Translations:AY Honors/Snowshoeing - Advanced/Answer Key/90/en

Tie the tree's top to its trunk

A pair of survival snowshoes can be made from green wood, some sort of cordage (rope, wire, strips of cloth, etc), and a knife. The first step is to find a living tree 1.5 to 2 meters tall with a trunk roughly 20mm in diameter. Make sure you have permission from the land owner before doing this - it will kill the tree. Alternatively, you can make the snowshoe from a living branch of a much larger tree. Bend the tree into a loop, and bind its top to its trunk with a short length of rope. Diagonal lashing will work great for this (see the Knot Tying honor for instructions on tying a diagonal lash as well as the other knots in these instructions). You could also cut the tree down before working on it, but by saving that as the last step, your work is held at chest-height, so you don't have to kneel in the snow as you work. This also lets you try several trees without damaging them while searching for one that it the proper length.