A lot of people love to go zip lining, but simply can’t keep up with the expensive costs of travelling around the country and staying at hotels. These people often end up frustrated, as they are separated from an activity which brings them great pleasure and enjoyment. But, fear not my friends…as there is a solution.
Buy it online
You are now able to purchase your own zip line home kits from an online retailer and complete the installation yourself, leaving you with an amazing zip line, up to 500 feet, in your own backyard. This is an amazing thing, that was previously unavailable to homeowners, and now supplies them with the ability to engage in adrenaline rushing activities right at their own home.
Install it yourself
There has never been a better time to be a homeowner in this society, with all of the amazing benefits that come along with that status. Hooking up your own backyard zip line can be fun and can be a nice bonding experience with your son or daughter, if they are old enough to understand basic hand tools and other connecting hardware. The installation itself is not too difficult, and only requires some basic knowledge and experience with everyday hand tools like a come along, ladder, nylon sling, and others. You will be using the aircraft cable, turnbuckle, slings, and cable clamps to secure the zip line to two trees. Once that is accomplished, you simply attach the trolley and the harness (or seat) to the zip line cable and away you go.
Don't forget the brake
You also may want to look into getting a zip line brake block kit if your ride is over 150 feet in length. The brake block is a plastic block that gets fitted onto the zip line cable with the other end attached to a bungee cord that gets anchored into the ground. When the zip line trolley comes moving down the cable it hits the brake block, which slides on the cable and the bungee cord is activated, thus bringing the trolley to a stop on the zip line cable. This is a must have for any zip line which is going to have kids riding on it, as they may become slightly overwhelmed by the fast speeds without any ability to stop. Alternatively, there is a trigger braking system available that you can use to stop yourself, this is actually installed right onto the zip line trolley and is activated by your finger as you are moving down the zip line. There is a small trigger which when pressed, activates a brake pad that slows the trolley down. These brake pads do wear out over time so it is recommended that you buy several of them when you are first setting up your zip line, to avoid complicated maintenance down the road.
Keep it safe
Another thing that you may want to keep in mind when installing a backyard zip line, is to keep other neighborhood kids off of the ride when they are not being supervised by an adult. We have heard some horror stories about parents being sued because some kids decided to go onto their property when they weren’t home to use their zip line and sustained an injury. While this isn’t fair, it is a reality and could easily happen. This is why we suggest to purchase a removable trolley, so that you can take it down off of the zip line cable when you know that you will be away from the house for a little while. You can also buy a lock and lock the trolley on one end of the zip line cable, that way nobody can use it without the key. This is extremely effective against keeping kids from simply wandering onto your property and using the zip line without your permission. When you are home, however, you can let other kids from the neighborhood use the ride….just make sure that they are wearing proper safety equipment such as helmets and long sleeve clothes such as jeans.
Supervise it
Another important reason to have parental supervision when the kids are playing on the zip line is to keep them from horsing around and getting hurt. We all know how kids will usually take things way too far and fight with each other over whose turn it is and everything else that they can find a reason to argue about. This is why it’s important to have an adult there who can mediate the situation and tell them whose turn it is to go on the zip line, as well as keep them in line and give them warnings about their bad behavior. We like kids, and think that they deserve every chance to act within the guidelines given to them, but they must be disciplined when they don’t act within those specific parameters. There is a child’s world and an adult’s world, and they must be respectful to our world just as we must be respectful towards theirs.
Copyrights: Zipline Guru