Vacation today coincided with frosts. Forced downtime, and even more so in the season - oh, how unnerving. I decided to start making hunting (winter) skis. And time seems to be ticking for the future as well.

I’ll start right away by telling you how I make “winter” kitty skis, for walking in snow above the knee! Autumn skis are shorter and therefore stronger. Eyebrow height of skis (approx. 180 cm). The width is 21 cm. Everything is just 60-70 kg (hunter) _ 16-18 cm, 70-80 kg _ 18-20 cm, for 80 kg it is desirable more than 20 cm. If you make wider skis - for example, 24 cm (it’s not very convenient to walk on them in the forest - you won’t squeeze through the trees, on someone else’s ski track you’ll quarrel, and your legs are constantly on the “stretch”).

We cut blanks (trees) in spring or autumn. I store it at a height in a ventilated room (in a woodshed under a roof) wane up (since the process of decay may begin at the place where the bark touches another tree). Through the summer I cut down the bark (so that the resin comes out) and again in the same place. Trees are stored for at least two "years". Of course, it is possible to speed up the drying process, but firstly, you prepare several pairs at once, and most importantly, with accelerated drying, cracks form from the ends. Trees are usually 200 cm long (if the first time do 230-250 cm). Photo of a knockout from an aspen.

good tree - skis are very light, the main thing is not to overdo it. In need of impregnation or painting. And of course in the "correct" glue. If you glue it with “carpentry” glue, then it’s better not to walk on the steam (thaw) (kitties will start to fall off).

There were spruce trees - and made from them.

View from above. In order to plan less, I measure 3-4 cm, draw a line, make cuts to the line and cut it down (I don’t chip the bologna when knocking out). Specialists do not recommend (I did not go into science on this matter - it may be due to the process of drying out - as recommended, I do it). Electric planer - a miracle of technology !! First, I cut off the bottom (it is desirable that it be even) and a little bit of the edge, cm 2-3, so that they do not wear out much (kits). Further, the top with a smooth descent to the edges. I do it manually.

I try to make the middle (the place of attachment of fasteners with a dostochka) even. I choose the middle from the bottom of the ski.

The boards are ready. Next, we lower them into a bucket, pour water, turn on the boiler and close the lid (so that it warms up quickly and does not steam). We insert a cap between the boards. I boil for 1.5-2 hours.

We clamp it into the "machine" and make any angle you need. Sharp "corners" do not "love" slaughter in the snow. Only walk on the crust, otherwise if there is no rise, it’s a complete torment.
We adjust the "angle" with a stick (we beat it in stages), so that the tree gets used to it.
We harden the skis on both sides. I don’t bend the backs (I personally don’t like it - but this is my opinion).

Socks and heels (beginning washed down) towards the nose or heel (since when sawing to the ski, wood chips can occur). I cut it into pieces - just take your time (or you can split it in an instant).

After washing down and cutting off (I plan on both sides) - the thickness from the ends is 2-3 mm - the track is 2 cm. I mark with a pencil symmetrically under the mark holes (about 2 cm). I drill d=2 mm. I burn holes for the thread with a hot awl. When burned, the edges become hard and the thread under load does not cut through the tree.

We are looking for the center of the ski - I shift it towards the heel by 3 cm and fix it after marking with glue and self-tapping screws. If the ski is thin - self-tapping screws - from below, if it is thicker - from above (in this report - 2 options). After marking, I make several holes with a thin drill to temporarily fix it (if on top of the screws, I insert a few nails, if on the bottom, a few screws on top). When applied to glue, the sliding process begins and oh, how difficult it is to catch the middle.

Ah, wrong mounted mount- 100% moving to the side!!

On the this photo- fastening from below. If, when tightening the self-tapping screws, they went on - it does not matter (let the fastening be better). We burn the edges of the slots with an awl (then glue will get there and everything will stick together).

Pull on a thick thread (you have to tinker with this). Preferably under load (you can rest the ski against the ceiling so that it bends a little). I pull it with my hands - I pass it through the next hole and clamp it with an awl - then I tie knots. It turns out like a stretched string!? With wire brackets 3-4 for each thread - we nail the ski "to the bend". You can wind and nail long brackets.

I peel the kitties from the very hoof along the inside of the leg. I trim after the carcass is completely cut. And the wool is smaller and more useful for business. Depending on the size of the beast (look where the long hair went - retreated a little - even if it was a wide place). I rolled it into a bag, and at home you cut off the excess - that the dogs will gnaw it or burn it in the oven.
Mezdryu and I pull on the boards. I definitely stretch in breadth and do not regret nails.
The bottom, where the skin is thick - I cut it off on the sides so that a strip of 13-15 cm remains and also stretch it with effort (the more you stretch it, the thinner the kitty will be).
This is followed by drying away from the stove (a week or even 2) and storage. I tie it on a wire from each animal and hang it on a perch until use. There are photos in the gallery with comm. ("So that the moth does not eat").

Now we choose (it's good when it is) for each ski separately! We weigh the skis and decide on which kitties. On a thin one - kitties are thicker (if the skis turn out to be even, there is a choice). I don't make kitties anymore. I make thin skis - thick kitties. If thin "dressed" kitties - they wear out faster!
I cut so as not to cut through the hair!

No further pics coming through!? I will try to finish this work in the second part.

More recently, one of the mandatory hunting attributes were skis. In the northern regions of the country, they still retained their importance. But in the Ural region, and in our region as well, they are not used so often.

Due to the warming of the climate, which is talked about almost daily on TV screens, and less snow, the importance of wide hunting skis in our forests has almost been lost.

Here we must probably add a couple more facts, which are now almost never remembered. Firstly, there are much fewer hunters, and even more so hunters. And today hunting is done by people who can afford it. And this means, or almost equivalently, that those who go to the forest in winter have snowmobiles.

Although in fairness it can be said that some snowmobile hunters, going into the forest, take short hunting skis with them.

And if you meet a lonely track of wide hunting skis in the forest, it is almost exotic. But on the other hand, how pleasant it is to go skiing in the morning through a snow-covered forest that has not yet woken up.

Listen to the timid whistle of a few forest birds. On the snow, on a snow-white clean blanket, you can read the most interesting book of the life of the inhabitants of the winter forest.

And in the calm silence of the forest, while you are skiing, you are accompanied by a soft crunch of snow.

Moving on skis, you can go through an overgrown clearing, through a swamp, along the steep slopes of some ravine, cross perpendicular to the channel of a forest stream, with steep banks.

can lead small example from the 60s of the twentieth century. The forests around the city at that time were "stronger", there were more hunters, and there was nowhere to put the snow.

The people lived modestly, sometimes there was not enough money for skis, but there were no conditions for making it yourself. On the balcony of the fifth floor you can’t cut a lot and don’t wave an ax.

On one of the winter days, two hunters decided to go into the forest after a hare, but where to get skis? The snow was waist deep that year.

Friends at the RMZ plant, where one of them worked, found a large wooden barrel. By the weekend, they broke it and adapted rawhide belts to the boards from which the barrel was made, and they are slightly bent.

Here on such improvised skis, they passed through the forest for a whole season. How can you not remember the saying - hunting is worse than bondage!

But we are talking about skiing. And today, many hunters of the old school, who were fond of winter hunting, have wide hunting skis.

In addition, there are enthusiastic people, especially from the younger generation, who, having seen home-made hunting skis from their friends, are eager to have the same ones.

Today, wide hunting skis can be bought at the store. The range for purchase is wide. As for height, width, color, method of fastening, material of manufacture, etc.

And even the name and inscriptions, to attract potential buyers, are made in different fonts and, of course, differ from each other.

But if you want to have skis, such as you need, they, of course, are not. Such skis must be made by yourself or ordered from a master.

In old hunting magazines, there are detailed description how to make wide hunting skis. It describes the material from which the skis are made, the method of harvesting, how to process and bend. In general, all the subtleties of working with wood, which, if desired, you can try with your own hands.

In our area, wooden skis of golitsy were widespread. Skin skis lined with skins from our hunters moving in the forest have not been encountered in my practice.

Time runs. I myself have been “running” through the forest for almost fifty years and in my hunting estate, of course, there are wide hunting skis and not alone. I have a whole collection of them, not a set or assortment, but a collection.

The very first skis came to me by accident. It was not even hunting, but probably tourist. Three times wider than sports cross-country skis, as skiers said, “boards”, painted with blue paint on top, and they served me for more than five years.

Then I broke one ski and had to throw them into the garage. But my partner, returning from the forest to winter period, I saw the same ski thrown in the forest, in one copy, but green. Since this period, my skis have become multi-colored.

When our hunting team was replenished with other comrades and in the winter period, we saw wide hunting skis from our senior hunter, made of spruce back in the 50s of the twentieth century. Naturally, we needed the same.

Before starting to make skis, an experiment had to be carried out. The point is that by classical canons and the recommendations of experts, skis should be made from straight-grain chopped wood.

And at our disposal, there was a large stack of spruce boards. Taking one of the boards and cutting it on the machine, to a thickness of five millimeters, they tested it.

The length of the board is two and a half meters, we put it on logs and an adult man, in a set of winter clothes, stood on it and swayed heartily, the board survived.

After that, we boldly took spruce boards as raw materials. Experiments on the manufacture of skis lasted six months, as a result, we had several pairs of wide hunting skis made of spruce by the master of the Remkhoz shop of the Southern mine Akhatov.

The skis of our older friend, which we took as a standard, were made of spruce. But in the very first season, after the manufacture of new skis, he broke one of his skis, then the second was crushed in the car, and he himself made his own kind, but from aspen.

