Longline | Dreamwalkers

PureLock Review

Published in blog, Highline, Longline, Review

on 23 juni 2016

by Tom Peek

Hey everyone! Today, we’ll be writing a review about the PureLock, the new all-in-one linelocker from the Australian brand Pure Slacklines. Before I’ll get into detail, I must make a sidenote that I could be partly biased. I’m working for one of the major slackline brands at the moment (insiders know which one), and we are also selling one of the direct competitors of the PureLock. However when I am not working, I am an avid slackliner and gear enthousiast. I received one PureLock a few weeks ago, and I have put it to use quite a few times. This hopefully puts me in a good position to write some words about the PureLock.

First of all, let’s start with the design. As soon as I received the box, I was amazed by the lack of weight. It was hard to believe that there was a weblock and a shackle inside. The PureLock is CNC milled from a block of 7075 aluminium, which seems to become the standard nowadays for weblocks. Due to this, the PureLock weighs a total of 243 grams.

The design is different from all weblocks on the market and slighty reminds of Landcruisings Airbow + Lockman combination, which has only been in prototype production so far. It consists of an aluminium shackle body and a lock insert. There are a few interesting things here. First of all, there is an aluminium shackle which is used in a very clever way. The front pin as the shackle also acts as the front pin of the weblock. This saves a lot of weight, and allows for a variety of connections to be made straight to the shackle bow. The lock insert can be removed and added easily from the shackles body.

It seems fairly big in comparison to other weblocks (see picture), but it is lighter than any other weblock + shackle combination. Only the Lynx 4 beats it at 197g and 230g, but they don’t come with a built-in shackle. All in all, I think it’s impressive to offer a weblock and a shackle at such weight and size. Even just the aluminium shackle would be a joy to use on projects where light weight is required. The bow is a fairly bit bigger than the bow of a standard 12mm stainless steel shackle. I find that especially on highliners, a bigger shackle bow allows your rig to equalize better when you are working with strands of static rope or multiple strands of spansets. This brings me to the functionality part of the PureLock.

The most noteworthy thing here is the fact that there is a shackle built into the weblock which you can access. This means you can install it directly in pulleys, to slings, to a soft-release system or as your main anchor point on a highline setup. Once your shackle is in place, you can insert the locking part and your shackle will be closed. The huge variety is a big plus for this weblock. For highlines, I like building my anchors from static rope. The PureLock seems perfect for this, as the shackle bow has enough space to accomodate many strands of spansets. In the pictures I have used 8mm rope. In this way it offers the same benefits as a Ramlock, with an added pretensioning function. You don’t need any other connectors for this weblock, as the weblock is the connecter itself. This function we have seen in weblocks with a double push pin, but they don’t have the ability to be tri-loaded. Versatilty is the key feature of the PureLock, and it does a pretty good job at it!

However, in my opinion it is not yet the perfect weblock design. The function to use your weblock as a rigging plate has been really useful to me, and is something that I would miss when creating lightweight rigging systems. Hopefully in the future, gear designers will be able to combine all these functions into the first true all-in-one multi purpose weblock. Still, I would absolutely take the PureLock for projects where a lightweight setup is required.

The construction is quite clever, and high quality springs are used to keep the shackle pin and lock insert in place. As Philipp Gesing mentioned in his review about the PureLock, the clicking noise sounds very clear and indicates a high quality weblock. So far, I have gently abused my PureLock. It has seen action on a waterline where it got wet and covered with sand. There seems to be no impact to the internal mechanisms, and I am fairly sure it would hold up well in the future. One note: it’s easier to replace a push pin on a weblock than any part of the PureLock. On the same note, I would have really liked to see a small cord keeping the lock insert and shackle connected. Pure Slacklines did a good job by eliminating the need for a cord cor the pin, but I’m sure I’ll be really, really careful when handling my PureLock in places where a dropped lock insert would mean a failed project.

