sarah, I've a couple of customers who've bought from them. If you order from them make sure you budget for a customs clearance charge (£5-10) & VAT. It's pretty rare these days that US imports sneak through without attracting charges. A useful rule of thumb is what you pay in $ will be what it ends up costing you in £'s.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Hi Chaps; I don't have any trees in my garden!
I have two suitable walls I could put bolts into to hold the ends; but what could I use to get suitable height? One wall is too low to act as a start height. Would some saw-horses be strong enough?
If the saw horse is strong enough to hold your weight then it would help lift the slackline. The mounting suggestion with my kit was to use the towing ring on a car if you don't have good trees.
Its great but yet another thing where the kids are far better than us
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Are washing poles any good to set up one of these? I've been meaning to get one of those for the garden. Poles are metal set in concrete. Guess it would need supports at each end to stop it slipping down.
Some kids parks have a wide balance wire, e.g. 3 ropes clamped together. Having kids is a great excuse to play in the park
After all it is free
After all it is free
Been meaning to give this a go for ages, so just ordered one from Amazon. Plenty of trees in the garden, so something for me and the boys to try.
Will report back.
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Slacklines are great fun. Harder than they look though, so if you get one stick at it for a while as getting started is the hardest part (in my experience). There were some extremely long ones set up in Cambridge over the weekend by (I think) the local community circus with some impressive stunts and falls.
I would be cautious about using a wall anchor. Walls are generally not designed to take loads in that direction, and it could make a right mess if it failed.
Trees are definitely the easiest, if you have some big enough, though be careful to protect the trunk with something like a bit of old carpet so you don't damage it.
Ground anchors are pretty simple too - can be just a buried section of fence post with a chain around it, and some saw-horses to lift the line. This also works on a beach for example as you can just dig up the anchors when you go home.
Washing line poles wouldn't work without damaging them, unless you have the most over-engineered washing line known to man.
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
Nooooooo! Don't attach them to washing poles, bolts in walls or anything other than something like a telegraph pole or very sturdy tree. The forces exerted on the mount points are far far higher than you might assume.
Note that a static slackline with someone stationary on it is exerting a force of half a tonne, but with jumps and bounces, it spikes way way higher.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
I need to survey my garden properly and do some measuring to work out how long the line needs to be. We have lots of trees, what do I need to consider when choosing trees? Is there a kind of minimum trunk girth to go for? For example we have some trees that I couldn't 'hug' and others that I could just about 'strangle' if you know what I mean
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
If you can only just hug it then you should be okay, but I'd not go much narrower.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
kieranm & feef, got you on the washing lines! Tbh I didn't really expect them to be up to it but we're short of trees. Have used ground anchors before on the kids' swing, so maybe look into that further.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
I'd use a telegraph-pole-sized tree (in terms of girth) as a rule-of-thumb minimum. Though for the avoidance of doubt don't use a telegraph pole!
I'd use a telegraph-pole-sized tree (in terms of girth) as a rule-of-thumb minimum. Though for the avoidance of doubt don't use a telegraph pole!
Wouldn't a telegraph pole be just the thing?
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Quote:
Wouldn't a telegraph pole be just the thing?
Yes, if it belonged to you and damaging it wouldn't cause lots of disruption and annoyance to your neighbours. They also tend to be located right next to roads, which is not where I'd want to be slack lining. But if you can get your hands on a couple of sections of telegraph pole and embed them in your garden then they would be just the job.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Ok thanks guys, so fat trees then, might have to order a long line!
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
So Maverick slack line kit arrived. Managed to find 2 suitable trees in the garden (I will probably order a 30m one as the 15m limits my options especially when you've gone round the tree.
Had about 20 mins to practice. It's terrifying to start with; the line wobbling all over the place, but the DVD that I ordered from Maverick suggested simply practicing standing up on the line and down. It's remarkable how quickly I was improving with persistence.
Looking forward to more practice & getting my boys onto / into it. Even my wife says it looks like good fun & wants to give it a go.
abd, thanks for reporting back, as I thought...a long line may well be needed as I think it might take 1m or more to go round the tree at each end. I mapped out two possible options in the garden tonight, one is better than the other but not sure about one of the trees on the preferred route
How did you walk on it? Barefoot? Trainers?
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Hi sarah, had trainers on. All the tuition videos I've looked at show people with shoes on. The line is under quite a lot of tension so could hurt your feet when you fall (which I've been doing a lot!).
Used some old carpet as tree protectors but could do with something longer & thinner to be less cumbersome.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Quote:
It's terrifying to start with; the line wobbling all over the place, but the DVD that I ordered from Maverick suggested simply practicing standing up on the line and down. It's remarkable how quickly I was improving with persistence.
