Behind the scenes at Slackline Express

Slackline Load Testing Results - Test 1 - Slackline Express

May 10th, 2008 Posted in Announcement | No Comments »

Today I was finally able to setup our new slackline load tester. There has been years of speculation as to what the actual forces were while we slackline and now we have a chance to actually KNOW what they are. Up until now there was zero published information regarding real tests of the loads our systems are handling - all we knew is that it works…  or it doesn’t. Now we can actually test our loads accurately and we’re publishing every bit of it.

A few years back I tinkered around with the mathematics involved in a static slackline system and I made a Slackline Force Calculator. I based the data on some of the other work by folks like Eric Matthes. I was really eager to see our little calculator application that I coded stack up against real world tests. The data is in the chart below. Basically I’d sum it up by saying we were really, really close. The Load Testing Results - Test 1 link below has a complete breakdown of the test data and what all variables I felt might be worthwhile looking at.

Force Calculator Vs Testing

This first test was a simple setup of a short line in a local park. It is also the most commonly requested setup since it represents where most of the slackline community is at. The only difference is I’m probably heavier than the average slacker so we’ll just have to go with numbers for a 220lb person for this first go round. Trust me, more test are in the works. We’re going to be taking it slow to make sure we accurately document things though, so expect periodic updates. I’m not exactly eager to go out and take 20 leash falls just to test the load on different lengths of highlines, but we’ll figure something out.

Once I get our baseline tests done with our load scale I plan on making it available for other highliners or long liners who are pushing the limits and need something like this in their toolbox. I figure I’ll have to rent it out, but cheaply, to make sure that it finds its way back home but it should be a great new tool to help push the limits of the sport.

 

Slackline Load Testing Results - Test 1 - Slackline Express

How to Dye a Slackline - Slackline Express - Balance in Life

May 10th, 2008 Posted in Do-It-Yourself Articles | No Comments »

Ok, so I just thought this was pretty cool. Jess sent us in photos of his process to Tie Dye a Slackline and I have got to try this myself.

 finished product

How to Dye a Slackline - Slackline Express - Balance in Life

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How to Build a Slackline that doesn’t Suck (Part 1)

May 1st, 2008 Posted in Do-It-Yourself Articles | No Comments »

highline I realize that this series might actually cause a few people to make their own slacklines rather than buy pre-made kits but I get really discouraged at the number of really poorly made or even dangerous homemade slacklines out there. A quick glance at YouTube instructional videos shows a lot of various methods of rigging a line (which is good) but a lot of them have critical flaws that the beginner may not understand the trade offs involved in the system and could get hurt (not good) or otherwise have an unpleasant experience with the system such as not being able to get it tight enough. Often times a new slacker will try one system, not like it and assume all methods that have anything to do with them is bad. Thankfully it’s usually a small issue that can be corrected with small tweaks that make life easier for the slacker.

I also realize that some people will disagree with my assessment of the trade offs presented here. There are many schools of thought regarding rigging and sometimes these schools directly conflict with each other. For instance, some people believe there should be no metal left in a slackline while under use, others feel that nylon-on-nylon is evil and should be avoided so hardware is completely acceptable.  Unfortunately lots of people focus solely on how the line is tightened so much they neglect the rest of the overall system so it’s flexibility and overall performance is hindered greatly or at least not up to it’s potential. It is also important to realize when working with other people in the slackline community that they will often swear by whatever method was taught to them rather than evaluating other options objectively. Basically the below are good guides that should apply to almost every type of slackline system. If you have special needs or paranoid obsessions with rigging then you may need to adjust appropriately or seek clinical evaluation.

Where appropriate I have linked to some do-it-yourself items that we carry but you could easily use the same concept to make your own tools.

product photos 018 Rule 1: Your line should be flat. If it isn’t flat, figure out why it isn’t and correct it. Even for a 100 percent homemade line there is simply no excuse to have a twist. Usually the culprit is knots but not always.

There are wonderful techniques at removing knots. Lately the Internet forums are abuzz with “line lockers” which are just 3/8″ chain links used to tie the line off where it is flat. They have their trade offs though as if they are not perfectly smooth they can tear the line. They are also usually a pain to secure as places like Ace hardware and Home Depot generally really dislike cutting them as they are a lot of work to cut out the other chain links. There are other easier to use methods. I personally prefer Harness Buckles and Cam Buckles for this purpose as they are easier to adjust and strength rated for that use. Also filing down chain links isn’t always easy depending on the hardness of the metal. One of the perks to removing knots is that it will increase the strength of the slackline as knots usually reduce the system strength by around 50%.

If your line is twisted because of your method of securing the fixed end of the mainline to the tree, consider using a different method. A lot of people just tie a knot at the end of their line and make a giant slip knot around the tree. While it works it has issues of twisting the line as well as some wear issues as mentioned in rule 5. Instead, consider using a separate piece of webbing for each tree sling. If tied in a “rabbit runner” fashion it will let the line lie perfectly flat, even if you did tie knots in the system. The Zip Sling is an excellent example of this technique that can be replicated at home, albeit in a non-adjustable fashion. If however you want to go the next step and eliminate some additional hardware while avoiding nylon-on-nylon wear issues the Primo Sling uses a abrasion pad to provide a unique approach. Either of these methods also lets you replace just a small piece of webbing when your slings get worn through instead of taking a large chunk out of your mainline.

