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rockdan
Mar 14, 2006, 7:30 PM
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I am new to the sport of slacklining and am interested in buying a kit. I want a kit that can easily be set up by one person. Does anyone have any recommendations?
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iltricheco
Mar 14, 2006, 7:52 PM
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Kit? Dude, all you need is webbing and three biners (i like locking but even this isn't necessary).
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styndall
Mar 15, 2006, 3:09 AM
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I recommend the Styndall Special Kit, SSK(tm) for short. You get fifty feet of webbing, four ovals, and a long sling. It's available at every major climbing shop. Ask for the parts individually.
I set mine up no problemo in under five minutes.
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coldclimb
Mar 15, 2006, 9:20 AM
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Any of the kits out there will do just fine, but if you want a recommendation based SOLELY on the fact that I've met these guys and they're good friends, go with the slackline brothers kit at www.slackline.com, or buy some webbing from anywhere and a slackjack from Scott at www.slackline.net. :lol:
But really, there's none that won't do what you want them to.
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climbrox391
Mar 15, 2006, 1:45 PM
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Car, webbing, and a tree.
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veganboyjosh
Mar 15, 2006, 2:26 PM
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i don't have any of the specific kits, all i use are biners and webbing. altho i've started experimenting with single links of chain in various parts of the setup. chain links=cheaper and smaller than biners, but about the same weight, if not heavier.
without the knowledge of how the mechanical advantage works in the primitive biiner setups i use, i wouldn't be able to appreciate the complexity and simplicity of setting lines up with the commercially available systems. slackline bros, slackjack, ratchets, etc.
the only one of these i've seen in use is the slackline bros pulley setup. for me, i can get the lines as tight as i want them with biners, so the cost of a set of pulleys is not worth it. i've gotten my rigging time down to about 10 minutes for even a 70 or 80 footer.
bottom line: they'll all work. if you can see some in action in person, and talk to someone who's used more than one, that's your best bet for some good beta.
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rockdan
Mar 16, 2006, 10:29 PM
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Thanks for the input. I decided to buy the Slackline Express "50 ft Classic" kit for ease of setup. Can't wait to start SLACKIN!!
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rockdan
Mar 22, 2006, 9:03 PM
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This kit is awesome. I can have it set up in a few minutes by myself. I would definitely recommend it. However the super tension add on is a must (unless you are very light) for 50 ft lines unless you are comfortable with anchors that are 6 ft off the ground. :D
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slacklinejoe
Mar 23, 2006, 4:08 AM
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Glad ya dig it :)
I consider the tensioning add-on a necessity for most folk, but some people who never get over 40 foot won't ever need it so we give them the option of saving a few bucks by getting the kit without it.
If you want to write up a review I'd be happy to add it to my site or you could even add it to this site in the Gear Reviews section.
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pdx_climber
Mar 27, 2006, 1:08 AM
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The Slackjack is a fantastic piece of equipment. It allows for 1 person to easily set up and tension a line and also makes untensioning and removing the setup easy. I love it.
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uncleslackline
Mar 28, 2006, 4:25 AM
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Using a ratchet to get a line tight is not proper slackline etiquette!!!!
No one who is anyone in the slackline world uses a ratchet to get tight!
The only people that say different are the people that are selling you a ratchet!
Anyone that buys a ratchet insted of a block has been sucked up in a slick marketing campain!
Blocks are the only acceptable tightening system!
www.slackline.com
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superbum
Mar 28, 2006, 5:00 AM
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I don't use a kit for two reasons: I am broke and I don't slackline enough to justify buying specialized gear for it...
If I WERE to buy a kit I would go w/ Slackline Brothers. (www.slackline.com) The owner is such a great guy and really deserves your business. More and more companies are coming out w/ slackline kits but slackline bros are the only specialized slackline ONLY company. They make an AWESOME product too and recently got it pull tested and its strength matches anything out there in the rigging industry.
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outsider0409
Mar 30, 2006, 2:56 PM
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Slackline etiquette? What the hell is that? How can rigging style break etiquette?
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areyoumydude
Mar 30, 2006, 5:43 PM
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In reply to: Slackline etiquette? What the hell is that? How can rigging style break etiquette?
