Carrying a small dog and SOTA gear

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Having lost our 15 1/2 year old Choc Labrador in June, we now just have our 12 year old Border Terrier, who 1. Doesn’t walk far, 2. Walks very slowly. We don’t like to leave him alone and he has been coming everywhere with us since the loss of his brother. Now this presents a challenge when my wife is working away, and I want to get in some SOTA activating.

I have been trying to find a solution to carry our small Border Terrier and my radio gear. So far, the only thing I can find is the Kolossus Dog Carrier at an eye watering price of over £200. So am I am looking for ideas / suggestions please.

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Ouch!

Buy a St Bernard pup and train it to carry the Terrier? Might work out more expensive, but at least it future proofs you against the sad inevitable :wink:

Apologies for the flippancy

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:joy: I do see the logic

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You’ve probably tried, but will he just happily sit on your shoulder or the top of your backpack?
I often see border collies happily standing on the front of farmers’ quad bikes as they whizz around fields, like an agricultural jaguar.

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Any mileage in something like this? No experience with this method.

When a friend’s dog got too arthritic to walk far, we’d take her out in an old pushchair which she loved. Not practical for many summits though!

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Thanks Pete, maybe a front carrier is the answer. My wife did suggest a buggy, but I don’t fancy that to be honest. We have been using a carrier on holiday which is fine when there are 2 of you, one with the carrier the other the rucksack.
Maybe I should have a go trying squeeze some gear in this carrier with him.

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That might be the answer Paul. You can’t change the size of the dog, but maybe you could downsize your radio setup to fit what you’ve already got?

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Can you create a false floor in the carrier and stick a smaller bag in the bottom of the carrier with a small radio and some accessories? Travel pole on the side?
An FT817 with an RH770 on the back with a right angle adaptor works quite well on 2m SSB.

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As I posted / looked at the picture I was thinking the same. We are away for a couple more days, so when I get home, will try with a false floor and different gear options, to see what I can fit in the carrier. I think that is definitely the way to go.
Thanks
Paul.

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He can sit on your lithium batteries to stop them getting cold and losing capacity in the autumn/winter.

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Make sure it’s a dry bag :rofl:

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