TRAVOIS
The other day Darlin and I had an idea that may be something to consider for a get-home or get-out-of-dodge piece of equipment to have in the car at all times along with the other go-bag equipment. Depending on your area of the country, you might be in a place the has abundant wood and you can make an expedient TRAVOIS out of that. Some places are not so blessed, so the following might be worth thinking about.
As good Old Fashioned Boy and Girl Scouts, (”Be Prepared.”) it might be possible to have the rudiments of a TRAVOIS available in your car to drag equipment. This might be especially helpful in the event that anyone in your party might be out of shape, handicapped or have special needs and can’t carry much, or might require extra equipment.
Possible things to assemble:
1. A couple of stout light weight pipes, aluminum I rods, wheel barrow or shovel handles or some such sturdy material for the two poles.
2. Pre drill some holes for some cross pieces to give the travois stability and the surface to place bags and equipment. Don’t forget to include the nuts and bolts, wire, rope, and/or duct tape, etc. that would hold the crosspieces on.
This would be enough in a pinch, but as long as you are preparing, you might consider in your design:
3. the addition of one or two light weight lawn mower wheels at the base to overcome friction and cut down on noise when going over rough terrain. One wheel would make the drag design triangular, two would give you a rectangular shape.
4. depending on your design, you might wish to pad areas of your travois that might chafe parts of the bearer’s hands or body.
Possible body parts traditionally used as contact points for dragging a travois include hands, shoulders (a harness could be imagined here) and some even have used the forehead. One can also imagine some means of attaching the drag handles to the hips as well.
5. Don’t forget doggie power! If you have a large dog, it is known that some Indian tribes trained and employed dogs (and horses) to pull equipment on their migrations.
Bear in mind that this should be as light weight as possible; one might even perhaps figure out a way to have it in the go-bag.
A possible use for the travois is not only for handling equipment, but also, God forbid, an injured person in your party.
Well, food for thought, anyway-FWIW
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/travois
http://www.native-languages.org/travois.htm
And with comments like that....
You wouldn't expect me to use something inhumane like a travois on a Dog. would you?
/johnny
That got me to thinking. We have a foldable cot-light weight aluminum frame. That would be a good use for it. Especially with a couple of tires of some sort.