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japhyr
Jan 11, 2004, 6:27 AM
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We finally got a break from a 20-degree cold spell, so I got out slacking a little bit today. After reading some of these threads, I was eager to set up a different system, and try a longer line. I took some pictures of the setup to post: http://www.wanderingphotographer.com/slack_pages/index.htm
I had previously been setting up 20-30 foot lines using the primitive system. Tonight I set up a 45-foot line at shoulder height. I like the feel of the longer line, the slower bounce it has. I can't wait to try a real long line, 70 feet or so.
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slacklinejoe
Jan 11, 2004, 7:01 AM
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Thanks for the link, it has some good photos.
After looking at the 6:1 it still amazes me all of that thought and work goes into just for pulling tension in webbing for a typical slackline... No wonder I use different setups for my lines.
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japhyr
Jan 11, 2004, 7:25 AM
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In reply to: After looking at the 6:1 it still amazes me all of that thought and work goes into just for pulling tension in webbing for a typical slackline
Maybe if you've never touched a rope before. But anyone who's ever set up an anchor on a climb can handle setting up a simple tensioning system, without needing to revert to ratchets.
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pornstarr
Jan 11, 2004, 7:31 AM
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why the rope??
you can crank on the webbing just the same, no?
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far_east_climber
Jan 11, 2004, 7:32 AM
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woo very informative! great help :o . All this advice and the photos has bumped me once to closer to everything 8)
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japhyr
Jan 11, 2004, 7:51 AM
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In reply to: why the rope?? you can crank on the webbing just the same, no?
I agree, you can use the webbing to create some simple systems. The system I started out with was a 6:1 system using webbing. But webbing systems have so much friction that it is difficult to get enough tension to set up a line much longer than 30 feet. You can't feed them through pulleys, and I've never used a prusik on webbing before. I also like having the tensioning system separate from the line I walk.
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slacklinejoe
Jan 11, 2004, 7:54 AM
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In reply to: Maybe if you've never touched a rope before. But anyone who's ever set up an anchor on a climb can handle setting up a simple tensioning system, without needing to revert to ratchets.
I'm not speaking from a climbing point of view or even being specific to any tightening methods or tools, just objectively looking at it. Maybe I'm just being a bit philisophical about it, hard to say.
All we're talking about doing is putting few hundred pounds of tension on a peice of 1" webbing. From the objective point of view, using static rope, biners or pulley systems, asecenders and items like that aren't what pop into mind at first. From a climbing perspective you wouldn't use anything else other than climbing gear since you understand how it works and already have that knowledge.
If you only look at it from a climbing perspective you might overlook something that could be very useful. Say for instance if someone built a hypothetical $20 2lb little box that tightened that had the capability to tighten 1" webbing to 1,000 lbs of tension using only 30lbs of pull and itself was say 20,000 lbs tensile strength but was using in industrial manufacturing and not in climbing. Would you accept it for slacklines or pass it up? Thats a bit of a leading question since you mentioned ratchets, which can be fairly lightweight, crank out of the tension fairly easily, quickly and be pretty cheap and still be pretty strong. With a few modifications I've made mine completely removable from the slackline after creating tension and tying it off - so whats the harm there in using a different tool?
Reminds me of one of my first production psychology classes, where the instructor pointed out that we tend to see the solution to all probelms in the tools we already understand how to use. Thats why any nearby object instantly becomes a hammer when we see the need for one and why almost all car mechanics don't use the dealer recommended seal/gear pullers or what not. Just because you know what works for you doesnt' always mean your using the best tool for the job.
I'm not saying ratchets are the answer to this problem, nor any other tool: instead I think the perfect tightening system is still out there but hasn't been assembled yet.
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pornstarr
Jan 11, 2004, 7:55 AM
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In reply to: In reply to: why the rope?? you can crank on the webbing just the same, no? and I've never used a prusik on webbing before.
it works, for tensioning anyhow. i just use a garda hitch to hold it tight
but whatever floats you boat.
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coldclimb
Jan 11, 2004, 8:16 AM
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Great post. :) This system is a whole lot similar to mine. Just uploaded a pic of it at http://www.rockclimbing.com/photos.php?Action=ListPhoto&PhotoID=23728 if you'd care to take a look.
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japhyr
Jan 11, 2004, 8:22 AM
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I'll be blunt. I get annoyed that so many of these threads get taken over by people peddling their new commercial systems.
I have a practical reason to keep my hardware in the system as well. I live in a rainforest, and with the humidity I often have to retension the line several times in a session. So the ability to remove a ratchet does not make its use any more appealing.
I have aspirations to highline, and anyone who intends to highline should spend time thoroughly understanding tensioning systems. I certainly do not feel ratchets have a place in highline systems.
By the way, if it is not clear already, I do not swear by the particular setup in those pictures. My system will evolve over time, including the next time I set up. Those pictures are largely in response to some recent threads asking for pictures of real setups using the ideas that have been discussed.
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japhyr
Jan 11, 2004, 8:31 AM
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coldclimb,
I like the picture. Do you slack in the winter at all?
Is that trampoline under the slackline?!
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coldclimb
Jan 12, 2004, 2:56 AM
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In reply to: coldclimb, I like the picture. Do you slack in the winter at all? Is that trampoline under the slackline?!
haven't tried slacking in the winter. I'd have to get a nice chinook going with weather at least up to thirty degrees before I'd strip off my shoes and get on the line. ;) Could do it with shoes on I suppose, but I'd have to keep the snow off them somehow...
And yeah, that's a trampoline, or most of one. About all it's good for anymore is a big crashpad (costs about the same, but bigger ;) ). Coming off that line there onto it, I hit the ground every time. :lol: :lol:
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japhyr
Jan 12, 2004, 3:36 AM
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That 6:1 was really a 9:1 system. What a difference a knot (or lack of one) makes.
