How to make skis at home. Skis for hunting: features of choice and storage Making skis at home

Wood is the oldest building material used by mankind. At first, huts and sheds were made from broken branches, and after people learned how to process logs, log cabins, ships, and even entire cities began to be built from them.

After some time, hitherto unknown processing technologies were mastered, which made it possible not only to save a huge amount of wood, but also to obtain new building and finishing materials, the price of which was much lower than ordinary wood.

All about plywood

Scientists are sure that for the first time plywood saw the light in ancient Egypt, where it was used more as a decorative element. It can be assumed that such products were rare, since they are found only in ancient tombs and nowhere else.

This material was most widely used around the 16th century, when French furniture makers began to use several layers of veneer glued into solid sheets to make furniture. But since at that time plywood was made by hand, it was not cheap, and it was not widely used due to the laboriousness of manufacturing.

And finally, in Britain at the end of the 18th century, the first production machine was patented, which was intended for the mass production of solid sheets glued from veneer of different species. As a rule, cheap veneer was in the middle, but more valuable species were glued on the front side, creating the appearance of an array of expensive wood.

This is how plywood appeared, which, without exaggeration, is still the most popular material not only in construction, but also among fans of making homemade products from plywood.

Varieties, classification and properties

Plywood is classified according to several characteristics:

according to the method of manufacture;
by the number of layers;
according to the material used in the manufacture;
according to the chemical composition of the adhesive and impregnation;
by grade;
according to the type of surface treatment.

Plywood is a number of sheets of veneer glued in a certain way, the number of which can be 3, 5 or more.

Scopes of application of various types of plywood

Moisture-resistant plywood is used when the operation of the finished product is associated with constant exposure to a humid or aggressive environment. Quite often, such varieties of different thicknesses are used for the manufacture of reinforced concrete structures during the construction. A special type of impregnation and a laminated surface do not allow moisture to penetrate inside the sheet and damage its integrity and structure.

Also, quite often, moisture-resistant sheets are used in roofing or in the manufacture of interior or landscape structures that are outdoors for a long time. This condition is necessary due to the use of chemicals, which, being in the room, can saturate the air with harmful fumes.

Examples of plywood crafts

It is characterized by maximum strength and is widely used for the manufacture of sports equipment. Anyone who knows how to handle this material and locksmith tools will be able to make a homemade plywood or ski snowboard in their home workshop.

To give them the necessary bend, the workpieces cut with a jigsaw are soaked in hot water for a while, and then fixed in special patterns that exactly repeat the bends of the finished products.

A special top of the skill was a home-made plywood clock, which not every master can make. The difficulty lies in the accuracy of the manufacture of gears, which are assembled into a single mechanism, and the success of the manufacture of such crafts depends on how experienced the master is.

But a homemade plywood grinder can be done even by beginners. All machine components are manufactured separately, and do not require maximum accuracy, since they do not have common gear or other connections.

Given the fact that working on a grinder involves certain loads and vibrations, it will not be superfluous to make it more durable. To do this, it is worth increasing the thickness of the parts by gluing together several sheets so that the thickness of the racks is at least 1 cm, and the width of the drums is a few millimeters more than the width of the grinder tape.

Some craftsmen, distinguished by their special skill, manage to make a wide variety of crafts from this versatile material. For example, lovers of water walks are quite capable of making a homemade plywood catamaran. If you want to do something more, then a homemade plywood yacht would be the best option.

This is a very difficult job that requires knowledge not only of handling wood and its varieties, but also certain knowledge of many sciences. But if you do not back down, then the result of your labors can exceed the wildest expectations.

We make our own from plywood

Using this wonderful material, you can do a lot of useful things yourself. In some cases, you won’t even need instructions, as your experience should be enough to make DIY bookshelves or flower stands..

More complex things are best done according to detailed descriptions.

How to make your own skis

Walking through a snow-covered forest or steppes is pleasant and useful. They will give you the opportunity to be alone with nature, enjoying unity with it away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Modern skis are quite an expensive commodity, but if you have the skills to work with carpentry tools and materials, you can make homemade plywood skis.

With careful work, they will practically not be inferior in terms of running properties to industrial specimens.

Advice. The right and left skis are exactly the same in shape, so you only need to make one drawing and cut out two blanks from birch plywood with a thickness of at least 8 mm.

