Is a slackline, ratchet, and tree protector alone enough equipment to setup the slackline?
I'm new to slacklining and planning to buy a slack line kit from Amazon
With the rope and ratchet and tree protector which will be used on trees. Is this enough to be able to tie the rope between two trees and actually use the slackline or do I need more equipment like carabiners and slings, linelockers, rigging, rings, and pulleys?
What exactly do I need to slackline if I have two trees?
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/22586. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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To the question
Is a slackline, ratchet, and tree protector alone enough equipment to setup the slackline?
The answer is yes, provided the kit is built for that purpose. In actuality, you could set it up without bark protectors, but that's frowned upon as it will hurt trees (some more than others).
Most kits are made to be setup in a similar way, which is shown below in a graphic from Gibbon Slacklines. Of course, it's possible to build a slackline with tubular webbing, rappel rings, carabiners and pulleys but it's usually something reserved for experienced climbers or rope riggers. It might look something like in this post (there are variations).
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/22590. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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The description is one red flag for me, as it displays no knowledge about the product: It mixes general or over the top advertisement statements ("MAXIMUM SAFETY") with facts that have nothing to do with the advertised statement ("This is the best slackline for kids and beginners, with the 2-inch wide slackline webbing"). In short: Regardless of what it includes, I highly recommend against buying that set. You can get a beginners set from a well-known brand for ~50$ which isn't that much more than this.
Getting back to your specific question:
What exactly do I need to slackline if I have two trees?
There is the obvious
- line (webbing)
and then two more "groups" of items: One for tensioning the line and the other for securing it at the ends. In a typical beginners set tensioning is done by a single
- ratchet
which has a webbing loop for attachment. Again typically a beginner line has a sewn loop at one end of the line, this means you can simply wrap that end around the tree and thread the line through the sewn loop to fixate it. Before doing that, put one of the
- 2x tree protection
on the tree. The other end of the line goes through the ratchet for tensioning. So what's left is to attach the ratchet to the second tree, which might not need any additional material if an attachment strip is already part of the ratchet. Otherwise you will need
- steel biner or shackle
- attachment strip
(come in various forms, often quite heavy slings with a load-bearing inner part with an abrasion shield around)
where you put the strip around the tree over the protection and then connect the ratchet with the strip using the steel biner or shackle.
This is the minimum. If you don't have a loop in the line you need a second attachmnet strip and material for line-lockers and if you don't use a ratchet for tension there's various methods to do pulleys - none of this is beginner stuff though. If you don't use the entire length of the line you will after some time want to use another section of it, for which you do need one line lock. For that you need one steel biner and steel ring - just search for how to do a line lock and the material necessary is going to be evident.
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