I am 49 years old and learned how to ride the unicycle about 3 years ago. Now I am also thinking of learning how to “Slackline”. Both unicycling and “slacklining” seem to have a couple of things in common in that they both require concentration and balance.
For those of you that ride a unicycle and also slackline which would you say is harder to learn??? Also which activity would you say has a higher incidence of injuries???
For those of you that don’t know what slacklining is click on the link below.
Slacklining is easy to learn, although a lot depends on the length and height of the line. I would say unicycling is easy to learn, also. I guess it depends on how you qualify easy. To get past the basics of just staying on the line it requires more time. As you get better you can try it with your eyes closed, hands behind your back, jump turns, surfing, etc. It is as easy or difficult as you want to make it, just like uni. The biggest difference I noticed was that slacklining is more about side to side balance as you walk forwards or backwards on the line, while uni is more about front to back balance. For a variation try to put your feet perpendicular to the slackline. Uni and slacking both require perseverance like any activity that you want to get better at. They are both a lot of fun.
You can get hurt slacking, but it would be rare if you are on grass and your line is less than 50 feet long. Uni is definitely more dangerous than slacklining. When you start walking lines over 100+ feet they can be a little trickier, and require good dismounting skills. I do not wear a helmet or pads when slacking, unless I’m highlining and could slam my head into the side of the canyon wall. I always wear a helmet and pads when I go Muni’ing.
I’m only 44, and have to decide what new sports to take up after this! Kite surfing, kayak polo…hmmm???
i dont know how to slack line. ive tried it but never gave much effort. i thinkit would be relatively easy to leard. but again, its about what you do on it. as for unicycling, it took me about a weekend of all day practicing to be able to ride a few feet. weeks to get really good at it. im not sure what im trying to say but thats my input.
It looks like a lot of fun but you need too much equipment and set up time. Throw the Uni in the car, take it out, and you’re in business. I think if you have the trees in your yard and you can leave one up for a prolonged period of time then do both.
I own this kit, and it takes me maybe five minutes to set up a 45 foot line between two trees. It’s incredibly simple, and very quick with a winch kit such as mine.
From slacklineexpress.com, you get the strongest, easiest to set kit (Primo 50) for eighty bucks. That’s what I’ve got, and it’s the best out there unless you want to spend hundreds on highlining gear.
this is after a few days of practice, thousands of attempts (many successful) at coasting over several years, and a few weeks total on the slack-cable.
hey, i slackline and unicycle. It took me much longer to learn how to unicycle rather than slackline. Slacklining is a lot of fun though, I have been slacklining for about 1 1/2 years and im having a great time! If you want it to be easier when you are learning, but it between two relatively close points, maybe 15-20 feet, and make it very tight. It will make it much easier to learn on. And it only takes about 5 mins to set up when you get used to it, and dont leave it up for a long time or overnight, it is very bad for it!
-David
I’d like to try slacklining, but I know really nothing about it. Could someone please link me to a “kit” (is that what it’s called?) that I could buy and be good to go to learn some basic stuff? It would be great if it was like at least 40 ft long and not more that $100.
It would be great if it was like at least 40 ft long and not more that $100.