setting up zip lines?????

[budroe69moni]

there's been mention of setting up zip lines
for fun......what are y'all talking about????
explain the gear and set up's involved????
curious in south florida,
budroe

 

[Higherup]

when I worked for back tree service we set up a zip line and we used a pulley and sling to tie into our back safety tie on your saddle and zipped down for a commercial im thinking its something along those lines.

 

[Eric E.]

My 3 boys ages 6-9 all have birthdays within one month of each other. In the past I set up standard "speed lines" in the back yard. Basic set up is a static line to run a CMI pulley on and a haul back line. The Kids are then put into a childrens climbing harness and hauled back to the tree. Speed of the "zip" is regulated by the haul back line thru a friction device.


This has always been a big hit with the kids (me included) but it gets tiring unless you have a helper. There are many ways to rig such a set up. The most important thing is saftey. I always over engineer the system as much as possible.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

The there is setting up transfer lines so you can traverse from tree to tree.

Especialy when doing rec work with low skilled people you want a lot of redundancy in the system. You may also want a 3rd line in the setup, the traverse, the pull line and a catch line.

Backup the anchor points, ahev the catch on a different set of spars if possible....

 

[mikecross23]

Twice I have set up a zip line just for fun. I used two pines (for lack of branches and brush in the way) that were about 75'-80' appart. Tie off to the base of tree 1 w/ running bowline; Climb to desired heigth and set a false crotch. Run rope from base of tree through false crotch, then repel down. Take end of rope not in use and go to tree 2 and climb to a higher spot than on tree 1 (gives you more heigth in the zip line creating a fast transfer). Now set another false crotch, run the rope through it and let the tail hang on the ground. Repel down. Anchor the tail to the base of a near by tree. I used the maasdam rope puller to tension the line more than I could by hand, but not too tight. Now climb back up to the highest end of the zip line and clip to it w/ my cmi pulley. To control my speed I used a long loop runner tied into a prusik to drag behind me. The loop runner allowed me to control my speed. Turn your overhead climbing line loose and enjoy the ride. Come down on the rope previously installed in tree 1. Untie from base of tree 1, tie over hand knot in rope and pull false crotch out of tree. Unhook rope from maasdam rope puller, tie over hand knot in that end of rope and pull false crotch out of the tree.

My way is kind of a pain in the @$$, not very work conciencious, but it was all fun and games for me. Time consuming but exciting.

Any better/more efficient ways?

-Mike-

 

[Crispin Hoar]

I use the cmi pulley on the back up line that is just above the static zip line. The cmi is binered to the petzel tandum pulley that is on the static line. The kids are attached to a loop runner than is then attached to the tandum this keeps little fingers and pony tails etc. out of the way. I also use a tag line to regulate the speed and I can haul the kids back so they can have several rides while the other belt is being changed to the next child

anchor--------------------cmi---------------anchor
tag line-------------------caribiner
anchor----------------tandum pulley---------anchor
loop runner
child
I hope this helps. Petzl has some great drawing of this set up. I will try to get it posted if I can learn how to do it

 

[murphy4trees]

I've set up at least three recreational zip lines, using 240' high-V. I stay in the tree... kids come up a ladder and are belayed by a competent adult on the ground... Once they are clipped in to the pulley, belay is unclipped. Speed is controlled by angle of line, slack in line and spotters on the ground. I like a little stretch in the line.
Only problem I ever had was one girl who got scared. She was still on belay and I decended with her for support.. Her hair got caught in my friction hitch... OUCH
God Bless,
Daniel

 

[mikecross23]

Treeclimber165 and I just finished goofin' around with a zip line. It was a dang blast!!! It was about 100' long from starting crotch to end and it ran btwn two nice live oaks. We used natural crotches and Brian picked the perfect step off branch. After stepping off, you zing down and out through a hole in the side of the live oak and using a cmi pulley w/ a loop runner you really get a lot of momentum for a super fast ride! We each did it about 4 or 5 times but had climbed all morning w/ Greg and monkeypuzzle and another climber and were about tired out. No pictures, but I know I'll do it again soon so I'll post some then.