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calypsobob
Nov 10, 2003, 4:07 AM
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I was just wondering, if possible, how far into the dirt metal poles would have to be stuck into the ground to allow a slackline setup without trees. This would be sweet for my backyard, which only has a few year-old Aspens that are only a few inches in diameter. I understand that slacklines hold many pounds of pressure, so possibly cementing the poles to the ground would work, but I don't know.
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slacklinejoe
Nov 10, 2003, 5:23 AM
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I've got a case of the "no trees" as well. While I prefer "borrowing" my neighbors I've found there are several approaches for the tree impaired...
A frame setup: http://www.slacklineexpress.com/images/aframe.gif
Excuse the poor drawing, but the idea is to wrap the base around anything that is ground level (a deep stake) to provide the most leverage for it to stay in the ground and then use something else to provide the lift. In my example, I tied my webbing around a block of wood, placed some cardboard around the webbing for protection, parked a tire on top of it where it's snug against the wood, then use an A-frame (a sturdy step ladder or saw horse will work) to lift it to the desired height.
The idea has been around for a while...
If you don't have a tree, you can use a stake but it'll have to be in there pretty deep and really strong. Depth would depend solely on how hard your ground is. In this part of Missouri your lucky to dig 3 inches before hitting solid rock, stakes become impractical. If you've got solid, tightly packed dirt you might get away with a solid pipe driven 1 or 1 1/2 feet in the ground at an angle away from your where your line will be.
You could have two of these and two A-frames for a pretty good setup... A friend of mine actually poured concrete around some pipes 2 feet in the ground for permanant anchors and build some A-frames with varing height notices so he can choose his height.
Other alternatives anchors I've used:
A stop sign that was really strongly planted, use another piece of webbing attached to the top to keep it from sliding down the pole.
My truck bed cargo loops
Garage door frames (be careful what you hook to, you don't want to ruin something)
Really big rocks (use tree friendlies to save your webbing from wear)
Cement bridge columns
At any rate, I think you get the idea.. just be creative and don't ruin anything or clip into something that isn't safe.
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galt
Nov 10, 2003, 5:49 AM
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Two buddies of mine set up a slackline in their backyard without trees. They dug a hole about 3'6" deep put in their wood and filled it with cement. They've had it up and going for about 6 months now and it's been pretty awsome. Only problem is now you have 2 blocks of wood in your backyard at all time, but they don't seem to mind.
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therealbovine
Nov 10, 2003, 4:11 PM
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Check out http://www.slackline.com for pictures of the "A" frame idea that slacklinejoe has attempted to draw in his post. Check out http://www.ethosclimbing.com for a downloadable drawing of how to build one.
Also on the ethos site there is a video that shows a steel post system being used. This is simply square tube steel set in concrete.
To anchor the above mentioned "A" frames without a vehicle, you can dig a hole in your yard, add concrete and a peice of rebar or an eyebolt as an attachment point for the line. Hole size would vary depending on the subgrade. Then up and over the "A" frame.
Best of luck!
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ryanhos
Nov 10, 2003, 5:01 PM
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In reply to: To anchor the above mentioned "A" frames without a vehicle, you can dig a hole in your yard, add concrete and a peice of rebar or an eyebolt as an attachment point for the line. Hole size would vary depending on the subgrade. Then up and over the "A" frame. Best of luck!
I've been thinking about this setup for a while because I will be moving around a lot in the next few years. (following an military girl) The two most valuable things I've come up with are probably
1.) If you don't get the lowest part of the concrete down below the frost line, you may have a piece of rebar or concrete sticking up out of your yard a few extra inches after the winter.
2.) To save yourself some concrete, use one of those carboard forms. Furthremore, you don't need to pour from the 4ft mark all the way up to the ground level. I'd say use only about 2 ft of that concrete form, bury it so the top is at least 3ft deep, fill it, and make up the rest of the distance with rebar. Now this setup does require you to dig a much bigger hole because you have to actually line the rebar up with the anticipated direction of pull. If you put it straight up and down, it will likely bend over time. All this is moot though if you have enough quickcrete to lay a bridge. If so, just use a 4ft form and pour it straight up and down. The best part about not pouring the concrete flush w/ the ground is that when you move, you can just take a sawz-all out in the back yard, dig a small hole and cut off 6in of the rebar and the new owner will never know the difference. Now all you gotta do is spackle the holes in the dry-wall from where you hung your woodie!
I've been awake for a while so none of this may be making any sense. If my ideas intrigue, but confuse you, PM me and i can get you a drawing of the system described in my ramblings.
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tawl
Nov 11, 2003, 1:20 AM
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Only problem with filling the hole part way with concrete and then just having dirt on top is a lot of your post with be in contact with the dirt, which can eventually cause decay and insect damage. Then one day you could be walking the line and SNAP! you get nailed by a 4x4 propelled by 2000lbs of tension.
