What's the best sledge design….

for grown ups?

After the initial rush to the plastic trays over the last few days, I want to get a bigger better sledge for the next fresh snow.

Even considering making a couple myself but the plastic tray is a great concept; just to small. My Dad made some with some quite wide diameter steel tube for the winter of ’63 which were great but eventually gave up the ghost in the mid 90s. The important criteria is that my son and I are now both over 6ft and 14st.

Any ideas or sources?

Inflatable paddling pool like this, preferably with no seams at the bottom, tractor inner tubes too.

One with steering?

out in oslo last year see loads of stiga sledges looked the dogs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blR5wpOHDMw

see they have them in amazon

based on how my bum feels today after 2 hours of getting some sick air (Dude) off the snow ramp in Hove park:

One with padding.

Hadn’t thought of steering but those Stigas look good. But they require a really good amount of snow don’t they? In my dotage I tend to agree about padding as I also like to lie on my chest for the snow up your nose experience.

The cheep plastic ones are way better than the wooden ones we had as kids. Not sure you could build something better. As above, add some padding, I was thinking of using a swimming float. If you are looking to build something how about a snow bike? There was one at ashton court this weekend that went pretty well

EDIT… or a snow tandem!

My Dad made one years ago which is still going strong. Put curtain tracks on as runners. My next door neighbour made one using skis. Both fly

http://www.hammerheadsleds.com/

From my youth the best sled was a massive tarp with no less than 15 people on it. However, thanks to Mrs L’s job we have one of these to test at the moment:

thanks to Mrs L’s job we have one of these to test at the moment

it’s some sort of stretcher, isn’t it?

Before we can work out the “best” we need to understand what you mean by best!

Comfort, manouverability, stability, speed etc. Which do you want?

After lugging our steel and wodden contraption up the local hill in one hand, while carrying a 1.5 year old in the other, I would suggest lightness is the most valuable characteristic in a sledge for use in this country.

Something made out of carbon fibre sounds ideal!

depends on the snow – too – hardpack you need runners for speed, fresh stuff something that spreads the weight and skims rather than digs in.

The adaptation of some old skis or snow boards is a possibility. Agree that the traditional bent wooden runner type just doesn’t cut it. Was starting to ponder forming some plywood runners, ski width but with bigger curve and a padded low platform joining. But smooth waterproof durable finish is vital.

For the snow we get in this country, plastic trays are usually a huge amount better than those with runners. It’s just that most of the ones you can buy are a bit small. Our one (which is over 30 years old – is what I had as a kid) is happily used by mrs-aracer together with mini-aracer #2 – she’s 6’1″ and together they’re over 14st – with the bonus that it also works better than most other ones I see people using. You just need to look around for a bigger one – sorry not going to do the searching for you.

Personally I just get the skis out.

it’s some sort of stretcher, isn’t it?

An ingenious sledge/stretcher combo none the less!

You see some really over engineered sledges. I think the best designs for the uk have plenty of contact with the snow. It is very rare that you get deep compact snow that makes the runners worthwhile. The ones with “brakes” always seem to be broken and besides, brakes are for wimps.

If you were going to make one then something reasonably flat with a simple non mechanical steering mechanism would be good. Those traditional wooden runner types do work on the piste. They are kind of like skiing in a permanent snow plough so by shifting weight you can steer. Dunno if you could do this but with a bigger surface area so you don’t sink.

We used to go snow boating in kayaks. That can work and you can steer by edging on those with a proper flat bottom and sharp edges (like skis/boards). You can also use a paddle 😉

So in summary plenty of surface area to float on the snow. Some adaptation of runners (not parallel?) so you can steer.

What runners for my sledge?

One with steering?

I’ve always throught that the curved runners should angle inwards rather than be straight or angled outwards.

That way if you lean on the left side of the sledge, you’re putting your weight on the curved runner that would steer you left, so you’d have steering, rather than get that wobbling/rocking thing going on that many sledges suffer from.

A double inflatable mattress 👿

Think the steering mech is another breakable element and dragging feet achieves much the same. Defo agree about plenty of smooth surface area in UK conditions.

Legend – where can those be obtained? Is it any good?

The bonnet off an old Mini worked very well when we were kids. T-Cut and waxed to a mirror finish, it went faster than any Mini part ever did on a car!

With the plastic ones – the ones with two runners are faster but the ones with a third central runner are more stable.

How about two plastic trays joined in tandem by plywood deck? Low, light and could be ready by midday!

From my youth a mini bonnet made a great sledge, the most fun was had with old plastic fertiliser bags that you used to stand in then just fling yourself down the slope.

The advantage of those were, second time down the run you had a nice burm grove to fly down.

They also kept you dry and weighed nothing to lug back up the slop with.

as kids we used to visit mcdonalds and steal 2 trays each one to sit on and one for your feet… that was when we hadn’t got a sledge.

I knocked up a sledge out of some spare wood I had lying around and used electrical trunking which is about the width of a ski and has ridges running down it thus keeping the thing running straight.

I curved them up at the front, cut them into points, screwed into the wood frame and its ace! had lots of admiring comments from fellow Dads on Saturday who were keen to try it out!

BTW went to Oslo recently and those stig toboggans look great but don’t really work very well.

Some ideas on this classic PH thread.

Those Stiga things are £65 delivered from here:
http://www.newitts.com/product/IT019214/Stiga_Classic_Snowracer_Sledge.htm?utm_source=Google+Base&utm_medium=Price+Comparison&utm_campaign=Google+Product+Search&utm_content=IT019214&LGWCODE=IT019214;49145;3037

Maybe £55 if you can find one in-store.

A single air bed in a polythene survival bag. Cheap, comfy and very fast!

who needs snow? http://www.supertrampdirect.co.uk/grass-sledge/p288

hammerite – Member
who needs snow? http://www.supertrampdirect.co.uk/grass-sledge/p288

He looks 6ft and 14st!

Bin bag sledging is where its at…

http://youtu.be/wbac2O8-vEU

settee cushion double-bagged for durability

wingnuts – Member

Legend – where can those be obtained? Is it any good?

Dunno yet, it was sent up from Bristol as we have a better chance of snow in Glasgow. Oh the ironing! 🙁

It’s a sample one we’ve got. Not available on the UK yet – yeah that’s right STW sled niche. Other snow boogie models are around though. Could probably find out where stocks them if you want?

Stiga Snowracer!

I have a Porsche Mocean board. they can be used on Snow or water.
very quick and stable on snow.

I wonder if Audi make one? Mmmmm

One half of this (minus the sand & water) makes a very good sledge…

From my youth the best sled was a massive tarp with no less than 15 people on it

lots of fun!

Heavy Duty plastic sack is all you need…

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