Mary-Jane, who if you didn't know, is really in to anything rock climbing, has constructed a slack line. It is a useful tool that rock climbers practice with to improve their core balance. The slack line is made mostly of 1-inch climbing webbing. One piece is wrapped around a tree and tied together with a carabiner. What is a carabiner you might ask? Well, it's that clip-thing that I have my keys hanging from on my belt loop. But don't get me wrong, these carabiners for the slack line are heavy duty, able to withstand multiple hundreds of pounds - my key carabiner would most definitely not. When wrapping the webbing around the tree we are sure to place rugs between the tree and webbing so as to not damage the tree. Just ask Mary-Jane, they are the most beautiful rugs ever (Actually, they are the $1.00 rugs I purchased for the floor in our bedroom that subsequently got "demoted").
Anyway, the the other piece of webbing is also wrapped around a tree about 15-20 feet away and is stretched toward the first tree. The two ends of webbing (both containing a carabiner) are connected with a cum-a-long (a ratcheting tool used to bring two things closer together-think "portable winch"). Now, as you get on the slack line, is stretches, so if you are having trouble imagining this, just think if a tightrope and a trampoline procreated... the offspring would be a slack line.
Now, getting on the slack line is quite the animal in itself, let alone REMAINING on the slack line. Enjoy the posted video of me proudly showing you how difficult it is to stay on the slack line. My personal best is about 2.5 seconds (give or take 1.5 seconds). Mary-Jane has balanced for 47 seconds! Of course, it may be longer now... she is out working on it as I type. Either way, I could go on and on about this, but just wanted to give you a taste about it. Ask me more about it, and I'd be happy to share. Apparently it's called the world's thinnest trampoline... I don't see it, and as far as I can tell, all we built was a human slingshot.
