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Topic: what do you carry on trips? (Read 6161 times)
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Scotsman
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I see that fire starters has been mentioned several times. What have you found works best? I have seen several options over the years but don't have a favorite as of late. Let me know what works well for you.
The best( really...there is no argument)= cotton wool balls covered in Vaseline, store in small plastic film canister. They burn long and easy to light.
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aaron_wright
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The best( really...there is no argument)= cotton wool balls covered in Vaseline, store in small plastic film canister. They burn long and easy to light.
Where would I find cotton wool balls? I can only find cotton balls in my wife's medicine cabinet. If I soak them in bacon grease will they burn as well?
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Scotsman
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Where would I find cotton wool balls? I can only find cotton balls in my wife's medicine cabinet. If I soak them in bacon grease will they burn as well?
Cotton wool balls( European English)= cotton balls( American English).... sorry , I am an immigrant and still revert to my mother tongue at times. I am trying to assimilate !
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Chief Etiquette Officer of TAY and TAY's #1 Poster
Poet Laureate of TAY.
Chairman and Founder of FOTAY( Friends of TAY)
Moderator of the moderators.
"Most Brilliant Move" of the 11/12 ski season
" Knows what he is talking about"
Expert Typist.
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jtack
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Regarding making the ski sled, I really like the idea, and went right out and collected the nuts, and bolts (1/4 in) when I was through the little sack of hardware seemed too heavy is 1/4 overkill? Anyone out there have any ideas about that. I went with stainless. I put one in the vise, and tried to bend it, it is stout! Guess I'll have to try the next size smaller.
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Marcus
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I'll bet you could get away with something smaller -- I just checked mine and they are 1/4". The skis make for a long lever on them, so i guess I wouldn't want to go too small. You can also trim off the extra length once you dial in your setup, to drop a bit more weight.
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Koda
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Regarding making the ski sled, I really like the idea, and went right out and collected the nuts, and bolts (1/4 in) when I was through the little sack of hardware seemed too heavy...
What is the total weight of the complete sled hardware kit?
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lightweight, cheap, strong... pick 2
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Marcus
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What is the total weight of the complete sled hardware kit?
1/4" Bolts & wing-nuts -- 2.8 oz
20' 5mm Cord - 4.7 oz
I could definitely go with lighter cord -- I've got 5 mm now, which is overkill for this job. The other components (voile straps, poles, shovel, skis) I would carry anyway, so these are the only new pieces.
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Koda
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thanks I had to re-watch the video, but yeah the extra components are light enough.
Marcus, have you (or anyone here) tested this sled on snow?
The vid showed him post-holing with it at the end... I'm wondering how well this works with the puller using ski's/skins? ...looks like the poles being used to pull need to be longer? I'm also wondering... if the victim has to lay flat how that backpack works being dragged like that? and then the ski poles... I keep thinking the baskets could pop off the poles being used to pull, if I saw it correct, they are pulling with their baskets?
I could definitely go with lighter cord -- I've got 5 mm now, which is overkill for this job.
what if the victim was a pretty heavy guy would lighter cord hold up?
I'm curious how this sled works before I go drilling....
the downside to this sled is it would be ideal if the skis used were the victims in case post-holing is not practical.
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lightweight, cheap, strong... pick 2
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Marcus
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I'm going to field test this early season on one of my first tours, to really dial it in. The ideal would be to have holes in tips and tails (or at least tails, since you could do an A-frame litter) of all the party members, so you didn't force someone into post-holing if they had to give up their skis. Probably 1/2 of my usual touring partners are set up like that, then we typically only bring one set of bolts/cord per group.
I think tweak the pulling/guiding setup will definitely require some fiddling. The cord I carry is a bit longer than necessary right now because it makes a nice hauling connection to the tips, so you can tie it to your waist or pack or something... That way the poles are more for guidance and control.
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Koda
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I'm going to field test this early season on one of my first tours, to really dial it in.
would love to see a gear review post on this... (hint)
The ideal would be to have holes in tips and tails (or at least tails, since you could do an A-frame litter) of all the party members, so you didn't force someone into post-holing if they had to give up their skis.
I don't know if any of my usual suspects would be up for drilling holes in their skis but this is a good idea anyways. I would if I knew this setup works well, and it would be easier to sell them on it. I don't see any harm in ski life/performance from a hole in the tail (mine already has one at the tip). From the looks of the video this sled should work at least enough to move a victim out of a runout zone.
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lightweight, cheap, strong... pick 2
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Marcus
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I'll document it and put something up when I get it done. You'll be surprised how rigid this thing is -- I have high hopes for its performance, but we'll see how it goes.
