Slacklining, in case you’re unfamiliar with the term, is a little different from high wire and tightrope walking. In the second place, it uses flat webbing rather than a wire or rope… but in the first place, it’s done much closer to the ground! Count me in!

In its simplest form, a slackline is a piece of webbing stretched tight between two supports–usually trees–at a height where the slacker can walk on it. Once it's set up, you stand on it, balance, walk around, do tricks, and generally have a great time.

Traditionally, though, it takes some work to set it up properly. Getting the webbing tight enough usually requires the use of pulley systems to get enough tension, and ratcheting setups are needed to hold that strain. I'm a climber, so I've looked into building a slackline, but I've never gotten around to it.

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