Now let’s talk about how the PureLock actually does as a weblock. Attaching goes easy, thanks to the big bow. The lock insert slides in fine and easy, and you can install your webbing. It’s easy that you can install the pushpin easily with one hand, as it’s captive and will always be pushed in straight. Once it locks (click!) into place, you are ready to pretension. It pretensions smooth and well, also with a Buckingham system. However, the side plates are quite low. It doesn’t hold a 1.5 wrap, double wrap or double webbing. Because of the low sideplates, the mainline would ‘walk’ out of the weblock a lot faster than on other weblocks, especially with thicker webbings. This is something to pay attention to when highlining with the low tensions nowadays with all weblocks, but especially with this one.

Another small note: the PureLock is really not easy to open with one hand. You need two hands to operate the device, and take the front pin out. I found this out when hanging with one hand from a branch 5 meter above the ground while derigging a waterline.

All in all it’s a really interesting weblock. The design shies away from the conventional one with two (bent) sideplates. This is a development that I can only encourage. It does many things well, many things exceptionally well (low weight, versatility), and some things not-so-well. It is surely in the top of the market when it comes to design, production and quality. I am sure I’ll have one in my pack regularly, as the versatility and low weight overcome the minor flaws that it has. Overall, it is a good weblock, but not perfect in my opinion. The perfect weblock still needs to be invented. I am interested to see how the PureLock holds up against it’s German counterpart which is still in prototype phase, the Landcruising Airbolt.

Soon we will take a look at the SeaHorse from Slacktivity, another weblock that offers some unique innovations and key features. Perhaps I’ll review some more weblocks if there is a demand for it!

Informatie over geneesmiddelen verandert regelmatig. Sommige geneesmiddelen zijn populair. Andere werken voor bepaalde ziekten zoals schizofrenie. Typisch, zowel mannen als vrouwen hebben last van seksuele disfuncties. Als u geïnteresseerd bent in viagra bestellen zijn waarschijnlijk wensen u om te leren over viagra 100mg. Wellicht weet je over “viagra kopen“. De meest gedenkwaardige wat je moet zoeken is “viagra voor vrouwen“. By the way, zijn er verschillende verklaringen en beroepsbeoefenaren in de gezondheidszorg zijn gewoonlijk in staat om uw probleem te lokaliseren door middel van psychologische tests. Sommige geneesmiddelen kunnen bijwerkingen veroorzaken. Dit geneesmiddel is alleen voor u. Nooit op te geven Viagra naar andere mensen, zelfs als de verschijnselen dezelfde zijn als de jouwe.

405m World Record Longline

Published in blog, Longline, Projects

on 29 oktober 2014

by Tom Peek

with 5 Comments

Text by Yuri

“I stared in the distance. The far, far point of the end in the distance. It was too far away to even think about walking this thing, this line, this beast completely, so I just stared down for a minute. Getting ready. A deep breath, and I stood up.”

The idea

August. I have been traveling from country to country, highline to highline, friend to friend. Philipp Gesing told me about this project he wanted to do. A LONG one. 440m long to be exact and he said he even had the perfect spot. The webbing he would get from GAMBIT-slacklines, the pulley system rope from slackliner.de, and all this would take place at the end of October. It all sounded a bit silly, since my longest line so far was not even half of that (211m) and I was nowhere near ready for a line this big, mentally or physically. Stubborn me, I started training two weeks after my holiday ended (14th of September). One month to go!

The training

Longlining is all about endurance, mentally as well as physically, controlling the weight of the line you’re walking. The heavier the line, the stronger the vibrations will be, and the heavier it will be on the core. Thus, long heavy lines can drain LOTS of energy very quickly, if you fight with the line too much. You really need to relax and not allow the vibrations to develop in the first place. The 440m would be just over 25kg so I decided to completely focus my training on this number. To assure myself of success, I decided I needed to walk a line which was at least 3kg heavier, so I asked Jonas to use his 150m piece of heavy Black & White to double up with mine. Once I had this, it was time to train heavy!

