REASONS TO BUY
Inexpensive
Long length
Beginner friendly
REASONS TO AVOID
Minimal features
Slackline Industries Base Line Review
This amazingly priced slackline is perfect for those wanting to start walking longer lines
Slackline Industries Baseline
Credit: Slackline Industries
RELATED: Best Slackline
Our Verdict
Slackline Industries is a newer slackline company that grew from the former US-based distributors of Gibbon Slacklines. They have put their years of experience selling Gibbon lines into creating several improvements to the standard 2-inch line, as well as throwing in some handy extra features. The Slackline Industries Base Line is a great and relatively inexpensive beginner slackline with a nice long length earning it a Best Buy award. It comes with durable webbing that is stiff and easy for beginners to learn on, yet bouncy enough for the intermediate walker. It also boasts a 78' long piece of webbing and an 8' ratchet which provides the option for longer lines and comes with tree protection that's easy to velcro into place. Our review of the best slacklines shows how it stacks up versus competing products.
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product
Slackline Industries Base Line | |||||
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| Awards |  | | |||
| Price | $80 List | $87 List $64.95 at Amazon | $90 List | $43 List $42.99 at Amazon | $55 List $54.99 at Amazon |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Bottom Line | If a long slackline is what you are after, but don't want to spend a fortune, this is what you are looking for | If you are a beginner looking to try slacklining, this kit has all the features to get you started | Great for stunts and surfing but is somewhat limited by its length | This fully featured kit has everything needed to assist the first time slacker | This is a basic, but a high quality kit that is great for a casual day out slacklining with friends, or learning on |
| Rating Categories | Industries Base Line | Zen Monkey Complete... | Industries Trick Line | Zero Gravity Kit | Flybold Slackline Kit |
| Ease of Set-Up (20%) | |||||
| Versatility (20%) | |||||
| Quality (20%) | |||||
| Disassembly (20%) | |||||
| Features (20%) | |||||
| Specs | Industries Base Line | Zen Monkey Complete... | Industries Trick Line | Zero Gravity Kit | Flybold Slackline Kit |
| Width | 2 in | 2 in | 2 in | 2 in | 2 in |
| Features | Tree pro, carry bag, ratchet cover | Overhead training line & ratchet, arm trainer, tree protectors w/ loops, cloth carry bag | Safetly line, tree protection, ratchet cover | Carry bag, ratchet w/ molded finger grip & smooth operation, tree protectors | Tree pro, carrying bag |
| Time to Rig | 5 minutes | 5 minutes | 5 minutes | 5 minutes | 5 minutes |
| Tightening System | Ratchet | Ratchet | Ratchet | Ratchet | Ratchet |
| Anchor Length | 8 feet | 8 feet | 8 feet | 8 feet | 8.33 feet |
Show full specification details ▼Hide full specification details ▲
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Slackline Industries Base Line Kit covers the "bases" for the beginner-intermediate slackliner. Designed with the novice in mind, this is an easy line to learn on. The 2-inch webbing has a nice stable feel underfoot, while the improved weave of the webbing over the original 2-inch lines of yesteryear gives it enough bounce to be fun as you begin to progress into entry-level tricks. For this review, we tested the 82-foot line (78' slackline + 8' ratchet) and includes tree protection.
Performance Comparison
Whether you are learning to walk or making the jump into tricks, this model covers the basics and then some.
Credit: Nicky Bunn
Ease of Set-up
The Base Line is simple to set-up, even for the least mechanically inclined person. It has a ratchet-based tensioning system that makes set-up quicker and simpler than a traditional slackline.
This ratchet worked extremely well and the rubberized grip and safety release were comfortable to hold.
Credit: Leslie Yedor
The trickiest part about setting up any slackline of this nature is finding appropriate anchors. The most commonly used option is mature trees with sizable trunks. This model has eight feet of webbing on the ratchet end, giving it one of the longest anchors of the lines we tested. This provides plenty of length to fit around the majority of trees found in your local park or backyard. Its tree protectors, on the other hand, are quite short and are only suitable for trees less than 40" around. If you're hoping to use bigger trees, set-up is mildly complicated by needing to extend your tree protectors.
Tree protection is an essential part of every responsible set-up. This model comes with two that are 40-inches long.