Here we personally managed to understand the term "musical". Skis made of aspen, when moving through the snow, ring in the cold, and if you touch a knot, they make a kind of almost musical sound.

Therefore, all specialists for the manufacture of hunting skis prefer straight-grained spruce. According to the old folk science, it is pricked and then processed with an ax.

From practice, we can say that a little lighter skis are made of fir. In terms of strength, they are not inferior to spruce ones, but linden skis are lighter, but slightly worse in strength.

Our comrade made skis from aspen in the midst of "perestroika" and here, bitterly enough, one example needs to be given.

We made rubber bands for the ski surface, for felt boots, from thin dielectric mats, which we took, of course, in production.

But it turned out that the “reforms” ruined the production so much that even the necessary rugs were not left.

On these skis from the beginning of the 80s of the twentieth century, we visited all the lands of our region in the winter. In snowy winters, walking is a pleasure.

Three or four of us, changing the first skier, whom we jokingly called the leader, covered long distances in a day. They freely crossed the swamps, which are impossible to pass in the summer, and reached the White Lake.

We also visited the Berezovsky district, passed "through" the Ostrovistoe, Kamenskoye and Elnichnoye swamps. Almost every year we went skiing to Lake Betkulovo, in the Sukholozhsky district. We visited Coin peat extraction. Regularly visited the stone "pillars" in the northern part of our region.

After the New Year, when hunting was closed, we went to the forest just for our own pleasure, skiing, without weapons. But with cameras and a movie camera. At these exits, of course, they crossed the reserves and entered the neighboring areas.

And snowmobiles had already appeared and hunting inspectors with stern faces were catching up with us along the ski track and were also surprised at our skis. And even more surprising for them was that there were enthusiasts who can ski.

Of course, they took pictures. And when our comrades, not even hunters, looked at the photos, it turned out that they also needed similar skis.

To date, one of the woodworking specialists, having watched a film about northern hunters "Happy People", has made a whole set of skis from different types of wood.

Here are traditional skis made of spruce, experimental ones made of poplar, linden and aspen.

21st century, technical progress, new technologies... Over the past three years, our company has not encountered a single ski track in the forest. But the traces of snowmobiles, ATVs and SUVs are in abundance.

And it’s already quite exotic, for modern residents of our city, to see a hunter walking on foot, and hunting skis are tied behind the waist with twine, which roll from behind.

Time goes by, now I have a whole collection of hunting skis. Not a set or warehouse, but a collection!

My first multi-colored ones are still in service. The second, the same size, but light yellow color, left over from my friend, who went to live in the capital back in the 20th century.

Another similar ski, not wide, made of solid wood, light yellow, with the DOK icon against the background of green Christmas trees, I got from my senior partner.

I got a whole set of skis from my hunter uncle. Here are tourist skis with the inscription "forest" and wide hunting skis made of plywood and large hunting skis made of maple, made in the 60s of the 20th century by the old master Afanasyev.

There were not so many masters in skiing in the city, and in the Soviet period, many were fond of hunting. And the management team had an administrative resource that allowed them to order skis not only for themselves, but also for their comrades.

So, thanks to my friend, I got a light, wide hunting ski made by a skilled craftsman from spruce.

We will not dwell on the intricacies of manufacturing and other tricks, but we must say about the belts.

One of our comrades made auxiliary straps for the belt. Having inserted the felt boot with a toe into the belt, he tied the felt boot with additional straps, this did him a disservice.

Returning late in the evening from hunting, with a heavy, almost unbearable backpack, he was the last to go. There was a lot of snow that year, passing through the swamp, he caught the toe of his ski on a branch and fell face down into the snow. The head fell between the bumps, the hands, not finding support, sank in the snow, the legs to which the skis were tied could not be pulled up.

In addition, a backpack with wide straps moved over the neck when it fell and put pressure on the head, and, moreover, the backpack had a fastener on the chest. And until you unfasten it, you won’t get out of the straps and you won’t throw off the load from your back.

Having passed the swamp, we looked around, there was no comrade, we waited. We heard some sounds like humming. We went to see - and we, too, with heavy backpacks.

Having walked about twenty meters, they saw him with his nose down, almost drowning in the snow. He mumbled something through the snow. Of course, we laughed, gave him some advice, but then, realizing that the case “smells like kerosene” (suddenly suffocates), we pulled him out of the snow and planted him.

He told us a lot of compliments, but the moral of the story is this: if he was alone, it is quite possible he could suffocate.

You can’t pull up your legs because of the tied skis, you can’t roll over - a heavy backpack is fastened on your chest. Based on this case, the experience was taken into account.

Today I have in stock hunting skis of one of the high-ranking hunters of our city. And a few more pairs that once belonged to well-known hunters in our city who have been engaged in amateur hunting for several decades.

Some of them are still in good health and even occasionally go fishing, but most, due to age and health, have already left their once favorite pastime. And others are already in a better world.

And how many stories and hunting tales are associated with each ski individually and with all together, but this is of course a separate issue.

In winter, moving through the forest on skis, one recalls scenes of successful hunts, long forced marches to neighboring areas, and interesting conversations around a hot fire. And first of all hunting partners.

Coming out of the forest to the car and barely moving his legs, one of our comrades, taking off his smoking hat, unbuttoning his quilted jacket, straightening his shoulders and restoring his breath, with pleasure and deep meaning said:

What a good run today! How laid out! Everything works - heart, liver, kidneys, lungs ...

December 2016 A. Kopyrin.

test site

In the spring, as soon as the bottom gets warmer, outlandish structures appear on rivers and ponds next to ordinary rowing and motor boats, which, with the general revival of the fans gathered on the shore, either immediately sink, /. because they proudly carry their author and creator "on the water, like dry."

To all catamarans, float bikes, aquaplans and aquapsdams, today we add real water skis, invented, built and tested by Volodya Senichev from the village of Negina, Suzemsky district, Bryansk region.

Volodya has already received about seven hundred letters with requests to send drawings of skis. Not being able to breed so many blueberries, he asked us to do it.

WATER LANGUAGE1

I made two variants of water skis and two variants of sticks for them. I also made a sail like wings bat, which is attached behind the back. If you dissolve it in a light breeze, you can swim without pushing off! ami from the water.

Skis are a frame of square spruce slats and plywood partitions - ribs. The ski is covered with a polyethylene film 0.5 mm thick. The length of each ski is 3.6 m, the width is 200 mm, the height is 150 mm, the weight is 4 kg, and the load capacity is 90 kg. The front end of the ski is beveled from the bottom and sides for 900 mm. Where the leg is inserted, an annular shield 100 mm high is arranged, covered with a film so that water does not overflow inside the tyzh. Rubber foot bindings are nailed at the toe to a piece of plywood that serves as the bottom of the ski in this place. The bindings are made of fins cut to the width of the bottom. You can also put beach re

zine shoes. A piece of plywood is nailed to the battens with small nails.

Plywood partitions-ribs give the ski rigidity. I put 36 such ribs on the ski - towards the middle of the ski they are located more often and in thicker packages. They are nailed to the rails with small nails.

The slats that are bent where the nose bevel starts should be filed a little with a hacksaw so that they do not break when bent.

In the tail and nose parts, four plywood keels, painted with oil paint, are attached to the bottom of the ski so that they do not get wet. They help you ski in the water, but prevent you from entering the water from the shore and leaving the shore. Therefore, they may or may not be done.

The most important part of the ski is three transverse 100 mm long duralumin plates with a rubber pad glued to it. The lining is nailed to the bottom rails. When the ski goes forward, the valve

we are pressed against the bottom of the ski, and when the foot moves back, they move away, prevent the ski from sliding back, and the skier himself moves forward. Nylon laces prevent the valves from moving further than the vertical, and thick rubber transverse strips nailed to the bottom prevent the valves from sticking to it.

Before tightening, the slats should be cleaned and rounded with a knife or a piece of glass. Then, in places where the plastic film will be nailed, it is necessary to lay strips of rubber cut from the old car inner tube. The film is stretched, starting from the bottom, and nailed with small nails. Place pushpins under the hats so that they do not tear the film. A coat of oil paint or varnish will protect these buttons from rust. On the bottom, a layer of film can be made double.

After tightening, begin to attach the keels, flaps, strips under them and the top shields.

The second model of skis, recently completed by me, is made of duralumin plates. In cross section, they look like a thick letter T and are very stable. The weight of each ski increased to 5 kg, the load capacity remained the same, but the skis became stronger, and I was able to install valves on the side walls of the skis.

The annular shield now reaches the very bottom and seals the internal cavities of the skis, so that they have become completely unsinkable.

Skiing on water takes practice, but it's no more difficult than learning to walk on snow. First, you can learn to ski, fastened together in a catamaran. The skis are fastened with one strap in front and two in the back; the tie-down straps are removed with pieces of a cord nailed to the skis in advance.

My ski poles are 1.6 m long, with triangular plywood blades nailed to their ends, and inflated volleyball floats tied to the blades. An athlete from Kharkov, Candidate of Technical Sciences G. Waltz, proposed another version of ski poles - with hinged duralumin blades. When the stick goes down, the blades diverge by 180°, and when you take it out of the water, they fold to an angle of 30°. I have not yet tested this design.

A SENICHEV

zhurnalko.net

Oddly enough, but even in ours, oversaturated with goods, it seems that for every taste, times, sometimes there is that very “difsyt”, according to Arkady Raikin. Basically, of course, from the focus of the range of our provincial stores on consumer goods. Sometimes, the right thing may be somewhere, but to make sure of this, you will have to make an agonizing promenade through all the city's shops. Sometimes it’s just reluctant to go to the city, in a word, sometimes it’s really beneficial to do the right thing yourself. As in the days of subsistence farming.