155m double Black & White (Slacktivity, 178g/m): 27.6kg

Being 10kg heavier than the heaviest line I ever tried, I thought I had no chance. Weirdly enough I walked until 30 meters before the end without falling during the first session, which gave me a lot of hope for actually having a chance at the 440m. The thing with lines like these and a flat ground without natural dip, is that you have to hang them very high (4-4,5m) to actually make them comparable to a single line with the same weight. This means, when you fall near the ends, you absolutely HAVE to catch the line, otherwise there is a big chance of breaking yourself, as I nearly did just at the start of my training. Near the end of my second session I came close to crossing the line. I was about three meters away from the ground, feeling very loose, and trusting my catching skills absolutely. I lost balance, reached for the line with my left hand and… I missed. For one endless second I was weightless in the air. I didn’t really know what was happening, but it felt great. Then I landed on the right side of my back, and I couldn’t breathe anymore. I was rolling around like this for about 10 seconds. People were standing around me, asking if they should call the ambulance. Luckily my friend Annelies came quickly running from the other side of the line, and told the people it was ok. I lay on my back for a few minutes and besides being a bit stiff, everything was fine. I guess this was a fair warning that I’m a bit more vulnerable then I realized.
After about six of these two to four hour sessions I finally sent the line fully without falling. Training was far from done, though, so time for the next step… 185m double! Since I already wrote a blog about this line, I won’t bore you with the details, but just post the link here; http://www.dreamwalkers.nl/longline-training-double-185m/

One week to go

Endurance: 60m double Core2HS
One week before the record attempt, I still had to train my endurance. After all, I would need about 30 minutes of walking to cross the line, in my estimation. So I put on 1kg weights on both my wrists, and had three sessions of one long, continuous 500m walk along the 60m line. Feeling far from ready (besides, I didn’t stand on a single strand line for over 2 months, oops), I left Holland and started my hitchhiking.

One day left

Philipp and I decided to set up a training line before we would actually rig the beast the following day. 335m of single line (finally some single line training). Even though we had a great 9:1 pulley system with an MPD as brake, having only two people to rig this line was a bit ambitious. After pulling in about 150m of rope, with just one meter of pulley system left, the line was far from completely tensioned. The natural dip was about 8-9m, however at this low tension there would have needed to be an additional 3m of sag for the line to be walkable all the way. Luckily it was possible to walk to a third and after a few attempts I managed to do this pretty smoothly without falling, but this was still a LOT shorter than the actual line… The line was very powerful and I was completely drained after walking about 200m of the line in total. I began to lose hope for the line the next day.
Just before we left we checked out the 440m spot. Since it was not such a good spot, and we’d have to be at least 5m in the tree on one side, we decided we would go a bit shorter, and we found the perfect spot for: 405m, ~4m natural sag, 3m high anchor on one side, and 4m on the other side.

Record attempt day

Since there was seven people, it was a lot easier to tension the lines. Hari (Helmut Netzwerker) and I started to set up the 405m line, and the others worked on a 280m nylon line. First we tensioned the 280 with everyone, and then went over to the 405m polyester line to make it walkable. I was getting a bit nervous. What if I had no chance at all? Would all my hard work have been for nothing?
Almost ready, we let the line relax a bit and had a quick lunch, because the last thing we would want is to hit the ground after walking 300m of the line. However, I just needed to try the line, I was too nervous to wait. I think Hari noticed this, because within one minute he was there to help me tension. Quickly it was done, and I immediately got onto the line. I stared in the distance. The far, far point of the end in the distance. It was too far away to even think about walking this thing, this line, this beast completely, so I just stared down for a minute. Getting ready. A deep breath, and I stood up.

The Walk

To my surprise, the line didn’t do anything, and I was completely calm. I started walking quicker and quicker. It was like it was walking on a 20 meter line. Why was it so still? Was the hard part about to hit me and throw me off? I didn’t have any music on, so I heard the people talking. “Man, is he going to onsight it?”, after walking 100m of the line flawlessly in the first 5 minutes. “Shut up” was my reaction (sorry Dan). I couldn’t think about sending. Sooner or later I would make a misstep, that was one thing I knew for sure.

