Ham Hill Midline #2

An hour of clearing brambles and ivy vines

and I was rewarded with the second Ham Hill midline,

Sitting nicely to the right of the first line this new line is 

a few meters shorter but the same height and a lot easier to rig..

Whilst clearing I possibly discovered a new line rigged higher

in the quarry, hopefully spend a day clearing and rigging soon

and will see if it can work..

Hollow Hunter #2

When I first started to look for new lines up the Hollow 

I was quite happy with the new line but after a second rig

I realized that a couple of tree's are too close and the 

line needed to be moved, this was an unwelcome feeling

as this seemed perfect to start with but a whipper into those

tree's might have a bad outcome..

I had intended to use this new line to improve my 32m P.B

but I got distracted with spacenets and quarry hunting so I 

didn't find time to hunt for a new spot for a 40m+ line.. until now

This line is about 40m long (I hope) and has really good exposure,

you can mount safely around 2m out each side and walk-offs are easy

so I'm really stoked to get some training on the go locally so I can start

rigging some quarries in the spring..

'About time'
40m>12m^

Click here for SlackMap

Spacenet #2.. Fun²

'Life doesn't care about your plans'

This is a life lesson 2015 has taught me time after time,

 when I first built the psychedelic spacenet I didn't anticipate it 

taking 5 months to actually find the time to rig it..

Braddy Hollow wasn't my first choice when choosing a location

but its somewhere I know well and its an easy place to rig lines quickly,

but even with all our confidence it still took 3 hours to get the line walkable..

I could claim a send on the 8m red leg that Jon is tied into (above) but 

the main line I really wanted to walk was a 35m long white leg you can

see in the photo below, I managed a few steps on the beast but this was only 

my first few attempts and it was nice to just enjoy being outside having fun..

Hopefully there will be more space net fun coming soon :)

Bristol Harbourside Festival

This year Jacob HiHo invited me to perform a little

demo for Cirque Bijou,

Also managed to win the Bristol Slack Jam competition..

The Psychedelic Spacenet

After the first Spacenet I rigged and walked I wanted to create
something bigger and with the Moab Monkeys providing all 
the inspiration I could need I started planning the next one,
To start with I knew I wanted to use 2.5m roundslings for the 
outer edges so after some persuasion I manged to get 4 brand new
black slings for free from Maverick Slacklines..
Next I purchased 500ft of 550 Paracord from Wild Elk and built a 
large wooden frame to weave on, I find it easier to solo weave a net
using a frame as I can move it around and leaning over a horizontal
net quickly hurts my neck and back..

It still needs some final adjustments but it's 98% ready and as soon
as I can it's getting rigged over a coastal highline with 25m legs, 
hopefully I can get it up over water in the next few weeks too..

 

Ham Hill Midline #1

For 3 years I searched Ham Hill Country Park for a highline, 

I was always reluctant to rig the Deep Quarry area as it seemed

imposing and I didn't feel ready for the challenge but that all 

changed when Rich Pearson decided to have a look and ended up

rigging a beautiful line..

A few weeks after Rich's initial test rig we headed back to try out

the newest addition to Somersets fast growing list of lines, 

Although we didn't walk the whole line today we both managed

 to stand up and take a few steps leaving us happy in the knowledge

this line will be sent soon..

Foggintor Quarry

So Rich messages me and says he has found a new spot 

for a highline that was rigged from M.O.D abseil stakes

and roughly 15m high, it sounded like a good mission

for the weekend ahead..

When we arrived we were faced with a 20 minute hike with

all of our gear or a dirt road that was strictly for M.O.D use only,

we chose to risk the road and within minutes it had become a 

boulder ridden obstacle course more suited to an ATV than 

the trusty estate we were traveling in..

This was the first of many new lines to be established here and 

although we didn't manage to get any sends today I'm sure this

area has a lot to offer..

Click here for SlackMap 

Nine Springs Project #2

Today I spent 2 hours battling through brambles and mud trying

 to see if I could put a line across the large pond in Nine Springs,

 The obvious line there requires a tree to be cut down and that

isn't really an option so I had to try and find a way of crossing

 the gap and eventually with the help of Rich Pearson 

we managed to find a way..

This is 'Fistful Of Thorns'

35m long, 9m high..

We both managed to fullman the line and even at the

start of spring this line had a beautiful setting, I cannot 

wait to re-rig this in the summer..

Nine Springs Project #1

Nine Springs has always been amazing for slacklining,

perfectly flat ground and too many rigging options to count

but since I have started exploring mid/highline options

I wanted to try and develop this beautiful area 

in the middle of Yeovil..