Cut out blanks.
- Manufacturing begins with cutting blanks. The best tool for this is an electric jigsaw with files designed for laminated chipboard.
- Since the thickness of the skis is not the same along the entire length, it is necessary in the part where the bindings will be installed to glue an additional bar a few centimeters longer than the size of your foot.
- After the blanks have been sawn out and the glue has hardened sufficiently, on a grinding grinder machine we give the thickening the shape of a wedge on the front and back sides of the base. This will prevent snow from accumulating on the ledges, and accordingly, will not impede walking. Grinding must be done very carefully to avoid chipping.
- In the same way, you need to process the socks and backs of future skis, leveling out all the bumps made during sawing.
- If you have a router and know how to work with it, then it will not be superfluous to make a shallow groove along the entire length of the skis. Its thickness should not exceed 2 mm.
- After all the irregularities are smoothed out, and the skis have acquired a finished look, we proceed to the most difficult stage.
We bend the blanks correctly. In order for the skis to spring when walking and not to go under the snow with their toes, it is necessary to give them a certain bend.
The toes should rise at least 30 degrees relative to the plane, and the middle part of the skis should have a rise.
- To do this, the skis are fastened to each other, and a spacer bar with a thickness of 6 to 8 cm is inserted into the middle part in the area of \u200b\u200bthe sole. To bend the ski toes, blocks are made that must completely repeat the desired shape.
- After all the preparations are completed, we begin to bend the blanks.
- You need a container that will fully accommodate the length of the skis. It can be either a tank specially welded for this, or an ordinary bathtub, provided that the skis fit freely in it.
- Hot water is poured into the container, the temperature of which must be at least 80 degrees, and bound skis with fixed spacers are lowered into this water, and the entire steaming procedure should last 1 hour.
- After the skis are removed from the bath, spacers for bending the socks are installed, clamped with carpentry clamps.
- The drying process should be carried out at room temperature for one week.
- After complete drying, you can apply drawings and inscriptions and cover the finished skis with several layers of varnish.
- Now it remains only to install the mounts by screwing them with screws, and you can take the first walk on homemade skis.

Conclusion

Plywood products can be thin and elegant, or they can be strong and durable. For the intricacies of working with plywood, see the video in this article. Depending on the purpose of the manufactured item, different tools and methods of work are used. In any case, it will be a beautiful and useful product.

Device for hunting skis

Hunting skis have two main differences from sports skis - the width and type of attachment. Usually they are not already 15 cm, this is what allows them to keep their owner in the snow, preventing him from falling through.

The mount should provide the hunter with a large 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 should be designed for boots or boots that are usually used for winter hunting. A good option for homemade hunting skis would be strap mounts. There are two main options:

fastening, consisting of one strap, into which the toe of the shoe is threaded;
fastening of two straps - one under the toe, the second holds the heel.

Industrially manufactured wooden and plastic hunting skis. The latter slide as well as possible on the snow. 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 a lot, and when going downhill, they pick up too much speed. Wooden skis are devoid of these shortcomings. They are well suited for moving on rough terrain with ups and downs, and when driving downhill they do not accelerate to a critical speed. At the same time, they are quite easy to make with your own hands.

For hunting, wooden skis or skin skis can be used. On the working surfaces of skin skis there are pieces of skins that make it easier to slide on the snow, and also help to climb the mountain, preventing rolling back. The disadvantages of kamus skis are the complexity of manufacturing and the weight that is greater than that of skis.

Ski size selection

The greater the weight of the hunter, the greater the area of \u200b\u200bthe skis must 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 - on the eyebrow;
width - 16-18 cm for a hunter weighing 60-70 kg, 18-20 cm - for a hunter weighing 70-80 kg, with a weight of more than 80 kg - more than 20 cm.

It is undesirable to make licks wider than 24 cm, otherwise it will be inconvenient to walk on them through the forest. On wide skis, it is difficult to squeeze between the trees, and you constantly have to keep your legs “in a hurry”.

An example of the geometric dimensions of skis for a person with a height of 190 cm and a weight of 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.