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ryanhos
Nov 11, 2003, 2:22 AM
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First, off, i was envisioning a system with a-frames that you take in at night to keep the neighborhood kids from killing themselves. So the burried component was just to hold the ends of the line so that you don't have to drive 2 cars into your back yard.
Secondly: 4x4?
No.
Rebar. You know, the stuff they reinforce concrete with? Not wood.
However, you're misinformed about the wood decaying. Over 20 years ago the forest service buried hundreds of plugs of pressure treated 4x4 pine in all types of soil. Every year they dig some of them up and put them under stress tests. The tests show no noticable loss of strength. The reason I'm not using wood is because wood doesn't do well under tension. Wood is meant to stand up against compression and flexion.
Perhaps I should find some time to make that diagram.....
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scubasnyder
Nov 11, 2003, 2:28 AM
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I wanna try slacklining, it looks fun.
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lunchbox
Dec 16, 2003, 1:56 PM
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Hi All,
Thanks for the great tips. I'm building a slackline in my backyard and am planning to sink concrete in holes about 3'6" deep on either end of the yard. I will plant eye bolts in the concrete below the surface of the yard so no one will trip on them when they are not in use. I plan to build A frames like the setup the slackline bros. use, I saw them at the PBC last year the A frames are very portable and can be taken down easily when not in use. For a tightening system I plan to use four oval biners for a 5:1 mechanical advantage and a home depot "come along" this is a lot cheaper than the $250 system the slackline bros sell, however its not as astetic and professional looking and not as mechanically functional (more friction to overcome, difficult to thread and maintain). I would love to locate the setup plans @ http://www.ethosclimbing.com/ but the website is unavailable ( Cannot find server or DNS Error Internet Explorer) , has anybody else had problems with this website?
Scott
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slacklinejoe
Dec 16, 2003, 6:30 PM
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In reply to: Hi All, Thanks for the great tips. I'm building a slackline in my backyard and am planning to sink concrete in holes about 3'6" deep on either end of the yard. I will plant eye bolts in the concrete below the surface of the yard so no one will trip on them when they are not in use. I plan to build A frames like the setup the slackline bros. use, I saw them at the PBC last year the A frames are very portable and can be taken down easily when not in use. For a tightening system I plan to use four oval biners for a 5:1 mechanical advantage and a home depot "come along" this is a lot cheaper than the $250 system the slackline bros sell, however its not as astetic and professional looking and not as mechanically functional (more friction to overcome, difficult to thread and maintain). I would love to locate the setup plans @ http://www.ethosclimbing.com/ but the website is unavailable ( Cannot find server or DNS Error Internet Explorer) , has anybody else had problems with this website? Scott
Yeah, I'm not sure whats up with their site, but sure enough it's been down for atleast a day or so. Probably rolling out site updates or a new server but thats just an assumption.
Uhm, silly question but why making a 5:1 system AND use a ratchet system? You only need one type of tightening system.
If you are looking for an alternative to the $250 sets there are other companies to check out in addition to Ethos:
www.slacklineexpress.com (backyard slacker on a budget)
www.asanapackworks.com (a bit higher but they have lots of other gear)
I've heard of www.notforclimbing.com but honestly can't tell what their kit really consists of. I don't know if it comes with a tightening system or not.
I hope that helps. If you need more instructions on the 5:1 tightening system I know you can pick it off www.google.com pretty easily.
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dobbsboy
Dec 17, 2003, 3:58 PM
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yeah the ethos site is switching web hosts but should be back online today or tommorow!
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lunchbox
Dec 18, 2003, 2:06 PM
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Thanks Joe for the good beta. I saw the setup the slackline brothers used at the PBC and it had some pulley system with a static rope and a ratcheting device to adjust tension. Maybe its not necessary, so I have another option. Still can't access the http://www.ethosclimbing.com/. Now Joe what about after I build the slackline? What do you recommend as far as learning to use it? What was your experience? Thanks in advance, Scott
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slacklinejoe
Dec 18, 2003, 8:00 PM
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In reply to: Thanks Joe for the good beta. I saw the setup the slackline brothers used at the PBC and it had some pulley system with a static rope and a ratcheting device to adjust tension. Maybe its not necessary, so I have another option. Still can't access the http://www.ethosclimbing.com/. Now Joe what about after I build the slackline? What do you recommend as far as learning to use it? What was your experience? Thanks in advance, Scott
Well, this is pretty much two whole other topics in itself.
It is possible to just use a tie down ratchet as your tightening system or just use biners as a primitive setup. We use a single or dual ratchet setup on our design, although we use very specific types to make it as easy to use as possible so it might take you a bit of trial and error to make a really good setup using them. We've tried at least 30 different types of setups and stuck with the one that works the easiest for us.