I'm not sure what that means either. What i do know is that walking a slackline with a ratchet on it sucks. It twist and turns the slackline making it unstable and not very fun to walk. It is also dangerous. If your anchor brakes you are going to have a ratchet flying at you.
I just got back from the RRR and didn't have a tensioning system for my slackline so I borrowed a come-along. It works, but it is bulky and you can't get your line very close to your anchor. I tied the line off and took the come-along out of the system. Bottom line is IMO ratchets and come-alongs are a lame substitute for tensioning slacklines.
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veganboyjosh
Mar 30, 2006, 6:38 PM
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i don't see what the big deal with ratchets is...
if they work for you, use them. far be it from me to tell you what to use or what not to use.
imo, if you're walking on webbing that's tensioned, then it's slacklining.
is a car good slackline etiquette?
surely some other technology will come along (no pun intended) some day that will make pulleys and ratchets and biners and cars seem cludgy. will this be out of bounds?
coldclimb, i don't get why ratchets would be considered the aid world of slacking and pulleys wouldn't.
if that's the case, then the only true form of slacklining is hand tightening.
i've never used a ratchet to tighten a line, andi've walked on lines with pulleys. never set one up myself, but watched it done. if, as larry pointed out, the ratchet makes the line walk funny, then don't use it. it's a personal preference thing. but don't slag someone else for using what they think works.
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areyoumydude
Mar 30, 2006, 8:29 PM
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In reply to: i don't see what the big deal with ratchets is... if they work for you, use them. far be it from me to tell you what to use or what not to use. imo, if you're walking on webbing that's tensioned, then it's slacklining. is a car good slackline etiquette? surely some other technology will come along (no pun intended) some day that will make pulleys and ratchets and biners and cars seem cludgy. will this be out of bounds? coldclimb, i don't get why ratchets would be considered the aid world of slacking and pulleys wouldn't. if that's the case, then the only true form of slacklining is hand tightening. i've never used a ratchet to tighten a line, andi've walked on lines with pulleys. never set one up myself, but watched it done. if, as larry pointed out, the ratchet makes the line walk funny, then don't use it. it's a personal preference thing. but don't slag someone else for using what they think works.
I totally agree. There is no such thing as slackline etiquette. That's just silly. I've used just about every known method to set up slacklines and I know which ones work best for each set up.
Ratchets and come-alongs work, but they suck. Biners work, but there is a lot of friction in the system. The most efficient way is static line, two double pulleys, a single pulley and a gri-gri. Plus if you add a 2:1 on that system you'll double your advantage. I've tensioned 175' slacklines with this method and besides having a turf herder it's the only thing that will work for a line that long.
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coldclimb
Mar 30, 2006, 11:14 PM
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In reply to: coldclimb, i don't get why ratchets would be considered the aid world of slacking and pulleys wouldn't.
Sorry, that's not the comparison I was going for. If someone aids a 5.12 route, they've still climbed it, but in a different style. I was trying to point out the style differences in a way that a non slacker would understand. Rig a line with a ratchet and you still have a slackline, but it is definitely a completely different style.
Some people are just more strongly opinionated about their style than others. ;)
but yeah, I'm kinda lost on the use of the term "etiquette" as well. There is indeed a slackline etiquette, such as tree friendlies, letting others on your lines, and such, but I think the use of ratchets is defined more by "style" than by "etiquette".
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veganboyjosh
Mar 31, 2006, 4:43 AM
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In reply to: In reply to: coldclimb, i don't get why ratchets would be considered the aid world of slacking and pulleys wouldn't. Sorry, that's not the comparison I was going for. If someone aids a 5.12 route, they've still climbed it, but in a different style. I was trying to point out the style differences in a way that a non slacker would understand. Rig a line with a ratchet and you still have a slackline, but it is definitely a completely different style.
got it. makes more sense that way, and i'm in agreement with ya.
In reply to: Some people are just more strongly opinionated about their style than others. ;)
also agree with you there.
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uncleslackline
Apr 4, 2006, 5:12 AM
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I have been reading this forum since it's inception.
I have been traveling for the last three years doing demos, holding comps, and Sponsoring Highliners.
This forum started off with a bad ass slacklining mediator, but once Ammon departed it left a knowledge, and leadership vacuum! Ethos, Not for Climbing, and Slack Daddy came and went!
