skis are also produced at the Fischer plant (in Ukraine) using the same technologies. Both models come without a platform for mounting, so you can drill any.
Choose which ones you like best:
Skis Inovic Classic 500 Skin. An unknown brand in ski circles from Decathlon. However, the skis are superior in performance to the Tisa and Nodway. The core is also made of wood and has air channels and the addition of fiberglass. The main differences are the ski profile and NIS plate.
Inovic have a profile racing skis– 41-44-44 versus walking 51-48-50 at Tisa and Nordway. Innovic is lighter, faster, but less stable. You can attach bindings to the NIS plate without drilling and change the balance of the skis depending on the trail conditions.
Play sports, move and travel! If you find a mistake or want to discuss the article, write in the comments. We are always happy to communicate. 🙂
