Slackline KnowHow

International Slackline Association test: Used pinkTube breaking strength

pinktube breaking strenght test by isa

A piece of pinkTube has been permanently rigged and sessioned for 6-8 months. It has seen between 3000 – 5000 leashfalls and was exposed to the sun for about 2 hours per day. It was located in a forest in France, near streaming water with high humidity. This piece of webbing had its breaking strenght tested by the International Slackline Association. In the following article you can see the results: pinkTube breaking strength tests by ISA.

If you want to find out more about forces that are occuring in highlines, then you can watch the following video. Be aware that highlines rigged with low-stretch webbing and short highlines see clearly higher peak forces compared to high-stretch webbing ones or long highlines. 

pinkTube breaking strength tests: Conclusion from the Safety Comission

“The ISA Safety Commission recommends highline webbing that is used in a conventional mainline and backup rig to have a MBS of 30 kN or higher. This accounts for a 20 % loss of strength in the weblock and another 50 % loss due to age, abrasion, UV exposure and other factors.”

SLACKTIVITY is aware of the lower breaking strengh of the pinkTube. However we’re still happy with this webbing and convinced it’s safe to use, especially the Type B and C. This can be called a specific highline system were the mainline and backup are connected together, either by T-Loops or sewing. This makes the line safer due to the lower back-up fall and lower shock load to the anchors. In the video above can also be seen that the high stretch of the pinkTube absorbs a lot of the force of the leashfalls. Therefore it’s expected that most leashfalls won’t go over the Working Load Limit of 6kN (safety factor = 4) assuming that the highline is tensioned to normal highline forces of less than 3kN standing tension.

You may also want to read: International Slackline Association – ISA, certified slackline gear

The Safety Comission also states that visual check of your webbing is not always suffiecent enough. Knowing the age and usage profile is necessary. The piece in this test was used quite intensly. SLACKTIVITY recommends to retire a webbings in permanent rigs after 6 months.

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