The background is this - we live on the outskirts of a small village, on the outskirts. And the trouble is to sneak on" big land”, to people, in winter it sometimes stands to its full height.
forest, again, sometimes you need to go, and just ride. Ski slopes, there, here, of course, do not exist. More often, deep, loose snow. For such purposes, wide hunting skis were purchased. Walking on them without sticks is difficult, without stuffing with skins, and sticks with large round ones so that they do not fall into loose snow, alas, were not found in stores. More and more, with some misunderstanding patches at the ends, for heavily trampled snow. The solution, however, was found and very much to my taste. Make from what is at hand.

The material for the stick itself is a stick, wooden, fortunately, the forest is nearby, you should only take care of this in advance so that the blanks dry out.

There were two options for the design of the stop ring - a wooden, sawn and wire outer ring with canvas knitting tapes. The last design is borrowed from a factory product. In the end, he stopped at a tree.

But the simple and fairly reliable design of the lower node - where the emphasis on the snow is attached to the stick, was not given. A movable connection was required, transmitting a fair amount of force. In factory products, this knot is quite simple - other materials (metal) are used there. Such a design will not work for a tree - it will turn out to be a weakened place, which will probably break at the most inopportune moment. Poraskinuv brains, received the design shown in the photo, faithfully serving more than one year. Rings made of eight mm plywood (strength-weight trade-off) are put on a stick with a hole, somewhat larger than the "seat", thus, the mobility of the stop relative to the stick is achieved.
Actic shows that in normal skiing, this is enough. The “freedom” of the stop is limited by rope winding impregnated with varnish. It is wound with not a thick twine, a kind of slide, then carefully, in several steps, it is impregnated with thick varnish. After drying, a very strong thickening is obtained, which serves as an emphasis for the ring. So that the effort from the leaning skier does not destroy the knot, the stick should be picked up in advance with a knot in the lower part and the upper winding should be “leaned” on it.

Sticks can be sawn-cut down from different types of wood - juniper will turn out very light, strong bird cherry.

What did it take to get the job done.

Instruments.
Axe, wood saw, handy sharp knife. To make a plywood ring, I needed a wood jigsaw with nail files and accessories - a dovetail sawing stand, clamps. Marking tool- ruler, pencil, compasses. An awl, whatever for drilling holes, drills.

Materials.
Preparations of sticks from the forest, a rope - twine for fixing the stop ring, a nylon cord for eyelets on the hands. It took dishes to impregnate the plywood ring, thin wire, a piece of foil, a suitable varnish. Grinding skin, preferably large.

Here, the sticks are cut from willow, in the nearest ravine. It is only necessary to choose long enough and relatively even. Practice has shown their sufficient strength, in addition, such sticks turned out to be very light after drying. The tree itself, or rather a huge bush, grows very quickly in the presence of moisture and is not rare or overly valuable, although in spring it is almost the first powerful honey plant. It is recommended to harvest pieces of wood in winter, in the absence of sap flow in a tree.

The preparation of such pieces of wood is always carried out in advance, in fact, on any outing into the forest, we take with us a small hatchet and a hacksaw - a beautiful snag or something else to bring. At the pieces of wood, the pores at the ends overlap (paint, varnish, drying oil, garden pitch, film) and it would be good to debark - to clear the bark, this will prevent woodworms from settling under it. It is better to tie long sticks in a bundle, they will be smoother. We put it anywhere in the attic, after a year or two, you can use it. Yes, when choosing suitable sticks, do not forget about the knot at the end of the branch, this is the future emphasis, which significantly increases the survivability of the structure. By the way, it was at the willow that it was not difficult to pick up such branches.

We proceed to the manufacture of the lower ring-support. Its outline is drawn on a suitable piece of plywood 8mm thick. The dimensions for an adult weighing under 90 kilos are chosen as follows: the outer ring is 130mm in diameter, the next one is 105mm, the penultimate one is 40mm, and finally, the diameter of the hole for the stick is about 20mm and directly depends on the diameter of our blank-stick near the lower knot. The landing diameter on the plywood ring should be made somewhat larger, by a few millimeters. The width of each "spoke" is 20mm. Dimensions - a compromise between weight and strength. Yes, I made the support smaller for the child.

In the corner of each opening, I drilled a small hole, sawed out everything unnecessary with a jigsaw on wood, ordinary, “pioneer”. After sanding, the blank of the support ring was soaked with hot varnish - I picked up a jar of canned food that was suitable in diameter, it seems to fit the stew well, tied the wooden blanks with a thin copper wire so that it would be convenient to pull them out later, put carnations on the bottom of the can so that the blank was slightly raised above the bottom and the varnish had unhindered access to every point of the piece of wood, put one blank, another carnation, another blank. Lacquer was poured - "Yacht" it is presented as very resistant to any water and, in general, to all atmospheric factors. The open mouth of the jar was closed aluminum foil so that the varnish evaporates less and the jar is placed on the stove in a place that is well warm but not too hot, so that it does not boil, for a couple of days. After that, the blanks were hung by wire tails over the same jar so that excess varnish could be stacked. During the “boiling”, a lot of volatiles evaporate from the varnish, it becomes much thicker. The layer on the surface can be significant, local sags and smudges are quite acceptable.

Generally speaking, this kind of impregnation is best done under vacuum - a porous preform is placed under a layer of liquid impregnation and air is pumped out of the vessel as far as possible, the air expands and crawls out of the pores of the preform, liquid flows in its place, better heated - less viscosity .

The stick is cut to the desired length, focusing on the knot. By the way, the length of ski poles is selected based on the height of the skier - minus 25 ... 30 cm. This is for the "classic" course, and the other on loose snow and on hunting skis will not work with all your will. Under the cut knot (to hold the rope winding, but not interfere with the plywood ring), twine is wound. A support ring is tried on, at the same time they can “tamp down” the winding a little.

We dress the ring and fix it with another winding of twine, after which, in several stages, with intermediate drying, we impregnate the windings with varnish. I tried to sharpen the end of the stick, but it didn’t make much sense - they are designed for relatively loose snow and do an excellent job with it, but we don’t have rolled tracks and slopes. The stick itself was not treated with any impregnations or varnishes, four years of operation showed sufficient durability of the structure, even in wet snow in spring and during thaws. During this time, there was only one breakdown - the plywood stop ring flew off. The rope winding could not stand it - in the already very deep wet snow the stick fell very deep and tried to pull it out along with the accumulated wet snow. After a simple repair, the stick "got into service."

Holes were drilled at the upper ends of the sticks and from a nylon cord, simple loops for hands were organized.

Three pairs of sticks of this kind were made - for myself, my wife and daughter. Use during four winters (to admit, not particularly intensive) did not reveal significant shortcomings. The advantages of the design, in addition to the cheapness and availability of materials, should also include maintainability in field conditions - you only need a knife and a rope. How to repair the sled.

usamodelkina.ru

You can do your own water skiing. This requires a pair of dry pine or spruce boards, the dimensions of which depend on the weight of the skier and are shown in the table. The boards must be unwarped, straight-grained, without large knots and have approximately the same weight.

The first ski manufacturing operation is cutting according to a template (Fig. 1). Then the resulting workpieces are cleanly planed on both sides and marked.

RICE. 1. WATER SKIING AND THEIR PATTERNS: 1 - walking skis; 2 - jump skis: A - toe covered with fiberglass; B - dowels (bamboo, oak or ash); B - toe part of the mount (rubber 4 mm): D - heel part of the mount (rubber 5 mm); D - nuts fixing the heel part of the mount; E - a keel (fin) made of oak or ash is fixed with screws (M5x50 mm on glue); G - base of the heel part of the mount (duralumin 2-3 mm); Z - "horseshoe" that secures the rubber of the heel to the base.

After that, the workpiece is clamped in the temples, as shown in Figure 2a, and a longitudinal cut is made in its bow. Within 1-2 hours, the workpiece is steamed in boiling water and, steamed, is fixed in a special device made from an ordinary step-ladder (Fig. 2b). She is kept in this position for several days. room temperature. In summer, you can dry it outside, but not in the sun, otherwise the workpiece will crack. To speed up drying, you need to put a piece of burlap or some other coarse fabric into the cut before pressing. The fabric, like a wick, will help draw moisture out of the cut.

