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Ultimate Sleds?
frenchgates asks: "I recently moved near a long and steep sledding hill with dangerous trees right at the bottom. I have acquired a fleet of sleds at this point, plastic shells, inflatables, a toboggin, a flexible flyer, etc, but all have one potentially fatal (literally) flaw: no brakes. I figure this crowd probably takes its gravity-fun seriously so I am looking for info on sleds (or customizations) allow rapid stopping in all snow conditions."
That's the way I always did it when I was a kid.
Tim
Omnia vestra castrorum habetur nobis.
turn sideways quickly, pull back toward the hill as the sled turns, you'll dig in and stop dead(on pun intended) quickly...
Power Corrupts,Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, leaving one person(group)in charge is absolutely corrupt.
I feel that I am well-qualified to comment on your particular situation.
First, why would you want to brake a sled? There's no fun in that. The whole point to sledding is to wipe out into the snow, run into a pile of friends, or come to a satisfying stop after a leisurely decceleration. I have never understood brakes on sleds.
Second, if you're going so fast that you need to brake suddenly to avoid hitting trees, wouldn't you go flying off the sled anyway?
Third, if you aren't going so fast that a sudden stop would send you off the sled, can't you just jump off, or better yet, use your feet or hands to slow the sled down on the way down?
Fourth, what are these "dangerous trees"? Do they bite? Or are they dangerous by virtue of the fact that they are so close?
My favorite sled after a snow tube is a sled made by Rubbermaid. It's a thicker, hollow one-person sled that has a place to put your feet into, with a seat and rope; the contact with the snow is limited to two blade-like protrusions on the bottom of the sled.
But neither of them have brakes.
I have found that rope can slow down your sled quite a bit if you let it fly under the sled.
Dogs attempting to snatch your hat off your head also help to slow down a sled.