In steps Joe and CC. Yeah, Larry is around, but mostly posts pictures and jokes.
CC is an amazing young talent, not only on a slackline, but with a camera and a computer. He is assimilating beta from his three journeys to the lower Fortyeight at an amazingly fast pace!
Joe on the other hand has been misleading young climbers that are seeking slackline guidance, with his ratchet propaganda for the last couple of years!
Larry is the only one left posting on this site that is an honest to goodness, Long Time, Bad Ass, Slackliner/Highliner. In this thread he admits that his preferred tightening system is a set of Double Pulleys, {A Block} with a Gri Gri as a breaking device!
Well, the SBI tightening system is a set of double pulleys {A Block} with it's own breaking device, that has been tested to hold more than 2000lb of pull force. Which is more than Petzl advises as a "safe" working load with a Gri-Gri! As a matter of fact if you talk to anyone at Petzl, they will ask you nicely to please not use a Gri Gri as a brake for your slackline tightening system. Something about not being designed for that application!
The SBI tightening system also is way less expensive than two double pulleys of the same sheath diameter and a separate Gri-Gri!!!
Somehow, I have become the lone voice of the utility of blocks and proper rigging on this web site!
A couple of weeks ago, We went to the ultimate rigging store, here in Southern California called Ver Sales Inc. in Burbank. Their costumers include the studios, Search and Rescue, and the Construction Industries. In their show room they had five or six blocks hanging from the ceiling. They had the most complete selection of rigging gear that any of us had ever seen! When we showed them our product they said "sure we can test your block"!
I came away with the realization that rigging, is rigging, no matter wether the task at hand is hauling the pig up El Cap, holding the boom steady in a stiff wind on a sail boat, performing a vertical rescue, Or getting bricks and mortar to a third floor scaffolding! It is all simple rigging. And the tool of choice in all these applications are blocks!
The only ratchets for sale at Ver Sales was a small box of truck tie down straps!
Driving your line tight, using a come-a-long, or a ratchet! Is not morally deplorable.
They just do nothing to further your growth as a rigger. And none of the slackers that you youngsters want to emulate, set up with these short cuts!!!
I took this directly from my American Heritage Dictionary: Etiquette, Synonyms: Propriety, Decorum, Protocol, these nouns refer to codes governing correct behavior. Etiquette consists of the prescribed forms of conduct in polite society!
In polite slacker society I have chosen to use the term "Not Proper Slackline Etiquette" to state my objection to the ratchet propaganda that is so prevalent on this forum! And will continue to do so no matter who agrees or disagrees because I am passionate about Blocks, Slackline, Rigging and the Truth!!!
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gymslackerclimber
Apr 4, 2006, 5:46 AM
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O, it is excellent, To have a giant’s strength; but it is tyrannous, To use it like a giant.
- William Shakespeare
(for whats its worth) i dig the SBI 'blocks'.. with a little creativity and a little trial & error i can crank a 150ftr tight by myself in only 15or so min!!! , and untightening is way quicker... pullies definetly make things much smoother.. and with 'all lines' but especially lines longer than 50 or so ft,, smoothness = a good thing
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v_nuthin_ace
Apr 4, 2006, 2:35 PM
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We used SBI's slackline block (pulley system) with their brake, to rig a 35 foot highline for the RED ROCKS RENDEZVOUS a week or so ago. Try rigging a highline with a ratchet.
We softpointed out the tightening system as we always do, but point is the SBI block with a few dudes yanking will tighten a highline (much more than a single piece of webbing) and the brake will hold as you do it.
If you ever want to highline or do long lowlines, you WILL outgrow ratchets and other less efficient devices that have been adapted for slackline, and if FEEL means anything to you you probably have outgrown them already.
We saw first hand how ratchet users do it at RRR. Their idea of a lowline setup was a 2 foot high line that at its tightest would bottom out doing tricks, setup with a ratchet wobbling around on the line about 4 feet out from the anchor. Ridiculous and whoever set that up as a demo or contest line should be ashamed. Larry put one up real quick too, when Asana didn't show to put on their lowline contest. At least he removed the tightening system and got the line 3 feet or more in the air so tricks were possible.
Take some pride in your rigging. Luckily coldclimb and Damien set up a real line with A-frames right in the middle of the event, and they DID NOT use ratchets.
