howNOTtoHighline

Would you trust a 40 year old rope?

8th of 8 Posts for September: This cave video is pretty awesome because I go into it with a blank slate and it's not common to find what we found.  You can see it in their eyes.  I get sent a lot of interesting things but it's fun to go get the old gear myself for testing.  Adrian Ballard and Patrick Cunningham discovered a new virgin passage and dome in a "Hawaiian" cave.  Hawaii is well known for it's limestone alpine caves :).  I tested the rope to 15+ kN when I go...

Compromising the profit?

7th of 8 Posts for Sept: "Economy shipping" sucks, it's so slow.  I'm tempted to ship flat-rate boxes, but they are more expensive.  However, I don't have to pay for the box and i don't have to think so hard and compare all the shipping options making the labor cheaper.  UPS puts it in a truck or it costs a lot.  That doesn't work well when you are on the East Coast.  USPS puts it on an airplane.  We've shipped stuff the day you ordered it (M-F) for a month now b...

Found the MBS of the store

6th of 8 Posts for Sept: So the breaking point of the store is.... international shipping.  Putting it in the mail isn't rocket science but customs is complex.  If we do something we want to do it right so we will get good at running a store that ships to the USA and then bite off the logistics of shipping to one country at a time so when we do your country, we do it well!

TODAY'S VIDEO: Why do I publish videos I've worked on for years when I'm the busiest?  That's a grea...

This version is ONLY for Patrons

5th of 8 Posts for September: I'm writing this Friday night, I'm going caving early in the morning tomorrow and we are all packed.  Earlier this week I got to help establish that big wall and so it's been nuts doing store stuff and putting together the 7 year anniversary video  and trying to enjoy the fall since I let the summer go by with few fun things in it.  

Abrasion tester might be way more done than even this video talks about it not being done!  More on that ...

How NOT 2 Establish Big Walls

4th of 8 Post for Sept: I edited this before my shower after getting down last night.  It was such a special opportunity to join on this project a great addition to the Big Wall Bible.  It also was a good break test for the store.  1-2 orders a day came in and Danielle got them out the same day.  We are learning really light stuff is easy to ship internationally so far.  I'm 7 years old on Saturday so I'm going to make a update video that I've been wanting to make for...

This is the PATRON's Version

3rd of 8 Posts for Sept: Well, that got awkward.  I offered John to take the store I've promoted from scratch with no sunset commission period and to use the logo I created, I just needed my stuff off his website.  Ghosted, but confirmed he got the requests.  That's why I had to post on Instagram the awkward breakup post.  Shopify removed my branding from his site for us which I am grateful.  I'm still getting messages from people that he hasn't taken care of their or...

Every Twist Bolts We Tested

Post 2 of 8 for September: 90% of BD's gear is on the site.  Got DMM's application filled out.  I feel good about who I found for the 2nd manager of the store since we did a working interview yesterday.  Still working on the separation from ExtremeGear.  Website guys almost have the minimal viable product done.  

TODAY'S EPISODE: This was a ton of work to test all these and we realized we never made a video about them!  So Bobby and I summarized it together...

Store Stuff

1st of 8 Posts for September: I got 2 shorts for you.

SHORT1: Home Sewn Slings https://youtube.com/shorts/aJpTa5HhqdA?feature=share

SHORT2: Girth hitches on wired protection https://youtube.com/shorts/YK8Y_OJGlIE?feature=share

STORE STUFF: BD stuff arrives Wednesday, Petzl + Fixe + Edelrid + ...

You’ve never seen this in a nuclear bunker

FREE!  I don't charge patrons for the 9th post in a month.

EARLY ACCESS FILM: I've been dreading editing this episode because it seemed like it would be hard to stitch together without a clear story line but I "threw all the leftovers in the casserole" and it turned out really good compared to my expectations.  It was a unique project and worth sharing.  This is now the early access film for those who sign up for the emails and the Mile long zipline is the episode that fi...

Here is the secret

8th of 8 Posts for August: Sorry it's long but this is what I've been working on.  Hope you like it!  I'm stoked.  If you have questions, feel free to ask.

We destroyed a sport route for science...

