Equipment

For the sleddog sport, you need to have a lot of equipment, here are some examples of the "tools of the trade":

• Stake-out chain

• Harness

Every dog has it's own harness.
There are many different kinds, as well for Nome-style, as for pulka/skijoring-style.
We are using the so called  X-back harnesses.

Harnesses become in different sizes, and must fit the dog perfectly.
When to big or to small, it can be very uncomfortably for the dog to work in it.

• Tow-line

In the Nome-style we use a single central line, with the tow- and neck-lines attached to it.
These also come in different versions, like:
- PE rope (Polyethylene)
- Steel cable (tow and neck-lines are from PE rope)
- PE rope reinforced with  steel cable

The towline is divide in different sections, like the wheeldog-, teamdog- and leaddog section.
The difference is the length of the towlines, for the wheeldogs a little longer then the other ones, and the leaddogs have a separate neckline.

These can lines can also be self-made or for sale.

The musketons used on these lines are made of bronze, this because bronze conducts warmth very well.
When a musketon gets frozen, its very easy to defrost it by holding it in your hand for a few seconds.
The chrome version has more problems on this field, and you need a chemical defroster to get them open!!

At the front of the tow-line, we put a shock-absorber, this to absorb shocks the dogs mite get from the sled.

The tow-line is connected to the sled with a large hook, witch are also used in mountain climbing .
These hooks can hold a weight of 3000Kg, so it's enough to hold a dogteam.
 

Also on the tow-line is an "panic-line".
This line you keep in your hands while sledding. Should you fall off the sled by any reason, you still have hold on the team, and you can try to get up again or stop the team.
In case of an emergency it is also possible to ty the team to a tree with this line.

This panic-snap witch is on the panic-line, we also use as a start-line.
Juste a small tow on it and we're of to go.

• The sled

Also the sleds become in 1001 flavors, from completely wood, aluminum and/or Kevlar versions, but there are 2 different catagories.
- sprint sled
- middle distance / longtrail sled

The main difference between them is the length. The sprint sled is shorter then the mid-distance one.
I still use a wooden sled.

In the bag on the sled is room for at least one dog, and for example booties.

Booties are small socks for the dogs witch we use when dogs have problems with their paws.

On a sled there a 2 kinds of brakes, the steel brake, and a dragmat.
The dragmat we use to get the speed out of the team, like when coming to a corner, or when going downhill.
The steel brake is normally only used to make an emergence stop.

The last item you find on a sled is the snow hook.
These we use to anchor the team into the snow.

• Booties

The socks we use on the dogs when having problems with their paws, or running on sharp surfaces (ice).

• Dog truck

This is the transport where you move your dogs, the equipment above, food and caravan to the races or trainingcamps.
Below is my dog truck, more info about it somewhere else on this site!!

• And else...

...you need:
- caravan (or maybe you prefer a tent in winter....)
- a large hammer to drive the stake-out pins into the ground / snow
- headlight for night stages
- bin and shovel to keep the stake-out clean from droppings
- halogen lights + aggregate to light the stake-out at night
- jerry cans to keep water for you and your dogs

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