**Building a DIY Zipline: A Step-by-Step Guide**

When it comes to backyard fun and adventure, building a DIY zipline can be an exciting project for families and thrill-seekers alike. In this article, we'll take you through the process of creating a custom zipline using readily available materials.

The first step in building our DIY zipline was to gather all the necessary components. We started by sourcing a long piece of cable, which would serve as the main line for our zipline. The cord that comes out of most power saws is perfect for this purpose, and its durability makes it an ideal choice for outdoor use. Next, we needed some sacrificial material to wear down at the point where the cable meets the ground. We used a cutting board made from soft plastic, which would absorb any shock and eventually become worn out.

We then proceeded to cut our cable into equal-sized pieces using a miter saw. This process involved melting the plastic with the saw, making it easier to cut through. The size of the pieces was dictated by the hardware we chose for attaching them together, so we carefully measured and cut each piece to fit snugly next to its neighbor. To create a channel for our cable, we used two of these pieces and drilled grooves into their middle sections. These channels would provide a smooth path for the cable as it traveled up and down the zipline.

To attach our hardware together, we numbered our pieces with pencil marks and then took them apart to sandwich them around the main line. We made sure that each piece was aligned correctly before reassembling everything, ensuring that the bolts went through from both sides. To secure everything in place, we applied Loctite to prevent any movement or shifting of parts.

With our hardware safely attached, we turned our attention to adding a braking system. This would allow us to adjust the tension and control the speed at which people rode the zipline. We added two bungee cords with carabiners on either end, making it easy to pull back when needed. We also included an extra string that made it simple to pull the entire system towards itself.

Before we began construction, we must acknowledge that building a DIY zipline comes with inherent risks and requires careful consideration of safety. This project should not be undertaken without proper precautions and planning, as there is always a chance of accidents or injuries occurring. It's essential to assess your local regulations and consider the age and abilities of anyone who may use the zipline.

To add some variety to our DIY zipline, we decided to incorporate multiple height levels using carabiners attached to pulleys. This allowed us to create different stopping points for riders at various heights, making it suitable for children or adults alike. We also experimented with adjusting the cable's speed by tightening or loosening the main line.

One of the most exciting aspects of this project was its customization potential. We could easily change the length and angle of our zipline depending on our tree setup, allowing us to create a unique experience tailored to our specific environment. By experimenting with different angles and speeds, we found that an optimal height of 4° provided an exhilarating yet safe ride for all participants.

**Conclusion**

In conclusion, building a DIY zipline can be a fun and rewarding project for families and adventure-seekers. With the right materials and planning, you can create a custom-made zipline suitable for your space and needs. Be sure to check out our resources page in the link below for affiliate links to all the necessary components needed for this project.

**Resources:**

* [Like and Subscribe](link)

* [More Project Videos](link)

* [Live Q&A with Mark Spagnolo (September 30th)](link)