7th of 8 Posts for August: This Saturday might be my super soft launch of my new project.  I'm pretty stoked on it.  I made a huge milestone in the project, came inside and watched the subscriber count go from 199,999 to 200,000.  It's all very difficult, a lot going on, but soooooo worth it.  It's going to change everything.  I believe I'll finally get to do all the things I've dreamed about doing with this channel.

Today's Video: Bobby Hutton drop tested an al...

Lets talk about the accident in Seneca

6th of 8 Posts for August: Ordered a bunch of stuff for my project.  Working every morning alongside my website team until it's ready to soft launch to you guys.  I'm almost at 200k subscribers and my Instagram gained 50% in the last 30 days... all while my Doug Robinson film totally BOMBED if views is the metric.  Those who did see it are pretty stoked and that is what matters.  Also the comments are all positive which makes it easier to get more interviews with more OGs....

Moving Over Stone

5th of 8 Posts in August:  23,000 new subscribers in 14 days is NUTS.  The secret project is coming along.  I talk to Edelrid about a collab tomorrow because of the project.  I'm spending my life savings on it.  The content will become 10x more helpful because of it.  You guys, my supporters, will benefit from it.  I might be able to help other gear related content creators be sustainable.  Anyone want guess what the project is?  I won't tell you y...

Randomly Going Viral

4th of 8 Posts for August: The super secret project is coming along.  You guys will definitely know all about it probably a month before everyone else.  I want it to be really nice when I go public with it.  

15,000 subscribers in 7 days??? Youtube is a dangerous drug.  It's too easy to get caught up in the numbers.  So much so I actually removed the app that tells me about the analytics a while back, so I can't compulsively che...

This project took 2 years

3rd of 8 Posts in August: Another episode that took years!  This is exciting for me to release because I started talking to Aboud 3 years ago about bolts and he asked me a 1000 questions during his bolting journey until he came up with the Juniper Bolts 2 years later.  By the time I got the bolts, tested them and then made this episode, it was another year.  I've added the data to the https:/...

Should I Print it?

2nd of 8 Posts in August: The super secret project is getting momentum.  Everyone on the team is doing their thing.  Stuff is built.  Annoying logistics holding up the next part but should be ironed out next week.  By the end of this month I should be soft launching it with just my patrons :).  Below is the stuff I can share!

BOLTING BIBLE: Attached is NOT the cover, and this is a very rough draft to see if this would make sense to print the Bolting Bible. I'm e...

"It won't hurt you," they say - Purcell Prusik Tests

1st of 8 Posts in August - I spent 18 months on this video.  I threw away the first filming of it, drop tested it at the California drop tower, studied it, back burnered it, retested almost everything in the new lab and finally felt like it was super helpful and worthy of posting.  For reference, this episode number was #389, my next video I start is #563. Knot videos, done right, take a lot of work to add value to what is already on the internet.  I am happy with how it turned...

Graphing Made Easy - FINALLY

9th Post is free in long months.  No charge.

That graph was from the LineScale3 attached to me when I jumped off leaning tower.  Several people in the LS3 community have worked hard on making github solutions for graphing our csv files that come out of LS3.  I don't know why, but it always felt overwhelming but now we have the dream setup.  Drag and drop your files right on our website.  Save a single one or download them all.  It's working for me but help ...

They broke the rules and are getting away with it

8th of 8 Posts for July: March 20, 2022 (NOT 2023) is when David first hit me up about doing this video.  They collected the bolts, filmed their part of the intro, sent it to me just in time to test them in limestone in nevada and then waited until the Bolting Bible was updated to release this.  Once all these are caught up, I'm envisioning the turn around time to be at least a year faster :).  But when collaborating with anyone, it can take much longer, but I also think they t...

New Home Page

7th of 8 Posts for July - Simplicity is complicated. I'm trying to eliminate steps to get where you want to get to on the website so we redesigned the home page to have the gold right at the top.  Our current project will help you find answers to your gear questions easier than our filter does now, though that is a good start.  Still have about 50 blogs to go on that.

I appreciate that you support me without being able to offer you anything extra, to stay true to the 100% of t...

Cow Tail Personal Anchor Drop Tests

6th of 8 Posts for July: For the Unicore episode I was able to do 8 drop tests solo in 3 hours on my tree drop tower.  Considering I filmed a lot around it and didn't have a clear direction on what to test when I started, that's not too bad because that's enough to do most the episode when you mix it with the slow pulls I did.  I don't stop exploring a product when I'm working with a manufacturer until I shock them.  Let's just say I have accomplished that and this will really ...

