So my mom wants me to build a zip line

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Spic-N-SpaN

Active member
So we've had this idea for a while of attatching a cable to this tree in our yard and running the other end between to a pilings (spelling) that we would have driven into the ground in the lake about 30 feet from shore. But the part we can't figure out is some sort of quick release so the at the end of the line it let's go of your harness and drops you into the lake. We need to have it a harrness and not just something you hold on to because the first 100 feet or so of the zipline would all be above land and my parents don't want to deal with people falling and dying

So if anyone knows a way to make it drop you at the end of the line and not while your above land that would be really appreciated and I'll post some video once it's built
 
ask brooklynn aka beezey.. that is if she still comes on ns. she knows her shit about zip lines
 
Problem:

If it releases for someone who weighs 150 lbs it won't release for a kid who weighs 80 lbs. You would have to be able to adjust the release mechanism. If someone doesn't adjust it correctly it either doesn't release or releases before someone reaches the water. I think it is actually safer to just have a zip line without the harness. What happens if someone gets part of the harness stuck on something under the water?

The end anchor point of the zip line should be like a soccer goal with the cable attached in the middle of the horizontal post. That way if someone doesn't let go, they will end up doing some involuntary back flips, but they won't hit a post at terminal velocity.

Good luck.
 
just put a massive catch net under it untill it hits the water so you can just hold it
 
seriously, there is no way to make that safe. if it didnt release or released early, you would be fucked.

just have a handle and make sure people hold on. its not that hard.

or you could just have a strap that you sit in hanging below the handle incase somone wants so sit on the strap and hold onto the handle.
 
That's a good idea. You could have one these attached to the handle so someone could sit on it if they wanted to:

Disc_swing.jpg
 
if you are really going to be a bitch and install a release, there should be something online where you can put a cupler or something on the rope so when the zip hits it, it releases the harness..
 
i can see several options for your quick release problem...

so your gonna use a climbing climbing harness to attach your "victims" to the zipline in some way and then release them when they're above the water...

option 1:

let's assume you have a pulley system or carabiner running down the tensioned zipline, you attach about 3-4ft of climbing rope to that system, then attach victims to the rope using a hms carabiner with a munter hitch....

257px-HMS_complete.jpg


this hitch is a belay hitch for rockclimbers, they just hold onto the free part while flying over the ground, then release it above the water and the 1ft of free rope will just zip through the carabiner and your victims will fall towards a watery death....

the munter hitch can also be tied off with a slipknot in the free strand, around the tension strand, so its completely blocked untill someone pulls the free end, releases the slipknot and the line will zip through the munter hitch...

option 2:

there are several maritime quick release systems such as listed below; see your local boat-store...

sailboats-quick-release-snap-shackles-with-shackle-217743.jpg


^^halyard snap shackle (and similar products)

images


^^charly brummel quick release

135.jpg


^^quick release for tow ropes as used for wakeboarding/waterskiing, etc....

option 3:

get some old climbing rope to attach victims, then give em one of these babies:

Innovative_Line_Cutter_lg.jpg


option 4:

if you're gonna make a proper zipline with a bar to hang onto, you could also use a windsurfing harness for a semi safe attachment (not that one of the prior mentioned options are any safer....)

option 5:

quick release using an automatic belay device....

get an auto belay device such as a petzl grigri, then proceed as in option 1, attach a piece of rope to the trolley, victims, just pull the lever on the belay device, rope slips through and they plunge towards a certain death....

[Disclaimer, all of these options are quite unsafe and death is possible..., i'm not responsible in any way if you or one of your friends dies or ends up in a wheelchair, having to eat/drink through a straw for the rest of his/her life....]

sidenote: also make sure that if the system doesn't release for some reason, that you or one of your little buddies doesn't slam into a pole going 30mph.... make sure you have some sort of braking system if they shoot through, or give the line enough slack or attach it low enough so they still land into the water....

also, wear some sort of life jacket and helmet, you'd be amazed how easily you can get knocked out by splashing into the water...
 
