(1996) Some Hints On Making Your Own Lines ...By Lynn Harrison The making up of Lines is both time-consuming and precise. However, if you are prepared to make the effort yourself, considerable savings can be made with the added advantage that you can effect instant repairs. Most materials/fixings needed can be obtained from yacht chandlers, sports shops and hardware stores. The rest, e.g. brass trigger hooks and quick-release hooks, from other husky folk or imported via mail order. Probably the most hardwearing of materials is three-ply polypropylene rope. The drawback is that ends must be spliced (individually woven back into the rope in such a way as never to come undone). Splicing is an art and incorrectly done will result in quick unwinding of the rope; a seasoned seafarer could instruct. Yachting/waterski rope made of lightweight tubular nylon, etc. is very popular as ends are simply looped and fed back into the centre of the rope to lock, although care should be taken to use a securing stitch in the process to make sure. The drawback is that this material can stretch and weaken itself to snap. It cannot take very much abrasion either and therefore needs to be completely renewed on a regular basis. Hitch The length of the lines used in a Hitch is dependant on the type of collar and harness used. Sometimes the type of terrain to be covered and the idiosyncrasies of an individual dog need to be taken into consideration too. For the purpose of the measurements below, it is presumed that 3ins-check team collars and harness rings situated at the base of the tail are used, and that dogs are hitched in the common pairing fashion. Inch measurements are overall, i.e. they include the length of the neck- and backline trigger hooks. All joints are made by looping, allowing an inch or so for the working of each loop. If gangline loops are made first and then connected together by knotting, allowing 4ins per knot, the Hitch type illustrated can be very flexible, i.e. easily disjointed or added to, to vary number of dogs in the team, or effect quick replacements. All necklines are usually made from a smaller diameter rope (approx. 6mm) than the gangline and backlines (approx. 8mm). For added strength, the backlines of the wheeldogs can be taken back with the gangline to where it is attached to the rig/sled instead of joining the gangline first, with just a single length of gangline to the rig/sled. These wheeldog backlines therefore need to be slightly longer than any others, to allow a safety margin from rear of dogs to rig/sled. Should a large dog, or one with a harness ring situated behind the dog, or one with a longer check team collar, be in the team, his individual backline can take a loop around the gangline to take up the slack. Likewise, should you require one of a pair of leaddogs to be a 'head' behind the other, his backline can take a loop or two around the other leaddog's backline. When running a single leaddog, both backlines are clipped to his harness ring and the lead neckline discarded. When running a single team/wheeldog, both backlines at his station are clipped to his harness ring and both necklines are clipped to his collar ring. N.B. When running a team with a pair of leaddogs without a neckline, their backlines are often shorter than those shown but the length of the gangline mid-section between these backlines and the necklines of the following dogs should remain constant. Necklines can be attached to the gangline loops; backlines to the gangline mid-section loops. If using one length of rope for a pair of necklines or backlines allow approx. 3ins extra for the centre neckline securing knot and approx. 4ins extra for the centre backline securing knot. Waxed whipping twine can be used to 'stay' the knots until the rope 'bites' into place after use; it can also be used to make very small hoops in the gangline for neck- and backline hook tidies. Caribineers should be those with a sprung sleeve, or other mechanism, to prevent them accidentally opening. Trigger hooks should be easy to clip and unclip. Rig hitches are usually attached to the brushbow, sled hitches always beneath the brushbow to a rope line via the crossmembers. Shock Absorber and Safety Line Any rig/sled fitted with a Shock Absorber (approx. 1ft long and usually of very thick elastic or rubber, e.g. mooring snubber) must also have a Safety Line fitted. Should the Shock Absorber break, the Safety Line takes up the slack without fear of team and rig/sled parting company. The Safety Line must be of similar diameter rope to the gangline and longer than the Shock Absorber to allow the Shock Absorber to stretch and lessen the jerk-pull of the dogs. It is a good idea to coil the Safety Line loosely around the Shock Absorber to restrict drag and wear. Sled Bridle Line To effect a substantial point of connection for a hitch to be attached to a conventional sled, a Bridle Line (of similar diameter rope to the gangline) is run from one side of the rear crossmember, around the same ends of any others, to the centre, and about 9ins past, the front crossmember; then back around to the other ends of the crossmembers to the rear crossmember again. A large U-bolt can be fixed underneath and centre of the front crossmember for the Bridle Line to run through. With a toboggan sled, the Bridle Line emanates from a strong eye bolt below each end of the front crossmember, extending forward by about 9ins. A heavy-duty ring (stainless steel; approx. 6mm diameter/55mm internal diameter) is usually attached at front-centre of the Bridle Line in both cases for easy connection of the hitch; the ring needing to be accurately centred. It can be secured to the rope by using waxed whipping twine - a seasoned seafarer can show you the best way. Should you find that your sled tends to run to one side, setting the ring slightly off-centre can counterbalance the tendency. Snubline The Snubline should be made of similar diameter rope to the gangline. On a rig it is better connected to a substantial part of the chassis framework to avoid interference with the wheels; on a sled it must never be connected to any framework but to the ring of the bridle line. A Snubline should be of adequate length (min. 25 ft.) to stretch from the rig/sled, around a tree or post, and back to itself. A quick-release hook is required to be attached to the Snubline in a location where the driver can release the Snubline from his normal driving position (letting the line run out behind him to later reel in, in the case of a rig). Snowhook and Line A Snowhook is most effective in deep snow. It should be attached to one end of a length of rope of similar diameter to the gangline. The hook itself is stored on the sled near the handbow; the other end of its rope being attached to the ring of the bridle line. The hook is then put to the ground alongside the driver and driven home by a foot, without getting off the sled; pulled out while the driver is standing on the sled. Great care should be taken when storing the Snowhook - it has been known for them to swing around and cause injuries in tumbles. Sled Driver Harness and Line Some drivers wear a body Harness with a Line running from it to the ring of the bridle line. Should they fall off the sled, or need to get off and move up to the dogs, they will not be left behind. It is essential that a quick-release hook attaches the Line to the Harness for emergency release from the sled if needbe. The Harness Line should be long enough from the attachment at the bridle line ring to allow the driver to reach the leaddogs without having to unclip. NB It is not advisable to use a Driver Harness when riding a rig - being dragged through snow is less likely to injure you than along the bare ground. It is extremely dangerous to attach yourself to a rig or sled just by a rope line without any quick-release mechanism. Looping a line around your wrist will result in a broken wrist at best. Looping a line around your neck doesn't bear thinking about (this is no exaggeration, it has been seen in this country, on a rig too, but fortunately the driver did not take a tumble).