It remains only to choose the appropriate ratio of length and width. With a width of 15 cm, the required length is 2500: 15 \u003d 166 cm. You can also make the skis shorter and wider, in which case it will be more convenient for them to move through the forest. For example, for a width of 20 cm, the required length is 2500: 20 = 125 cm.

Wood preparation

For the manufacture of hunting skis, you can use a variety of woods - aspen, spruce, birch, and so on. When choosing a material, one must proceed from its availability and working properties. The strongest 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 must be stored in a well-ventilated area. When the summer is over, you need to cut off the bark from it and store it for another year.

With such a long preparation, the wood will have the best quality. If drying is accelerated, gaps may appear at the ends - thus, the material will not be strong enough and reliable.

It is better to prepare material for two or three pairs of skis at once. Then it will take less work for one pair than if you prepare material for each set of skis separately. In addition, without proper experience, it is easy to spoil 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 preparation of wood is completed, you can start making blanks for skis. They should look like boards up to 1 cm thick in the middle part, and thinner along 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 that, you need to give the blanks a finished look with a planer. Using an electric planer greatly simplifies this process.

Then the boards should be put in a bucket, laying a sliver between them, put on a stove or put a boiler in water and boil for 1.5-2 hours.

Then the welded parts must be placed in a special machine and bent them, thus making the noses of the skis. This should be done gradually so that the tree “gets used” to the new shape and does not break. Then, at the bend, the wood must be hardened, treated with a burner until blackened.

The next step is to round off the toes and heels, removing excess material with a hacksaw. You need to cut in the direction from the center of the workpiece to the end so that the wood does not break off. It is necessary to act very carefully and without haste.

Then you need to drill holes on the toes and heels, after marking with a pencil. They should be located at a distance of about 2 cm from each other. The diameter of the holes is about 2 mm. After drilling, each hole must be burned with a red-hot awl. In this case, their edges will become hard, and the thread under load will not cut them. It is necessary to skip the rope into the prepared holes, the tighter it is pulled, the better. Thanks to this thread, homemade hunting skis will be stronger and more durable.

Mounting bases

After you need to prepare two bases for fasteners. They should be made in the form of small boards with a recess in the form of a transverse track. They must be placed in the center of the skis, and then shifted 3 cm towards the heels and marked with a pencil. Then the bases for the fasteners must be put on glue and fixed with self-tapping screws. If the skis are thin, the screws should go from the bottom, and if the skis are thin - from the top.

Skis with incorrect bindings move to the side when moving. Therefore, this step must be performed very carefully.

Camus

Skins for skis need to be peeled off from the hoof itself, making an incision along the inside of the leg. After skinning, the skins must be pulled with effort onto the boards, fixed with nails. Then the skin should be dried for 1-2 weeks at room temperature, away from the stove or battery. Additionally, it is not necessary to make it after drying - the thinner it is, the faster it will wear out. After drying is completed, you need to pick up a piece of skin for each ski. The smaller its thickness, the thicker the skin 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 skin must be soaked in a bucket of water for several hours, and then half dried. Skins that are too damp or too wet will stretch and tear when stitched together. When sewing, you need to make holes with an awl, and then pass the thread through them.

The holes should be angled so that the thread does not come out from the underside of the hide. The finished skin needs to be glued with a reliable waterproof glue, the usual “Moment” is well suited for this. Glue must be applied to the inner surface of the skin and to 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.

Mounts

The final stage in the manufacture of skis is the installation of mounts. They can be made from leather or cloth belts. In the wooden base for fastening, previously mounted on the ski, you need to thread the belt under the toe of the boot and attach a second heel strap to it. If during use it turns out that the ski goes to the side when walking, this second strap must be moved, to the right or left.

If you approach the matter correctly, self-made skis for hunting will be no worse than those that you can buy in a store. It is important to choose the right size, and then make skis in compliance with the technology. In this case, they will serve flawlessly, will be strong and durable. On them it will be possible to climb into the most promising places for hunting and always remain with good trophies.

Winter is a great time of the year for hunting enthusiasts. However, hunting in the winter requires special equipment, since moving through the snowy forest is often not so easy. An experienced hunter who has traveled more than one mile knows firsthand that sports skis are not designed for walking in large snowdrifts. To do this, his equipment must necessarily include special skis for hunting.

