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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.
Better use linux on your super sled. If you use Windows, it will crash. You could hit a tree like Sonny Bono.
The Uncoveror: It's the real news.
Chop the trees down. Use the wood to make more sleds.
You are going to have a tough time trying to stop something on snow in any kind of device. If the snow is deep enough, a rudder would provide you with steering, and if turned to a 90 degree angle, would almost certainly bring the sled to a complete stop, while simultaneously hurdling you through the air, thanks to our friend, inertia. But at least you were able to steer your sled in the moments before your tragic accident.
Brakes in the back? Effective for the sled, not for you. Brakes in the front? I hope you like flipping over and having a sled land on you.
"Inattention makes clowns of us all" -Bean
When your ready to stop, just throw it over. Watch out for that sudden deceleration though.
Ask Slashdot - google for stupid people.
What you need is a complicated system of instantly ignited, rapidly burning chemical propellant in a jet enclosure, with the nozzle pointing in the direction of normal travel. This may have the unintented side effect of ruining the sled run.
:-)
Or you could just use the traditional method of stopping a sled, as others have pointed out, and JUMP THE FUCK OFF!
* And remember, it's spelled N-e-t-s-c-a-p-e, but it's pronounced "Mozilla."
Use one. Perhaps get lessons.
Dave
I write a blog now, you should be afraid.
Rudder? That better be some wicked-soft snow!
:) Those round plastic "plates" don't stop for anything... just lean back and plant your ass in the snow!
I remember having a "trike" some time ago. It was basically three skis with the front, middle one mounted on bycicle type handlebars. The undersides of the rails were ribbed to grab the snow and ice just a little bit and turn you.
This works extreamely well. You don't want to use any kind of "anchor" to stop, since you'll probably be going quite fast... and the jerk from the anchor rope will be just as bad (or worse!) than hitting the trees!
Another brake design I've seen is a triangle-shaped plate with SMALL spikes on it, hinged at the point opposite the spikes and held up under the sled with a light spring.stomping on the plate pushed the spikes into the snow and slowed you down safely.
And, of course, "Jump the fuck off" is still the most reliable.
(Building a berm of leaves at the bottom of the hill before it snows would make a great safety net, too)
=Smidge=
If it has brakes then what is the point of the trees at the bottom?!
I have found that the most reliable way of stopping is running into other people walking back up the hill. Small children probably won't stop you, but they usually walk back up in groups of 2 or 3, which is usually sufficient.
The masses are the crack whores of religion.
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.
Do what ski resorts do for their tubing hills: before the trees at the bottom, build up a mound of dirt / strawbale / etc. that'll get covered in snow. Don't make the grade sharp enough to act as a jump though (unless intended!) The mound should slow you down enough to roll off safely.. assuming there's at least some flat area at the bottom of the sled hill to work with. Or you could always try a net. (:
It's all about the NOMA GT Snowsracer..I think I may even still have mine in my basement somewhere. Never had a problem using it...except that time that my friend went down the hill on his, let go of the wheel for a sec, and the auto-turning spring smashed him into a tree and he broke both his legs.
Moral of the story: it's all about the GT. Except if you ever let go of the wheel, get the fuck off the sled.
Cue The Sun...
I just posted, but here's another idea that might actually be original. How about some sort of bungie apparatus? This could work in all sorts of ways. Either the cord could release and spring back away after slowing you down or else you could ride out the oscillations... perhaps getting a free ride halfway back up the hill. (: Heck, if you get this figured out, charge admission. (and take out a huge insurance policy! hehe)
ice axe ;-)
flying sled
slippery surfaces
you could stop yourself all right...permanently
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.
Just space several hay bales at the bottom several feet/yards in front of the obstacles. Break them apart a bit so they'll cushion the shock enough. It'll still smart to hit one, but you'll likely walk away unharmed.
Oops:
http://www.k2gravitytools.com/
Auto steering spring? I pulled that thing off my GT in the first few days I had it. First off, if I had to catch my toque from slowly slipping off my head, it would veer sharply, sending me rolling ass over teakettle down the rest of the hill. Second, when lugging it back up the hill with the tow rope (My GT was a later model and had a retratable pull rope. I don't know if this is a standard feature on the classic GT), it kept turning into the path of the slope. Third, it's a bitch when dad is towing you on this thing with a skidoo and the wheel slips. This is just like my first point, but at much higher speed. However, it IS all about the GT. And now that it's snowed here in Ottawa, I feel like going down to one of the engineering labs and building myself a GT adapted to my 6 foot frame. If you'll excuse me...