Toboggan

A toboggan is a simple sled used on snow, to carry one or more people (often children) down a hill or other slope, for recreation. Designs vary from simple, traditional models to modern engineered composites.

Related Topics:
Sled - Recreation

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The toboggan is a traditional form of transport used by the Innu and Cree of northern Canada.

Related Topics:
Innu - Cree

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"The Mountaineer method is the only one adapted for the interior parts of the country: their sleds are made of two thin boards of birch; each about six inches broad, a quarter of an inch thick, and six feet long: these are fastened parallel to each other by slight battens, sewed on with thongs of deer-skin; and the foremost end is curved up to rise over the inequalities of the snow. Each individual who is able to walk, is furnished with one of these; but those for the children are proportionately less. On them they stow all their goods, and also their infants; which they bundle up very warm in deer-skins. The two ends of a leather thong are tied to the corners of the sled; the bright or double part of which is placed against the breast, and in that manner it is drawn along. The men go first, relieving each other in the lead by turns; the women follow next, and the children, according to their strength, bring up the rear; and, as they all walk in rackets , the third or fourth person finds an excellent path to walk on, let the snow be ever so light" (Charles Wendell Townsend (ed.). 1911. Captain Cartwright and his Labrador Journal. Boston: Dana Estes & Company. Sixth Voyage, 1786. pp.357-358).

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The traditional toboggan is made of bound, parallel wood slats, all bent forward at the front to form a sideways 'J' shape. A thin rope is run through the top of the loop to provide steering. The frontmost rider places their feet in the loop and sits on the flat bed; any others sit behind them and grasp the waist of the person before them.

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A typical modern design, often called a Snoracer, consists of a plastic seat bound to a tubular metal frame; this is then bound to two plastic side runners, and a front 'ski' connected to a steering wheel.

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Perhaps the simplest form is a sheet of flexible plastic, about 2 mm thick and 1m square, with holes on the front edge as handles. The handles are grasped and the sheet pulled back over the legs, to form a flexible smooth conveyance.

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In the U.S. Southern states, a "toboggan" can also refer to the type of hat known elsewhere as a tuque or a ski hat.

Related Topics:
U.S. Southern states - Tuque

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