By Jim Baird

At the beginning of my snowmobile expedition in the communities of Tulita and Delene, Ted and I learned that the tow bars on our Equinox Boggans probably would not last for the duration of the expedition. We saw a graveyard of broken steel tow bars in Tulita. It was recommended that we use ropes to tow our toboggans, because the steel tow bars would have broken when pounding along on the hard packed snowdrifts of Great Bear Lake. So that’s exactly what we did. 

How It’s Done: First, you’ll need to drill holes in the steel brackets on each side of the toboggan —just in front of where the tow bars hook into them. Clip a carabiner to each hole. Next, tie the ends of a 60-foot-long length of rope to each carabiner. Then, tie the middle of the rope to the hitch of your snow machine. Make sure each side of the rope is an equal length (as shown in the video).
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By David E. Petzal

I can’t tell you who makes the most accurate rifles, or which big-game bullet is the best or whose scope is the brightest, but I can stand here on my two flat feet which did not keep me from getting an Infantry MOS and tell you that DiamondBlade knives will keep a sharp edge longer than anything else you can buy. DiamondBlades have been around for 5 years more or less; I’ve used them a ton and talked with others who have, and there is no doubt about it. Any man who would deny this would teach his grandmother to suck eggs.

Now and then, DiamondBlade makes a special model; last year I saw one produced exclusively for the Powder Horn in Bozeman, MT. This year, there’s a new one made for McMillan, and it is a thing of rare beauty in addition to all its other virtues. It’s a drop-point with a 4” blade, a slender, slightly curved blue-black micarta handle, mosaic handle pins, and a black Kydex-lined sheath. It’s the only DiamondBlade model with a hilt (made of 440C steel).
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By Jim Baird

With the trip winding down, Ted and I knew we’d have to make a long push through the night to reach Ulukhaktok in time to spend a few hours with our friend Pat and, more importantly, catch our flight home. Fortunately, the weather was good enough for such an aggressive travel plan, and Ted and I left Rymer Point and headed straight overland, northward for Prince Albert Sound.

We passed many herds of musk oxen, including one that was 17 strong. In the late evening, Ted and I stopped to do some fishing in a spot where we were told the ice was thin and the fishing was good. But the ice was not as thin as we’d hoped, and we drilled through 6 1/2 feet straight into rock and damaged our auger blade. The dull blade made second hole we drilled was quite difficult and required every bit of strength Ted and I had to get through the ice. We fished for a while, but got skunked. Overall, the fishing on the trip wasn’t nearly as good as we’d hoped.

By the time we got back on our snow machines, it was pitch black and the terrain got rougher.... [ Read Full Post ]

By Jim Baird

When we got to Hornby Bay on Great Bear late in the afternoon, we were surprised to see snowmobile tracks. We followed them for a couple minutes until we saw a few walled tents in the northeast corner of the bay. We went over to check it out and met several people. They were mostly high school students, lead to Great Bear Lake by a few older men from Kugluktuk. The kids were learning traditional ways of hunting, fishing, camping, and navigation from the older guys.

We mentioned the route we planned to take to Ulukhaktok once we reached Kugluktuk. Two of the men in the group, Gerry and Isaac, were very experienced travelers and told us that the route we planned would not work. There would be open water on the ocean at the mouth of Prince Albert Sound and our fiberglass toboggans would never make it on the rocky overland section we had planned to cross. Isaac drew a different route out on our topo maps, and we’ve decided to follow his advice. The new route will make the trip longer but hopefully much safer. That night the Northern Lights danced in the sky over the... [ Read Full Post ]

By Jim Baird

In a previous post where I willingly broke through the ice...twice...I noticed a question from MissMuley in the comments section about the ice spikes I used to pull myself out of the frozen lake.

It’s a good question, because without them I’m not sure I could’ve crawled out. Here’s how I made mine:

Step 1: I started with two 5-inch nails (Phillips-head screwdrivers would also work) and a length of strong cord (p-cord works great) slightly longer than my wingspan.
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By Jim Baird

Spoiler Alert: You are about to see me carve a hole in a frozen lake and jump in the freezing-cold water—twice. After both jumps I’ll take the necessary steps to pull myself out, change clothes, and start a fire to get warm as fast as possible.

I performed this stunt last weekend (in a controlled environment where help was close by) because this is exactly the type of survival scenario I could encounter on my upcoming snowmobile adventure. After I cross Great Bear Lake, I’ll be traveling on stretches of rivers as I make my way to the Arctic Coast. If there’s one section of the trip where I’ll be most at risk of falling through the ice, it’ll be on these rivers. Frozen rivers are the most dangerous to cross because they’re the most unpredictable.
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