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rrrADAM
Jan 12, 2004, 3:47 AM
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I gotta post a pic of my 3:1 with only the same webbing I make the line with and two biners clove hitched in, as it is cheap, and only takes a minute to set up. I can also get it hella tight.
Some of that looks as complicated and conveluted as what it takes to aid, when the climb is only 5.6. :roll:
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japhyr
Jan 12, 2004, 3:53 AM
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In reply to: I can also get it hella tight.
How long of a line can you walk with that simple setup, and how high off the ground is it? I like the simple system, but I find that I can't get it tight enough to set up anything over a thirty foot line, with the anchors at shoulder height.
BTW, I live in a town of 8,000 people, on the side of an island only accessible by boat and plane. I don't know anyone else who slacklines here, so I love being able to ask people here about this stuff.
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rrrADAM
Jan 12, 2004, 4:01 AM
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http://www.rockclimbing.com/...p.cgi?Detailed=14654
This is the line I have set up in my backyard with about 45' of webbing, 2 biners, and the trees are 30 feet apart. Notice about only a foot of drop, and I weigh 180lbs.
I have explained this setup in several threads in this Forum...
In reply to: 1. Tie a small loop at end of rope with overhand. 2. Girth hitch around tree with loop. 3. Clove hitch in two biners with gates opposing about 4-5 feet from 2nd tree. 4. Pull tight around tree, clip one biner, go around tree in other direction, clip 2nd biner, pull tight with 3:1 mecanical advantage created (helps to have another pull on webbing coming from 1rst biner), finish with a mule knot around. With practice, you can put this up quickly (less than 2 minutes), tightly, and it will lie flat. If you are setting up a permanant one, after stretch is removed, it helps to get the line wet, and retighten. When it dries it will be like piano wire.
The line I travel with is made with 50' of webbing and two biners, and I have done it between two trees 35' apart, and had as little as 2' of drop in that, and I like my line about waist high. Total set up time... 3 minutes. Total cost... $30.
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japhyr
Jan 12, 2004, 4:30 AM
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Thanks for the picture. I'll give that setup a try.
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coldclimb
Jan 12, 2004, 4:58 AM
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Hey adam, would that system work better with a runner around the second tree and one or two more biners on that to run the line through and produce less friction?
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rrrADAM
Jan 12, 2004, 5:03 AM
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Actually, the one pictured has the trees double wrapped with old 10.5mm rope with the atachment points being quick links. Getting all the stetch out of the dynamic rope was the hassle.
I only did this one like this, as it is permanant. Been there for 1 1/2 years so far, haven't tightend it in all that time.
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cupton
Jan 12, 2004, 5:23 AM
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japhyr- your system is exactly what I would have come up with based on my experience in rescue. you could get it even tighter if you added in some pulleys to decrease the friction. The load release hitch is pretty cool.
rrrADAM- I have set up a slackline with what I think is a similar system to yours. I managed to get it pretty tight but had a hell of a time releasing it. Next time I plan to add in a load release hitch. Perhaps it is overkill but at least I will be able to take it down easily.
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rrrADAM
Jan 12, 2004, 5:24 AM
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Just finish with a mule knot, and a simple pull unties it.
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ryanhos
Jan 12, 2004, 6:09 AM
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In reply to: This is the line I have set up in my backyard with about 45' of webbing, 2 biners, and the trees are 30 feet apart. Notice about only a foot of drop, and I weigh 180lbs. I have explained this setup in several threads in this Forum...
This system works well for my line (35ft) and it's dirt cheap. Thanks rrrADAM. We set up a waist high line and I can walk the center w/out touching the ground. (I'm 210 lbs when in school, 185 lbs in the summer) We haven't even really started to crank up the tension. I like the "slack" in the slackline....
Now if Chicago PD would stop driving by and asking me when tryouts for the circus are, I'd be happy....
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pbjosh
Jan 12, 2004, 6:39 AM
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Adam, I agree most people use overly complex systems, but I would usually recommend using a sling to attach to the tree on the tightening end so you don't rub into it's bark too much, unless you own the tree and want to :)
There's another slick way that involves clove hitching a biner onto the line, running the remnant of the line through another biner on your anchor, then back through the biner on the line, back through the other biner and back through the line biner again, each time carefully feeding the line UNDER the previous loop. If you do this nicely and all loops lay flat against each other, you can simply synch the line down and it will hold by it's own friction of compressing the folds under each other. To release the line pull the loose end out to the side.
Another tip for portable lines is to clove hitch a PAIR of biners to the line instead of a single biner then to continue as normal. Reason being, when you tear down your line you just pull the two biners open and the clove hitch will loosen, whereas it can be a real b1tch to loosen a clove hitch from a single biner.
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overlord
Jan 12, 2004, 11:30 AM
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this thread is really informative. maybe youll lure me into setting something up and breaking my arm. :wink:
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coldclimb
Jan 22, 2004, 8:05 AM
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Tried your system out today Adam, and it was killer. I mudt have done something wrong, cause I couldn't even get a line that was above my head tight enough to bounce without hitting the ground. But that was my problem.
The one thing I didn't like about that setup is the tying the mule knot. Granted it was very easy to just pinch the webbing hard where it went around the biner and tie the knot with the other hand, but I really like the ascender hookup better in that you just pull the rope and it's tighter. No knots or holding it tight while you fasten it, it's just quick and simple to tighten it, and since one has to tighten a few times before it gets really tight, I like that better.
Other than that, I had no problems with it. Very easy and simple setup. :)
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