Pulks

 

What I know about pulks:

1) More and more people want to build a pulk.

2) There are lots of designs for pulks.

3) Some designs are good and some are bad.

4) You can buy expensive, nice pulks.

5) You can buy expensive, crummy pulks.

6) I've spent a lot of time procrastinating other

    things while working on my pulks.

 

Here are several websites where you can find

information for building or buying your own pulk.

 

Build a Pulk

Buy a Pulk

Ed Bouffard Buggaboo Buggy
Mac Gywer Fjellpulken
Mark Harris Granite Gear
Bob Lachinski (via TeleTips) Kifaru
Bob Makowiecki (via VFTT) Wilderness Engineering
Mad River Rocket Ziffco
Penob Bob - these pages  

Mountainsmith used to make pulks also and I've seen several of them, but their sled operations seem to have been taken over by Kifaru.  I've seen them for sale used in a couple of places in the last few years.  While Ziffco's website seems to have disappeared from the web, their expedition sled is available from Backcountry.com.  The Ziffcos have performed very well for a couple of people I know who have them.

If you have a good design or more information about pulks, send me the information and I'll add it here.

I have made 4 pulks in as many years and the Penob Bob is the best I've come up with yet.  I've gotten a couple of ideas from some of the above websites and from some folks I've skied with.  Particularly, GO gave me some good advice.  There has been trial an error for sure.

A few of my thoughts on pulk design:

1) Parallel traces work better than crossed traces.

2) Rigid (as opposed to rope) traces help steer the sled and keep the sled off your ski tails on downhills.

2) A sturdy connection between the traces and the sled itself is crucial.

3) A bigger sled is better because it allows the load to have a low profile (high loads tip more easily). 

4) It is more comfortable to pull a pulk that is attached at or below your center of gravity.  Don't attach it up high on a backpack.

5) It is more comfortable to ski and stride without wearing a backpack (put everything on the pulk).

6) If the traces are different lengths or they are attached to the waist belt unevenly, the pulk will not pull straight.

Think of the Penob Bob as an open source sled... 

For details, take a look at the individual components.

 

 

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This site was last updated 12/18/04  and is maintained by Spencer