Picture 079 Rule 2: Remove weight or move weight close to your anchors. This isn’t a problem for everyone and it is more noticeable on surf lines than others. If you have metal or other additional weight from knots or additional slings on the line while slacking moving it closer to the anchors or removing it all together will make the line feel better due to less interference. If you are using pulleys or a ratchet, make sure they are secured as close to the tree as possible to reduce their swing weight. If you are using carabiners make sure the system is adjusted so they are as close together as possible which is as tight as possible for your pre-adjusted length. This will take a lot of practice to get down but you will have far less interference if they are close to the anchors and together than having one of them further down the line. Do however pay attention to how hardware is being loaded. We’ve seen commercial products out there that recommend using their hardware in a way that places a dangerous sideways load against your trees.

hardpointRule 3: Softpoint/Hardpoint Responsibly. Consider using a system to remove your tensioning system if you can still feel its weight even after you moved it closer to the anchors and it bothers you. Using something like a Soft Point Sling attached to the mainline will provide a point to tension the line with and let you tie off the actual main line using another method, thus letting you softpoint or hardpoint the line leaving no tensioning system behind while slacking. Soft point slings are a possibility or take a look at the tensioning widget or tensioning add-on pack which can be used to tighten the line and hold it in place while you remove your tensioning system. One of the perks of this method allows you to use tensioning systems which would otherwise be too bulky or heavy to leave on the line as they won’t be there during your slack session. Do not softpoint/hardpoint if it will introduce excessive nylon-on-nylon wear (See Rule 5).

classic (3)Rule 4: Do Not Tri-Load or Cross Load Carabiners! This is a major safety consideration. Lots of the instructions floating around show tree slings coming off at large angles (greater than 60 degrees) which can cause dangerous levering against the carabiner’s gate. Ideally this angle should not exceed 45 degrees. This angle is more important than your swing weight considerations mentioned in rule #2 and if not followed it can possibly break the carabiner. People have been hurt for exactly this reason.

 

melted (1) Rule 5: Avoid Nylon-On-Nylon Friction. Any point that moves, wiggles or otherwise will have friction against something else will be a wear point on your slackline. It is very important to avoid nylon items from rubbing against other nylon points as this can wear through the slackline with surprising speed. At early stages it actually melts and fuses the webbing together as shown here. We have melted through a line completely in only an afternoon of surfing it back and forth.

 

Picture 051 Rule 6: Simplicity in Rigging Counts. If you can’t glance at your system and tell if it is rigged correctly your eagerness to experiment with rigging is probably exceeding your knowledge to do so safely. Slacklines do not have to be complicated to work. Even things like multipliers on pulley systems do not have to obscure what is going on. If you cannot easily identify your mechanical advantage ratios or things just look too confusing I strongly suggest you read up more on how to rig efficient anchors that allow for “at-a-glance” checking.

Rule 7: Choose the right tensioning system for your application. Notice I’m just now getting to tensioning systems. That’s because when they work, it really doesn’t matter which method you choose. Do however understand the limitations of the methods you choose so you have realistic expectations. Don’t expect a primitive to be able to tighten a 100 foot slackline and don’t expect a ratchet or a large sheave pulley system to be compact enough for a 6 day backpacking trip. More on this later in the series.

Balance In Life,

Joe Kuster

Welcome to Colorado I guess

May 1st, 2008 Posted in random rant | No Comments »

I had big hopes for going slacking today. Yesterday was 78 and looked like this:

Bitterbrush Trail 003

Today, it looks like this:

Snow in May 002

Snow in May 001

I’ll be flying out of town tomorrow morning to Missouri in order to assist in some Wedding prep stuff for a friend. We are however cramming in a 2 day float trip during that time. I’ll be back on Monday evening. Orders will be going out as normal thanks to our Wonderful Staff.

Balance in Life,

Joe Kuster

A recent hiking trip

April 30th, 2008 Posted in Comics | No Comments »

comic

(Sean singing) - It’s a nice day for some White Webbing…

April 29th, 2008 Posted in Announcement | No Comments »

Some interesting developments have been brewing around our webbing supply. We’ve recently been able to secure the ability of much lower requirements to have custom made orders of webbing, without raising the price too much.

The benefits of this are two fold:

  • We should be able to ensure we keep our stock colors available much easier.
  • We can order custom webbing colors.

That’s actually a huge deal. As it is we’re the only shop to offer the color variety that we do. But I’ll be honest, it’s really, really hard to get certain colors in stock from our old suppliers. Their minimum order for custom colors was 50,000 yards as well making it pretty hard for us to have certain colors made. Now I should be able to get most colors in stock year round, assuming we don’t have weird surges in demand of special colors.

