Pulka from old skis ?

[ ]

Any thoughts on cutting up our old skis to use them as the runners for a
pulka during snow camping trips ?

Should be fine. At the family mountain cabin we have a transport sled
(in winter there's about a km skiing from the road to the cabin) made
by nailing a pair of old wood skis to a load-carrying platform. One
reason most pulkas are tray shaped is probably to get the weight as
low as possible. You might set the skis wide to make the thing more
stable; it's probably not a good idea to make it fit standard tracks
(too narrow).

The alternative is a backpack, but 40+ lbs on skis might be a bit top
heavy ?

When going on overnight trips in winter I very seldom have less than
20 kg, and often in excess of 25. Of course I'm not as stable as
without a pack, but I've skied with over 30 kg without any big balance
problems. Just pack the heaviest things lowest -- as opposed to when
walking, when you want the heaviest high to get it above your centre
of gravity.


Martin
--
"An ideal world is left as an exercise to the reader."
-Paul Graham, On Lisp

Martin Thornquist writes:

[ ]

Any thoughts on cutting up our old skis to use them as the runners
for a pulka during snow camping trips ?


[...]

One reason most pulkas are tray shaped is probably to get the weight
as low as possible. You might set the skis wide to make the thing
more stable; it's probably not a good idea to make it fit standard
tracks (too narrow).

Good points. One more point to consider is that a big platform can
carry more weight. Wide set skis might qualify. Two pairs of skis
might be even better.

The one thing to be said against a "ski-sled" is that avoiding and/or
running over small obstacles is easier with a boat-shaped, smooth
underside. Skis mounted on a rigid frame will always want to go
straight, and stuff will get stuck in the mount-points of the skis.
With a really heavy load you're not going to be that nimble anyway, so
a ski-sled might be okay.
--
Håkon Alstadheim, hjemmepappa.

The Boy Scouts have been making sleds for years using old skis. There
is probably a site with plans. Ask in one of the Boy Scout user groups.

Jeff

Sven wrote:

Any thoughts on cutting up our old skis to use them as the runners for a
pulka during snow camping trips ?

When I googled for pulka I came up with several DIY sites and they all
seemed to be based on full width plastic trays rather than skis
supporting a load carrying platform.

The alternative is a backpack, but 40+ lbs on skis might be a bit top
heavy ?

Thanks,



-Sven

I think that your expected sow conditions will also affect the choice. Skis
may be acceptable for firm, packed or otherwise solid snow but they will
represent a considerable resistance if used in deep snow or in wet cruddy
snow or breakable crust. You will need to set the skis wide apart to get
balance, so they will not have the benefit of your track and will, in effect
be breaking trail all of the time.

I have ski-toured on Alaska glaciers towning gear in a big slick haul bag
attached to a good waist harness. It all depends on conditions.

Tommy T.

I agree with TT that the two ski/platform concept will do well on hardpack
but may flounder in subsurface conditions. I'm not sure you would want to,
but you might run three or four skis of similar length and camber thru a
table saw to eliminate the sidecut, then gang them together with cross
pieces to make a sled 18" wide or so. The stability in this type of setup
comes from the completely flat bottom and low center of gravity. Make the
thing wider to gain stability and the frontal cross section of the sled
would make it more difficut to pull. The *snowwalkers*, folks that pull 200
lb sleads across Labrador and such places favor rigid high density plastic
sleds made from a single sheet of this material which can be rolled up for
storage in a truck or your home. See A SnowWalker's Companion by Garrett
and Alexandra Conover for plan details.


"Sven" wrote in message
news
Any thoughts on cutting up our old skis to use them as the runners for a
pulka during snow camping trips ?

When I googled for pulka I came up with several DIY sites and they all
seemed to be based on full width plastic trays rather than skis
supporting a load carrying platform.

The alternative is a backpack, but 40+ lbs on skis might be a bit top
heavy ?

Thanks,



-Sven




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Thanks for all the excellent responses.




-Sven

Sven
When I googled for pulka I came up with several DIY sites and they all
seemed to be based on full width plastic trays rather than skis
supporting a load carrying platform.

Ah, it seems that people have got it right for a change .
A pulka has no runners, but a sled does, although people here
on rsb often insist on calling ahkios (=ackja, apprx synonymous
to pulka) for sleds.

The alternative is a backpack, but 40+ lbs on skis might be a bit
top heavy ?

For such a light weight, I'd say that an ahkio isn't worth wile
except for flat terrain with firm snow, like the sea ice.

A few general - and contradictory - ideas for choosing between
ahkio and backpack:
- Heavy load - ahkio
- Light load - backpack
- Base camps - both
- Difficult (steep) terrain - backpack
- Flat or rolling terrain - ahkio
- Soft snow - backpack
- Firm snow - ahkio
- Variable conditions - backpack or both
- Bigger group - ahkio(s)
- Solo - backpack

And, of coruse, there are different designs of
ahkios to suit different conditions and needs.
Not to mentions sleds, toboggans and whatever.
I'd consider a ski sled more of an improvized
'emergency' carrying device - the holes in the
ski tips are there to help you make one of these
- but I'd assume that it'll do fine in open rolling
or flat terrain with firm snow conditions. An
ahkio - depending on the design - should be better
suited for a wider range of condtions.