I just feel like we can't be the first people to want to do this and there must be some way that after you reach a certain point it releases you.

The idea I already had for the end in the water is for two pilings coming up with a cross bar between them, and then just the breaking system normaly found on zip lines incase it doesn't release or the person doesn't want to fall in the water or what ever.

And yeah helmets and life jackets are pretty much a given
 
I went to a summer camp in Maine (Kieve) when I was a little kid and they had a set up like this. The way they did it was put a platform in a tree when you get up hook you into the zip line on a climbing harness and let you go. Instead of detaching you the had a break about 50ft from the end of the cable that the zip hit and so you impact couldn't break bones (still really fast) and then you just unhook your carbiner should probably have a friend in a canoe
 
Just don't build it as far from the water. Seriously hanging on and letting go is the best bet.

Good luck trying to ghetto rig a quick release that's in any way safe.

Your mom better buy an insurance plan
 
Put the end past the water but give the line a ton of slack so you end up going into the water and swimming out with the harness still attached.
 
i woud just warn people, and try to hold on. it seems like having a quick release would make it less fun. or maybe you could attach it to a tree, but start farther down the rope so theirs not as much time above solid ground?
 
Sounds like it's gonna be way to new and safe to be fun. My friend used to have one just over land from one tree to another, used an upside down bike front wheel and handlebars to go and hang on to. Only time someone got injured was when they were tightening it and the giant chain hit a girl in the mouth.
 
Well the point of this thread was to to find a none ghetto way of doing it, I was thinking something like this already existed and I just needed help trying to find it.

But right now the best idea I think is swinging into the water and then undoing the caribeaner once you have landed and are floating there
 
sure there are, who do you think builds actual zip line courses that have guided trips and shit on them? it sure as hell isnt some random person.
 
and op, make sure you get with the dnr about driving pillers into the nottom or the lake, a lot of places wont allow that, weve had trouble building sliders and rails for wakeboarding and had to just build floating ones
 
You shut the fuck up, your two posts in this thread have just been telling people to shut up, when they both made valid points. Fucking kids..

As to the thread, I have no clue how you could make that safe. The only way would be to have the traditional ones that you hold on to. That way, the rider can judge when they need to release.
 
Get the fuck out of here, no need.

OP, you should just do the zipline where you have to hold on to bars. A quick release has many problems. Have you figured out how you are going to get the zipline back?
 
isn't that what ziplines are all about ?

also, to op, option nr6:

don't use any complicated harnesses and carabiner quick release shit, and just go for that trusty old parachute, you can even rigg it to deploy with a static line so it automatically unfolds when you zip beyond a certain point...

parachute-blog.jpg


this might be your best bet if you want to make it out alive....
 
actually just hold on. It would actually be the safest thing since it's the only completely fail proof method. And you don't want to be sitting with roped around you and shit and be able to get tangled up. I have a zip line across a valley at my parents and you just hold on, not that hard. No one's yet to get hurt and there's no water below.
 
Since OP's mom is mainly concerned about making sure that kids make it to the water with no possibility of falling off early and hitting the ground; I recommend they blow off the zip line and go with an air cannon:

 
the harness attaches to a d-ring which runs around the line. the top of the d-ring is a latch that can move horizontally, but not vertically. When you wan thte harness to release, put a little knob on the line that will knock the d-ring latch back thus releasing the harness from the line.

kinda difficult to explain.

or you could have it be manually released with a trigger mechanism and a carabiner type thing.
 
holy buggels !! that last shot,how crazy do you have to be ?!

this is so cool, altough a human firing trebuchet would also be quite cool :)

/static/images/flash_video_placeholder.png

 
I just talked to a friend of mine and she said she went to this camp with a zip line into water and you just stayed hooked in until you hit the water, then after your done and floating there you just unhooked yourself. Probably just go with that.

Or the human trebuchet, that would be sick
 
I like it! First shot was a triple, but should have grabbed mute.

Here's moar and the last one looked to be unpleasant:

 
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