Pulk Sled

Due to the sometime icy conditions on some of the hiking trails around here and the cold temps, I wanted to make Joey a pulk sled. A pulk sled is an enclosed or open sled system that you can pull. A pulk sled can be used to pull gear, wood, or kids! You can buy a new Chariot (this is the Cadillac of strollers) system, but they are usually around $900-$1000, if you want all of the attachments (including the pulk attachments)! Michael and I can't really afford that, so we did some research and went to some classes on how to build our own pulk sled!

There are several different ways and objects you can use to make a pulk sled. We used an enclosed bike trailer that we were able to find for $20. Sa-weet! We wanted an enclosed trailer to help keep the wind off of Joey's face.

Next, we took some old skis and cut them in half. Michael then cut out a rectangle in a small 2 x 4 piece of wood. He then screwed these boards onto the skis. The rectangular hole was designed to hold the trailer wheel in place. Michael then used zip ties to mount the wheels onto the 2 x 4's.

We then used electrical conduit as our poles. We used clamps with cotter pins to attach the conduit to the trailer and to me. The poles were attached to me using a fanny pack! For the "belt" part, you want to use something that is super easy to get off of you, just in case you are about to crash. You want to be able to unbuckle before the crash, so you're baby in tow does not crash along with you!

Now, your trailer should not face down like in the photo above. We should have slightly bent our conduit where it connects to the trailer. We also could have placed some weights on the back of the trailer that would help balance the trailer out. We ended up using some zip ties that we threaded through the wheel spokes and wrapped around the trailer. This seemed to help keep the trailer balanced.

You strap your baby in and bundle them all up! Since our project wasn't perfected for this walk, I ended up having to carry Joey on this hike.

So, after all of this research and work, we are now not using this sled...

That's because we caved and bought a Chariot System!! Woo-hooo! We did not spend a $1000 on it either. One of our Alaskan friends came across a classified posting advertising a Chariot system with ALL attachments (bike, jogging, ski) for about a third of the full price! Holy crap! I called Michael immediately and he said "BUY IT!" We will be able to sell this, if we choose, for the same amount we paid for it. Heck yeah!

We really liked our pulk sled, but the Chariot is the best. It is way more enclosed than our pulk sled is. This will help keep Joey a lot warmer which is a way more important feature to me now due to Joey being a little extra cold sensitive. The Chariot is also a lot smaller and streamlined. I am driving the Prius now, so I'm gonna need something that will actually fit in the car! Haha! (The pulk sled does not fit into the Prius). The Chariot is a much better fit for us than our pulk was. Once our temps get a little colder and we actually get some snow (it's in the high 30's now so everything is slush!), Joey and I are going to try out some skiing! A big THANK YOU to our friend, Andie, for thinking about us and informing us of this incredible find! :)