Immediately this means we will now have black and red back in stock after being out of it for the last 5 months. Simply put, there wasn’t any to be bought outside of placing huge orders for it. It also means that we will have a really nice pink webbing made especially for us - and it’ll be normally priced. It won’t be here for at least six more weeks but I’m excited to finally offer it as we’ve had a LOT of requests for it. Next up will be a custom sky blue, but that will likely be 10 weeks out before we have any.

Another odd but clever idea was submitted to us by a customer who had just received a white (un dyed) slackline. He plans to attempt to tie-dye the line. I don’t know if it’ll work but it sure hope it does as it could be a very cool experiment. If it does work, you can bet we’ll be offering custom tie dyed slacklines.

Balance in Life,

Joe Kuster

Bitterbrush Trail 026

Backpacking Light Wilderness Trekking III

April 24th, 2008 Posted in Announcement | No Comments »

Indian Peaks Wilderness 065 This October I’ll be joining 11 other people who will be participating in perhaps the most unique ultra-light backpacking clinic available. I’ll be joining the folks at Backpackinglight for a six day intensive training and practical application of expedition style backpacking in ultralight form.

Some of the content is outlined below:

Curriculum: A 24 hour intensive course on expedition planning, physiology of long treks, meal planning, inclement weather clothing, sleep, shelter, and footwear systems; fire building; expedition dynamics and team trekking.

Navigation: they drop you off with a topographical map of unknown scale, no markings, no landmarks and with 1/3 of the map nothing but white space. Your most likely path - off the map. Your destination is across a steep mountain range with no trails or paths to follow. You are expected to plot the course through the parts you can see, adjust as necessary as you gain more information about the unmarked section and arrive in time for a steak dinner. You and the rest of your team determine your paths together. Oh, and you won’t know are to hike until you get back so no preparation ahead of time will help. Instead, they just drop you off right next to the “Warning! Grizzly Bear Habitat” sign.

Oh in addition here are the items not allowed: GPS units, electronic compasses, altimeters, pedometers, watches, radios, satellite or cellular phones, electronic music players, electronic gaming devices, or any other electronic device other than a flashlight.

I’ll have to post the gear lists as I get them ready, total pack weight for 5 days (including food and water) will probably be under 20 lbs and we’ll be in on the edge of winter in the greater Yellowstone area.

Balance in Life,

Joe Kuster

Backpacking Light Wilderness Trekking III

American Pilgrims on the Camino

April 19th, 2008 Posted in Announcement | No Comments »

Patty (my wife) and I have decided that in the summer of 2009 we will be hiking the Camino De Santiago trail. The branches we have chosen will start off at Le Puy and will end on the east coast of Spain. All told it will be longer than 1500km even if we start off closer to Spain than originally planned.

The guide books say we should expect about a month or so for the Spain section alone but we plan on walking a bit more than the average tourist so we are hoping to do the entire trek in 3-4 weeks. As it is now I can almost handle 30 mile days on my hikes with full backpacking gear but this will be a far lighter weight trip as there are refugos (hostels for pilgrims) very frequently placed.

My wife has enough French to get along well in France and I have the basics of Spanish but both of us are brushing up significantly before we leave. It should be a very fun trip.

This does mean that I will otherwise be unavailable for the month of June in 2009. I might keep up with the emergency emails from family and friends but I do not plan on handling any order questions. Instead our great staffers will have to handle that for you. I don’t anticipate this slowing down our orders but some of the more creative questions you guys ask may have to wait until I’m back stateside. I do plan on using my SPOT locator beacon to check in, but otherwise not even call back stateside. Perhaps Teale will post up my locations periodically, we’ll see.

Wishing you Balance in Life,

Joe Kuster - Slackline Express

American Pilgrims on the Camino

International Climbers’ Festival

April 19th, 2008 Posted in Announcement | No Comments »

We have been asked to host a slackline competition at the International Climber’s Festival in Lander, Wyoming. We’ve also volunteered to teach some slackline clinics. We’ll be giving away a variety of slackline gear, T-shirts and stickers. If you’ll be attending make sure and drop by to chat us up.

Other 2008 festival events will include:

  • Slideshows
  • Film festival
  • Festival-long Climbing Competition
  • Trade Fair
  • Climbing Clinics
  • Parties and bands
  • Dyno Comp
  • 10K Trail Run
  • Raffle/Auction
  • Pancake Breakfast
  • Yoga in the Park
  • and much more

Hope to see you there!

Joe Kuster - Slackline Express

International Climbers’ Festival

Spring Colors

April 12th, 2008 Posted in Photos | No Comments »

Here in Colorado it’s been cycling from great warm days in the 60’s (usually on the days I’m swamped with work) and snowing and windy on all my days off. I was however able to snap some photos of our place during a warm snap.

We’re still based out of my house right now but we are currently trying to find some office space since we will be also sewing packs and tents for Gossamer Gear. Slacklines were space intensive to start with but making it 5 full timers + part time workers would simply be too much.

 house 020house 015 house 022 house 001 house 002 (2) house 009 house 012 house 016 house 007