Highline Backup fall simulator

Highlining is a dangerous sport, coding and thinking you know eveything is worse!

Make sure to read all the text. It should contain all the information necessary to understand how this page works.

Please understand that this simulation has not been validated by real life tests yet.

I believe the calculations to be correct, but any results that come out of this model should be taken with caution. It it only a tool to help take decisions, not a safety measure.

Welcome to the simulation

Webbings specification

Here is where you can enter the specifications of each webbing in your setup. You can find those characteristics on the manufacturer's website, or on the slackline database.

For each webbing type, specify the weight in grams per meter (important for long set-ups), the stretch in percentage, and the force in kN at which this stretch is measured. You can also change the name of the webbings at your convenience. A set of default webbings loads automatically, but you can entirely customize them.


You can save webbings to your browser's memory, and load them from there too.

Saving will replace previously saved webbings by the current ones.

Setup construction

Setups from browser memory:
Indicate a name to save the setup to your browser's memory:

Enter below each section of your setup, in order. For each section, specify the type of webbing of the mainline and the backup line, from the list you created above. Specify also the length of each segment. Specify whether there is a mainline/backup line connection between the segments.

For a mainline/backup line connection in the middle of a section (e.g. T-loop), split that into two different sections for the modelisation, with a connection in the middle.

Do not worry about the exact total length of your setup for now, you can adjust the tension later. This is the setup as you put it in your bags, before rigging it.

When you are done, select which section(s) of mainline will fail when we run the simulation.

Spot specification

Now you specify the caracteristics of the spot where the line will be rigged. We need the distance between the two anchors, and their height. Since not all lines are level, you can choose the height of both anchors. The sections above will be rigged left to right across the spot. Tension happens just below.

If you want to see the results in terms of sag, enter 0 as the heigth of the anchors. If you want are worried about an obstacle below the line, enter the height of the anchors relative to this obstacle.

Rig your line

You can adjust the tension of your line in two ways: automatic tensioning by specifying a tension, or by manually pulling some length of webbing from one side or the other.

Automatic tensioning

Simply specify the desired tension and choose from which side you pull to automatically get to that tension.

Manual tensioning

Adjust the tension of your line as you would in a real spot: by pulling in some of the webbing on either side. Use decimals to tune exactly your tension.

Slackliner

Describe the slackliner, their position on the line, and the amplitude of their bounce.

Results

Click the button to run the model with the setup and parameters you have entered above.