Halfway. Everything had gone smoothly so far, but now the fight began. The first time I gave a shake to the line. I wasn’t ready for the super delayed oscillations that a huge line like this would produce. My body reacted too quickly, which meant I only shook the line more. For about half a minute I was standing in one position, fighting the line, not thinking about going any further. I shouted as loud as I could, and at that moment my muscles relaxed and slowly but steadily the shakes stopped and I continued walking.
So far I’ve only been looking down, not more than 10 meters in front of me. I quickly glanced up to see how far I’d come. It felt like I would never reach the end. About 200m to go, more than 500 perfect steps in front of me. It seemed impossible.

The last quarter. I felt everyone staring at me in my back. I still didn’t think I would make it. The last 50 meters quickly went up to 4 meters of the ground, and usually I have a really hard time with the end. I wasn’t too nervous. After all, I wouldn’t make it all the way to the end anyways, but it was a good try, right? Closer, 20 meters away from the end. Still no fight, the line got easier and easier. Wait… Can I really make this? The last 10 meters it struck me; I can actually walk this line! The line started vibrating rapidly under my feet, I stood on one leg, fought, regained myself, and started to almost run. 5 meters to go, I heard people yelling, but I wasn’t there yet. 3… 2… 1… I screamed. I had made it!

Yuri and Tom training on a 185m double longline

LONGline training – double 185m

Published in blog, Longline

on 24 september 2014

by Jonas Konijnenberg

with still no comments

At the end of September, and the beginning of October, Tom and Yuri got 500 meters of heavy webbing to their disposal to train their longlining skills to the extremes.
Tuesday morning, 23rd of September; it’s time! Time to get up early, carry 45kg of longlining gear to Leijpark, Tilburg, shut mind off the mind, and train. 185 meters of double webbing was the mission of the day. It took us about one hour to set the line up, and then it was play-time.Report by Yuri
Filming by Yuri and Tom, edit by Jonas

Tuesday morning, 23rd of September; It’s time! Time to get up early, carry 45kg of longlining gear to Leijpark, Tilburg, clear the mind and train. 185 meters of double webbing (more than twice as hard as a 185m line, so comparable to a 450m normal line!!) was the mission of the day.
It took us about one hour to set the line up and then it was play-time.Standing next to the line and giving it a big shake, I saw the vibration traveling to the other side and back, giving me a huge slapback. It was rather intimidating seeing (and feeling) the huge and powerful dynamics of this line. It weighs about 30kg in total. These 30kg you then have to control, with just your arms and core.

I climbed up to the line (since it was 4 meters high), sat, got mentally ready, and stood up. First it’s like standing on a soft fence. You take two steps, and suddenly the whole fence starts to move. You try to stabilize by sending a control-shake, so that it would stop moving sideways. The shakes come back, it’s too heavy to hold, it starts oscillating more, and…

BOOM!!! Suddenly you’re hanging under the line.

The beginning and the end of lines like these are the hardest. Heavy oscillations that don’t stop, because you have no room to move, but everything in front of you is moving and at the same time you’re 4 meters of the ground. This makes finally getting to a quarter feel very rewarding and safe. And then.. It’s time for sore muscles!Since it’s only the second time we rigged this huge line, you start to value the moments of complete balance and rest. Walking without shakes, without sideway movements, without any movements, but the slow controlled steps you take and the air you deeply inhalate. Then comes the moment you give a shake. Everything around you starts to move, the balance is gone, and the fight starts again. The shakes are so heavy, you have to clench your lower back to stay on the line no matter what. Then it becomes quiet again. Two steps. Repeat.

After a session like this (four crossings of the entire line in total) you are totally drained, physically as much as mentally. The lower back and shoulders hurt, tiredness takes over, and you think about the wonderful bed that awaits you when you get home. This feeling of being totally empty is also a feeling of content for me. I have done everything I can today. Tomorrow however, is another day.

Longline / CATEGORY ARCHIVES