When the blank dries well, it is taken out and the sock is glued on. It is best to use some kind of resin glue, such as VIAM, or epoxy resin for this. In extreme cases, you can use casein glue. Glue is poured into the cut. Then a plywood insert smeared with glue on both sides is inserted into it. When the glue spreads along the seam, the workpiece is again clamped in the same fixture where it was dried after steaming. The place of the bend should be fixed immediately with screws and wooden dowels on the glue. Dowels are wooden nails with a diameter of 6-8 mm. For them, through holes are drilled in the toe of the ski, as shown in Figure 2c, after which glue is poured into each hole and a dowel smeared with glue is carefully driven in. Having scored all the dowels, the ski is left in the fixture until completely dry.
After that, the ski is processed from all sides with a planer, rasp and sandpaper. To prevent the ski from splitting, its bow is pasted over with fiberglass on epoxy resin or, if these materials are not available, with a canvas on BF-2 glue. For the same purpose, it is necessary to hammer into the ski from the sides (Fig. 2, d) 8-10 oak or ash dowels, the length of which should be 10-15 mm more than half the width of the ski in that place. Dowels are made of straight-grained wood, their diameter is 7-8 mm. Holes for them are drilled to the full length of the dowel and lubricated with glue before driving.
The ends of the dowels are machined flush with the surface of the ski.
Now you can install the keels (fins) and start painting. Coloring technology depends on what colors the athlete has. If these are oil paints, the ski should first be soaked twice with hot drying oil, drying it thoroughly after each coating. If it is decided to paint with glyptal dyes or nitro paints, then the skis should be pre-coated with primer No. 138. The advantages of nitro coating are that it dries faster and looks better.
It is recommended to paint skis with bright, contrasting colors, for example, the top is white with black stripes, the bottom is red with white stripes. This will make it easier to find skis in the water.
The fastening is installed, as shown in Figure 2e, using screws or M6 through bolts. The bolt heads on the sliding surface of the ski must be recessed and puttied. If there are no ready-made mounts, you will have to make them yourself. The simplest mount is made from old rubber boots or ladies' boots without a heel. The top is cut off, and the remaining part (“galosh”) is screwed to the ski with screws through a wooden or metal plate. More convenient fastenings are shown in Figure 2, e (see templates in Figure 1). For their manufacture, you will need a piece of sheet duralumin 2 mm thick and trimming a rubber chamber from a truck 3-5 mm thick.
The bindings consist of two parts - toe and heel. The toe part is fixed on the ski motionlessly, and the heel part can move back and forth depending on the size of the foot. To fix the heel part, a bolt with an ordinary or round nut is used.
Skis made from boards are much better than those glued from plywood. In addition, they are lighter, have better buoyancy and are much cheaper. Caring for them is easy. Unlike snow skis, water skis do not require any lubrication. After use, they should be wiped dry and inserted into spacers. In the same spacers, water skis should be stored when they are not in use (for example, in winter).
Scratches, scuffs and cracks that may appear on the skis during operation should be repaired immediately, touching up the damaged areas after that.

G. Malinovsky
Source: MK 1966

mir-samodelok.ru

Water ski design

First, consider the design of water skis. Each of them is a long frame, which consists of square profile rails and plywood partitions. From above, in a home-made version, such a design is covered with a plastic film to create negative buoyancy due to the air inside. The thickness of such a film does not exceed 0.5 mm. The place that will be intended for the installation of the foot is equipped with an annular shield, also wrapped in polyethylene. This is necessary so that water does not overflow into the skis. Plywood baffles serve as stiffeners and strengthen the structure of the skis, and the slats must always be filed with a hacksaw where the nose bevel goes - otherwise they will break during bending.

If you wish, you can make water skis from duralumin plates - although this will increase the weight of the kit to about 10 kg, the carrying capacity will remain the same, but the strength of the product will increase many times over. Ski poles are selected based on the individual parameters of each person, but they rarely exceed 1.6 meters.

By the way, if you doubt that you will be able to successfully ride on your own, then don’t worry: walking on them on water is no more difficult than on ordinary skis on snow. Some beginners are trained on special training water skis, which are fastened together, and when they switch to regular ones, they find that it is very easy to walk on them.

Creation of water skis

In order to make water skiing yourself, you need to prepare square profile pine or spruce slats. The main thing is to pick them up about the same size and without defects in the form of knots, the structure should be straight-layered. The dimensions of the rails are selected according to the weight of the owner, for their selection, you can use the following table:

Having decided on the sizes, you need to find a suitable template according to which they will need to be cut. Fortunately, there are plenty of them on the Internet resources and finding them will not be difficult. After trimming, you need to cleanly plan these blanks for future water skis.

The next operation is clamping the workpieces in a vice and making a longitudinal cut in the bow. After this is done, a very crucial moment comes - preparing the product for bending. To do this, you need to keep them in boiling water for about two hours, and after it has steamed well, you need to place it in a special home-made template that can be made even from a simple stepladder. So it should lie for several days. If you work in the summer - you can dry it outside, but in no case in the sun, otherwise the wood will crack. In order to speed up the drying process, a piece of coarse cloth can be placed in the cut, which will act as a wick and draw out moisture.

After all the moisture is gone from the workpiece, it is removed from the template and the sock is sealed. Resin glue is best suited for this, either epoxy resin, which needs to be poured into the cut and then a plywood insert smeared with glue should be installed there. It is necessary to wait until the glue fills all the seams, install it in a template in which the water skis were bent during drying, and fix the bends with wood screws and dowels smeared with glue, whose diameter is 8 mm. For them, you first need to make through holes and, having driven in these wooden nails, leave the skis until completely dry.

After drying, you need to clean the entire surface using a planer, rasp and sandpaper. In order to avoid splitting, the bow is sealed with fiberglass. As a binder, it is best to use epoxy or, in extreme cases, BF-2 glue. As additional measures security, it is necessary to make and hammer dowels on the sides of water skis, the dimensions of which are calculated as follows: 10–15 mm are added to half the width of the reinforced place, and the diameter is machined in the region of 7–8 mm. Before hammering the dowel, the hole, which is drilled the entire length of the wooden nail, is liberally smeared with glue. After the binder dries, the ends of the dowels are carefully cleaned.

Further, it is possible to manufacture and mount keels according to the chosen design. One of the best blanks for this is cutting board which makes excellent stabilizers. After the keels are installed, the ring protective shields are glued and the fasteners are installed. If you have ready-made mounts, then it is best to install them using through bolts, whose heads must then be recessed into the body of the skis and puttied. If there are no fasteners, then the simplest ones can be made from old rubber boots or women's boots. The top is cut off, and the galosh itself is attached to water skis through a metal or wooden plate.

More complex models of mounts are made from 2 mm thick duralumin plates and pieces of a rubber chamber of a truck wheel 3–5 mm thick. They themselves have two parts, the nose and heel, the first of which is fixed, and the second can be adjusted by moving back and forth. Suitable size secured with a small screw.

It remains to paint and start walking on the water. In this process important role plays the paint used. The best choice there will be a nitro coating, as it is the most quick-drying, and it looks very good. But if you decide to use nitro paint or glyptal dye, then water skiing should first be coated with a primer. In general, you can paint with anything - even oil paints. In this case, the surface must first be soaked twice with drying oil, drying it thoroughly after each application.

Ski colors should be chosen bright and contrasting - for example, alternating red, black and white stripes. This is done so that in case of loss it is easy to find them.

Water ski poles are made in an elementary way: you will need two long cylindrical poles and two large pieces foam, from which large balls are cut. Further, with the help of waterproof glue, they are mounted on sticks at a distance of 7-10 cm from the end.

It is worth remembering that skis that were made from wooden slats are much better than those that can be obtained from plywood. They are lighter, have improved buoyancy, and are cheaper in terms of money. They do not require special care, they do not need to be lubricated - just dry and store in spacers, and not only in the summer after walking, but throughout the cold season. Any crack that appears during operation must be puttied and painted over, otherwise water skis will not last long.

Conclusion

As you can see, there is nothing particularly complicated in the process of making water skis. Although the resulting product will be aesthetically inferior to the purchased model, it will work no worse than it, and the price will be significantly lower. Therefore, stock up on patience and a tool, and soon a wonderful projectile for practicing will appear in your house. active view recreation.

aktsport.ru

Ski lovers will certainly be interested in the opportunity to practice their favorite sport in the summer. Water skiing can be done quite easily (Fig. 46). They are hollow wooden floats, which consist of a transverse set of frames and plywood sheathing. In the middle of the floats, soft, easily removable mounts are made. On both sides of each float are fixed locking curtains - flippers. When the ski moves forward, the curtains fold, and when the ski moves backward, they open, creating a large hydrodynamic resistance, and thus allow you to “produce a push when moving forward.

Sticks of the same design as conventional skis, only instead of rings a foam ball is put on. This design of the sticks allows you to maintain balance on the water.
The ski binding points are significantly lowered in order to shift the center of gravity as low as possible and thereby improve the stability of the skis on the water.
The skis are rectangular in plan, chosen for ease of manufacture. Skis can be improved by giving them a more streamlined shape. This is a matter of taste and possibilities of amateurs. For the manufacture of skis, you will need plywood (preferably waterproof) 4-12 mm thick for sheathing, boards 20-30 mm thick for frames, sheet rubber 3-4 mm thick for mounts and curtains, and foam plastic for float sticks. If you have a sufficient amount of foam, then it is easier to glue the skis with a solid foam filling by gluing a board in the middle for stiffness and installation of mounts.

The frames are made from a board 20 mm thick, it is advisable to use light wood, such as linden, spruce, etc. The bow bosses are made from bars 30 mm thick, the sides of the floats are made from plywood 12 mm thick. The bottom and formwork are made of plywood 4 and 6 mm thick, and the fastening grips are made of sheet rubber 3 mm thick. The pattern of blanks is shown in fig. 46.1.

To install the fasteners, you will need plates made of sheet duralumin 2-3 mm thick: an adjusting one with slots for fixing the heel plate and metal plates for fixing the toe and edging the heel plate. Slots in the heel plate are made for adjusting bolts with wing nuts, which are rigidly embedded on the ski's oolong.
Assemble the skis in the following sequence: first assemble the sides with frames, and then adjust the bottom lining and formwork. It is necessary to fix the adjusting bolts and the soft fastening toe on the formwork before assembly. Bolt termination is shown in fig. 46, 3. The toe is fastened with overlays to the formwork with six bolts or rivets with a diameter of 3-4 mm.
The heel rubber is riveted to the plate with aluminum rivets 3-4 mm in diameter with a sunken head. The ball for sticks is glued from foam using BF-2, AK-20 or "88" glue. The ball is attached to ordinary ski poles between two washers using cotter pins. Brake curtains are hung on wire axles, which must turn freely in brackets. Axes and brackets are made of galvanized steel wire with a diameter of 2.5-3.5 mm. The halyard for locking the curtain in the open position is made of fishing line 0.8-1 mm thick. Skis are assembled using AK-20 or VIAM-B/3 glue.
To fix the formwork and the bottom to the frame, start from the middle to the edges with screws with a pitch of 50 mm. It is advisable to use galvanized or tinned screws for this purpose. To ensure watertightness, try to fit the mating parts with minimal gaps. In extreme cases, assembly can be done

with the use of thickly grated oil paint, which, when dried, forms a durable waterproof layer. Thoroughly soak all parts inside and out with heated drying oil. This will prevent swelling of parts during operation. The corners of the joined parts from the outside can be pasted over with percale using AK-20 glue. And finally, the final operation - painting. It is best to paint skis with oil paint, preferably bright colors, such as lead orange.