WTF? A $300 Tarp!

5th of 8 Posts for July: Meeting Kyle (in today's video) has helped get me stoked for working more on the big wall bible.  I went through and made it PDF friendly, fixed stuff, and added stuff.  Still a work in progress.  

TODAY'S VIDEO: Kyle shows us the lightest and cheapest portaledge that I'm aware of.  

Latest Big Wall Bible http://bigwalls.com/

PDF downloads page 2023-07-15 13:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post

LS3 vs Enforcer: This almost broke my machine

4th of 8 Posts for July: This has been in the works for a year.  I didn't want to make the tutorial until I really could make it very helpful.  I didn't want to release the Main break test episode, which is fun for anyone to watch until the tutorial video was ready.   I'm glad I made them separate and hopefully it helps some LS3 owners understand their device better.

Main Episode: The one above

Clips Tutorial Episode: 2023-07-12 14:33:33 +0000 UTC View Post

The Great Purge

I tortured you guys with smashing like buttons, 2-3 minute long plugs, annoyingly long outros and youtube cliche crap for years.  SORRY! I have paid for my sins by rewatching and removing parts of all 400 videos. Well, almost, I have 50 more to go.  Even though my original videos were filmed so poorly and I was horrible in front of the camera, it had 0 fluff and was almost more enjoyable to watch.  I noticed once I started breaking things and s...

They are uncertified?!?!

2nd of 8 Posts for July: 60 videos to go for the great purge.  I've cut up to 4 minutes out of 10 minute videos.  I'm learning so much about how I want future videos to look (or not look) so this is helpful for anyone watching past videos but the next ones will get better.  

TODAY'S POST: We started filming this one April 2022, over a year ago.  I didn't want to release this until The Bolting Bible was done and Extreme Gear had Titan's bolts in stock.  I find vi...

Rope Soloing & 2 shorts

1st of 8 Posts for July: I got 270 episodes purged, 130 to go!  It's a trip reliving 6 years of my life.  Cleaning them up and updating some really outdated slackademics.com plugs.  Abrasion tester is coded good enough for me to break test... the code, so Joe can fix it.  I just operated 3 drops on my tower solo in 75 minutes start to finish.  My goal is to be able to do 5 drops in 60 minutes.  Polishing up the PDF scraper script for the website, not only to back...

Tibloc - It's NOT what you think

8th of 8 posts for June:  I've been purging past episodes.  I detail them in batches of 10 and am eliminating an accumulated 8hours of bs, plugs, smashing like buttons, juno coffee and annoying crap.  I can't believe anyone watched some of those older ones!  I also found out youtube put mid-roll ads in the middle of all my past videos when they rolled out that new "feature".  I didn't even run ads for the first two years because they are so annoying.  Those are a...

EARLY RELEASE - 2 Dudes 1 Line: A HowNOT2 Film

7th of 8 Posts for June - I didn't want to give out the downloadable PDF to the Bolting Bible without being able to send out an update when we make changes.
Creating a newsletter sign up form seemed easy, until bots started to sign up.  I didn't want all those fake accounts messing up my email list so I deleted them.  Wix didn't let me do double opt in (confirmation email) so I just put "email me at ryan@slackline.com and I'll manually add you until I fix this".  My email ...

BFKS, bowlines on a bight, daisy chains and the Connecticut Hitch

6th of 8 posts for June: 

TODAY'S EPISODE: Another experiment with a mix of random tests, all that have been requested a bunch.  This is the last video we did with Alpine Savvy when he visited our lab.  

EMAILS: Oh boy, I got stories to share with you this Saturday about setting up the new email newsletter. There were enough sign-ups, I thought bots were attacking me.  More on that later.  

Bolting Bible is Done!

5th of 8 Posts for June: Bibles, emails, and hiring climbing magazine's writers

BOLTING BIBLE: The more quiet I am on Youtube and Instagram, the more I'm ACTUALLY DOING.  I leaned into the The Bolting Bible this week taking it over the "super publishable enough" line.  This needed to be completely rewritten so it wouldn't be highline-centric but to separate out the 4 sports we cover.  Not only is this 2 year project of updating it to the 5th edition done, we also have it ...