How to set up a 1" slackline
You’re interested in learning to walk a slackline but first you need to learn how to rig your 1″ primitive slackline kit, such as this beginner slackline kit from Viper Slacklines.
We have a post about most of the different types of slacklines you’ll encounter on your slackline journey as well as this guide on how to set them up or “rig” them as it’s known in slackline lingo.
- How to rig a 1″/25mm primitive slackline
This is the most common type of rigging method for beginner 1″ slacklines. All you need to set up a 1″ primitive slackline kit is:
- A length of 25mm/1″ webbing between 15m-50m long with a sewn eye on one end
- 2-4 steel oval carabiners
- A chainlink linelock / steel rappel ring
1. Slackline Anchors and tree protection
The most common way to rig a slackline is between two sturdy trees. When rigging on trees it is vital that you use tree protectors to not only protect the trees but your slackline equipment as well.
Tree protectors are all very similar in principal and are generally made of a long strip of durable fabric. Simply wrap the tree protectors around your trees at the height you will set your line up and secure it with velcro or string.
2. Connecting your slackline to the tree
The next step is to connect your slackline to the tree. For lines up to about 15m or low tension rodeolines it is sufficient to attach your webbing to the tree using a girth hitch.
To attach the slackline to the tree using the girth hitch method, wrap the sewn eye around the tree where you previously placed the tree protector and pass the ratchet through the sewn eye.
Pro tip: Once you have all the webbing pulled through you can fold (Taco) the webbing in the sewn eye to ensure that it comes out flat.
For longer slacklines over 15m or higher tension lines you will need to attach your slackline to the tree with a sling and shackle.
To attach the sling to the tree, wrap it around where you had placed the tree protector and attach the shackle to both ends of the sling. Then place the sewn eye of the webbing into the shackle and tighten the shackle pin.
3. Setting up the Primitive tensioning system
- Take your second sling and place it around your second tree and girth hitch it. To do this, wrap the sling around the tree and pass it through itself.
- Attach one of your carabiners to the sling.
- Next pull your slackline webbing across leaving a gap between 2m-4m to the tree.
- Take a bite of webbing and pass it through the chainlink, wrap it around a the chainlink a second time and attach another carabiner to it.
- Now pull the tail of webbing coming out of the carabiner and pull it across to the tree
- Pull the webbing up through the carabiner and back towards the first carabiner
- Pull the webbing down through this carabiner and back towards the tree
- Now pull the webbing up this carabiner and underneath the first piece of webbing
- Pull it back towards the first carabiner and pull it underneath the first layer of webbing
3. How to tension your 1″ slackline using the primitive method
- Pull the end of the webbing coming out from the carabiners and tighten it up as much as you can
- You can get two people to pull on this webbing to tighten up the slackline
- If you have a line longer than 20m you might want to add a multiplier to the system
How to add a multiplier to a primitive slackline system
Using two additional carabiners you can gain mechanical advantage and increase the tension of your slackline.
- add one carabiner onto your anchor below the primitive system
- take the tail of webbing leaving the tensioning system and run it down through this carabiner
- now take a second chainlink and add it between the tensioning system and the carabiner
- to do this simply pass a bite of webbing through it and attach a carabiner to the loop
- now run the tail back through this carabiner and start pullings
Video tutorial to rig a primitive 1″ slackline kit
They say a picture says a thousand words, well then you can understand why a video can describe this whole process of rigging a slackline much clearer. below is one video explaining the process of rigging a 1″ primitive slackline and below that a video demonstrating how to rig the multiplier.