It was obvious at RRR that there are different levels of slackline rigging. The Asana ratchet, don't show up, and then set up a crappy ratchet line that no one can do tricks on.
And then the highliners/ veteran slackers, who setup and rigged a really good trick line for the contest, and come equipped to put it front and center during the RRR event.
I even took an unofficial poll of highliners at RRR and the only one who would even consider a ratchet, out of 10 highliner/slackliners, ( I asked Aron, Seth, Corb, Clay, Coldclimb, Damien, ChiliDog, Dylan, Timmy and Ammon) was coldclimb, and he did not have one with him, and I never saw him use one all week, despite how many different lines were rigged. (2 highlines, 3 campsite A-frame lowlines, and 1 RRR event lowline).
Ratcheters did not make much of an impression at all, and their line was hardly even used. That is the TRUE state of ratchets at the most recent slackline competition and highline setup (RRR 2006). Ask anyone who was there.
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slacklinejoe
Apr 4, 2006, 5:32 PM
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You guys crack me up. I thought you guys got the pseudo smear campaign out of your system during the last thread that got royally hijacked.
I think most folks around here realize that the only slick marketing campaign we have is word of mouth from folks who use our gear. I don't advertise in magazines, sponsor folks to talk up my gear or even push my stuff through normal retail channels.
We're doing really well despite the fact we don't advertise because people who use our stuff actually like our gear. Pulleys do make a lot of sense for highliners and the relatively advanced level people who don't think twice about investing a fair chunk of change towards the sport - I don't argue that. I have set up highlines using 10,000 lb test ratchets but it isn't ideal but that isn't the market I target.
For all of the others that wouldn't go the high end pulley route, either because of expense, complexity or for whatever reason, it's quite possible that they might find our systems a very effective replacement for things like biner based systems. It gets the lines perfectly tight solo including those 100+ foot lowlines, so power isn't the problem.
Every one of those problems you guys mentioned for ratchets can be worked around by proper rigging. We've worked those kinks out of every one of our setups.
Ace - you blasted me earlier when I mentioned that my biner based setups often didn't have the biners right against the anchor when I noticed reverb - same thing here. Of course no one would find a poorly rigged system ideal. Proper anchoring eliminates nearly every single bit of counterbalancing and despite popular myth ratchets aren't hard to softpoint out at all so it would be just as clean of a line as anything else someone could rig.
If you want to continue blasting away - please do so in your own threads you already have a thread dedicated to this. The original poster asked for kit recommendations. I didn't even have to post up before he decided on using a Slackline Express rig, he then posts up how much he loves it - case closed. He's happy with his pick, I didn't try to fleece anyone out of their money, nor did I throw some huge marketing budget trying to tell him what to pick, slap my logo on expert athletes to market my stuff or try to discredit the competition. Simply put, he found something that fit his needs and he actually likes the product he received.
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v_nuthin_ace
Apr 4, 2006, 7:58 PM
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Its all good dude, your just my brother from a ratchet-loving mother, and I'm your brother from a pulley loving mother. And we all know Papa was a rolling stone... But the surprisingly weak showing of ratchets at an event this big certainly says something, don't you think?
Don't get too sensitive Joe, there is no smear campaign and no one named your business. But that is how it went down at Redrocks 2006, ratchets were no where to be seen. And it was the largest gathering of slackers in a long time.
Obviously this is a divided isuue, so quit with the conspiracy theories, and realize that I was giving a kit recommendation. Pulleys, you can do short or long lowlines and even highlines with them, we did.
The ratchet company involved in RRR 2006 didn't show up, and didn't put on the lowline contest like they were supposed to.
Ratchets had a really poor showing at the largest meeting of slacker/highliners in recent and maybe all of history.
Can't change the facts, Joe.
And if the guy already bought a ratchet, the OP, then quit posting about hijacking a thread.
this is a forum for free discussion
Its all good dude, but don't expect our opinions (me, unc, areyou, etc) to just go away, we have the most experienced and active slacking community out there around us, and we have our 2 cents also.
Peace
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areyoumydude
Apr 4, 2006, 9:31 PM
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There was one asana slackline at the RRR and it was the most embarrassing slackline I've ever seen. Selling those things is a disservice to the slackline community.
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