My mountaineering sled!

[hikingfish]

Before I even heard reports of snow on some of our Eastern mountains (Washington / Katadyn), I had resumed work on my mountaineering sled. It's coming along quite nicely and it's fully inspired by skipulk.com's free PDF booklet. I figured I post some pics!

All prices are in canadian pesos by the way!
I found the sled at a farming COOP for 26$
I found the straps / buckles @ MEC for like 10-15$
I found the poles at a hardware shop for 8$ each, with end loops for 3$ each (chimney sweep section)
I found the rod ends at an industrial machine shop for 44$ each (ouch!!)
I found the safety rods / safety pins @ canadian tire for 3$ each (lawn mower wheel parts)
I machined the U shape metal thingy and the retainer plate under it and borrowed the screws and washers from work 0$ ;-)

Not pictured, I found an arcteryx hipbelt on eBay for 30$.

Bottom line, it would of probably been cheaper to order it from skipulk.com, but man was it fun to do!

Here are the pics! Pic1 and Pic2

I started machining the fins which will be useful when going across across a slope, but they're not installed yet.

Let me know what you guys / gals think! I'm also trying to figure out how to make it break when going downhill...suggestions (pictures would be welcomed!)?

Fish

 

[TomD]

sled

Fish-very nice. A friend sent me a WackyCarpet (Canadians know what they are) which I am going to try to turn into an ultralight sled. As far as slowing it down going downhill, I read somewhere that if you take a piece of thick rope and drape it over the front of the sled from one side to the other so it sits in front and underneath it (harder to explain that show unfortunately), that will create drag and slow it down.

Does Ed have anything about that on his site?

 

[Chip]

Fish, your thread inspired me to (once again) do some reading on the construction of these things. I didn't see plans for brakes, but I did see something about a fish-scale like gizmo that would prevent the sled from sliding backwards on a steep ascent. I had never thought of that but think it's probably a good idea. These are a couple links I found;

PDF] Newest pulk book4File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
bringing in the line the chain loop gets suspended over the front of your pulk. When. you need to brake just let the line go loose and the chain runs ...
www.skipulk.com/images/pulkbook.pdf - Similar pages


Granite Gear Expedition Pulk Sled specs at MSN ShoppingLearn more about Granite Gear Expedition Pulk Sled before you buy. ... Brake prevents sled from sliding backward on slopes. Advanced harness system involves ...
shopping.msn.com/specs/shp/?itemId=380470363 - 25k - Cached - Similar pages

 

[deadpoint]

I didn't see plans for brakes, but I did see something about a fish-scale like gizmo that would prevent the sled from sliding backwards on a steep ascent.

in my use of sleds i've found that you really don't need a break and i would think that fins would make the sled less manoverable, you want it slide around. if you want to make a braking system just pickup some 6mm cord from your nearst ems, tie a few overhand knots in it and attach it at the front of the sled so it drags underneath.

fyi... if you have to much weight in the sled and not enough in your pack nothing is going to prevent the sled from pulling you backwards on a steep slope, or the feeling of being pulled backwards. nothing wears you out more then this, i'm speaking from experience.

 

[hikingfish]

I finished machining the fins yesterday night (does it still qualify as overtime if I spend 2 extra hours working on my sled in the machine shop? hehe). Will have to do some minor touch ups, but they should be good.

My main reason for the fins was to have stability when traversing slopes, so the back of the sled wouldn't have a tendency to slide downhill. Not really for braking purposes.

I'll wait to actually test it before contructing a brake. I'll want to perform some trial runs in the park in front of my appartment first

I never thought about the weight distribution...that's a very good point. I'll be sure to pack a backpack with enough gear: I was still hoping to put the majority of the stuff I'll be carrying in the sled though, with lunch, water (min 2L, so that should represent some decent weight), fleece, mitts, tuque in my day pack.

I hope my pics inspired more people to build their own...I know that's how I felt after seeing pics last year!

