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Ziplines

General BS :bull: and other irrelevant chit-chat :kumbaya:
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Rut Row
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Re: Ziplines

Post by Rut Row »

juddspaintballs wrote: Wed May 16, 2018 8:38 pm I've ridden a couple well-designed home zip lines, but I couldn't tell you who to get in contact with to design one. The last one I remember was one you held on to only, but you were never more than about 4' off of the ground and it went down the slope of an open field so it wasn't very likely you'd get hurt if you couldn't hold on. Anything of height should use a harness.
I'm thinking the beta test model will be low. Grandkid height.
Ken
Die young as late as possible, remember who you were before the world told you how it should be. -- Barry Morris
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Firebolter
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Re: Ziplines

Post by Firebolter »

When I was 10, me and my next door neighbor tied a big piece of rope between two trees, one in his yard and one in mine that went over our fence. We then climbed the tree in my yard (on the up hill side of the zip line) and used a pair of bicycle handlebars, the old ape hanger kind off a schwinn "orange crate" bike. Just put them over the rope and hung on to the handles/grips. Anyway I took off and holy crap, first obstacle was the fence which I BARELY made it over, then I realized I had to deal with the tree at the end of the line, well I just let go shortly after the fence crossing and tumbled across the yard till I finally stopped. No broken bones but some DAMN good rash! Needless to say, I only rode it once and my neighbor chickened out.

Since you are doing this for a child, man make sure it is not too aggressive and you have a safe area at the end! And you guys think dirtbikes are dangerous? Ha Ha!
Lots of cool bikes---
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Rut Row
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Re: Ziplines

Post by Rut Row »

Firebolter wrote: Thu May 17, 2018 10:11 am When I was 10, me and my next door neighbor tied a big piece of rope between two trees, one in his yard and one in mine that went over our fence. We then climbed the tree in my yard (on the up hill side of the zip line) and used a pair of bicycle handlebars, the old ape hanger kind off a schwinn "orange crate" bike. Just put them over the rope and hung on to the handles/grips. Anyway I took off and holy crap, first obstacle was the fence which I BARELY made it over, then I realized I had to deal with the tree at the end of the line, well I just let go shortly after the fence crossing and tumbled across the yard till I finally stopped. No broken bones but some DAMN good rash! Needless to say, I only rode it once and my neighbor chickened out.

Since you are doing this for a child, man make sure it is not too aggressive and you have a safe area at the end! And you guys think dirtbikes are dangerous? Ha Ha!
great story and I can see you doing that

these guys have a pretty good how-to section

https://www.ziplinegear.com/pages/knowledgebase

I suspect Grandma will be watching with a weary eye :dirtdog:
Ken
Die young as late as possible, remember who you were before the world told you how it should be. -- Barry Morris
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juddspaintballs
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Re: Ziplines

Post by juddspaintballs »

As a kid I had half an extension ladder and a swing set my dad set in concrete. I used the ladder to get up into a tree about 30' from the swing set and then climbed the limbs until I was pretty high in it. I tied a rope to the highest point in the tree I could reach and stretched it over to the swing set, then I used one of the cheap (and half cut) ratchet straps to tension it. I was probably about 8 years old at this point. I found a sturdy stick and decided to go for a ride down my new zip line. It was probably a solid 30 degree slope. All went well until the ratchet strap broke and I fell about 2' away from the tree flat on my back. That was the first time I had the wind knocked out of me. I remember crawling across the back yard towards the house and finally sucking some air in while in the fetal position on the back patio. My parents never knew what I had done or what happened, but that was the last time I tried making my own zip line in the yard.
Jed Gregory
1090 Adventure R
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