MSR Revo Explore - Women's Review

The Revo Explore is a beginner-friendly snowshoe with a simple binding system and lightweight decking. It is a little loud and works best on flat, casual terrain with packed snow.

Performance Comparison

Flotation

Staying afloat on deep snow is one of the main reasons we wear snowshoes, but the float level varies significantly from shoe to shoe. A larger surface area and a lighter shoe often help contribute to better float, but other factors like decking coverage and shape can help too.

The 22-inch Revo Explore has a surface area of roughly 158 square inches and is recommended for people up to 240 pounds. This is definitely a smaller snowshoe, but it still offers decent float. The ExoTrac decking is very lightweight, which helps keep you on top of the snow, but the Explore works best in slightly packed snow as it tends to posthole in the fresh deep stuff.

Traction

The benefits of wearing snowshoes do not stop at flotation. Traction is an essential attribute to pay attention to, especially if you plan to hike steep icy terrain.

The aggressive perimeter teeth of ExoTrac deck and Pivot crampons help provide traction. They work especially well on crusty snow over rolling hills or on flatter terrain as the perimeter teeth sink nicely into the snow. However, the Revo Explore only has one aggressive metal toe crampon, which can make ascending on icy terrain a little precarious. A heel crampon would help significantly here.

Stride Ergonomics

Most people have to adjust their gait a little to accommodate snowshoes because they are significantly large than their feet. While larger shoes offer better flotation, smaller or curvier shoes help encourage a more natural stride.

The Revo Explore is a smaller snowshoe with little to no curvature, and the rectangular nature makes it difficult to walk without a waddle, especially if you have a narrower gait. This is a non-issue for those with wider hips or longer legs but be prepared to waddle if you are particularly petite.

Ease of Use

Motivation to get out into the cold can be hard enough to find, and a pair of difficult-to-use snowshoes may be enough to keep you inside instead of going on an adventure. When testing for this metric, we put on, take off and adjust each pair of snowshoes on the go. The general fit and how inclusive the sizing of each shoe is also taken into account here.

The two-strap ratchet binding system is quick and easy to adjust, but the rachets are a little small and difficult to grip with gloves on. A slide-to-adjust feature also allows the user to switch the strap length from a medium to a small. This adds to overall fit inclusivity but is a little difficult to figure out at first. The Erg Televator heel lifts help reduce fatigue on steeper terrain and are easy to deploy. Our major issue with the Revo Explore is how loud the decking is. If you are not sensitive to white noise, this probably won't bother you, but we found it hard to hold a conversation or enjoy the sounds of nature while hiking in these snowshoes.

Bindings

During our binding testing, we assess the level of comfort and convenience the bindings provide. A binding that unevenly distributes pressure can cause pinching and chafing, drastically reducing the amount of time you can spend in them.

While the HyperLink bindings on the Revo are convenient and offer inclusive sizing, they are not the most comfortable. The EVA foam cushions are comfortable, but the placement is not — it puts all the pressure on the sides of the forefoot. This creates a very uneven distribution of weight, pinching the sides of the foot and disregarding the top of the foot.

Value

Like many MSR brand snowshoes, the Revo Explore is rather expensive. If you're looking for a compact shoe with decent float for rolling hills or flat terrain, this shoe may be a good choice; however, there are less expensive options that perform better in our test suite.

Conclusion

This small, lightweight snowshoe is great for casual terrain. The ratchet binding system is straightforward but lacks the comfort we'd like due to unevenly distributed pressure and pinching. The rectangular shape can make it difficult to walk in if you have a narrower gait, but the heel lift and toe crampon make ascending easy. Still, if you are a casual snowshoer who enjoys rolling hills and remaining on the path, then the Revo Explore is a fine choice.