Fish

 

[hikingfish]

Fish-very nice. A friend sent me a WackyCarpet (Canadians know what they are) which I am going to try to turn into an ultralight sled. As far as slowing it down going downhill, I read somewhere that if you take a piece of thick rope and drape it over the front of the sled from one side to the other so it sits in front and underneath it (harder to explain that show unfortunately), that will create drag and slow it down.

Does Ed have anything about that on his site?

He suggests either a rope or a barn door type braking system. I guess the rope would be the most flexible way of doing it...but like I said, I'll do some tests when snow gets here (hopefully, sooner than later hehe).

Fish

 

[deadpoint]

hi fish,

My main reason for the fins was to have stability when traversing slopes, so the back of the sled wouldn't have a tendency to slide downhill. Not really for braking purposes.

i figured that is what you intended the fins for

not just the back of the sled is going to slide, the whole sled will slide. having the sled slide downhill when traversing a slope isn't as noticable as you might think. while hauling loads around windy corner on denali the trail is like 2ft wide and to one side is a slope at around a 50 degrees, with a mine field of cravasses at the bottom. our sleds would slide down the slope down onto to slope and you didn't really notice and they have like 45lbs with of gear in them.

and yes that does count as OT

 

[SherpaKroto]

hikingfish: very nice design. Unless I misunderstand your "retainier plate", the one flaw that I notice is in the connection to the sled. This definitely needs reinforcement. In a not too dissimilar design at the connection points, that is the precise point that failed on our '05 BSP traverse. Since you have access to machining equipment, fashion a flat piece of metal across the top and bottom of the front of the sled, then attach the "U shapes thingy's" to the bar. That should do it.

As for the downhill issue, I preferred arms that pivoted up and down, but were laterally stiff. It helped me contriol the sled better on descent as I could grab the arms that I had extended by my side, slighlty flared out. Good sledding!

 

[el-bagr]

Looks good -- our sleds are similar. I am a strong proponent of the chimney sweep rods as traces. We found ours in 36" sections, and screw two together to make each trace. We keep a spare pair of 36" sections in the bottom of the sled, on the theory that if any of the traces break, damage is likely to be limited to one (or two) sections. We also wrapped the fiberglass portions of our traces with duct tape for abrasion resistance -- once fiberglass rods are nicked, they are much more likely to splinter horrifically. I'm in the opposite camp from SherpaK on the benefits of flexi traces -- I like to be able to turn tightly while skiing and have my sled track smoothly in my traces through the trees. I think rigid traces make for more clumsy swing-paths.

I do agree with Sherpa's comments on the trace attachments.

 

[spencer]

What el-bagr isn't not telling you is how they swing you around in circles when skiing across the ice.

Though I have a set of of the flexible traces and have used them several times, I much, much prefer rigid traces. If I were going to ski in circles around a tree, I would opt for the flexible ones. Ed's machined attachment hardware is superior to any other designs I've seen. My next one will likely incorporate his hardware with a ridgid trace design.

But, since I'm headed to New Zealand this winter and already have 3 working pulks I'm not likely to build another one quite yet.

spencer

 

[bobandgeri]

We used Ed's poles and hardware for our sleds. They worked great - the sled tracked wll on the straights and did fine on turns, even going downhill around corners. We attach them to a fanny pack, with a loop in belt through the end of the pole and secured it with a caribeener. No close ups, but here are some pics.

http://rbhayes.net/latest/NewYear2006/html/IMG_0335.htm

http://rbhayes.net/latest/Bondcliff-03-05-06/html/a2.htm

http://rbhayes.net/latest/Bondcliff-03-05-06/html/IMG_1575.htm

 

[hikingfish]

We used Ed's poles and hardware for our sleds. They worked great - the sled tracked wll on the straights and did fine on turns, even going downhill around corners. We attach them to a fanny pack, with a loop in belt through the end of the pole and secured it with a caribeener. No close ups, but here are some pics.

