Need help building a winter gear sled

Okay, I know many of you have built these and I thought I'd start a thread where you can give me pointers, advice, links to websites, etc so I can build one of my own . . .

I know NOTHING about building one so throw all your knowledge at me, everything!

Thanks,

sli74

Hi,

Check out these:

Arctic Sled
Arctic Sled 2
Sled 3

I hope it helps.
Ed

Here's a link to an article on making a sled that was on VFTT back around '98. I found it on the Wayback Machine:

http://web.archive.org/web/19990127164340/www.lexicomm.com/views/features/sled.html

After you read the article, click on the "contents" link to go back to the old mainpage. It's a trip looking back at the old homepage. There is even a link to the trip report from the first Gathering.

- darren

darren said:

Here's a link to an article on making a sled that was on VFTT back around '98. I found it on the Wayback Machine:

http://web.archive.org/web/19990127164340/www.lexicomm.com/views/features/sled.html

After you read the article, click on the "contents" link to go back to the old mainpage. It's a trip looking back at the old homepage. There is even a link to the trip report from the first Gathering.

- darren

Click to expand...

That's the EXACT model that my climbing partner built for an ice climbing trip to Katahdin, that I borrowed for my Owl's Head trip. I remember the plans.It worked well, except the PVC is very brittle at -10F. I snapped a few of the sections on the way out.

pictures of mine:

sled 1

sled 2

The traces are hot water heater drain pipes. I struggled with belts until I bought a hipbelt for a backpack for $20.

I'm thinking of making a new one this year, using a deeper sled.

I'm still waiting to test my current incarnation of a sled but I had good luck last year with:

two narrow pvc tubes, crisscrossed and connected to the sled. I ran rope through the PVC and drilled a hole in the front of the sled and tied them on. I used biners to clip the other end to my packbelt. Worked well, but:

The cord showed signs of fraying where tied ot the sled and on down hills the X frame would slide forward of me and once to the side.

This past spring I changed the attachment points to the sled to stainless eye bolts backed by washers- one set in the front, one set on the sides. I intend to reinforce the sled (I'm worried about the plastic getting brittle) with thin Aluminum sheeting epoxied onto the sled.

I'm keeping the X configuration, if I have problems with too much flex, I'm going to add rope, or wire bracing half way up and down from the cross point of the PCV X.

The sled was bought at modells, slots for webbing were cut on the perimeter to facilitate the lashing down of gear. I'm also going to put everything in a duffle-bag, the sled tends to collect snow.

Ask about sleds, & folks come crawling out of the woodwork. Its a real fetish. As Warren noted, once you build one you are constantly tweaking it.

These are some good links to the standard cheap-o bc sled configuration. One thing I have tried to do is limit the amount of slack in the system. I attach my haul arms to a cross member at the head of the sled with wing nuts (after first slotting a piece of wood dowel into the tubes where the bolt goes thru).

Have fun, & don't forget to pack the cognac!

Here is an excellent book (shareware) covering lots of good ideas for these things.

I love using my sled in winter for snowshoeing.

Tony

Thank you EVERYONE . . . for someone challenged in such building terminology I feel like I am reading a different language but I am sure as I wade through the websites and actually get my hands on the all parts it will come together. I will post a picture when I finally get it built . . .

sli74

A few more photos here and here and here.

I've had good luck with PVC but some say it's a failure waiting to happen in the cold. After a first build using regular rope, this current model actually uses 1/8" metal rope, attached to the frame and rigged with turnbuckles. This won't stretch, and ensures that the actual tension from the hip belt to the sled is carried on cable, not frame.

The trick is to have just enough flexibility between you and the sled to make the turns that a trail dictates, but tight enough that on a downhill the sled stays right behind you. A good sled helps with this as well - one which tracks straight to begin with.

I've had great success using a $25 bottom-of-the-line climbing harness and clipping onto the gear loops.

The Beast, part Deux

After my much lamented tracer arm failure on the Sewards, I redesigned my sled. Here is a collage showing the key items needed.

Re: The Beast, part Deux

SherpaKroto said:

After my much lamented tracer arm failure on the Sewards, I redesigned my sled. Here is a collage showing the key items needed.

Click to expand...

Nice design for solid traces, thanks for sharing. The only comment I have is about using bungies, in very cold weather they don't "bungie" too well. I have found cord to be much more reliable. The cord also keeps the gear more stable for when the sled rolls.

Tony

tonyc: the bungies are only for securing the gear to the sled, not for any connection to the belt. I typically use 4, and double them over. I've had no issues with them, and I've used the sled down to -21F. It is a lot easier to reposition gear with bungies than trying to tie/untie knots in cold temps IMHO.

Besides, we all know that the sleds never roll

I've built a number of sleds for gear & children. I've used this basic plan as a starting point.

http://alpha2.bmc.uu.se/~markh/skiing/pulka_english.html

Last year I picked up one of these great Mad River Rocket sleds. They are great fun on downhills. Now I built a gear sled using it with these plans

http://www.madriverrocket.com/pulkinfo.html

Now, I can pull my gear and after skiing/snowshoeing all day in the backcountry, I can have some fun in the evening sledding around camp!

Yes that is a benefit of hauling a gear sled - unhook the traces and go sledding!

I have a friend who has hauled a gear sled for the last three years with nothing more than a pull rope and a knotted drag rope on it.

SherpaKroto said:

tonyc: the bungies are only for securing the gear to the sled, not for any connection to the belt. I typically use 4, and double them over. I've had no issues with them, and I've used the sled down to -21F. It is a lot easier to reposition gear with bungies than trying to tie/untie knots in cold temps IMHO.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that what I figured. Must have been the cheap bungies I used. In sub-zero temps they lost their stiffness and didn't want to return to base length. I have gone to a diamond type lacing based on the what is used for this sled.

Note, the sled above is designed for use in the Canadian bush. There are significantly different considerations when going to mountainous terrain. (same for snowshoes) Dave and I have had some friendly banter back and forth about these design considerations, particularly around stiff or flexible traces. Dave is also a diehard hot tenter, which for multiday trips is downright decadent. But, I agree that the diamond lashings are great. Quick and easy to lace, one knot to tie, and great security for the items on the sled. I have them on my torpedo based pulk.

Besides, we all know that the sleds never roll

Click to expand...

Silly me.

Tony

Hey Seema, thanks for asking the question. I'm building my sled soon as well.

The other question I want to ask to everyone who has already built their own sled:

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENT...YOU KNOW LIKE, "OH SH*T, I WISH I HAD DONE THIS INSTEAD OF THAT"? SOULDA, WOULDA, COULDA KIND OF THING.

And, I don't want to hear, "yea, should have bought one already made".

Thanks.

I don't what I would have done differently but some future ideas:

Save old pack belts for as sled harness.

Collect old ski poles for use as struts.

Keep eyes peeled for that kids sled that doesn't get brittle as the temps crash.

Found those metal squeeze/crimp clamps for 1/8" steel cable that won't stretch like rope does

Reinforced the edges of the pack fly I stretched over the whole thing to keep the snow out with several layers of Duct tape.

Brought a Sherpa for my gear (wait, wasn't there a Sherpa the last time the sled was out...)

I should have...

When using PVC, cut and drill first, then glue it together. My poles are about 5 inches shorter than desired because the PVC shattered each time I drilled the hole for the carabiners (see Darren's link for the design I used).

If there was something less "fragile" than PVC and not metal, I would have used that.

Other than that, do a couple of dry runs before you hit the mts. to find a good belt setup.

Jim

My biggest mistake was using nylon rope inside the pvc tubes. The nylon has too much stretch. Metal cable is a much better choice.