Criterias of choice

When choosing hunting skis, you need to pay attention to the following criteria:

strength and flexibility;
material quality;
lenght and width;
fasteners that fix the leg.

Skis for hunting should be distinguished not only by strength, but also by good flexibility, so that even when passing through the most snowy places, the hunter does not lose maneuverability. By size, they must be selected taking into account that the area of support for 1 kg of human body weight should be at least 50 square centimeters. At the same time, their length should not be more than the height of the hunter. Bindings for hunting skis must be chosen in such a way that rigidity is ensured and the leg does not slip or bend while riding.

materials

When choosing equipment, first of all, the hunter should be interested in what skis are made of and which ones to purchase. Hunting skis are plastic or wooden.

Plastic

Plastic skis have become very popular lately, 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 a special lubricant before each trip.

But plastic has a significant disadvantage - it slides very strongly. Due to this, climbing a high hill on plastic snowshoes is quite problematic, and descending from a large slope, the hunter can completely lose control over speed and fall. Therefore, plastic hunting skis are best used on gentler slopes and flat areas.

Wooden

Wooden skis are for deep snow. They are made from the most durable tree species - birch, pine or maple, so they are lightweight and reliable.

Having a small size, such snowshoes move easily, both on freshly fallen snow and on loose crust. The tapered front end helps reduce snow drag. Small slots are provided in the bow to use them as drags.

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.

Mounting types

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 bindings provide another strap that helps to better fix the leg. It is necessary to intercept their leg just above the heel and tighten well so that the snowshoes do not fall off when riding.
Another option for mounting on hunting skis is a semi-rigid mount. A metal plate is installed, into which the leg rests and is fixed with the help of a sling worn on top. The heel in this fastening option is fixed not with a belt, but with a spring that adjusts to the leg and is fixed at the shoe toe.

The best option would be to place the fastener in the middle. But here it is already necessary to listen to the wishes of the hunter, many prefer to put the mount closer to the bow.

You can also use rigid mounts, but then the hunter runs the risk of being limited in movement, which is completely inappropriate in such a matter as 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 fastener option to determine the most convenient for yourself.

How to make skinny skis with your own hands

Materials for manufacturing

Almost every avid hunter has at least once been interested in how to make skis with their own hands. Indeed, just in order to achieve maximum convenience, most winter hunting enthusiasts make homemade hunting skis for themselves. Wood for their manufacture must combine such qualities as fracture strength, flexibility, elasticity and lightness.

All these properties are possessed by birch, which is the most popular in the manufacture of do-it-yourself hunting skis. Also often used cork tree, Amur lilac or poppy tree, less often - willow and aspen. What tree to make skis from is determined by the master, choosing from the above tree species and based on their availability.

Skins on skis are needed so that on the slopes they do not roll back and loose snow does not stick to them. It is sewn from the skin taken from the shin of a horse, red deer, deer or elk. The skin of these ungulates is covered with elastic hair, which will give the snowshoe flexibility, good stretch and compression, like a spring. Hunting skis with elk skin skins have the highest strength, and in terms of softness and noiselessness, red deer and reindeer skins simply have no equal.

Wood harvesting

So, how to make hunting skis yourself? Usually, wood is harvested in winter, while the moisture in the tree is in a frozen state. The main thing is that it be straight-layered and without rot. Some masters prefer to take material at the end of summer, explaining that it is not so hot anymore and it is more convenient to hew at this time than in hot or frosty weather.

The tree is cleaned of bark and the deck is sawn into bars of 5 cm thickness, corresponding to the length of the skis. After that, they are firmly connected and a spacer is inserted into the middle part. At this stage, the master sends the blanks to a cool place for drying, which lasts about 20 days. A contour is applied to the dried bars, and then they saw off and cut off the excess.

Sizing

Determining the size of homemade skis is quite simple. If you put the ski vertically with the toe up, its length should correspond to the height from the floor level to the outstretched arm. Usually the length range is 180-250 cm, no more. The width is selected according to the distance between the spaced thumb and forefinger, on average it is 18-20 cm. The thickness should correspond to the distance between the middle and ring fingers of a person with widely spread fingers. Usually the master tries to bring the thickness up to 0.8 cm, and in the places of bending up to 0.5 cm.

bulge

The front, middle and rear bending of hunting skis at the first stage is carried out by burning their ends and steaming them in boiling water. After the ski is placed in a special bending machine. It is necessary to carefully monitor so that there is no skew during bending, otherwise there will be no upstroke and all the work done will be useless.