“100 works for skillful hands”

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 2nd, 2012 at 05:06 PM and is filed under Ideas, Crafts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

domovenok.kz

Start in this article. The quality of skis is determined mainly by the quality of the material chosen.

A "block" for pasting a ski can be made from 10-12 inch thick boards, well dried to avoid warping. The boards are fastened evenly along the length and width with bolts 22-27 cm long, so that in the future the bolts do not interfere when filing the workpiece along the longitudinal profile of the ski, as shown in fig. 1. If there are no long bolts, then the boards can be assembled on casein glue or nails, gradually increasing the desired width. The sawing of the workpiece is carried out with a margin, after which it is stitched to the exact dimensions.

There are two types of "bobbleheads" for assembling skis: convex (Fig. 1, a) and concave (Fig. 1.6). The manufacture of the second is more laborious, so it is used less frequently.

Heavier beech, ash, oak, which have the same properties, but have a density of 0.71, respectively; 0.72; 0.75 g/cm 3 can be recommended for slalom monoskis. These breeds, as well as more valuable ones, such as hornbeam, hickory, can be used for jumping skis.

The specified densities are given for wood with an absolute moisture content of 15%, which can be obtained by natural drying of the material within 6-12 months. Reducing this period due to an increase in temperature can lead to cracks, warping of wood, etc. The use of material with high humidity will cause deformation of the finished skis (Fig. 2).

Cross-layered, knotty wood is not suitable for making skis.

Water skis of any type can be made from aviation birch plywood with a thickness of 1-5 mm and a density of 0.69 g / cm 3. Waterproof plywood of the FSF brand from alder with a density of 0.55 g / cm3 is suitable for figure skis, and beech plywood with a density of 0.73 g / cm 3 - for jumping.

A set for walking skis can be assembled on casein glue. For slalom, jump and figure skis, only waterproof adhesives of the VIAM-BZ type are suitable for the following composition: VIAM-B resin - 100 parts (by weight); acetone or ethyl alcohol - 10 parts; kerosene contact - 20 parts.

These components are thoroughly mixed in glassware: first, resin and acetone are poured, then kerosene contact is added. Glue is used within two to three hours after preparation.

For particularly high-quality bonding, epoxy adhesive of the following composition can be recommended: epoxy resin - 10 parts (by weight); hardener - 1 part; plasticizer (dibutyl phthalate) - 1 part. The cooking method is similar to the previous one.

For priming the surface of the ski under varnish-oil coatings or nitro enamels, it is better to use glyptal primer 138A.

Instead of painting, the working surface and side edges of water skis can be coated with phenol-formaldehyde varnish of the following composition: VIAM-B resin - 100 parts (by weight); acetone - 25 parts; kerosene contact - 15 parts; dibutyl phthalate - 5 parts; castor oil - 5 parts. You can also use epoxy by increasing the amount of plasticizer in the recipe above.

Making water skis starts with a set. First of all, the set must be longitudinal, the introduction of even individual transverse elements significantly impairs the strength properties of the skis.

The simplest set for all types of water skis can be made from three sheets of plywood: waterproof alder grade FSF GOST 3916-55, size 1100X260X3 mm for figure skis; birch grade FSF or aviation grades BS-1 and BP-1 with dimensions of 1800X180X6 mm for slalom monoski; beech brand FSF or aviation brand of the mentioned brands with a size of 180X180X5 mm for jumping skis. If standard sheets do not provide a given length, it is necessary to join them by gluing them together (Fig. 3).

The rest of the sheets of plywood are smeared with glue, laid on the "block" and pressed with clamps (in order to avoid gluing the workpiece to the "block", a sheet of paper should be laid between them). To obtain an accurate longitudinal profile of the ski, especially in the places of bends, clamps should be placed as much as possible. To avoid deformation of the workpiece during pressing, boards or pieces of plywood are placed under the clamps.

After the glue dries, the workpiece is removed from the “doodle”, the final shape of the ski is marked on it and processed: filed, touched and sanded with sandpaper, painted or coated with waterproof varnishes.

To increase the strength and rigidity of water skis, use a multi-rail set. It usually consists of three to five plywood battens, 36-60 mm wide for jumping and slalom monoskis and 52-87 mm for figure skis (depending on the number of battens). The thickness of the laths depends on the number and thickness of the plywood sheets that are laid on them from above and below. A possible set for figure skis is shown in fig. 4. To ensure the formation of a longitudinal bend of a figured ski, the middle slats should be planed at each end by a mustache by about a third of the length. With an increase in the number of elements in a set, the requirements for assembly accuracy increase. First, several contact assemblies are made to check how the dimensions of individual elements are maintained, and then they begin to glue the set. For more durable and uniform gluing of an increased number of elements in a set, clamps should be installed more often when pressing on a "dummy".

To facilitate the bend in the nose in hardwood slats, a longitudinal cut is made to a length of 30-40 cm.

The gutter on the working surface is selected by a planer with a profiled (rounded) cutter. It must be necessarily symmetrical with respect to the diametrical plane of the ski, otherwise its dynamic quality, in particular, cornering stability, deteriorates.

The main requirement for jump skis is strength, for which the set must contain possibly more elements in thickness. This requirement in the conditions of amateur construction is satisfied by the set of plywood sheets described above.

In conclusion, we note that all these specific requirements apply to sports water skiing. Walking skis for recreational skiing can be made from wood of any species.

www.barque.ru

Types of water skiing. Currently, water skiers are united in the International Union of Water Skiers. International water skiing competitions were first held in France in 1949. In the USSR, the first major competitions were held in 1962. Competitions are held in the following types: slalom, ski jumping and figure skating. The International Union of Water Skiers has established uniform rules for holding competitions.

Slalom. Each participant must pass the start control gate 4 m wide, go around 6 buoys spaced 90 m apart and pass the finish gate (also 4 m wide). The gates are marked with buoys. If the skier touches the buoy or fails to go around it, he will be awarded penalty points. The boat towing the skier makes the first tack in the middle of the track at a speed of 42, and the second (reverse) - at a speed of 45 km/h, and passes the control gate at a prescribed speed. The speed of the towing boat is controlled by the judge.

The skier is given the right to compete on two or one ski.

Jumping. Jumps are carried out from a springboard with a height of 1.5 m for men and 1.5 for women; its width is 2 by 3 m. Only the length of the jump counts.

Figure skating. In figure skating, both the style of execution and the complexity of the figure are taken into account; skiing is carried out on two and on one ski. Here are some exercises: moving on one ski, turning 180 ° and moving backwards; movement, holding the handle of the sling with the foot, teeth, neck; jumping over a towline, etc.

Towing boat. Any boat with a speed of more than 35 km / h is suitable for towing skiers. You need to start training at low speeds, since if you fall at high speed, you can break on the water. For experienced skiers who want to exercise regularly, you need a boat with a powerful engine (60 to 100 hp) and a speed of up to 55 km/h.
The boat towing the skier should pick up speed smoothly and easily. In addition, the boat should have a low stern wave, since the high “cock” behind the transom prevents the skier from making sharp sharp turns and causes sharp jerks in the cable. And, finally, the third requirement: the towing boat must have great lateral stability so that the danger of capsizing from the lateral jerk of the cable that the skier is holding on to is excluded. Usually the stability of boats with a wide flat stern is quite sufficient.

An athlete can be towed even by a light motor boat with an outboard motor (for example, Kazanka). The author went water skiing behind a sports motorboat of the Strela type with a Moscow engine.

If the skier is towed by a light motorboat, the cable should be attached to the eyelets attached to the transom approximately 10 cm below the edge of the deck. To ensure the agility of the towing vehicle, the skier on the circulation must turn along a radius much larger than the radius of the circulation of the motorboat. This circumstance should never be forgotten when using small boats and motor boats.

On a large and powerful boat, the tow line is best attached to the biteng at a height of about 50 cm above the deck in the center of the boat's rotation (slightly ahead of the stabilizer fin).

Planing boats with a jet propulsion are best suited for towing skiers; when using them, there is no danger of injuring the athlete with the propeller of the boat, and the skier can start from shallow water.

As we already know, people on skis put pressure on the surface of the water with their weight, therefore, in order not to sink into the water, they must move along it at a speed that is greater, the greater their weight and the smaller size skis. This requires an increase in the power of the motor of the towing boat. For a boat 4.5 m long and 1.35 m wide, the number and weight of towed athletes depend on the engine power as follows:

Skis. Water skis for each type of competition have some features in design and dimensions. The dimensions of the skis also depend on the weight of the athlete.

Regular recreational skis are 18 cm wide and 1.5 cm thick; their length is chosen depending on the weight of the athlete:

The toes of the ski are slightly rounded, and the ski as a whole may have a slight bulge towards the sliding surface. Skis are attached to the legs with elastic rubber bindings that fit along the leg.

In the event of a fall of the athlete, the skis should be easily removed from their feet and float up next to the skier.

