Crescent Moon Eva Snowshoes Review: A Unique Experience

We recently had the opportunity to test and review the Crescent Moon Eva Foam snowshoes. These snowshoes are a foam top bonded to a plastic bottom with velcro-like straps for bindings. The crampons are integrated with the plastic bottom as snow spikes. If you compare these to typical aluminum frame snowshoes with steel bindings, these are definitely a little out of the box.

Crescent Moon Eva All-Foam

The Eva Foam snowshoe is a unique snowshoe option for recreational adventures on packed snow. Photo: Susan Wowk

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Built For Packed Conditions

The first thing to know about the Crescent Moon Eva snowshoes is they are not made for deep powder snow or trail breaking. With a design inspired by a running shoe, these snowshoes are made for packed snow conditions. They are also the ideal snowshoe for breaking trails on the sand.

Just for fun, we tried them in about a foot of snow multiple times, and they offer little floatation compared to just wearing boots. Due to the curve of the snowshoe, the contact area with the snow is small. So their floatation ability is slightly better than a normal boot. However, they do help reduce the likelihood of post-holing in deep snow.

Another reason to use these snowshoes in packed conditions and not in powder is that they tend to “rooster tail” with snow. Essentially, the snow gets caught on the back, and when you walk, the snow flies up into the back of your legs.

You might be wondering, “Well, if a snowshoe isn’t good at powder, what is it good for?” Well, actually quite a lot! Since these snowshoes were designed for packed conditions, that is where they thrive.

Read More: Definitive Guide: How To Choose The Perfect Snowshoes For Your Needs

For fun, testing the Eva snowshoes in about 10 inches of powder snow. Photo: Susan Wowk

An example of the snow flying up as you walk or “rooster tails” in powder snow. Photo: Paul Wowk

Packed conditions and snowshoeing? How do those go together?

Good question! With downhill snow sports, the powder is the best kind of snow. The same is true for snowshoeing. Snowshoes were designed thousands of years ago to help you float on snow. That is their purpose. But, snowshoeing through powder is a lot of work.

For those who prefer a more leisurely adventure without breaking their own trail, snowshoeing in areas with packed conditions offers an alternative experience. Typically, you have to worry about the scraping and deterioration of your crampons in packed conditions, but the crampons on the Eva are foam. This design limits the wear and tear in packed snow conditions and makes them so great in the sand.

That gets me to the reason why you buy these snowshoes.

man standing on trail in Crescent Moon Eva Snowshoes

The Eva Snowshoes are built for packed conditions and offer a unique experience. Photo: Susan Wowk

An Extension Of Your Foot

The Crescent Moon Eva snowshoes feel like no other snowshoe you’ve ever used. Most modern snowshoes have aluminum or steel crampons and a suspension system that allows the frame to disconnect from the foot.

With the Eva snowshoe, your feet are attached with Velcro straps (more on that later), and the snowshoes feel like an extension of your foot – like a running shoe. They are also fairly light at 3 lbs 8 oz. However, there are other models of lightweight (more expensive) snowshoes out there.

Since the Eva foam snowshoe is built with light materials, they are also very quiet on the snow for a peaceful experience in nature.

Read More: Snowshoeing For Beginners: The First-Timer’s Guide

A Velcro-Like Binding

The binding of the Eva Foam snowshoe and the Eva Luna snowshoe (the running version of the Eva Foam) is the same, a simple hook and loop velcro-like military-grade binding to keep your feet snug.

Since a running shoe inspired the Eva, many running snowshoes offer strap bindings or a direct mount, which allows you to bolt your snowshoes to your running shoes. The velcro strap on the Crescent Moon feels like a direct mount, without the risk of ruining your running shoes. It’s simple, and it actually works quite well.

I used a pair of Luna Snowshoes when running the USSSA national race in late February of 2020 (right before the world changed), and they worked very well. Normally, my ankles twist on potato-like snow (the race conditions), but the Eva Luna snowshoes kept my ankles from twisting. The Eva Lunas also feel more like running shoes rather than snowshoes.

Regarding the binding in recreational settings, the velcro kept our feet secure on those adventures. The only problem I think you’ll run into is if the velcro strap gets full of snow. The strap is built of military-grade material to resist the snow and ice, but there is still the risk it might stop working. Although, this isn’t something we experienced in testing. But, since these shoes shouldn’t be used for floatation and in deep powder, you shouldn’t have to worry about snow in the velcro strap.

Read More: Transition from Running to Snowshoe Racing

snowshoe mag team at USSSA nationals in Leadville 2020

Snowshoe Mag getting ready for the Citizens 5K race in Leadville! Photo: Paul Wowk

The Traction

As far as traction for both versions of the Eva, these snowshoes offer rubber cleats on the bottom that are decent at digging into soft snow and in the sand. Additionally, there are metal inserts to grab into the ice at the snowshoe’s toe and heel.

We’ve used the traction to go up packed snow at about 30 degrees and found it to be sufficient. Although, these are recreational snowshoes and not built for technical mountaineering or ongoing steep climbs.

You can see the rubber cleats and metal spikes for traction on the Eva Foam snowshoe. Photo: Crescent Moon

The Durability

The last thing I want to talk about is the durability of these snowshoes. For my answer, I haven’t seen any visible wear on these snowshoes after about 10 miles or so. These snowshoes’ design philosophy is to think of them as running shoes, so I believe the durability would be similar to running shoes.

Like running shoes, I expect them to last about a couple hundred miles before the plastic starts to wear out and the foam starts to break. But, of course, depending on how often you snowshoe, that’ll tell you how long these will last.

Overall

To sum up these snowshoes, they are a completely different design philosophy than any other snowshoe I’ve used.

The Eva Foam snowshoes by Crescent Moon are excellent snowshoes for running and staying on packed snow or for experiencing the benefits of sandshoeing. They don’t offer much floatation, but they’re not designed for those conditions. They are also fairly lightweight and offer a simple-to-use binding for running and recreational outings. Due to their velcro bindings and curved design, they feel more natural than typical running snowshoes.

To me, these snowshoes are good for someone who wants a simple pair of shoes and are planning to stick to packed trails and conditions. Crescent Moon really broke the mold (and then molded…) these snowshoes.

If you are interested, I’d suggest taking a look at these shoes. At least try them out and see if you like them. You might be surprised.

What about you? Would you or have you used these snowshoes? What is your review of Crescent Moon’s Eva snowshoes?

This article was first published on Dec 20, 2020, and most recently updated on Dec 2, 2021. Crescent Moon provided our Eva snowshoes for this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed by the author are entirely their own. 

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