This is my first line 'Spring Has Sprung'..

16m long, 6m high..

I decided to tie back a branch on the left side tree as it 

was too close for a whipper, this line was easy to link

 and  really nice line to play on.. 

Nippon Tv

Sometimes if I  am lucky I might get the odd offer of TV work,

 mostly kids shows but its usually an interesting day out and a 

break from the normal routine of jams and demo's.. 

For this show Maverick were contacted by the Nippon TV hit show ItteQ!

20 million viewers regularly tune in to watch mega-star 手越 祐也 Tegoshi Yuya

perform stunts around the world..

We all headed to the Project Climbing Centre in Poole as it has a perfect set-up

for learning to slackline and its also the best indoor venue in the south-west..

He crushed the beginners line easily with only an hours practice and as it was

all for his TV show the producers wanted a bit of trickline from him, we tried

to explain how hard it is to learn basic tricks but we ended up supporting him

through a few buttbounces.. and then crushed his testicles with a chestbounce :)

Luckily he didn't destroy them and he enjoyed his first experience slacklining..

To watch a clip of the episode click this link,

NTV

Hollow Hunter #1

Since spring is almost here project hunting has gone 

into overdrive, my main goal is to expand upon the

 established Braddy Hollow lines and create a local area

 to push my personal record on highlines this summer..

 I have spent 3 consecutive weekends clearing brush for 

a new 40m line I have found..

The following weekend that I returned the weather

was too bad to try and re-rig the new line so I rigged

the classic in full waterproofs with Rich Pearson and

managed to bag a send..

Click here for SlackMap

  

Spacenet #1.. Small beginnings

After seeing Andy Lewis rig the craziest spacenet mankind had 

ever seen my thoughts have blurred into one long daydream,

I must have been inspired because out of nowhere I found myself 

researching the strength reducing factors of knots and watching

30 minute long Paracord net weaving tutorials..

So I built one...

To start off I worked out my dimensions using three equal length roundslings

in a triangle and with the help of a few tutorials figured out 300ft of 550 Paracord

would be enough with a bit left over, I found UK based company Wild Elk online 

selling 100ft hanks for £6 with £4 delivery.. basically £22 for a spacenet..

I couldn't weave the net outside as I work all week and have no daylight

when I finish and the recent weekend winter weather has been ridiculous

so I built a frame so I could rig indoors and not worry about my lack of sun..

 

The top edge I created girth hithches that could be slipped off the nails and slid

onto a spanset, the downward edges were left free to be knotted the night before..

The net was over-sized in the end and would suit larger spansets, 

we used 2x EQB Canons and an LC Lynx (double wrapped) as the anchor points..

After raising the net and adding some pretension to the white legs we then tied 3

backup ropes to a master ring and hand tensioned them ready for the final pulls.. 

Jon taking a break after we had finished adding all the tension..

       

Click the link for my edit
and footage of the 'Line Launcher' in action..

Spacenet Edit

Line Launcher Project

As it is mid-winter and work commitments 

have reduced my training time to zero I have

been thinking of creating a line launching device,

mostly to make rigging easier but also to satisfy my

desire to fire projectiles like some kind of dirtbag Rambo..

First task was sourcing a bow and luckily a friend had a 

junior compound bow that he was willing to part with for just 

£20 and then I managed to find 3 fiberglass arrows for £5.

I realised that to attach my launch line I would have to drill

a hole in the shaft of my arrow so I decided to create a custom

arrow to better suit my needs, A quick visit to the hardware shop

and I had 2 pieces of Dowel for my 1st attempt at arrow making.

I researched some video's on fletching (putting feathers onto arrows)

and realised I would need a fair few feathers so I started hunting around

for possible places to source them, I remembered seeing Guinea fowl at 

a farm I had been working at and the next time I was there I found a huge

stash of feathers in the back of a barn so I collected a handful .

I selected my favorite 3 feathers and following a Ray Mears tutorial

I split the backs off and sliced the spines through the middle.

The next task is to actually fletch the feathers onto the arrow shaft,

for this I used red nylon thread and finished off with elephant tape.

To add weight to the arrow end I attached a 12mm nut and added

tape to secure it in place..

1st attachment with thread..

Ends taped to add protection and nock put into end of shaft..

12mm nut added for weight and secured with tape..

I have found 1000ft of Paracord for £15 so thats my next purchase

and then I will start running a few tests to gauge what kind of distance

I can achieve, I have a few more adjustments to make to the bow to 

hold my paracord and then I am hoping to upload a video of it being used..