Have any of you used a sled to drag equipment in the winter? I’m planning a combo Winter Field Day + SOTA expedition. I’ll be going with a big group- 10 people for 3 days and 2 nights. It’s rather a lot of gear: 65 kg of water alone! I’d prefer not to carry all that in my backpack, so I was thinking about getting some kind of sled to drag behind me as I hike. Any suggestions?
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I might be wrong, but surely a sled would only work well on relatively flat ground. The idea behind one is to overcome friction, it doesn’t provide any work.
Uphill and downhill would be hard going as not only would you have to pull/hold the equipment weight but also the weight of the sled.
The amount of energy required to get the equipment to the top doesn’t change, you will just need to add more to get the sled there too.
Unfortunately, the only suggestion I could come up with is to volunteer yourself as the equipment-backpack manager for the whole group , if you see what I mean 
Others may have further thoughts on transporting a large volume of equipment.
Ian
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Hello Ross,
I’ve pulled sled maybe 20 times when backpacking in a relatively flat area, and have only once on a winter activation. Ian makes a good point about the amount of energy required being the same, but at least using the sled gets the weight off your back, and lessens the depth your showshoes sink. A possibly bigger challenge is on the descent - not energy-wise but control-wise. I’ve lost control of my sled a couple times, and it can get complicated. Definitely make the connection between you and the sled with rigid poles.
Info on the kind of rig I built and used can be found here:
BTW: I’ve never carried water in when winter backpacking, but have melted snow. It’s tedious, but the fuel required is much lighter than the amount of water you’ll need. Also, if you melt it as needed, you don’t have to worry about it freezing overnight.
I hope this helps and 73,
Paul - N1ZF
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I’ve used them in Norway with the Royal Marines. They are best used with touring skis. If you intend walking without skis and the snow is soft you’ll be ‘post holing’ a lot of the time (your feet sink into the soft snow. That said, if the snow is hard enough to support your weight its doable.
You’ll need one with two fixed length poles to tow. If you simply try to pull one with straps or rope, you’ll have the thing crashing into you on the downs hill or if you stop suddenly.
Taking water - Its surely much easier to take the fuel which can melt snow and/or ice. Do you not have a potential source of liquid water like a frozen lake/river you can cut a hole through the ice?
I’d be interesting in learning how you are going to prevent your 65kg of water from freezing?
If you are going into areas of deep snow and/or drifted banks of snow its probably easier to build a snow hole - quite simply by tunnelling into the drift or bank of consolidated snow. Failing that an igloo. Saves carrying tents.
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Snowshoes - I meant snowshoes. BTW, I’ve also pulled a sled when I was on skis, but there’s no way someone of my limited abilities would attempt either the climb to or descent from a summit that way.
Cheers,
Paul - N1ZF
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This is why Her Majesty’s coffin was pulled by 98 sailors but also needed 40 behind as brakes.
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