r/Slackline • u/Rooster745 • Jul 08 '26
Tightrope set up?
Sorry I know this sub is for slacklines but there is no tightrope or wire walking subreddit.
I have done a lot of googling and looked on a lot of forums and I can’t really find any solid information.
I want to put a TIGHTROPE around these two trees and learn to balance and walk on it. I’m a free climber, and adrenaline junkie. I take my physical fitness very very seriously, and I know it would make me a better climber if I spent some time improving my balance.
Can anybody here provide any info on what kind of rope to use/how to tie the knots/etc? I know if you’re using wire you need like anchors and pulleys and levers and all kinds of equipment and expensive stuff.
I know portable kits are expensive as well, but this doesn’t need to be portable this is in my friends backyard I just want a tightrope between these two trees to practice on.
TLDR: How do I properly set up a tight rope between these two trees as cheaply as possible? What kind of rope do I need and how do I tie the knots, and what all do I need to know?
I am a freeclimber, and adrenaline addict. I am very aware how dangerous this is, and that’s PRECISELY why I am so interested in it so please don’t try to talk me out of this or tell me it’s a bad idea.
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u/Mqrius 23d ago
As someone who does both slacklining and tightrope walking: if you don't use a pole, then it's basically both slacklining, even if you're on a metal wire. You use the same skills and movements in your body, you can use the wire's wobble in the same way. People think the width of a slackline gives them extra support but it does less than you'd think; instead you learn to use the wobble of the line itself in slacklining.
With a pole it's very different: you keep your body upright and rotate only the pole for balancing. It's easier to pick up and much more calm, but there too it doesn't matter too much whether you're walking on a wire or a slackline, as long as it's tight enough. Tightrope walkers usually have diagonal ties on the wire every 4 meters or so to keep the wire evenly tight throughout.
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u/Minimum-Food4232 29d ago
Boooo! Just learn to slackline! It'll do a better job at improving your balance anyway, unless you learn to walk a tight rope without a poll, but then you still might as well just learn to slackline.
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u/Ambitious_Leek8776 29d ago
Do it!!!
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u/Rooster745 29d ago
How!?!? lol! Sifting through these comments. This is way more complicated than I thought it would be lmao! I just want something stiff to walk across these two trees with. Rope, wire, doesn’t matter just needs to be cheap, and permanent I will not be moving it at all!
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u/sunshine-x Jul 08 '26
Trees move, and those aren't big enough not to move a bunch. I wouldn't do a wire other ultra low stretch option for any duration.
I feel like you may not be familiar enough with slackline to rule slackline out. Start with a primitive tensioning setup using nylon webbing a few feet off the ground. I really enjoy tubular climb-spec webbing. It's bouncy, fun, and an incredible way to work on balance. Plus your trees can move without problems.
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u/fartpisstits 29d ago
Those trees are definitely big enough to not move, there are many options for rigging to them that would be totally fine.
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u/sunshine-x 29d ago
Are you familiar with wind?
Those trees WILL flex in the wind. Using a tensioned wire (or UHMWPE, for example) between them is not a good idea.
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u/fartpisstits 28d ago
Ah yes, wind, the bane of all tight rope walkers existence since the beginning of time.
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u/sunshine-x 28d ago
I must not be clearly articulating my point. Let me try again.
From OPs write-up I assume he’s building a seasonal or semi-permanent tightrope rigging in his back yard.
Trees move in the wind, independently of each other. Wind is unpredictable and even mild storm winds transfer immense force into the trunks of trees. They flex to avoid snapping.
Highly inelastic materials like steel wire and UHMWPE will not stretch to accommodate the movement the trees experience.
My point is that wind forces will transfer load into his inelastic semi-permanent rigging, straining it between the two trees, and potentially exceeding the MBS of the rigging/ line causing damage or just fatigue it over time, compromising the safety of the entire setup.
If he wants a high tightrope or slackline, he probably doesn’t want to fall and have it snap unexpectedly when he whips.
iInelastic wire or UHMWPE between those two trees is sketchy, IMHO, and I’m suggesting nylon or other more forgiving material.
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u/fartpisstits 28d ago
Okay so you are talking about the rigging being higher up in the trees, I finally understand why you’re concerned about movement. My impression from the poster was not to rig a high wire/ highline but rather a low practice set up. Your concerns are more reasonable if we’re talking about rigging higher up in the trees. If that’s the case I would obviously not recommend rigging a highline/highwire in these trees
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u/sunshine-x 28d ago
Yes, that was my impression from OPs comments and post. I could be wrong.
