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Comment by shoo | Hacker News Reader

> Having Siberian Huskies I once tried to figure out if I could live off the back of a sled and have the huskies be my means of transport. The sled would have needed to be 5 meters long and about 2 tall so I abandoned the idea!

perhaps you just needed a few more huskies. is there anything like a rocket equation for dogsledding? e.g. each husky requires some mass of supplies which must be hauled which implies additional huskies.

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Huskies aren't the cause of the ever-growing sled - it'd need permanent shelter and sleeping accommodation (at least 2m long) because conditions might preclude erecting a tent every night-fall. Then add space needed for storage of potable (drinking & cooking) water, food, cooking equipment, toilet disposal facilities (human & huskies), ropes, winches, and tools for getting out of trouble and making repairs (so also spares for harnesses, sled, etc.) ...

Once you analyse what is required to be truly self-sufficient and self-reliant, even for short periods of time, the amount of equipment needed is quite surprising.

In settled life many of those things are externalised costs or can be obtained on-demand.

I'd still love to give it a go at some point - but would need to move to Alaska to do it (Only rain and mud in the UK!)

I don't think it would necessarily have to be all that humongous: Have your tent permanently erected on the sled, on top of the supplies. Not necessarily fully erected; spread out and attached at the bottom (probably / preferably on a rigid floor above the supplies down on the bottom of the sled), but collapsed down on top of the floor or supplies. Perhaps with a solid(ish) "lid" for a roof and collapsible textile only for the walls. Keep your sleeping bag and hammock and other use-every-night stuff in the tent, above the floor or other supplies. If you go with a rigid floor you might sleep on that; if not, you'll have to go with a hammock (which is probably preferable anyway).

Sounds like an idea for Randall Munroe's next book.

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