Hand signals what's your opinion?

I vote for them. I like to know if there is someone else coming and think it is for everyones safety. If someone cannot control their sled with 1 hand then they probably can't control it with 2. As far as having more than 5 people behind you it probably doesn't matter to much how many people you have until the last person says that there are no more riders behind them. IMHO
 
my opion is that I like to know as much as possible to whats going on around me. I don't need to know the countdown of every sled, but would like to know the first sled on how many there is, and always better knowing thats the last sled in the group. it just good practiceand if you don't like then, then don't use them. I have found more people use them than not. These signals have been going on for years.
The hole one hand on the sled and one off never had a problem with. I've had more problems with people in corners on my side. The last time I was up riding the guy was on my side and of course hit my trailing arm and bent it. The guy then acted like it was no big deal, so I asked him if its no big deal, then why don't you give me some money so I can buy a no one since its your fault because your on my side and I had to take the ditch and you still hit me. Then the guy still wanted to act like a dick head threatening him, thats when my buddie had to whip out his state police badge and warn this guy your out of control. We all talked about this later and like my buddie said I don't want to do that, but sometimes people get way out of control and need to be checked up, I mean come on why theaten someone. I mean who are they really going to thinks telling the truth, besides the guy was just about dunk anyways
 
terrain44 said:
If I Have A Group Of Ten Guys Behind Me, Should I Wave Both Hands In The Air While Trying To Pass Someone?
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Na, just one open hand will be fine. Or better yet, stop your sled, get off, stop the people and tell them there are 10 more coming. :o|
:postwhore ,
 
I hade one of those types last year on a realy tight corner with trees.Stopped and we helped him dislodge his sled from a tree.Than he starts loseing it when he sees the damage and saying i was on his side or the middle of the trail.At that point i told him to look at my ski track that was right off the trail and i was stopped waiting for him to come around.He didnt know what to say but i told him i was sorry i even took the time to help him out.I look for a sled every corner regardless of the signals.They are good when the snowdust is flying on fast trails passing oncomeing sleds.
 
All for them. I lead the group, and I love to know that when someone signals more sleds behind him, and then there is a long gap, I can expect more sleds to be in a big hurry to catch up. Happens all the time. The "finger number" thing is wrong(mittens). You are supposed to just make a hitch hiking signal with your thumb that there are sleds behind you.
 
For on coming sleds I don't agree. You should be careful enough not to run into oncoming traffic. For the guys behind you I am in favor of them. I lead groups all the time and if I didn't signal for large hazards ahead I would have a lot of injured people that I was responsible for.
 
Hand Signals

I do use them when I can, and am not cutting into the woods to miss an out of control sled coming at me. I have been there many times and the look in the eyes of the other guy is outright scarry.
I too have seen guys ride off in the woods because they were in the wrong and knew it. I have been told to ride the front because it is too dangerous for the other guy up front in my group.
I treat every corner like another sled will be in the middle of the trail and I must be on the very outside edge to miss them. The second guy in line many times is more out of control than the leader most likley sideways and that is real hairy.
Bottom line is drive to your own ability , your families will apreciate it.
 
trails where i ride area rarely wider then a sled and a half. so knowing if there is a sled or not coming is realy important. i usualy only ride at night so i can see lights coming the other way. way safer IMO. we also use them to tell the people behind u to stop, if theres a water bar, down tree, hanging tree, etc... i have almost crashed a ton of times while riding with new people that dont give the sign and u are in their snow dust and hit a 2 foot deep wash out. we always use the right hand to signal to people behind u. plus we always stop and pull over to let sleds the other way by and give the signal of how many people are in the group.
 
modsrx... WE BOTH AGREE THERE!!! lol I have mixed feelings about hand signals. I don't think the oncoming sledders need to signal one bit... I do think it's safer if they don't for the same reason given above about one group ending and another group right on their tail on the other side of the corner... you let your gaurd off for half a second and you sled's front end is a pancake. If you don't pay attention to the oncoming signals, you are always alert... at least thats what I find with myself. I do think it's important to warn other sledders around you about unsafe areas on the trail like water holes or washout etc. that often aren't caught until it's too late. I am probably on the wrong side of the trail at least 50% of the time, but never in a blind corner or riding over a hill, that's just asking to get hit. I witnessed first hand a good fender bender up north with the group infront of us trying to use hand signals and one guy lost control and headed straight in to the other guy.
 
i donno about you guys, but i am really enjoying this post... someone should make one of those bar graps and see how the # really turn out on this one...... i for one like the hand signals... and well it does scare me when i meet sleds sometimes because some of them are dam near outta control... and now that i got my g/f on a sled it bugs me more.. .i know she is behind me and sometimes way behind me when i meet a sled just pray and hope they guy or gal relaxes on the throttle before he meets her... i always find myself almost stoping if an appropriate place is avalible to wait for her.....
 
that light system is called css (i think). i do know they are a site sponsor. when i rode with the ty ride in muni, a bunch of the guys had them on their sleds. lemme tell you that the green is visible for a damn long ways. i was near the front of the group and could see the last sled with the green from all the way up there. i think there where 12 of us in the group at the time.
 
I do know from riding in other states, Ny seems to be the only problem area I seem to have experienced is the NY area. All the other states I've been to if someone sees an oncoming sled people seem to slow down and be considerate. Especially if there's any kind of signal. I simply will not take my wife to NY. I like to ride fast to but if theres oncoming traffic or if theres a blind turn turn it down a notch don't be the next stastic.
 
If you don't use hand signals for courtesy then why slow down if you see someone coming or is that not for courtesy. I think next time out I'll just do 90 and not slow down when someone comes up.We use them someone will complain and if we don't use them someone will complain, cant win with this topic.
 
Wouldn't it boil down to common sense? If you are that unstable and can't flip the signal then just hold on the the bars. I feel that the experienced riders have no problem with giving a signal and being able to control their sled at the same time. And for those that give the signal as last in the group and there's another group behind you.....WAKE UP! What the hell does it take to look behind you every few minutes?
 
Just want to clarify something, when I posted this I was only talking about signaling on coming traffic, not hand signals for your friends riding with you. We use those all the time. I'm talking about the guy coming at you. I still say it's a safer to assume someone is coming on every corner instead of relying on someone else's four fingers which could mean four sleds or twelve, depending on how many other riders have caught his group.
 
Allvipedup said:
Wouldn't it boil down to common sense? If you are that unstable and can't flip the signal then just hold on the the bars. I feel that the experienced riders have no problem with giving a signal and being able to control their sled at the same time. And for those that give the signal as last in the group and there's another group behind you.....WAKE UP! What the hell does it take to look behind you every few minutes?
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I think many times a different group, or a fast loner have caught up to the slower group, netting these results.

Thats what happens with me, even though when I am stuck behind a group, I pretend to be part of it until they finally see someone has been waiting for the right moment to blast by them.

They get all weird when they get passed by a 2 up with 2 people on it, esp when they all have the XC versions of the sled. LOL
 
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