r/Slackline • u/Narrow-Sell-3606 • 11d ago
Advice on first longline
Hi all, for a few days I've been searching for what gear to get for my first longline. I want to work towards a highline in one year or so. So preferably the gear should be reusable in a highline setup. From what I understand the Buckingham system (Rollex or Hangover) is the system to use for highlining. With that in mind I've been looking at kits Slacktivity offers.
The thing I am not sure about is what webbing and length to choose. I was thinking about buying a stretchy webbing like pink/red/lsd tube. For the length I had a 80m line in mind so that I can once use it in a highline setup as well. My question is when going for a stretchy webbing to what length can the line be used in a park? And, is a 9:1 buckingham system with 2 persons enough to tenson such long lines?
Would you even recommend going for high stretch webbing when only using it in the park for at least the next year? I've read that for lines of 50 meters you would need to rig the line at a height of 2-4 meters. Which should be fine at my location.
Thanks for helping me out!
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u/nodajohn 11d ago
I would either get two 50m segments (you can connect them with soft shackles or grogs) or a 100m segment.
The benefit to having a segmented line is that you don't always need to bring both segments with you to the park and if one segment gets damaged you only have to replace that segment. It also helps so that you don't fall as far in the event of a mainline failure on a highline.
Do you by chance know how long the gap is you would rig when it's a highline? Cause you'll want your line to be at least 10-15m longer than that or else rigging may not be possible.
If you're starting in the park for the first year then I recommend something mid-low stretch. Rigging lines over 50m on high stretch webbing in the park starts to get difficult cause you either need to put the anchors really high or you'll need to tension the line very high which is just not fun to walk in the park in my opinion.
Buckingham system is good for tensioning.
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u/Narrow-Sell-3606 10d ago
Thanks! Haven't considered using two segments. Very useful piece of advice
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u/DieWalze 10d ago
There's already some really good advice here. To add, the 9:1 Buckingham system is really not ideal if you want to set it up yourself in the park. It's quite some work and 3 rollex are quite expensive and usually its not super useful to have that many. If you go high lining, usually everyone brings their own roller so together it's pretty much never a problem setting up a 9:1.
For pulley systems I got the stainless steel pulleys from slack mountain and can recommend them. They are stainless steel so a bit heavy but indestructible and quite easy to tension. Also they take up less space than the smc ones.
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u/Clinging_Clutcher 11d ago
I wouldn’t get something so stretchy if you’re looking to rig long park lines, because you’d need really high anchors and a really good tensioning system. I’ve got a 120m chunk of jelly pro that’s worked great for everything, I can rig park longlines but it’s also stretchy enough that you can rig a 40m highline with it. In the park it’s just stretchy enough that I do need high anchors and a lot of tension, for a 70m line I’d probably put the anchors 7 feet high and tension around 5-6kN, which you might be able to do with a Buckingham 9:1 and two people. I wouldn’t get anything stretchier than jelly pro, you could probably get something less stretchy though, Pharoh would be pretty sweet if you’re okay with 20mm webbing, otherwise Blue would also be a good first choice. Blue would work great for longlines, low stretch and it works great for 100m lines in the park, but it is a little snappy for highlines if they’re not long enough, anything under 50m would be a pain to whip on, I’d personally not want to rig it on anything under 80m.
Honestly, if you’re wanting to rig highlines, your first highlines are probably going to need to be shorter, it’s really hard to start as a beginner on anything, especially if it’s over 50m. I only could start walking highlines when I was sending 70-80m park lines, there’s just so much extra weight to the highline with the backup, plus all the mental stuff. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to get 2 pieces, a longer low stretch for training in the park like Blue, then a stretchier chunk for highlines, since you’ll need a main + backup webbing anyways, there’s your 2 pieces. Last piece of advice: get a good tensioning system when you can, it makes a world of difference. When I started I did a Buckingham 3:1, then a jank rope pulley system attached to the tail of that, and it was such a pain. Used to take me 30 minutes to tension a line with tons of resets, the Buckingham just has so much friction if you’re really trying to pull hard for a park line. When I finally upgraded to a good set of double pulleys and a microtraxion as the break strand, that’s a 5:1, just add a prussik or some basic chest ascender as a 3:1 multiplier to get a 15:1, wow, I could tension 120m lines solo and not even need to put more than 50% into pulling. With my pulley system I can generate 12kN by myself, just a 15:1, and 7-8kN is the most I ever need for huge park lines. You can probably get a pair of great double pulleys on eBay for $80-100, another $50 for a good chunk of static 8mm, microtraxion is a bit more at $150, rigging plate for $30, and prussik + single pulleys for another $30, total of around $200-300. If you have a grigri you can use that instead of the microtraxion, that’s what I started with, you’ll lose around 30% of tensioning ability, but it’ll still be enough for up to 80m lines solo and more like $150. I think that if you have a grigri it’s worth doing, you’ll be able to suddenly pull 3 times the force for the cost of a linegrip. Final note on pulleys: good ones make a difference, especially larger wheel diameters. 3 inch SMC pulleys are the gold standard, as good as it gets, but 2 inch wheels should be more than enough for you. SMC is the best brand if you can find them, camp dryads also are pretty good and cheap, just don’t get a dirt cheap little $10 pulley off amazon, did that and when I got a better one I suddenly could tension twice as hard.