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A hoversled, hoverpod, sleigh, float sled, gravsled, or repulsor sled, was any type of hovering repulsorcraft vehicle used for the transportation of personnel and equipment, similar in design to a speeder bike, but optimized for carrying large quantities of cargo rather than an emphasis on speed.
History
Hoversleds were commonly used commercially and were also used by the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Galactic Empire.
Other variants, known as repulsorsleds, were often used by Hutts, as some members of the species had considerable difficulty moving around unaided. Older Hutts, such as Aruk, would increasingly rely on their repulsorsleds as they grew increasingly corpulent. One Hutt used such a vehicle to transport himself and several slaves purchased from Clan Secura, including young Aayla Secura.
Usually, battle droids rode on hoversleds when being transported to the battlefield
Some hoversleds, often called gravsleds, were simple, flat vehicles used to move containers of spice in the slave-labor spice-processing plants of Nar Shaddaa prior to the Clone Wars.
Among the advantages of hoversleds over traditional sleds were that they encountered no resistance from the ground friction and could transport cargo easily, safely, and inexpensively over short distances.
In late 3 ABY, the bounty hunter Boba Fett, while attempting to deliver the carbonite-frozen Han Solo to Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine, used a hoversled as a diversion to draw away several competing bounty hunters who were attempting to steal Solo and his accompanying reward away from Fett. The hunters were dismayed to discover that Solo's carbonite slab was not atop the hoversled, as they originally believed.
Appearances
Sources
- A Guide to the Star Wars Universe
- A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, Second Edition
- Star Wars Encyclopedia
- Galaxy Guide 7: Mos Eisley (As "power sled")
- Han Solo and the Corporate Sector Sourcebook (As "gravsled")
1996 Topps Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (Card: At Last, Fett Delivers Han to Jabba) (backup link (http://www.rebelscum.com/photo.asp?image=/sote/soteTC094.jpg) not verified!) (as hoverpod)- Star Wars Gamemaster Screen, Revised (as repulsorlift sled)
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
- "Hutt! Hutt! Hutt!" (original article link) on Wizards.com (content now obsolete; backup link) (As repulsorsled)
- The Essential Guide to Warfare
- Lords of Nal Hutta
- Strongholds of Resistance
