Okay, so you have been using your buddy's gear for a little while and have picked up some skills. Walking a 60' line is within your grasp, and maybe some surfing and bouncing. Well, you want some gear of your own to toodle with, but do not want to drop major cash on it just yet. You are, afterall, just getting into this slacklining thing! Well, here are some recommendations.

This is the most basic way to tighten a slackline. Initially it has a 3:1 Mechanical Advantage (MA). It can be increased to 15:1 (theoretical) very easily, and I have put up an 80' line with this (with the help of a friend). The pic to the left shows this setup.

Now, although this is cheap (relative to "advanced" rigs), relaible, and simple it does have a couple drawbacks. For one, it is hard on the webbing. The system relies on friction to stay locked, and this friction is between webbing and webbing. As one might imagine, this can be dangerous if the webbing is allowed to wear too much before retiring it. That, in turn, makes this costly in the long-run.

There are also a couple of thermal concerns with this high-friction setup. Although I have yet to hear a story of this, I have a concern with the use of this system on longer lines (80'+). The biners bearing the load & friction get quite hot during tightening. I am unsure if they get hot enough that the aluminum anneals and softens, but it is a possibility if there is vigorous tightening occuring. At any rate, this hypothesis of mine has yet to be proven true by myself or anyone else I know. While the possibility of the metal being compromised, there is definitely a chance of melting the nylon webbing. Many people have seen the webbing fuse to itself, and there is the potential for the webbing to "melt through" and let your gear go flying at someone.

Finally, I must say that this system probably should not be used for extremely long lines. The longer the line, the greater the required tension, and the more wear there is on the webbing in the friction system. Now, my wear considerations should be taken with a grain of salt. I threw up at least 50 lines with one set of gear using the primitive tensioning method, and the webbing looked fine. I suppose that if one uses the gear enough to wear out the webbing, they will likely benefit from a more advanced tensioning system. All-in-all, I would recommend this system to any newcomer to the sport. Actually, newcomers don't really have any other option!

If you have slacked a bit and are quite sure that you want to make an investment in some gear, then this is a good way to go. This costs a bit less than the pulley tightening system the Slackline Brothers offer, while offering a 6:1 MA. This is a little less hard on the webbing since it has rolling pulley wheels. This still relies on the webbing-webbing friction to lock though, so webbing wear will still be somewhat of an issue. On the up-side, it is also possible to use a 2x multiplier (such as the one in the primitive system) boosting the 6:1 to a 12:1 MA on the SlackJack.

As of now, it is the lightest non-primitive tightening system out there for those concerned about affecting the feel of the line. It also comes with 50' of webbing for tightening, which should be enough for moderately long lines. Although I do not own one, nor have I used one, all reviews of this product seem to be very good. For $100, this is a very good investment in my opinion.

There are other ways to set up a line out there, but none seem as simple as the two mentioned above. Some use ratchet devices, which I feel are too much work, and are not specifically made for this sport. My experiences with ratchets have made me wary of them on anything other than very short lines. Others involve mixes of biners, pulleys and static line. They do not lock, requiring constant pulling by the operator, and it is necessary to tie off the end to maintain tension. All of this leads to the possibility of the line loosening during use, or possibly getting hit with flying gear. While they do work, you just are not saving all that much money, and definitely spending more effort in setup. It is also inadvisable to use your climbing gear for slacklining as it is rough on the pieces.