Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire inane thread of the day - Zipline

So, my wife tells me that my little girl is having a birthday party and sleepover on Friday.

First off, can someone put a fellow right wing extremist up for the night this Friday?

Second, she thinks it would be nice to build her a zip line.

Conditions: It has to be a surprise, so I can't build it over the course of a few days, because that would give it a way.

So I am gathering materials and plan on doing it all Friday, whilst she's at school.

I got the perfect spot for it, as determined by my standard overdoing it process of actually surveying my backyard up to and including elevations of the ground, the tree for the anchoring point, the height of the 2 person ladder stand I plan on sacrificing to the cause, and the dismount point/downhill anchoring consisting of two treated 4x6's to be concreted into the ground and a cross beam used to tie off to (along with parallel yard arms to hook the bungee cord decelerators to). 117 horizontal feet with about 7.5 feet of fall. Kids should be hauling.

Of course, hours of over-engineering are being overshadowed by the inability to acquire proper equipment, i.e. the entire metropolitan area has sold out of 1/4" wire clamps as well as turnbuckles of appropriate length.

And this is no time for value engineering, as I take kid's safety seriously (I have already tabled the flaming ring and the alligator pit at the low point)

I'll check the farm supply stores today on my way home and see what I can find, but my wife is having her doubts.

I'm optimistic, because any project that results in screaming kids and fear is a project worth completing.

Of course, I have already dug the post holes and covered them with a sod piece, and my son and I retrieved the deer stand yesterday evening. Cable arrives today, and the trolley is in my gun cabinet.

Hope you have a good lawyer on stand-by if one of those kids gets hurt!

It only took one post for the panty waste attitude to come out this time around. I swear this place is getting over run.

Tis an important consideration.

I'll test it first. Beyond that, the wife will be talking to their parents ahead of time.

Heaven knows I've done my fair share of idiocy in my day, but gambling with other folks safety isn't one of them.

Have plenty of harnesses, planning on a backup anchor on both ends, and given the slope conditions, no more than a 12 foot fall if anything goes awry.

But the show must go on.

It's for the kids.

I second the lawyer recommendation, but look for some of the hardware a rock climbing shop perhaps. Do you have an REI nearby?


Good luck! She may need it.

Kids bounce at that age.

We will need pictures! Sounds to me like a great project.

Oh, I can put you up for the night.

If you need a 260 pound Bubba to stress test it give me a shout.

Let's forego the lawyer business (I have 2 available that owe me favors). Truth be known, I've checked the specs of the hardware items; if the info is not available; I don't buy it.

And as flippant as I get at times, I don't exactly waste the undergraduate physics education or the engineering degree on just work. It will take major product failure for an issue to occur, as well as the redundant safety.

But this isn't about technical calculations, it's about kids, bouncing, and building stuff without notice.

The beams go in Thursday night, after she goes to bed.

the trolley is rated at 275. I plan on testing after beer. Don't drink more than 15 pounds

Gee, how considerate and thoughtful of her . . . Would my wife have ever presented me with such a request, I would have immediately sat down, done some calculations (as you have done), surveyed the possible locations and conditions (as you have done), come up with an acceptable design drawing(s) with explicit details as well as a list of materials and handed it to my wife with a "have fun building this on the sly . . . and disassemble it immediately after the party so no future underage visitor is tempted to zip around while we're not" . . . In other words, I would have said "NO" or something like "Really?". Sometimes an "it would be nice" request, just requires a "not really" response . . . YMMV

Your a good dad.

I am loving this build idea.



Travis

JFC...


Travis

Post some pics when you can, should be a blast!

Lord have mercy.

Frankly, when she said "zip line" I started thinking about the 300 foot cell phone tower out back, but I didn't have the mile of property to get it laid out.

As it stands, no one will be making unplanned visits out here. No neighbors close by, and plenty of property to dispose of kids that are accidentally injured.

Some friends had a long zip line when I was growing up. You'd jump out of the tree fort and it covered about 100yds down to another tree.



Travis

We will need pics. Sounds like fun.

Ernie

You probably have your gynecologist on speed dial too.


Travis

Cool beans. We will DEFINITELY need to see pics.