Posted by Mark Hazen on January 20, 1998 at 16:33:52:
In Reply to: Toboggans posted by Robert Dilley on January 19, 1998 at 20:23:24:
The biggest difference is that in Winter Holiday they had sledges. As I
remember from growing up, we had toboggans (flat with curved front) which
were great for deeper snow, sleds (usually with steering bars in the front)
which ran on two runners, and crazy carpets (or pieces of cardboard or
flying saucers or ... kids ingenuity for finding things to slide on knows
no bounds). I think your analysis is correct. Toboggans can IIRC from
indian tribes that had to deal with thick, non-compacted snow where runners
will indeed bog down. However, if you have compacted snow, or crusted snow
then runners are much better since you have a smaller surface in contact, and
hence less friction. Bear in mind sleds and toboggans were invented not
for children sliding, but for hauling heavy loads (like packing cases and
sacks of coal 8-)). So minimizing friction is important. Sledges were the
original heavy load haulers for winter without generally any steering. I
compare this to the rudimentary steering on my old sliding sled 8-)
Mark