A simple pulk plan

[AndyF]

My next hike involves a road walk. I thought I'd try an experiment with pulling my pack instead of carrying it. It might the first of several or I might abandon the idea alogether 5 minutes in. I put this together this afternoon using what I had around the house.

I had an old sled in the basement which is basically a styrofoam potato chip with a smooth pastic bottom. It has two sets of handles. So I throw my backpack on top of it, loop and buckle the waist belt around the lower handles and use a couple straps on the pack to attach to the upper handles. It is pretty secure. Then I take apart the bottom section of my poles, thread it through a loop on the top of my pack, and reinsert into the upper half, locking it at its max length. Here is what it looks like



Close up of pack and sled



Here is the pole attachment point



one final view



I am only planning on using this on relatively flat terrain or until I find it a nuisance. At any point I can take the pack off the sled, throw it on my back, and ditch the sled in the woods to pick up on the return.

Having the poles crossed behind my back gives much greater steering ability as opposed to having them straight. What unforseen problems do those familiar with pulks see with this? I am not sure if it should just pull the poles with my hands or attach them to my body with a fanny pack. Any advice on that? If I do would a bungee help or hurt?

Thanks.

 

[pks4000]

Darn that's clever.
BUT The edges will catch on any sidehill and tick you off.

Def attach your poles to your waist belt.

I carry a separate 2 inch belt and buckles .....weighs about 4 oz ......to tow my Pulkke
and I have one permanently attached tp my sled.
use 2 small Biners to hold the poles to your belt .

You dont need any special hardwear just clip the small Biners to the belt and star walking

I have my name written on the sled and a warning so when I stash it after the tow in it stays there.
The warning says:
"Insured by Smith and Wesson..Climbing Stallion/BMT"

Ill take some pictures of my simple lightweight set up.

 

[poison ivy]

It's definitely an interesting idea.

I wonder how well the loops on the pack will hold up.... I've found that the attachment point between my poles and the plastic sled tend to be a problem. I'd be worried that one of the loops on the pack might break mid-trip.

- Ivy

 

[Stash]

I like it!

I've got a similar sled my daughter has no use for and will likey try this on my next flat walk. One thing that comes to mind, though, is the sled/pack riding up the poles on a downhill. Perhaps clipping a 'biner around the bag loop and the other side of the basket might work?

 

[hikingfish]

I'm been using bungie cords to create an elastic buffer between my belt/harness and the poles and it's worked wonders. It makes transition between every step forward much smoother. Usually the sled would stop for a fraction of a second (I guess just long enough for it to have an actual speed of zero) when when the next step was taken, it would require a bit more energy to get it going again (have to overcome static friction now).

Also, don't make the mistake of not wearing a harness that makes your shoulders work...otherwise you'll burn off small muscles by pulling the sled. I thought it would solicitate the quads, but after a 5-day hut-to-hut adventure, I found out the hard way that pulling a sled didn't solicitate the quads at all.

Fish

 

[wardsgirl]

Nice job Andy, but I would be worried about the stress put on the trekking poles. Also, prior to travel, be prepared to wrap your pack in a tarp or otherwise waterproof cover in case you end up ditching in water or encounter foul weather on your trip. I use 2 carabiners to attach my handles (PVC pipe) to my harness- which is actually a small daypack with shoulder straps and a sternum strap. I tried going with the temptation of using just a fanny pack, but it hurts after awhile. I agree with hikingfish that you need to involve your shoulders. I also thread a lightweight climbing rope through my pipes to attach to the biners providing some shock absorbtion like hikingfish mentions. Got to get out and get some pics of my sled!

 

[AndyF]

Well I tried it today. I hiked Carrigain and used this for the 2 miles of Sawyer River Road. I did use a fanny pack as a harness and simply looped the wrist straps of the poles through the waist belt. I was not skiing or shoeing but just used stabilicers.

It worked fairly well. With the hard packed surface of the road, which is groomed for snowmobilers, and the slick undersuirface of the sled it glided along pretty easy. The loops on the top of the pack to which the poles were attached seem none the worse for wear.

I found when going uphill it was easier to hold the handles of the poles and pull it that way. That put more of the force in my arms than in my legs which is fine since they weren't doing anything else. Downhill I mostly just pulled with the fanny pack as a harness. With this configuration I can easily switch between the these two methods. It did lose track once in a while and could use a fin to keep it in line.

I pulled it for the first couple hundred feet of the Signal Ridge Trail, but it was just a little too wide to fit in the snowshoe track. Otherwise I would have tried it further.

I think it is fine for flat roads and trails, but wouldn't work too well on narrow trail, sidehills, and steeper slopes. Not bad for just using things lying around the house. It cost me nothing, took little time, and used little extra material that I wouldn't already be carrying. I may try it again on places like Zealand Road, Lincoln Woods/Wilderness Trail, Gorge Brook Road, etc...