You can also pour boiling water over the product directly in the machine - this will give greater pliability and plasticity during bending. After making sure that the procedure was successful, the product can be taken out into the cold or put in a cool place to cool.

Mounting hole markings

To make holes for fastening, the ski is placed on the edge and in the area where the leg will be located, it is lifted with the thumb and forefinger. The ski should be at a 45 degree angle to the floor with the nose pointing up. When she takes this position, a mark is placed on her and a line is drawn across it across the width.

After, 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 a level with the centers of the lines. In places where the edges of the fist are in contact with the lines, mark the points of four holes for future mounts for hunting skis.

After that, the holes are burned and combined from below with grooves of good depth so that the belts below clearly lie down.

Making skins

After making the skis themselves, you can start dressing and patterning the skins. The stretched paws of the animal must be dried and freed from fat and remnants of flesh. Skins should match the size of the ski and provide a small margin for turning. After that, the paws are cut lengthwise into two parts and soaked in cold water.

When they soften, they are folded with more shaggy edges to each other and attached to the ski so that the thickest pile is in the middle of the sliding side. Then the skin is sewn together with a strong nylon thread and its transverse edges are beveled to increase the bending strength.

Gluing

Pockets are made along the edges of the skins in order to fill the toe and heel into them. After sewing, the skins are sent to dry, as during gluing it can be damp, but not wet. The next step is to smear the skin with glue and stick it directly to the ski.

Epoxy glue will also work for gluing skin skis, but it is preferable to use a good carpentry. Before gluing the skin, the product is smeared with glue in one layer, allowed to dry and smeared again. After that, the skin is applied and, rolling with a roller, squeeze out the remaining glue until the skin is completely leveled on the surface.

If there is no special roller at hand, you can use well-rolled pebbles or cobblestones.

Then you should rewind the product with the skin with a bandage or belt so that the skin sticks well to the sides. It would be nice to attach a piece of rubber under the foot to prevent snow from sticking. The product is sent to dry in a well-ventilated dry room, after which belts are threaded into the fastening holes.

This step-by-step instruction on how to make skis is completed. And homemade skin skis are ready to use. Just do not 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 snowshoes. At its lower end there is a shoulder blade, and at its 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 at walking on ice, they can clear a road or a place for a halt.

Storage

For storage, plastic and wooden skis are tied together, hung in a dry, well-ventilated place. Water must not get into the mounts and after each use they must be carefully freed from snow residues. If the fastening screws are loosened, it is necessary to unscrew them and pour epoxy glue into the holes - after that the functionality will be restored.

Video

See our video on how to prepare your skis for the hunting season.

In the village of Ust-Pit in the Yenisei region, a local craftsman has been making hunting skis with his own hands for 45 years. From wood, he uses spruce and aspen, and finished products are lined with deer and elk fur.

Anatoly Shadrin, master of skiing: "These two-meter heavy aspen chopping blocks will very soon become light and comfortable for walking on rough taiga terrain with hunting skis."

The master from the small Siberian village of Ust-Pit Anatoly Shadrin is engaged in their manufacture. He has devoted more than 45 years to his beloved work. And he knows all its subtleties and secrets, as they say, inside and out.

Anatoly Shadrin: "The first ones did not work, of course, they broke, they did not go - one there, one here, to the left, the other to the right. In general, it took me a long time to reach perfection."

First of all, the craftsman looks at the wood - it should be smooth and light, without knots and damage. Skis are made from the outer, Bolognese part of the aspen - the core is not suitable for this. Suitable chopping blocks are sawn in two and go to further processing.

Here, it would seem, is a simple matter - to cut a wooden blank to the required thickness, but there are secrets here too.

Anatoly Shadrin: "Here is a Christmas tree, if it is planed in any form, at least raw, dry, even dry is even better, and only fresh aspen.

One of the most crucial moments is the bending of the noses on future skis. For these purposes, the master has special machines - the tree is clamped in them from two sides - in front and behind. A small deflection is made in the center. The main thing here is to work everything carefully and not break the workpiece.