Ski jumping skis make it somewhat heavier; their center of gravity must be behind the nose bindings so that when jumping, the skis sag back and cannot stick their socks into the water (in this case, the skier can break his chest and stomach on the water, stretch the ligaments in the ankle joints).

Experienced slalom skiers often perform on one ski 180 cm long and 20 cm wide. Such a ski, in addition to the usual mount, is equipped with another bow mount located behind the first. Athletes sometimes even ski with dimensions of 165X18 cm. In order for such skis to be better controlled, they are narrowed to the ends so that they resemble a banana in shape.

Skis for figure skating, in principle, are no different from slalom skis, only they are made more curved.

At the rear ends of the sliding surface of the skis, a light aluminum fin is attached to increase stability. Skis with such a fin are usually used by beginner athletes.

Cable. For towing athletes, you can use any soft cable from 18 to 30 m long. A good nylon cord with a diameter of 6 by 8 mm, which does not rot from frequent wetting, is light and does not form so-called “pegs” (nodules) when unraveling from the bay. A manila cable will do.

It is best if the cable is painted in a bright color and floats on the surface; then the athlete sees it well, and the cable will certainly not fall into the propeller of the boat. Abroad, a special plastic shirt is put on the cable, which keeps it afloat.

For water skiing competitions, the total length of the cable must be 22.5 m; of which 1.5 m in length are slings for handles. Handles of round or oval section are made of wood or plastic. The ends of the slings are connected to each other on the thimble, and the thimble of each sling with the help of carabiners, brackets or swivels - with the cable thimble.

Used for figure skating special device: the cross handle is attached to the cable with a steel yoke with an eye; a leg mount slides along the yoke, which is used when towing by the foot.

Education. First of all, it should be noted that only healthy and, in any case, people who can swim can engage in water skiing. When falling, the skier must be able not only to hold on long time on the water until the boat turns around and approaches it, but also quickly get rid of the skis. Beginners on the water should wear life jackets, pea coats or inflatable belts.

Easier and faster than others is the training of "snow" skiers and slalomists, who are accustomed to maintaining balance in the most difficult conditions.

You need to start training on the beach. First, put on the nose mount, adjust the heel mount tightly and tighten the adjusting screws. The handles of the cable are held on hands extended forward. The trainer keeps the rope taut. The student, squatting down, with the skis slightly apart (but keeping them parallel) and holding on to the cable, rises to slightly bent legs, with the body weight behind the heels. The body is held by a cable, the slack of which is chosen by the trainer. When the student has learned the first lesson and stops falling sideways, they begin training in the water, repeating the same exercises.

Particular care should be taken to ensure that the student keeps the Lie parallel to the taut towline. This is usually difficult as the skier is now free to swim in the water. Sitting on the back of the skis, the beginner swims up to the trainer, who pulls him up by the cable. Skis should protrude slightly above the surface. Only after beginners learn how to control their body in the water, they start training with a boat, which is better to start on larger beds.

Having taken the starting position, the ends of the skis are shown above the surface as a sign of readiness for movement. The boat picks up speed quickly and smoothly, without jerks. Smoothly and vigorously, the skier unbends, holding the skis at a certain angle to the surface of the water and leaning back slightly; having gained speed, the skis are held almost horizontally.

If a motor boat with a low-power motor is used as a towing vehicle, they start from booms. The skier sits on the boom, puts on skis, unfolds the cable and makes a sign to start moving. 2-3 seconds before the cable stretches, the skier jumps off the boom onto the skis; the skis do not have time to sink deep, and therefore the resistance of the skier is not yet very high. The motorboat quickly switches to planing mode and pulls the skier to the surface. It is good to start from a sheet of plywood, standing in shallow water.

In order to make turns easily, it must be remembered that the boat usually reduces speed on the circulation, so the skier must turn along a curve of a larger radius, leaving on outside turn. To turn, the skier leans into the turn, loading the inside edges of the skis. Sharp turns can be made by bending in hip joint, similar to how slalom skiers make a corner move on the snow.

To stop, the skier makes a sign to the boat. The boat stops, and the skier, having walked a few more meters, smoothly descends into the water. You can drop the skier on a boom or other vessel. To do this, the boat passes at a distance of 4-5 m from the vessel or boom, the skier releases the cable in advance and stops at the intended place. Naturally, such a method requires a certain amount of training and a developed eye.

You can stop by driving into shallow water. Here the skier, having lost speed, easily sinks to the bottom of the reservoir. It is necessary to put one leg forward 10-15 cm and transfer the body weight to the back leg so as not to fall forward during a sudden stop when the skis come into contact with the ground.

Jumping. Having mastered the movement on two skis well and having learned how to turn, they move on to studying the technique of jumping.

First, they jump from the stern wave of the boat, crossing its wake from one side to the other; then move on to the trampoline. The dimensions of the upper table of the springboard are 2X5 m. The height of the upper edge is regulated depending on the training of the athletes. They start, of course, with a low height and low towing speed. The boat goes to the ski jump and passes next to it at a distance of 4-5 m. The skier goes on a parallel course and heads to the ski jump, standing with slightly bent knees and straightened body, and having entered the ski jump, he slightly draws his legs, grouping. In flight, he straightens up again, and then, elastically bending his knees, “splashes down”. The movements of an athlete are similar to those of a skier overcoming a small hillock while descending a mountain.

Further, the exercise is complicated by increasing the speed. A classic jump will be when a skier at a speed of 57 km / h (for women 50 km / h) drives up to the springboard in a high stance, crouches, pushes off from him with his feet and flies straight up over the water. Skis are kept in flight horizontally or with slightly raised socks. Touching the water, the skier continues on his way.

Slalom on one ski. The athlete first slides on two skis, then takes off one of them and leaves it on the water, and puts his free foot on the ski from behind. Now, by bending the body and standing a little on the edge of the ski, the athlete can change the direction of movement.

When passing the slalom track, a 20 cm wide ski equipped with two mounts is used. Handles for the left and right hands are attached to the towing cable.

The highest skiing technique is figure skating on one or two skis using a special handle.

Making simple skis. Water skis are commercially available, but they are relatively expensive (more expensive than slalom skis). Naturally, many athletes do water skiing on their own, especially since it is not difficult.

Ski sizes are chosen depending on the weight of the athlete. The material is boards and plywood.

The board is marked according to the accepted length. A hacksaw makes transverse cuts at the toe. Then on the cut area, lubricated waterproof glue, impose a piece of plywood, put a wooden block - a wedge, processed in the shape of a toe bend - and press the ski against it with a clamp. Plywood, having stuck, does not allow the end of the board to unbend; the ski blank is pasted over with any fabric on waterproof glue.

It is best to glue plywood skis.
Two sheets of plywood (1500X1500 mm) are glued together by joining them “on the mustache”, then strips are cut out desired width(180X200 mm) and collect them in a bag until a given thickness is obtained. The strips are smeared with glue and laid on a wooden beam (the surface of which is cut out in the shape of a ski), pressing with clamps or nails. After gluing, the skis are trimmed, sanded and painted. The paint is constantly updated during operation. It should be remembered that the slightest scratch or abrasion significantly reduces the life of the ski; as a result of swelling and warping, the shape of the skis changes significantly, making them difficult to use.

The mount is made of sheet rubber with a thickness of 2-3 mm. Rubber is attached with metal or plywood strips on screws. From below, a stabilizer fin is strengthened.

The shape of the ski in terms of can be the most diverse. Usually the maximum width is located in the middle; the ski is slightly rounded towards the nose, and goes straight or narrows towards the rear end, which makes it easier to make turns.

www.boatportal.ru

Lesson 1

To the chagrin of some, we will have to start our first lesson on the shore. First, a little background on what we need.

Water skis and bindings various types produced by industry and sold in sporting goods stores; you can also buy a towing halyard with a handle there (it’s better not to spare money and buy a “branded” cable - it meets all the requirements of reliability and safety).

For the first outings on the water, paired walking skis are most suitable, which “forgive” many mistakes.

If desired, the simplest walking skis can be made independently from light woods, followed by coating with waterproof paint. The main dimensions of a pair ski of this type are shown in fig. 1. Recently, the most common walking skis have a “banana” shape in plan. The maximum width bmax ranges from 18 to 22 cm depending on the engine power and the weight of the athlete (naturally, the “weaker” the engine and the heavier the skier, the large area must have skis).

You can determine the length of skis for beginners from the diagram (Fig. 2), in accordance with the speed capabilities of the boat and its own weight. If there are several people in your group who will learn on the same skis, be guided by the heaviest athlete when choosing sizes (although, of course, it is better if everyone is approximately the same weight).

Rice. 3. Installing bindings on paired water skis
Rice. 4. The position of the grouping when simulating a start on the shore

Success on the water ski also depends on the correct installation of bindings. For effective ski control, the skier's weight must be applied to the center of gravity of the skis. Therefore, we act like this: we balance the ski with the guide keel installed on the wedge-shaped support and mark the center of gravity with a transverse line (Fig. 3), with which we combine the rear cut of the toe part of the rubber mount. We install the heel part of the fastening after adjusting to the size of the foot.

The key to successful starts on the water is the development of simulation exercises on the shore. All of them are very simple, but at the same time quite effective.

Very useful for beginners is the imitation of a start on ... grass. The student puts on skis and assumes a grouping position: the back is straight; the body is slightly tilted back; arms bent at the elbows at an angle of 90 ° and pressed to the body; feet shoulder-width apart and slightly bent at the knees; the gaze is directed forward. The "trainer" takes the free end of the halyard 3-4 m from the handle and prepares to pull (Fig. 4).