Please visit I Like Stuff.com for more content, including other DIY projects and tutorials. We invite you to share your own DIY projects and photos on social media using the hashtag #ILikeStuff, and we can't wait to see what you create!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey I'm Bob and I like to make stuff today I'm going to show you how to make a zip line you're going to start with some rubber hose some carabiners a climbing pulley couple of clamp sets and some steel cable this cable is 38 of an inch and it's rated for 1,500 lb so it's more than strong enough for what we're trying to do here you loosen three clamps slide them over the wire then slide over the hose and then wrap it around the tree now the hose is going to stop the wire from digging into the tree and damaging it once you've got enough excess wire around the tree feed it back through the clamps and then space the clamps out anywhere from 6 to 10 in you want to make sure that there's plenty of cable going through the clamps and there's plenty of space in between them so just in case something loosens up you've got a lot of cable that can pull back through and grab in the clamp it's just kind of a safeguard make sure to tighten down all six of the nuts really really hard and then move on to the other side for the other side you do the exact same thing the only difference here is that you're probably going to have a whole lot more extra cable that you're going to have to pull through now of course you can trim it off but you want to make sure that you leave enough so that you can adjust the tension of the wire after you get on it and try it out the overall tightness of this wire is going to have a lot to do with the speed of the zip line when you're all done just feed the excess back up through the clamps and then stick it up into the hose just to keep the end out of the way to make the handle I got some small PVC pipe that way it would be small enough for my kids hands to reach around I cut it to length and then marked in 2 in from each end it's a good idea to use the text on the pipe to keep the marks in line with each other then you just drill a hole at each one of the marks to finish it off I use some relatively strong nylon cord I cut off The Frayed End and then melted it with a lighter this will stop it from fraying again you want to make sure you have plenty of length of this cord and then you just feed it through one end it's a little tedious to get it pushed up through the second hole so you might just want to drill your hole a little bit bigger than you think you need it also the drill leaves kind of a sharp edge on the hole so the nylon doesn't slide too well tie a simple knot on one end and then while you're keeping the cord tight on the inside of the pipe tie a simple knot on the other now you could go a little bit fancier with this handle but I wanted to make sure that the ends were open so just in case moisture got in there or water it could drain out easily take both cords together and tie a kn so that you get a double Loop hanging out at the top the last thing to make is a sacrificial breake I'm saying sacrificial because it's made out of a cutting board which is kind of a soft plastic and it's going to be running over a metal cable eventually it's going to wear out and you're going to have to replace it but luckily it's pretty cheap when you cut this stuff with a miter saw it melts it and cuts it at the same time so you end up with this kind of plastic fro you have to trim off with a blade I cut it down into for basically equal siiz pieces so that I could sandwich it around the cable now the size for these pieces was dictated purely by the hardware that I was using to attach it then I used the rter table to put a Groove down the middle of two of the pieces you'll probably have to clean out this Grove with a chisel or something because that melted plastic stays in there these grooves come together to make a channel for the cable I lined all the pieces up and then taped them together so that I could drill some holes I laid on the hardware that I wanted and then marked where the holes needed to be and then took it over to the drill press and just keep in mind this plastic is a lot more slippery than what you might be used to with drilling into wood so make sure you keep a tight grip on this thing or it'll go flying when you untape it for a test fit make sure that you keep all the pieces in the right order in fact I ended up numbering mine with a pencil then you got to take it back apart and sandwich it around the cable you put it back the exact same way pushing the bolts through and then putting nuts in from the other side you probably want to use some Loctite or something like that to make sure that the bolts and nuts stay in place tighten them all up and you're good to go and the rest of it really simple you're going to attach the brake to something stationary like a fence post using bungee cords and carabiners you don't want to make anything permanent because you're probably going to have to adjust the tension of the bungee cords based on the stopping distance that you have pulley goes over the cable and then you put a carabiner through now I use two of them here so that I can have a low height and a high height for kids or adults I also added an extra string that makes it easy to pull back now obviously you have to build this at your own risk you have to decide whether you think it's safe for your children in your environment everyone is different and so you just have to use discretion to decide it's a lot of fun both for kids and for adults I really enjoy it the cool thing is that you can change almost everything about it to make it fit your space obviously you can make it shorter and longer because everybody's going to have a different tree set up a different length that they're trying to cover you can also change the speed of the zipline by tightening or loosening the cable you can change the braking distance by shortening or lengthening the bungee cords that are attached to it and depending on your trees you can adjust the angle of it so if you want the starting point to be a lot higher or a little bit higher but I think a pretty common angle is 4° so if you like this video be sure to hit the like button down there so that I know it and if you know anybody with kids or anybody that would just like a zipline be sure to share this around I think a lot of people might think that this is an expensive or difficult project but it's actually really not and it makes a backyard or just a big space a lot of fun if you want to make one of these of your own I'm going to have a link down in the description that's going to go to my site I like toak stuff.com with a bunch of affiliate links for every single thing that you'll need if you buy those items through those links I get a little bit back from it so it helps me out quite a bit if you want to see some more project videos I got some more here I have the next episode of Brain pck coming up with Mark spagnolo on September 30th at 9:30 Eastern Standard Time that's a live Q&A show where you can ask him or me any question that you want about our projects or about our skills or about whatever you want and if you want to show me some stuff you're