Credit: Leslie Yedor
If you use trees for your slackline anchors, tree protection is essential. Make sure to properly pad the tree so that the webbing doesn't cause the bark to fall off from repeated rubbing or otherwise harm the tree. You can use sleeping pads, old towels, 1-inch or greater diameter sticks, or purchase additional pre-made pads from most slackline manufacturers. Not only is this better for the tree, but in most National Parks and other conservation areas it's actually a law, and you'll be forced to take your line down if you haven't properly padded your anchors.
The webbing has well-defined graphics on one side only that didn't fade despite heavy use. This helps you eliminate twists when rigging the line and ensures that the webbing is laying flat before feeding it through the ratchet for tensioning. Finally, the handle of the ratchet is a soft-molded plastic that is comfortable in your hand as you tighten down the line.
Versatility
The Base Line Kit is a great line for the beginner-intermediate slackliner. There are better options for the true novice and the more advanced slackliner, but its length provides room for progression from a short line to a long line, and the somewhat stretchy webbing leaves room to develop basic trick lining skills.
An 85-foot line, plus 8 more feet for the ratchet end, makes choosing anchor trees as simple as deciding how long you want to walk.
Credit: Libby Sauter
Quality
As the popularity of 2-inch slacklines has increased, the companies making these products have adapted them to the changing and growing demand. These lines were once nothing more than a tow strap the likes of which you could purchase at a local hardware shop. Now, the new 2-inch slacklines are calculated and precisely designed sporting equipment. This line represents a new generation of 2-inch lines. With a little due diligence in the set-up and disassembly phase, this slackline will last you for years.
As with all the 2-inch lines currently on the market, some fraying on the edge of the webbing edge was seen at the ratchet site when we repeatedly rigged lines of the same length. If you take care to keep the webbing straight and in line when feeding it through the ratchet and tensioning, the wear will be minimal, and the line will continue to be safe and fun, year after year. When we intentionally caused the webbing to catch in the ratchet (as one might accidentally do if the rigger doesn't tend the line while tensioning), this model experience similar wear to the other slacklines we tested.
Even after a few sessions we had only a small amount of wear on the sides of the webbing. With cautious rigging, this line will last for years.
Credit: Libby Sauter
Disassembly
Taking down this Kit is as easy as any other classic 2-inch systems with the bonus of a cushioned brake release lever. As with all ratchet lines, releasing the high tension in the slackline is a little dramatic, but the plastic-covered release lever on this model helps save your fingers and comfortably take down this line. The sudden snap of the ratchet releasing can cause the webbing to abrade if it weren't tensioned properly. Remember to keep the webbing aligned when you are tightening the line, so you have a good working line for years.
A fully locked ratchet is safe for slacklining. To take down this line, you must open the handle a full 180 degrees. This ratchet worked extremely well.
Credit: Libby Sauter
Features
There are a few additional bonus features that make this model stand out from the competition. The extra-long ratchet line and the extra-long webbing are tremendously useful when the options for appropriate anchors are limited. For a slightly thicker webbing, it has a good walking feel. It's stable yet responsive and entertaining to walk in that eighty or eighty-five-foot range, and we found surfing this line to be loads of fun!
The ratchet on the Base Line has a nice plastic-molded hand grip as well as a plastic-wrapped brake release that facilitates safe and easy set-up and tear down.
Tree protectors are an essential addition to any kit. Many cities have banned the use of slacklines in parks without the use of some kind of tree protection. Including tree protection in their kit ensures that you will have uninterrupted fun all day, and don't need to make an additional purchase or spend time crafting instead of walking.
The ratchet cover must be cut out of the packaging and velcroed around the ratchet.
The ratchet cover is no more than a piece of the tree protection material that you cut out of the packaging along with a couple of velcro tabs so you can velcro the pad around the ratchet. We don't mean to gripe about a bonus feature, because it is better than nothing, but we would have expected something more "finished".
Experienced slackers can still have a great time on this line by jumping and working on their static poses.
Credit: Libby Sauter
Value
The Base Line has great value when you consider what it does well. The line has great durability, stability, and simplicity, for those new to slacklining. At roughly eighty feet in length, it offers a lot of growth opportunities.
Conclusion
This is one great all-around slackline kit. Don't expect this to be the greatest longline nor the greatest trick-line, but if you are just getting into it and you want to be able to learn and progress to walking longer lines, this line is a great choice.
Two-inch webbing, like that on the Base Line kit, has become the new standard in beginner slacklining.
Credit: Nicky Bunn
—
Adam Paashaus & Leslie Yedor
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