The “skier” gives the “ready” signal and enslaves the stance by tensing the muscles of the arms and legs and leaning back slightly. When the “coach”, pulling the halyard, begins to pull the “skier” towards himself, you need to counteract this thrust by resting your legs on the skis. Keep the grouping position even after the start of the movement.

Repeat the "start" several times, increasing the thrust and bringing it to a significant jerk. If you have learned to maintain balance and move to a steady movement, then it will work on the water.

But before we take the first real start, let's recap the basic safety rules.

I think that everyone understands: a person who does not know how to swim on water has nothing to do. But the ability to swim does not exempt a novice water skier from using life-saving equipment - a water ski belt, a vest or a bib.

Carefully inspect the skis, bindings and halyard - for sharp and protruding parts that can hurt you. Bindings should provide unhindered release of the legs in the event of a fall. Check the reliability of the handle attachment to the halyard - even the slightest movement along the cable is unacceptable.

The water area where you will conduct training should be free from surface and underwater (at a depth of up to 1.5 m) obstacles. Estimate whether there is enough space on it and whether you will interfere with the movement. If a place is chosen by lovers of swimming, stay away from it.

Remember that in the event of a fall, you must regroup and release the handle. Having emerged from the water, be sure to give a signal to those who are in the boat. If you are ready to continue, raise your hand up - this is the signal "everything is in order."

Rice. 5. Water skier signals: a - “everything is in order”; b - "increase speed"; in - "reduce speed"; g - "normal speed"; d - "direction of turn"

Knowing the signals of a water skier is the key to safe training (Fig. 5). Before the start, the observer inquires about the readiness of the skier and when answering “Ready!” or a simple nod of the head instructs the driver to start moving.

If you want to increase speed, make a few movements from the bottom up with your hand clenched into a fist with your thumb up.

The speed reduction signal is given in the same way, only thumb laid down and movements are made from top to bottom.

If the speed suits you, show the letter "O" with your thumb and forefinger.

To indicate which side of the boat to turn, wave your hand in the desired direction.

Only having worked out the “theory” on the shore and having learned to successfully accept the “land start”, the future water skier can consider the first lesson learned, opening the way to the water for him.

Yuri Zhukov, "Boats and yachts", 1989, No. 03(139)

The article is posted with the permission of the magazine "Boats and Yachts".

The issue of the magazine is taken from the Archive "Boats and Yachts".

Winter hunting is a fascinating and interesting activity, but to hunt for prey in the snow you need to have special equipment. The most important element is hunting skis, which will help you move comfortably on the snow, regardless of its height and terrain. Do-it-yourself hunting skis are realistic, but you need to know the step-by-step algorithm.

Hunting skis differ from ordinary skis in their design - they have a shortened nose and a reinforced middle. This reduces the resistance of the snow when walking and ensures durability.

They can be made from wood or plastic. Their strength is almost the same, but plastic ones are considered more practical, since they do not need to be regularly processed and lubricated. The disadvantage of plastic ones is that they are slippery, more suitable for sports. For this, they are rarely used by amateurs. Fishermen and hunters choose wooden ones. The latter can be made independently.

Wooden skis are of the following types:

1. Golitsy - the simplest skis made of wood. They will have to be lubricated with special equipment before each exit.
2. Camus - to create them, use the skin of an elk or horse. The skin is attached from below, and the base is wooden. The design allows you to move through the snow quickly, while on a loose cover they do not fail.
3. Combined. Best value for money. Only pieces of horse skin are glued on the lower part, which significantly reduces the cost of production.

Materials for the manufacture of skis and skins

The main material for creating skis is wood. For camus, you will additionally need a skin. Requirements for wood are:

• strength;
• elasticity;
• flexibility;
• ease.

Such qualities are possessed by birch, aspen, cork, manchurian walnut, Amur lilac, willow, Christmas tree. You can take any of the proposed ones, but it is important that the wood is straight. Do-it-yourself plywood hunting skis can also be made, but plywood must be taken of the highest class.

A similar material is used for skins, but they also need a skin. It should be taken from the shin of an elk, horse, deer, wapiti. On the leg area of ​​these animals there is an elastic pile. With it, movement on snowy slopes and loose snow will be convenient.

Wood harvesting

Before you make skis for hunting, you need to prepare the main material - wood. Wood harvesting is done in winter. During this period, the moisture in it freezes, which makes it easier to work with wood. Although the craftsmen suggest making blanks in August, because at this time the heat is already subsiding, and it is more comfortable to work with wood than at sub-zero temperatures.

Note! On the selected tree there should be no traces of rot, branches, especially small ones.

You can get high-quality material by following these steps:

1. Remove bark.
2. Saw the deck into boards, thickness 50 mm, length according to the estimated length of the snowshoes.
3. Tie the boards and insert a spacer in the middle.
4. Dry for 3 weeks in a cool place.
5. After drying, apply the contour of the ski and remove excess.

Sizing

Homemade wooden hunting skis must fit in size, for this you need to know how to determine it. To do this, you need to know the weight of the one who will walk on them. The rule works here: 1 kg of weight corresponds to 50 cm² for each ski, the length is no more than the height of the one for whom they are created.

Calculation example:

1. The hunter weighs 90 kg, his height is 1.75.
2. With an eye on the formula, the ski area for him is 4500 cm².
3. Skis for a hunter should be 1.7 m long and 26 cm wide. If the movement is planned along the plain, then the length may be slightly longer, for the mountains - shorter.

Another sizing option does not involve calculations. More specifically:

• set skis with toes up, their length does not exceed the height of the arm extended forward;
• width is the distance between the index and thumb;
• thickness is the distance between the ring and middle fingers of the hand at maximum dilution, this parameter will need to be brought up to 8 mm on flat areas, and 5 mm on the bend.

bulge

You need to make 2 bends: front and back. At the initial stage, wood can be bent by heating, firing and steaming. After that, each is placed in a special bending machine. It is required to ensure that there is no skew, otherwise the material will be damaged.

Steaming is convenient to carry out when the ski is already fixed in the machine. This will help you get the most best result. You need to cool in the cold, but this can only be done after a successful bend. When the material has completely cooled down under the necessary conditions, it is required to inspect for distortions, if any, then the skiing will be incorrect.

Hole marking for fastening straps

The next step in the technology of creating homemade skis is marking the holes for the attachment that fixes the leg. Stages:

1. Put the ski on edge and lift it in the place where the leg will be fixed.
2. The ski will stand at a 45⁰ angle to the floor, nose up.
3. Put a mark on the point where the ski reaches the specified position, and draw a line across the width of it.
4. Draw another parallel line, retreating 4 cm from the first mark towards the bow.
5. On both lines, find the middle and attach a fist so that it is located in the middle of the central marks.
6. Make marks where the fist corresponds to the lines drawn earlier. These 4 points will be the holes for the fasteners.

It remains only to burn the marked holes and connect them with deep grooves. They are needed for tight packing of belts in a homemade product.

Making skins

If it is decided to make kamus, then the next step is the preparation of the skin. Steps:

1. Remove the remaining fat and meat from the skin.
2. Stretch dry.
3. Cut out skins according to the size of the ski with a margin of 1-2 cm for turning.
4. Soak the skins in water.
5. Fold to each other with fleecy edges.
6. Sew with strong thread.
7. Dry. When gluing, the skins may be slightly damp.

Gluing

After drying, the camus needs to be glued, this should be done carefully, because it is this detail that does not allow sliding on the snow. For gluing, you can take epoxy or wood glue. Sufficiently high-quality adhesive composition can be made on their own. This requires the skin of a fish. Manufacturing process:

• you need a past spawning chum salmon or catfish;
• remove the skin from the fish, remove the scales of fat, soak in water;
• after soaking the skin, wind it on a wooden stick with a roll, wrap it with a cloth soaked in water;
• hang over a stove or coals;
• steam until a thick gluten is obtained.

When gluing, the composition is first applied to the skin. The first layer is allowed to dry, then the second is applied. Next, the camus is applied to wooden blank and snuggle up. It is convenient to roll the product at home with a roller. You need to do this until the skin is completely smoothed out.

To fix the result of the work, you should wrap the skin with a bandage - this guarantees a strong grip with the sides. It remains to dry in a cool room with good ventilation.

Ski bindings

It is correct to use elk leather belts as fasteners, they should be pre-fried and smoked. The straps are fixed in the holes that were prepared in advance. For this, screws are used.

Advice! For such purposes, you can not take hard skin. Doing so is not worth it, because it creaks at low temperatures, which will make hunting problematic.

Making a ski pole

A ski pole is a must. It is made from the same type of wood as the ski. In its design there are devices necessary for the hunter:

• claw and ring - they will make walking on fragile ice safe;
• shovel - with its help it is convenient to clear the snow;
• a measure for determining the depth of snow, for this you will need to make marks along the length every 5 cm.

Storage

Skis are used only in winter. Pledge of long-term use - proper storage. This applies to both factory and homemade models. Rules:

1. Link with each other.
2. Hang on a hook or nail.
3. The room must be normal humidity and the possibility of ventilation.
4. It must be placed so that water does not get into the fasteners.

Advice! If the fasteners are loose, then you need to unscrew the screws and pour epoxy glue, then put the screws in place. Skis should be checked before each use.

The production of hunting skis is a feasible task, but it requires a lot of time and patience. Their quality is affected by the choice of material and the correct implementation of all the above manufacturing steps.

November 13, 2013 | Skis for hunting - how to make your own skis and snowshoes

If someone is not yet used to the variety of models of skis and snowshoes that exists at all hunting exhibitions and still claims that self-made is always better (well, maybe it’s intentionally does not want to live on everything ready or does not have to funds), he can once again familiarize himself with the time-tested descriptions of the design of classic hunting skis and snowshoes.

