REASONS TO BUY
Lightweight
Full coverage decking
Simple ratchet system
Heel lift
REASONS TO AVOID
Loud
Subpar traction for descending
Wide
Pricey
MSR Revo Explore - Women's Review
This lightweight snowshoe offers full coverage decking, one metal toe crampon, and a simple binding system for casual rolling hill hiking
If you sport a wider gait or longer legs, you may not need to adjust your stride to walk in the Revo.
Credit: Matthew Blake
By Kate Pitts ⋅ Review Editor ⋅ April 5, 2024
Contributions From: Hayley Thomas
RELATED: The Best Snowshoes for Women
Our Verdict
The MSR Revo Explore is a lightweight snowshoe with full decking coverage for decent float on packed snow. The simple ratchet binding system is easy to adjust on the go, but the unevenly distributed pressure creates some pinching and discomfort on the forefoot, making it difficult to wear for extended periods of time. This is a compact shoe, but the rectangular shape can turn your natural stride into a waddle. That said, the easy-to-deploy heel lift and metal toe crampon make ascending a breeze. This is a solid option if you are looking for a compact snowshoe for casual rolling terrain and don't mind spending a little extra.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Revo Explore is a beginner-friendly snowshoe with a simple binding system and lightweight decking. The plastic decking is a little loud and works best on moderate terrain.
The Revo is a simple, easy-to-use snowshoe.
Credit: Matthew Blake
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, weight, and shape can influence how deep you sink.
The 22-inch Revo Explore has a surface area of roughly 147 square inches for the 22" model. Its largest model is recommended for people up to 210 pounds. This is definitely a smaller framed snowshoe, but it is lightweight and offers decent float. It has the option for additional five-inch flotation tails (sold separately) that can be added when you are hiking through deeper drifts. The ExoTrac decking is very lightweight, which helps keep you on top of the snow.
The Revo is best suited for medium packed snow.
Credit: Matthew Blake
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 Revo toe crampons are great at ascending steep hills.
Credit: Matthew Blake
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 moderately sized two-toothed metal toe crampon, which are suitable for moderate terrain but not as aggressive as we would like for steep ascents. The lateral traction is excellent for side-hilling, but more lateral rails or a heel crampon would help significantly, especially on descents.
The bottom of the Revo Explore is very textured but the traction while descending is subpar.
Credit: Matthew Blake
Walkability
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 thin snowshoe with little to no curvature, and most of our testers found it allowed a natural stride. The walkability was most impacted by the bindings which could pinch during the hike, especially on downhills. 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.
We love the traction on the Revo for steep uphill and downhills, although a slight pinch in the bindings sometimes outweighed the benefits of the grip.
Credit: Kate Pitts
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 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.
This slide to adjust binding strap took us a minute to figure out, but it comes in handy.
Credit: Matthew Blake
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 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.
Unfortunately, these bindings pinch the forefoot, causing uneven and uncomfortable pressure.
Credit: Matthew Blake
Should You Buy the MSR Revo Explore?
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.
What Other Snowshoes Should You Consider?
The Revo Explore is great for casual terrain, but the MSR Evo Trail is too, and for quite a bit less money. If money isn't an issue and you want the best for technical terrain, the MSR Lightning Ascent and Atlas Range-MTN are our top recommendations.
These snowshoes work well for casual use, but we think there are better options in our test suite.
Credit: Matthew Blake
Side-by-Side Comparison
Compare MSR Revo Explore - Women's versus top competing products:
—Kate Pitts and Hayley Thomas
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