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wooley12
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After making a list of all of the items mentioned in this thread, perhaps I'm not as out of step as I thought. I'll just have to adapt my gear selection for the Cascades.
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The stem christie is a legitimate backcountry turn
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jtack
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To check the soundness of the smaller hardware for the rescue sled, I did a few quick tests this morning. I used a 3/16 stainless machine screw, a piece aluminum conduit I had in the junk pile, a piece of 1/2 plywood, and an old ski. In the plywood, there was no problem breaking it, so I moved on to the old ski, and as you can see in the last picture the tubing collapsed and the ski started to delaminate, I did not want to rip the ski apart, but I'm sure I could have. There was no sign of bending or deforming on the machine screw. I think they would be fine. The hardware was collected at my local ACE.
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blitz
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Ouch! it does not look like your skis (or shovel handle) liked those wing nuts...
Maybe it would be good to test a duct tape ski and shovel and pole sled against the wingnut ski and shovel and pole at the Cascade Backcountry Ski Patrol Mountain Travel and Rescue course this year. we can throw in a Fager flier while we are at it...
Good to try this on old skis. If you are a bent (injured), its OK to destroy your skis with wingnuts to get you home quicker, but not every one has holes drilled in their skis....
Oh yeah, AND this a shameless pitch for CBSP.
http://cascadebackcountryskipatrol.org/CBSP/Why.html
We are always looking for experienced or eager safety-conscious people to add to our ranks. The on-the-hill refresher in the first weekend of December and you can post me if you are interested to find out more about what we do....
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alisa
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rnbfish
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Posts: 162
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saw a new shovel out by K2 that has the kit in the shovel handle to make the sled.. directions included... a bit heavier is the "brooks range " mountaineering rig.
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Jeff_Ward
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Marcus, have you (or anyone here) tested this sled on snow?
The improvised sled is a good thing to have in your bag of tricks but they typically do not perform well in deep snow (and why would you be skiing anything else). The drag bad style sleds are much more effective and work well as an emergency shelter. Brooks Range makes one http://brooks-range.com/Eskimo-Rescue-Sled.html , but my favorite is the Alpine Threadworks Rescue Tarp because it works better as an emergency shelter http://www.alpinethreadworks.com/products/sledkitvideo.html
I carry this thing every day out guiding but not that often when skiing with friends. It's a pretty handy piece of gear so I'm thinking about carrying it more when I'm out with friends this winter.
The vid showed him post-holing with it at the end... I'm wondering how well this works with the puller using ski's/skins? ...looks like the poles being used to pull need to be longer? I'm also wondering... if the victim has to lay flat how that backpack works being dragged like that? and then the ski poles... I keep thinking the baskets could pop off the poles being used to pull, if I saw it correct, they are pulling with their baskets?
You need to have a long cord for pulling whether using an improvised sled or a commercial rig. The ski poles don't give you enough length when pulling the sled with skis on.
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Marcus
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Sweet, thanks for the info Jeff. I figured any use of that sled setup would incorporate the siltarp as a "bag", but it would probably be pretty shredded in the process (and wouldn't go outside the skis, so it wouldn't reduce drag as well).
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Marcus
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I didn't get any pictures, but at the annual refresher today for Cascade Backcountry Ski Patrol I finally got a chance to build, load and really test the strength of the sled. I put it together as part of a medical scenario, then did a short package and transport with it and it worked great.
That wasn't much of a test, so I decided to ride it rodeo-style back down the icy, rutted, snowshoe/postholed wreck of the Kendall road out of Gold Creek Sno Park. It held up beautifully to some pretty jarring conditions -- much worse than it would be exposed to in a soft snow descent. Super fun ride, too 
Next real test is to fully package someone up on this in a sil-tarp with padding and the whole nine-yards, to see how they compare to the drag-bag style like the Brooks Range that Jeff mentions.
*Edited to add a picture of the sled*
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 Sled.jpg (63.93 KB, 478x640 - viewed 166 times.)
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« Last Edit: 12/05/11, 01:44 PM by Marcus »
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trees4me
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Posts: 466
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wow, if it makes the kendall snow park road fun it's worth a look! 
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chill people, skiing is fun
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Koda
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Posts: 221
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Thanks all for the followup on how the sled works, this looks good and worth considering. Now if I could convince everyone I ski with to drill holes in their tips/tails...
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lightweight, cheap, strong... pick 2
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blitz
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Posts: 314
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Nifty sled Marcus!
- great on the icy Gold Creek logging road
- could be problematic in deeper snow
- possible self-rescue device too
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alisa
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