Skis for a hunter are of great importance. They must be strong, light, resilient, have the right course and the ability to keep the hunter on the surface of the snow cover. In areas with deep snow, they are essential. Good quality skis can be made by choosing a rational design and type of skis. For the manufacture of skis, spruce, aspen, ash, mountain ash, maple are used. The wood must be straight-grained, without rot and without through (“moving”) branches. You need to take the butt. The ridge is cut about 2 m long. Blanks can be made at any time of the year, but preferably at the end of summer.

First, the blocks are pierced. Plates 30-40 mm thick are cut out of them, and skis are already made from the plates. So that the skis do not lead in the future, they need to be planed strictly in layers.

The size of the skis must correspond to the height and weight of the hunter; it also depends on the snow cover. In loose snow, 1 kg of the hunter's weight should account for 50 cm2 of support area. With a harder snow cover, the area can be reduced to 40-45 cm2. Skis are usually made no longer than the height of the hunter and no lower than his shoulders. But most prefer short skis, somewhat below the shoulder, as they are more maneuverable in thickets, more comfortable on the slopes. The width (in the middle part of the ski) is taken equal to the distance between the maximum divorced thumb and index (or middle) fingers, that is, 180-220 mm. To prevent skis from scooping snow, their width at the toe should be 30-40 mm greater than the width at the heel. The thickness under the foot, under the cargo area, is taken on average 11-14 mm. This is for skis glued with skins. For ordinary skis, this size must be increased by 3-5 mm. At the front end, the thickness of the skis is brought to 5-8 mm, at the front fold 3-7 mm, at the back 2-6 mm (the dimensions and contour of the skis are shown in Fig. 1). A hole Ø 6-8 mm is drilled at the front end of the skis. It is useful for transporting and converting skis into sleds.

Rice. one Hunting skis. Dimensions in mm. A - top view, B - side view. The circled numbers (5.3-5, etc.) refer to skis with skins, the numbers without a circle (8.4-7, etc.) refer to ordinary skis.

The bend of skis is made in the machine. It is shown in fig. 2. Both skis are slightly heated over the fire and tucked into the machine, giving them a curve. At the same time, it is necessary to carefully monitor that the bend is correct, since there will be no normal course when skewed. The skis tucked into the machine must be steamed with boiling water, and then heated strongly over the stove, and then taken out to the cold.

Rice. 2 Skis in the machine. The board (1) is inserted into the machine after the ends of the skis are bent.

You can bend the ends of the skis by first making a 1 mm thick cross cut. Before bending, it is smeared with glue and an insert of veneer is inserted inside, cut out in the shape of the end of the ski (Fig. 3).

Rice. 3 Insert in the toe of the ski.

When the skis have cooled down, they are removed from the machine, inspected and proceed to mark the bindings. Bindings are installed in such a way that the back of the ski, when walking, gives more draft than the front. To do this, find the center of gravity of the ski, mark it with a line perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the ski, then retreat 30-40 mm towards the toe and draw a line parallel to the first. This will be the toe line, that is, the line of the beginning of the attachment. You can use standard semi-rigid mounts.

Before installing the bindings, the skis are treated, tarred or waxed (paraffin). The heated ski is poured with wax (paraffin) and rubbed. If the wax hardens on the ski, it is heated again and so on until the tree is saturated. top it is desirable to cover with oil-resin varnish.

In places where you often have to climb steep slopes, skis are used. Camus is the skin taken from the lower part of the leg of an elk, deer, reindeer, horse; the skin of a seal can also be used as a skin. Skins are glued to the lower part of the skis and it is made flexible and at the same time more durable, resistant to wet snow, which does not stick to them.

The manufacturing technology of these skis is the same as conventional ones, only the thickness decreases.

Rice. 4 Placement of skin plates on the lower plane of the ski.

Rice. 5 Skin fold on ski: 1 - ski, 2 - skin.

The soaked skin plates are selected so that their more shaggy edges lie towards the middle of the sliding surface, and smoother ones - towards the sides (Fig. 4). Then sewn with kapron threads. The size of the skin should be slightly larger than the size of the ski (taking into account the bend; see Fig. 5).

For gluing skins, you can use BF glue or glue on epoxy based, but wood glue with a small addition of acetic acid is preferable (it makes the glue water resistant). A camus is applied to the ski lubricated with glue, after which it must immediately be rolled with a roller in the direction of the hair until the excess glue comes out and the camus is completely leveled. Then the ski is wrapped with a bandage or braid so that the skin on the sides sticks well and does not warp.

If you have to hunt in mountainous areas or hilly areas, and you do not have skins, you can make a simple stop, which is shown in fig. 6. I choose the width of it according to the width of the ski. It is desirable to make an emphasis from non-ferrous metal. If necessary, it can always be folded back onto the ski. You can use standard canopies by sawing out the teeth. The hinge of the canopy should be regularly lubricated and monitored so that it does not clog or rust.

Rice. 6 An emphasis for a normal ski. Dimensions in mm. 1 - ski, 2 - movable part of the stop.

Under the foot, on the cargo area, stick microporous rubber. She, shrinking and unclenching, does not allow the snow to be compressed under the foot.

Camus skis should not be brought into a warm room in winter. Skis should be stored tied in pairs on spacers, suspended in a dry, ventilated place.

Onishchenko V.

Canadian skiing

The most convenient for a hunter are skis of the usual sliding type, of a relatively short length, much wider than sports skis, with a strongly curved toe. The underside of the ski is sometimes lined with an elk or deer skin taken from the legs of an animal. This is done to facilitate the ascent uphill, because. upholstery hair prevents the ski from sliding backwards; such upholstery makes the ski more comfortable, but heavier both in weight and in motion.

At present, interest is awakening in non-slip skis, which are not common and little known in our country. The most perfect type of such skis are those of the Indians of the northern part of America, known as "Canadian". They are an elongated wooden hoop interlaced with a mesh of straps. You can’t slide on such skis, but you have to walk, raising your legs, as in normal walking.

In order to give an idea of ​​​​the shape and size of skis, I give a drawing depicting a ski. The dimensions are taken according to the measurement of the skis that are now at my disposal. They are branded as "Maine model 12 x 48 No. 70" made in the North American United States. 12x48 - ski dimensions (width-length) in inches (d uym \u003d 2.54 cm).

Rice. 7 "a" and "b" - front and rear wooden crossbars. "o" - a hole in the net.

The place occupied by the foot is shaded. In the lower figure - attaching the ski to the leg.

The rim of the ski and the crossbars are apparently made of ash. The rim has a section of 7/8x3/4 inches, its tail ends are connected with rivets. The mesh is woven from "pulled" raw-matt straps, varnished, apparently to prevent it from getting wet in wet weather, just like the wooden parts. The holes in the mesh are so large that it is difficult for a finger to pass through them.

The ski is tied to the leg with straps, and the leg is located on the ski so that its toe is above the hole "O", without touching the front crossbar "a". This is necessary to facilitate walking. When the ski moves forward, the heel rises from the ski, and the toe drops slightly into the “O” hole, so that the ski is in contact with the sole of the foot only with a thick twisted belt passing directly behind the “O” hole and serving as the main support for it when lowering the leg. This way of tying the skis allows you to walk at a normal pace without raising your legs too high. When lifting the leg, the toe of the ski, as being lighter, rises up, and the heavier tail drags along the snow, preventing the ski from spinning on the leg.

There are two straps for tying skis. One ordinary one, covering the toe of the foot, is passed through the mesh cells closest to the hole "O", and the other, passed into the same cells, covers the rear one. In order to prevent this belt from moving out, another strap is attached to it, passing through the instep of the leg.

Admirers of Canadian skis tested their suitability for various purposes. It turned out that these skis are very convenient in cases where fast walking is not required, since the walking speed on them is equal to the usual walking speed. With the skill, you can run, this slightly increasing the speed.

These skis are more convenient for skiing in rugged and forested areas, because. make it possible to climb, descend and, if desired, stop on steep slopes. In the forest, they, in view of their short length, allow free passage between trees and bushes. Turns on such skis are made very quickly, easily and almost in one place.

On such skis, due to their agility, small size and the uselessness of sticks, thanks to which the hands are free all the time, it is possible to produce various works. I know that they were successfully used in measuring and counting the forest, when setting up snow shields along the line railway etc.

The advantages of Canadian skis include their low weight: the pair I have weighs 2.25 kg with straps. When skis are not needed, they can be tied and thrown over the shoulder. With a small weight and length, they do not interfere with walking at all.

In snow, even loose, this ski almost does not sink; the snow is pressed down by the net and almost does not fall on the ski, does not stuff under the foot, interfering with walking.

The disadvantages of skis include their weakness in those places where the crossbars are hammered into the rim. This place needs to be strengthened. Almost all ski breaks were precisely in the places where the crossbar was fastened to the rim, but it should be noted that in most cases the skis broke in light snow, when stones, etc. were felt, i.e. under conditions generally unsuitable for any kind of skiing.

A big drawback is the lack of literature about Canadian skiing in Russian. To distribute them, it is necessary to study the question of the types of skis suitable for certain purposes, tk. There are several types of Canadian skis that differ in small details from each other (there are, for example, skis without a tail). It is necessary to find out the most suitable wood species for skiing; processing mesh straps so that they are stronger, do not get wet and do not stretch; find out the most practical way attaching the ski to the leg, because there are small, but perhaps important differences.

All this has probably been known in America for a long time, but for us, due to the lack of literature, it sometimes presents minor, but annoying, ambiguities, the solution of which has to be approached by experience.