http://rbhayes.net/latest/NewYear2006/html/IMG_0335.htm

http://rbhayes.net/latest/Bondcliff-03-05-06/html/a2.htm

http://rbhayes.net/latest/Bondcliff-03-05-06/html/IMG_1575.htm

Hi Bob and Geri,
I really like the big bag you have (or is that just a water-resistant over-sled you fabricated?) in your sled, as seen in one of the pictures. I was thinking of purchasing something like this (the 136L version prolly) to put stuff in my sled. I was debating that or just using my 70L bag, which would be nice in case the sled experiences catastrophic failure and I have to haul all my gear without it. Do you find that using a bag makes the sled's center of gravity be higher up?

Fish

 

[bobandgeri]

Actually what you are seeing is a plastic tarp that we first layed onto the sled, put our gear in, then wraped it up to keep things dry in the event of snow, rain, or a tip over when crossing a stream! It worked well :> For the overnight trip we each had two packs in the sled as well as a a pair of boots.

The nice thing I found with Ed's pole system was that if the sled started to tilt in one direction a quick move with the hips would straighten it out.

 

[Motabobo]

What a coincidence !

I was wondering where to find/buy a complete kit with everything. Anymore links ?

Thanks

 

[bobandgeri]

Do search her on VFTT for "ski pulk" It will bring up 2 pages of threads with ton's of information.

 

[hikingfish]

What a coincidence !

I was wondering where to find/buy a complete kit with everything. Anymore links ?

Thanks

If you have the patience for it...it's much more fun to build it yourself!

Fish

 

[Motabobo]

If you have the patience for it...it's much more fun to build it yourself!

Fish

I believe you and I even have the patience for that kind of stuff. I am lacking the time & tooling however. I think I'll go with a "La Cordee rental" at 12$/day for this year at least !

 

[yardsale]

Alternate sled design

Thought I would share a unique sled set up I have been developing for the last couple of years. It combines the technology of the*Snow Walkers* with the more common hip belt set up of skiers. The hip belt set up has always bothered my back because of the jolting during striding seems to be transmitted directly to my lower back. Consequently I adapted my sled to use a sling like snow walkers. http://www.northwoodsways.com These are the folks who slide200+ lb loads across great distances in the North Country. The sling is very comfortable slung over right or left shoulder, or crossed. Photos are here. http://new.photos.yahoo.com/nbranch2000/#page Obviously the Snow Walker set up won’t work well on inclines, so I have attached the sling to the pole set up as shown. When going down slight hills, I just reach back and hold onto the cross piece. For extended downhills, tying the sling around one’s waist gives adequate control. The other innovation is the joint between the poles and sled (8). A dowell is cemented in the cross piece for additional strength. Note the angled cut of the near end cross piece. This enables the poles to be securely attached without tools, simply by tilting the the poles to vertical.

The system works well, but I would use cold water pvc pipe as the white stuff is brittle and may shatter in real cold weather.
Let it snow!

 

[hikingfish]

Let it snow!

AMEN to that!

Coming on the highway this morning and I saw some white stuff on the side of the road: No way! Unfortunately, it was only styrofoam

Fish

 

[hikingfish]

Progress!

Hi All...
I'm getting my sled ready for our upcoming trip in the Chic-Chocs (late Dec) and I thought to myself it would be a bummer if we got wet snow and everything in the sled got wet. So, with the help of an awesome seamstress (sp?) (my mom!), we came up with a water proof cover for the sled. It seems quite resistant, has an elastic cord that goes around the plastic "lip" of my paris expedition sled and it also has a rope in with the elastic if I need it to make it tighter.

Pics here

My only problem (look at older pics) is how to pass the poles through ;-)

I was thinking of putting a piece of rubber between the plastic sled and the pole mounting point. I figured the pressure from tightening the screws would make the rubber expand and seal it real well. There could still be some water that leaks in from the hole of the screw...but it can't be 100% waterproof ;-)

Fish