working on show me on Instagram or Facebook or come to I likic stuff.com and check out more content thanks for watching guys see you next timehey I'm Bob and I like to make stuff today I'm going to show you how to make a zip line you're going to start with some rubber hose some carabiners a climbing pulley couple of clamp sets and some steel cable this cable is 38 of an inch and it's rated for 1,500 lb so it's more than strong enough for what we're trying to do here you loosen three clamps slide them over the wire then slide over the hose and then wrap it around the tree now the hose is going to stop the wire from digging into the tree and damaging it once you've got enough excess wire around the tree feed it back through the clamps and then space the clamps out anywhere from 6 to 10 in you want to make sure that there's plenty of cable going through the clamps and there's plenty of space in between them so just in case something loosens up you've got a lot of cable that can pull back through and grab in the clamp it's just kind of a safeguard make sure to tighten down all six of the nuts really really hard and then move on to the other side for the other side you do the exact same thing the only difference here is that you're probably going to have a whole lot more extra cable that you're going to have to pull through now of course you can trim it off but you want to make sure that you leave enough so that you can adjust the tension of the wire after you get on it and try it out the overall tightness of this wire is going to have a lot to do with the speed of the zip line when you're all done just feed the excess back up through the clamps and then stick it up into the hose just to keep the end out of the way to make the handle I got some small PVC pipe that way it would be small enough for my kids hands to reach around I cut it to length and then marked in 2 in from each end it's a good idea to use the text on the pipe to keep the marks in line with each other then you just drill a hole at each one of the marks to finish it off I use some relatively strong nylon cord I cut off The Frayed End and then melted it with a lighter this will stop it from fraying again you want to make sure you have plenty of length of this cord and then you just feed it through one end it's a little tedious to get it pushed up through the second hole so you might just want to drill your hole a little bit bigger than you think you need it also the drill leaves kind of a sharp edge on the hole so the nylon doesn't slide too well tie a simple knot on one end and then while you're keeping the cord tight on the inside of the pipe tie a simple knot on the other now you could go a little bit fancier with this handle but I wanted to make sure that the ends were open so just in case moisture got in there or water it could drain out easily take both cords together and tie a kn so that you get a double Loop hanging out at the top the last thing to make is a sacrificial breake I'm saying sacrificial because it's made out of a cutting board which is kind of a soft plastic and it's going to be running over a metal cable eventually it's going to wear out and you're going to have to replace it but luckily it's pretty cheap when you cut this stuff with a miter saw it melts it and cuts it at the same time so you end up with this kind of plastic fro you have to trim off with a blade I cut it down into for basically equal siiz pieces so that I could sandwich it around the cable now the size for these pieces was dictated purely by the hardware that I was using to attach it then I used the rter table to put a Groove down the middle of two of the pieces you'll probably have to clean out this Grove with a chisel or something because that melted plastic stays in there these grooves come together to make a channel for the cable I lined all the pieces up and then taped them together so that I could drill some holes I laid on the hardware that I wanted and then marked where the holes needed to be and then took it over to the drill press and just keep in mind this plastic is a lot more slippery than what you might be used to with drilling into wood so make sure you keep a tight grip on this thing or it'll go flying when you untape it for a test fit make sure that you keep all the pieces in the right order in fact I ended up numbering mine with a pencil then you got to take it back apart and sandwich it around the cable you put it back the exact same way pushing the bolts through and then putting nuts in from the other side you probably want to use some Loctite or something like that to make sure that the bolts and nuts stay in place tighten them all up and you're good to go and the rest of it really simple you're going to attach the brake to something stationary like a fence post using bungee cords and carabiners you don't want to make anything permanent because you're probably going to have to adjust the tension of the bungee cords based on the stopping distance that you have pulley goes over the cable and then you put a carabiner through now I use two of them here so that I can have a low height and a high height for kids or adults I also added an extra string that makes it easy to pull back now obviously you have to build this at your own risk you have to decide whether you think it's safe for your children in your environment everyone is different and so you just have to use discretion to decide it's a lot of fun both for kids and for adults I really enjoy it the cool thing is that you can change almost everything about it to make it fit your space obviously you can make it shorter and longer because everybody's going to have a different tree set up a different length that they're trying to cover you can also change the speed of the zipline by tightening or loosening the cable you can change the braking distance by shortening or lengthening the bungee cords that are attached to it and depending on your trees you can adjust the angle of it so if you want the starting point to be a lot higher or a little bit higher but I think a pretty common angle is 4° so if you like this video be sure to hit the like button down there so that I know it and if you know anybody with kids or anybody that would just like a zipline be sure to share this around I think a lot of people might think that this is an expensive or difficult project but it's actually really not and it makes a backyard or just a big space a lot of fun if you want to make one of these of your own I'm going to have a link down in the description that's going to go to my site I like toak stuff.com with a bunch of affiliate links for every single thing that you'll need if you buy those items through those links I get a little bit back from it so it helps me out quite a bit if you want to see some more project videos I got some more here I have the next episode of Brain pck coming up with Mark spagnolo on September 30th at 9:30 Eastern Standard Time that's a live Q&A show where you can ask him or me any question that you want about our projects or about our skills or about whatever you want and if you want to show me some stuff you're working on show me on Instagram or Facebook or come to I likic stuff.com and check out more content thanks for watching guys see you next time\n"