A pulley system is nice for long lines and such but certainly not necessary for a backyard line or anything and we've found we can go around 150' on just one 2" ratchet when using another add-on we are making. How long of a line and high up are you looking to make anyway?
If your going simple, we have kits starting off really really cheap (as in you can't make a primitive for that amount) and I'm sure the other companies have good offerings too. If you'd like to make your own primitive setup (the pull for tension setups) instructions are on www.slackline.com
If your going big, make sure you build the thing redundant and as safe as possible. Little ratchets won't cut it, you'd want something very strong, that'd be a whole other thread to explain that one.
As far as learning to slackline: well right here is a good start. There are lots of tips scattered in different threads, just use the search feature for "slackline tips". I've also got my own site dedicated to tips for starting off and tricks and other stuff to try.
http://www.slacklineexpress.com/information.htm
Check out the Slackline Tips and Fun Stuff to Try to get you started. There are lots of other sites out there to help you too, I'm sure someone else will post other good links. I've got a few short movies posted to show some basic stuff like stepping up, jump mount and turning around.
As for my personal experience? As far as what to use, I've used a lot of variations of different types of setups (about everything except for Asana's and Slackline Brother's). We sell exactly what we found was the easiest for us, and thats what we keep hearing back from customers is that it's the easiest and cheapest route to go. I'm biased in that decision since I made the kits myself. I'm lazy and cheap, so I design my stuff so it can be used by one person with minimal effort and do my best to make it very affordable. However all of the pre-made kit makers seem to have very good gear so the choices are very good for customers right now.
About everyone is brand loyal with whatever they learned on, so you might take promotional statements with a grain of salt unless they give good facts.
It always comes down to what your needs are, and then picking what type of setup will work the best to fill those needs, wether that be a home-made primitive using webbing off the spool and biners to one of the high end CMI pulley setup using static line in the tightening system. Post us more details and I'm sure the others and myself can help steer you in the right direction.
As far as my experience at learning how to slackline, uh... I was bad. Very Very bad at it. It took me at least a week to stand up on it. It took me at least two weeks of trying every other night to walk a 30... I was learning solo though, I had somone show me how once, but I learned on my own.
However once it click, it clicked. It wasn't but just like a week or two more before I was doing 50' backwards with jump mounts and that type of thing. Most people I've taught pick it up in an afternoon with someone helping them, although it might take 2 days to walk it all the way if they don't have good balance to start with.
I hope this helps,
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overlord
Dec 18, 2003, 8:01 PM
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easiest: two cars and a line between them. itll be a little low though, unless they have good ground clearance
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lunchbox
Dec 22, 2003, 1:07 PM
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Joe thanks again for taking the time and for building such a dynamite website. I expect to make it 30' long. I'm not sure how high off the ground to put it precisely, any advice. I know It will be less than 5" and needs to be high enough to keep the webbing off the ground when you reach midpoint. I'm thinking 3.5" is plenty? I also know from my construction days that when you put hardware under tension its safe to wrap a sling around it and tie it to the anchor. If the tensioning system ever was to break with the A frame at about 42" that could launch the tightening system (i.e. come along, rachet, camming device, pulley) at about head level. Bad news. A piece of webbing added as a redundancy in this more permenant type of setup is little cost and could save a lot of grief. The ethos.com site is still down FYI.
Scott
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slacklinejoe
Dec 22, 2003, 4:24 PM
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In reply to: Joe thanks again for taking the time and for building such a dynamite website. I expect to make it 30' long. I'm not sure how high off the ground to put it precisely, any advice. I know It will be less than 5" and needs to be high enough to keep the webbing off the ground when you reach midpoint. I'm thinking 3.5" is plenty? I also know from my construction days that when you put hardware under tension its safe to wrap a sling around it and tie it to the anchor. If the tensioning system ever was to break with the A frame at about 42" that could launch the tightening system (i.e. come along, rachet, camming device, pulley) at about head level. Bad news. A piece of webbing added as a redundancy in this more permenant type of setup is little cost and could save a lot of grief. The ethos.com site is still down FYI. Scott
How high off the ground is part of the equation of how tight you want it and the distance traveled. If you want it super tight, you can put it really low, but to have it loose requires heigher end points. You'll have to play around with what you want to decide your end point height. Average seems to be about hip to belly-button high, but that's all on what you want to do that day.
I'll occasionally put my ends about 8' up and have it super loose, or I'll make it super tight and put it 2' off the ground - it all depends what type of line I want to walk.
I'd suggest either trying it out on trees or something before you make your A-Frames to decide on a good height for you or make your A-Frames adjustable heights (prefered). You can always make more than one A-frame setup for whatever you plan on doing.
Either way, your off to a great start so best of luck.