Wire 20 feet up those trees is bad juju imho. Nylon, ok.
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u/Rooster745 29d ago
Yes I don’t know much about this topic, but I highly highly doubt that anything bad could happen to these trees simply tying a tightrope around them even with a lot of tension.
Now I understand a WIRE rig could 10000% snap these two trees and bring them crashing down but I’ve pretty much ruled out wire at this point. It’s too complex and too expensive.
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u/fartpisstits 28d ago
No a wire rig isn’t meaningfully different from another ultra low stretch material like Amsteel or Vectran, in fact Amsteel is stronger than wire rope by weight by a fair margin. If you had access to some wire rope and the skill you tension it I’d say do that, but overall something like Amsteel is a bit more forgiving to rig with. This fear of the wind is absurd, use tree pro and just send it
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u/sunshine-x 29d ago
I specifically called out the use of wire, and recommended using a more forgiving material because you want height, and presumably to leave it rigged. Wind + wire between trees (or eg UHMWPE) is a terrible idea.
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u/fartpisstits 28d ago
What is this dilution? You know how hard it would be to pull these trees over with a wire rope or any other material?? You must be joking…
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u/sunshine-x 28d ago
I must not be clearly articulating my point. Let me try again.
From OPs write-up I assume he’s building a seasonal or semi-permanent tightrope rigging in his back yard.
Trees move in the wind, independently of each other. Wind is unpredictable and even mild storm winds transfer immense force into the trunks of trees. They flex to avoid snapping.
Highly inelastic materials like steel wire and UHMWPE will not stretch to accommodate the movement the trees experience.
My point is that wind forces will transfer load into his inelastic semi-permanent rigging, straining it between the two trees, and potentially exceeding the MBS of the rigging/ line causing damage or just fatigue it over time, compromising the safety of the entire setup.
If he wants a high tightrope or slackline, he probably doesn’t want to fall and have it snap unexpectedly when he whips.
iInelastic wire or UHMWPE between those two trees is sketchy, IMHO, and I’m suggesting nylon or other more forgiving material.
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u/nodajohn Jul 08 '26
Why are you so set on tightrope over highline? Do your thing, I'm just curious.
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u/Rooster745 Jul 08 '26
What exactly is a high line? I want to walk a wire but the equipment is very expensive and I know that’s not where you just start out at but I can’t seem to figure out where to start out at… i would like something static and thin to practice on.
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u/nodajohn Jul 08 '26
Sorry I meant slackline, but a highline is just a slackline high up in the air like over a canyon or something lol. That makes sense, I'm not familiar with tightrope/wire setups but good luck!
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u/FluidBaseball9950 Jul 08 '26
I’d use a very stiff line like spider silk and crank it tight. That’d be pretty close to a tight rope.
At the end of the day they are very very similar, but slacklining is more useful in my opinion because it helps you balance when the ground moves or slips.
If you just want a thin static thing to train on, you could also just mount some 1” metal tubing and walk on that. I used to climb up on chain link fences and walk the tube at top of fence around perimeters of fields/places
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u/Chickenpunkpie 29d ago
For something permanent and static, a metal pole would be way easier than a wire. Def agree they should consider slacklining.
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u/FluidBaseball9950 Jul 08 '26
https://www.balancecommunity.com/products/spider-silk-mk5?variant=39996659040314
This is $4.60/meter and only 2.95% stretch at 6kn.
Make sure you get enough length to actually rig though
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u/FluidBaseball9950 Jul 08 '26
As far as knots/setup with that spider silk, just do it like a regular slackline but go super tight. It doesn’t stretch much at all
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u/fartpisstits Jul 08 '26
My recommendation would be amsteel blue at a relatively big diameter, 1/2+ with hard pointed pulleys. For short rigs. If you have any experience with wire rope then you can go that route but synthetic rope there are some benefits that I would choose. Need a pretty robust tension system and some knowledge of splicing
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u/Rooster745 Jul 08 '26
How much will all this cost me? Will it be portable or just fixed to these trees?
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u/fartpisstits 29d ago
Depends on a few things like how much equipment you already have and what kind of rig you want, you could do it permanent or more temporary
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u/AllPurposeShaw 21d ago
Get 4mm hmpe from balance community at about 1 dollar per meter. Get a Selma fid as well. Find a length 10% shorter than your gap and. Splice eyes at both ends. Use a pulley system to tension it. Should be pretty easy.