Anatoly Shadrin: "You put it there, you put it, you just warm it up with a blowtorch, it will fall by itself, well, just help them a little and that's it."

In these machines, the workpieces will be dried for three to four days. Then their noses will be sharpened and polished. And this is only half the work - the resulting ski-shanks still need to be dressed in fur coats: that is, to line their lower chassis with skins. For these purposes, Anatoly uses skins from the shank of an elk, deer or horse. Fur blanks are sewn together so that the pile goes in one direction, otherwise the skis will not slide on the snow. In order for the skin to lie flat on the tree, it is moistened and allowed to soften a little. And only after that you can start working.

Anatoly Shadrin: "Only the skin is smeared with glue thickly, like a fence needs to be painted. Put it and wrap it together with glue, take a furniture stapler. Wrap it up and go along the edges in a circle."

Finished skis dry for several weeks in a warm room, and only then they can be transferred to the future owner. The master guarantees the quality and durability of his own product.

Many successfully make good skis for themselves. The material for them is usually a strong straight-grained birch. Such trees are most often found in dry, high places.

Wood must be harvested in winter, when the movement of juices in the tree is suspended. The tree must be cleaned of bark, as it interferes with the drying of the wood and promotes decay. then the tulka harvested along the length of the skis is sawn or split into bars. in the bars from which skis are made, the annual layers should be located in arcs towards the sliding surface.

Bars 5 cm thick are tied at the ends with planks, and a spacer about 5-6 cm thick is pushed into the middle. In this state, the bars are dried in a cool place so as not to tear for 15-20 days. After the bars are dry enough, a ski pattern is applied to them. All excess wood is roughed off, and then planed with a sherhebel.

After that, they begin to bend the ends of the skis. their socks are somewhat burned and steamed in hot water for 40-60 minutes. The water must be very hot all the time, for which two or three stones heated on fire are placed in a tub or tub every 15-20 minutes.

The ends of the skis are bent on a special block that gives the bend the desired profile. The steamed ends of the skis are fixed on the block with the help of clamps or strips and a rope. In this form, the skis are dried in a non-hot place, for example, under the ceiling, for 5-6 days.

dried skis are removed from the block and finally finished. chamfering on the upper plane of the skis is carried out using a humpback planer or a semicircular chisel. on the lower sliding surface, a semicircular or square groove is selected. it is made 4-5 cm deep and 2 cm wide.

the toe strap on the hunting golits is attached in the same way. as well as sport skiing. but the center of gravity should be approximately in the middle of the foot so that the backs of the skis always outweigh. This is very necessary when walking on soft snow, when it is necessary that the skis be easily controlled and that the hunter move silently through the bushes, the skis, finally finished with cycles and glass skins, must be soaked with hot resin. in extreme cases, the upper surface of the skis can be left white, but then it must be soaked with hot drying oil.

the length and width of hunting skis depend on the nature of the terrain where the skis have to be used, the hunter's body weight along with the suit and necessary equipment, and, finally, the nature of the snow cover.
in order for skiing while hunting to be easy, the pressure on soft snow should not exceed 0.3 kgf / dm2, on medium-density snow - 0.35 kgf / dm2 and on dense snow - 0.4 kgf / dm2.

For the correct choice of the type of skis and their sizes, depending on the total mass (the hunter's body plus clothing and equipment for hunting in the steppe, in the forest-steppe and in the forest, a table is given.

weight,	Dimensions, mm (Fig. 1)
kg	D	E	AND	W	AND	TO	L	M	ABOUT	P
skis of the 1st type - steppe
65-80	1900	950	850	300	750	110	5	100	35	40
85-100	2250	1125	1000	300	950	—	—	—	—	—
skis of the 2nd type - forest-steppe
65-80	1900	950	850	300	750	135	10	115	40	50
85-100	2100	1050	950	300	850	—	—	—	—	—
type 3 skis - forest
65-80	1800	900	775	300	725	150	10	130	45	55
85-100	2000	1000	875	300	825	—	—	—	—	—

The snow cover during the winter can be very different in terms of density, so it is useful for every hunter to have two sizes of skis for himself - one is narrower and the other is wider. while the snow is loose, you can use wider skis, and when the snow is compacted, narrower ones.