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corpse
May 19, 2004, 1:09 AM
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In reply to: In reply to: easiest: two cars and a line between them. itll be a little low though, unless they have good ground clearance I disagree: easiest - use someone else's that is already setup. I do hook behind my truck bed's cargo loop occasional since it is about the right height, but it's more trouble than its worth to attempt to pull it tight with a vehicle, it's too easy to pull too hard or not enough.
I've used a truck on one end to pull it tight (a blazer), however, VERY little gas, if any, is used. a couple times I have a little slack, get one more person, and push the truck by hand and the momentum from the weight does a pretty good job. then there's another person in the truck, and when I yell, they hit the brake, then apply the emergency brake.
When using a car, it's important, VERY important to use your emergency brake to hold it - you don't want to trash your trans in your car!! And you WILL if you do it over and over, same concept of why you use your emer. brake when parking on hills..
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seth05
Mar 28, 2005, 8:44 PM
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I have read this and other threads concerning slacklining without trees, I found out that many people are using the setup where the anchor is attached to something sticking in conrete. Well rebar seems to be the material to go with for an anchor. Now, I was wondering if it would work if I'd just stick a piece of rebar in the wet conrete. My intuition tells me that the rebar would not stay in there and resist the enormous amount of pull it will be exposed to since there are no barbs or anything that keep the rebar from just sliding out of the concrete. I would be very grateful for any advice concerning either the safety of the rebar system or other anchors (thing in conrete to attach slackline to) I could use instead.
thx
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coldclimb
Mar 28, 2005, 9:50 PM
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In reply to: I have read this and other threads concerning slacklining without trees, I found out that many people are using the setup where the anchor is attached to something sticking in conrete. Well rebar seems to be the material to go with for an anchor. Now, I was wondering if it would work if I'd just stick a piece of rebar in the wet conrete. My intuition tells me that the rebar would not stay in there and resist the enormous amount of pull it will be exposed to since there are no barbs or anything that keep the rebar from just sliding out of the concrete. I would be very grateful for any advice concerning either the safety of the rebar system or other anchors (thing in conrete to attach slackline to) I could use instead. thx
Rebar anchored in concrete is bomber. That's one of the main reasons they use it so much in construction. :) If you feel like extra strength, bend a J in the end stuck into the concrete, but it's not going to be needed. I would personally bend it 180 in the middle and shove both ends into the concrete, then you'd have a loop to tie or clip into. Don't worry about it pulling out, ever. :)
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Nephi
Aug 18, 2007, 7:36 PM
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hey ive got a question. im thinkin of buying the primo 50 ft slackline kit from slackline express, and im wondering if that works for both the tree setup and the aframe setup? also if anyone could link me to a really detailed guide of how i could setup aframes in my backyard. im thinking ill probably do the rebar cement thing for anchors. thanks :)
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slacklinejoe
Aug 20, 2007, 12:59 AM
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Nephi wrote: hey ive got a question. im thinkin of buying the primo 50 ft slackline kit from slackline express, and im wondering if that works for both the tree setup and the aframe setup? also if anyone could link me to a really detailed guide of how i could setup aframes in my backyard. im thinking ill probably do the rebar cement thing for anchors. thanks :)
How about you Ask Slackline Express, they should be able to tell you very easily 
Another easier option than bending rebar is to use a piece of chain poked into the cement. It grips incredibly well (not that rebar would slip) and leaves an excellent set of loops to anchor to on top. It also won't stick up out of the concrete so you won't trip over it or risk falling onto the thing in the middle of the night. Use big chain large enough to clip into easily.
Also, if you can, dig a bell shape when pouring the cement. It's more stable and more resistant to outside pull while making less of a visible mar on your yard. Depending on your soil it may take more cement than you think to get a secure anchor for long lines if you choose to bump up the difficulty level later. Best to err on the side of a big hole than something pull. Just a suggestion.
p.s. yes the primo can work, just wrap the slings around the rebar or chain and lock off, no biners necessary, but do pad your edges. That said, if you will only use it with A-frames the Classic 50 may fit your needs better, but make sure you get the super tensioning add-on if you are going over 40 feet, it'll make life easier.
(This post was edited by slacklinejoe on Aug 20, 2007, 6:18 AM)
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dyee
Aug 20, 2007, 1:43 AM
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I use 4 30" auger anchors and A frames.
(This post was edited by dyee on Aug 20, 2007, 1:44 AM)
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Go-Devil
Sep 19, 2007, 8:02 PM
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i use a big badass metal plate, triangular 80cm width 50 high and about 0.5cm thick hammered in the ground about 20% off vertical it holds great !!
and its incredibly easy to hammer in...
for a-frames, i find beer-crates work perfectly well...
i have a 10m line, thts if my guestimation is right about 30 ft with less then a foot slack in it when tensioned to the max... ( about 20cm slack over 10m is pretty hard-core..)
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