Yep that matches my own (limited!) experience too. Once you're on the thing it's not so bad, but getting on it requires a fair bit of confidence.
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I find if you're doing it over grass, it's not too painful with bare feet, but bare feet does give you more grip and feel on the line itself.
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
Interesting, what about some of those 'barefoot' trainers then maybe? I like the idea of more feel on the line than through the thick sole of my trainers. I am still trying to work out what line to get as I reckon I need a 30m line to cover two different routes to be sure it won't come up short, and the price seems to really rocket for the longer lines.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Barefoot definitely the way to go - much better 'feel' for the line. I do know a couple of guys who use some very thin slackline specific shoes which they seem to rate.
And as per the comment above if using trees for anchors then pad out the slings so you don't 'ring-bark' the tree.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Anybody tried a "Slacktrack* which can be set up anywhere? Amazon have them.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Here's some basic tips for the slackline:
To begin with, use ski poles and stay closer to the end (it's less bouncy).
Bare foot can be better as it can offer more feeling.
Make the line bounce to get a feel for it - it puts you in control.
Keep the line around knee height as it hurts less when you fall off.
Pick a spot to stare at about eye level.
Try these tricks to start with:
Botty bounce - have someone hold your hand and drop down onto the line and then back to your feet - then move on to no help but with cushions underneath.
Jump on and stay on.
Long jump off the slack line (increase the bounce prior to take off)
180s then 360s - keep it low to start with!
Have fun
ps 50mm is a good size to start with - 30m feels very different to 15m - the bounce is slower and it's much harder to stay on (you can compensate by tightening it immensely but that's pretty tough)
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
herminator, thanks good to know that about the length, going to need to find different trees then!
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I started with a ratchet tape from Halfords. I think it was about 4m, which was plenty long enough. Then when I could manage that, got a 15m Gibbon line, and eventually extended that using rope (it was an old dinghy main sheet, which doesn't stretch) up to 25m. Above that length, it is pretty DARN difficult - you start to get resonance from the line, and it can be impossible with even a little wind. Do use something like old carpet to protect trees from the friction - the weight of the line can easily strip bark.
It is awesome fun to do, and each time you do it you get a little better. So, almost like skiing!
Anyway, to get started you don't need to spend much, apart from your time.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I love the idea of having a small one here (for the kids obviously ) but we don't have suitable trees. I've just walked past these posts in cement at the edge of our car park and had a thought - would it be crazy to try to bury the cement in the ground and hope they'd be sturdy enough for "big" kids?!
Taken a couple of photos to give idea of scale… (sorry, sun is awkward position at this time of the day)
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
miranda, they wouldn't be up to the job with the posts mounted like a normal fence post, but if you buried the whole post sideways a good depth underground with a chain wrapped around it to attach the line to, then they should be fine. See some of the descriptions here:
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
kieranm, thanks very much for that, really helpful! If you do the permanent deadman anchor method, are the lines adjustable in length, so you could then raise/lower the height of the line later by having different height A frames? (sorry, if that's a painfully stupid question!)
Yes, the lines would be adjustable enough to use with different height a-frames. You would just loop the slackline around the chain or whatever emerges from the ground, position the a-frames and then use a ratchet to apply the tension. For a longer distance between the a-frames you would obviously need anchors in different places.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Now managing to walk along it a bit (maybe 10 strides); only had 6-7 sessions of say 15-20 minutes - its amazing how quickly you improve, but the muscles fatigue quickly.
Great fun and the boys are all enjoying it. My 18yo can now jump on it; I've focussed on practicing other skills, however the few times I've tried it its a bit daunting. Going to take it on holiday with us.
I also got the DVD but I wouldn't bother with it tbh (happy to lend it to you if you'd like). You could come round and have a go if you fancy it (suggest parking this weekend might be a little tricky!)
Let me know if you want to buy one as we could do a deal as I want to get the 25m version.
After all it is free
After all it is free
abd, cheers, we've all used them in various shows around the UK, the issue has always been I can only see one tree I could use in the garden, but the anchor kieranm posts about above seems a good solution!
Are you thinking of flogging yours and buying a 25m one?
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kitenski, still haven't got mine. Been umming and ahhing about where to put it.
Guys, what do I do....my preferred location is about 19m tree to tree but there is another place which is more like 12m. Do I get the 25m and have it set up more where I want it or stick with the 15m as it's cheaper and ?easier to start with ?? Just how much harder is it if you go longer? Thanks.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
Thanks 
) but we don't have suitable trees. I've just walked past these posts in cement at the edge of our car park and had a thought - would it be crazy to try to bury the cement in the ground and hope they'd be sturdy enough for "big" kids?!
